Sunday, June 29, 2008

Review: Sig Sauer 556 SWAT

Tactical Rifles and Carbines aren't really my cup of tea. It's not that I don't enjoy shooting them, it's just that I don't have much opportunity. So keep in mind that I have a lot less experience to base this review on then the others.

I've been hearing a lot about the Sig 556 online so when I had an opportunity to shoot the gun I was pretty excited. My tactical rifle experience is limited to a little AK-47, a little Colt M4 SBR, and a little H&K MP-5. This was quite different.

First off the gun is heavy compared to the others. You can read all about the technical specs here. This one was designed with SWAT operations involved and for that purpose I think it's to big. They have added an integral light/foregrip that most of the guys hated. I hadn't had as much experience with other types of foregrips so I actually thought it was pretty comfortable.

I think comfortable is the best way to describe the gun. I found that it shot very well, was easy to operate, and was extremely controllable. I could see myself becoming very, very fond of this sucker.

The major problem with the gun, and one that is easily fixed is the sights. The gun was obviously designed to utilize optics and I'll almost bet you that Hans decided in the last second to slap some fixed sights on the gun...just in case. The fixed sights flip up into position and have to be the most useless sights I've seen on a gun. Do yourself a favor and don't even bother with the fixed sights.

So I liked the gun and could find myself falling in love with it over time. It's big and heavy, but I handle that well and with a little set up I know I could have a blast with this thing.

2 comments:

Tam said...

It doesn't actually ship with that Fobus/Tapco foregrip, does it?

Judge Mint Day said...

The SWAT version comes with the foregrip...I didn't mind it all, but the guys who were used to the standard post foregrip hated it.