I already posted this in the SIG rifle forum, but I thought I'd repost it here to try and get a bit more coverage. I've been toying with the Idea of buying a SIG rifle for a while, and the Cableas near me has a 551A1 for sale. After handling the rifle, I'm definitely interested, but I don't know much about them, so I'm looking for advice? Are these decent rifles, and is their asking price of $1300 for a used one in good shape reasonable? In other words should I grab it or should I pass and keep looking?

Make sure to buy one of the early production models, from when they still used real Swiss stocks and "cared" about build quality. The later production models use cheap repro stocks and are generally very poorly made.

I don't really know a lot about these rifles. How do you tell the difference?

I'd like to know about the stock difference to. Any pictures? BTW, the 551A1 is discontinued. I'd buy it if you want it.

I had one for 2 years, cool looking rifle I paid $1499 new from CDNN then.

 

Mags are expensive aprox $50 each !

Wasn't as accurate as most of my AR's

Every so often it would fail to chamber the rounds when firing steel case. (would need a bump on the charging  handle)

Upper and lower fit was poor

Didn't care for the trigger is was very odd


My opinion: the rifles coming from Exeter NH are so hit and miss, my 556 classic swat had issues as well.

Can't comment on this example's reliability, but it the fit of the upper and lower is pretty tight. This one comes with 3 30 round and 3 20 round mags.

I have not heard of any of the 551A1's being all that problematic. Sig USA had most of the bugs worked out by the time they showed up... they were kind of the last hurrah of the classic design before they transitioned to the XI series.

My advice would be if you get it to replace the shitty Sig USA sights. Get in on the MFI sights if you like diopters, otherwise run an optic with a low mount and you should be good. The only real downside to these guns in my opinion is that they aren't true Swiss quality and they are on the heavy side. Other than that most owners like them.

Date code in the serial number. Unfortunately at this moment I can't recall the cut off point. Give Sig a ring/email and ask them about early production date codes.

The sights are also wrong for the gun, sitting slightly too high for the stock's comb. You can replace them with correct sights but it will cost you a lot of money.

Thanks for the info!

Not sure where mine falls into things as far as when it was produced. But I can tell you this: mine has been extremely reliable. I've shot it at the MGM Ironman match, and only had 1 malfunction(which I caused when my hand got in the way of the charging handle while shooting from an awkward position). This year, I was shooting through, and did not have time to perform any maintenance on it at all. Still no issues. If you're not familiar with that match, you run your guns HARD, and the dust gets into everything(It's almost as bad as Iraq or Afghanistan in this regard). In contrast I was constantly fighting with my M4gery last year.

The trigger is different, but perfectly usable. All in all, it's one of my favorite rifles. I only have 1 complaint, which is the magazines. They are great, but relatively expensive(I think I paid about $30 each from Sig right after I bought the rifle). And, to my knowledge, they don't make anything bigger than 30 rounds. Beyond that, which is very minor, I have no complaints at all. I have handled Swiss made rifles(a 552 at the NRA show years ago, and a 543 in Iraq in 2008), and the feel of my 551A1 did not leave me disappointed at all either. I wish they had done some more with this rifle. I would love to have one of the DM type rifles like they did with the 556, except based off of the 551A1.

Make sure you're the first owner, Sig will tell you to pound sand as far as warranty is concerned if there is any problem.

Sig really wanted the 55x series to sell at $1000, and it shows: cheap sights, plastic in the trigger group, gas block the wrong size (which is why the hand guard rattles), op rod made of swaged tube instead of machined steel, and screws that they didn't bother to use thread locker on.

The rifle that I do like in the category is the Beretta ARX. You can run the CH on either the left or right side, and the rifle is well made. The stock BUIS aren't the greatest, but they serve.

Detail pics of the ARX here: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=777423&highlight=arx

Available for $1200 at Botach.

AJ

 
I agree with the above ^ given the choice between the ARX or the SIG, not a snowballs chance in hell I would select the SIG if they were the same price.





The ARX is a fine platform form the aspect of weight and handling BOTH of my Sig's the A1 and the Classic swat were both very heavy in comparison and suffered from the lose hand guard & quad rail (very annoying). I also struggled to find the correct comfortable heigh for optics and BUIS, using Troy micros & Aimpoint PROs, Acog, Leopold MK AR 1-4 w/Larue mount, this was just me you may not have the same issue. Having owned two sig rifles and still own the 522 Sig (what a cheap feeling piece of junk), In my opinion they are not quit in the same league as other choices on the market that I have in my safe. But the biggest one has to be the mags during the sandy hook panic you wouldn't have found a sig mag for under a $125 ea. I only will own 5.56 rifles that use the Stanag AR mags




if you are fine with owning the couple mags that come with it and and or spending $50 ea (when times are good) and can live with all the little quality issues that plague the exeter New Hampshire products then go for it, happiness is bringing home a new 5.56 rifle


 

$50 for mags?  Not if you look around.  I paid $28 for a bunch of 30rd mags from Sig (with the 20% discount coupon) and $16 for 20rds from another vendor.  44Mag.com has 20rd mags for $21.99 right now.

I'll go against the grain here.  Classic looks of the sig 55X guns, and mine has been a sweetheart.  Most people only post if they had a bad taste in their mouth and from what I can tell most of these have been GTG.  Also whenever you are talking about a discontinued gun, at first they blow them out and then EVERYONE wants one.  Remember that abortion gun called the crossfire?  Half pump 223 and 12g.  That POS was selling for $3000K plus because once someone can't have something the price goes NUTS.  I have a great Sig 232 German made and needed cash 1.5 years ago.  Nobody would pay anything for it (offers of $250).  Now that it's discontinued, it's going for $800-1400.. For that price I would buy it, if I didn't live in CT and was stuck with the one I have only...  Screw the nay-sayers.

I like my 551A1. Been 100% reliable for me.

I have a friend with one, so my experience is very limited. However I really like it and it is on more short list once I get my bolt guns done. I look at it different than most though. I think of it like a really nice AK not a really poor AR substitute. A lot of people have had problems with the 556 and the XI's. fit, finish, ect. I haven't heard about as many problems with 551a1, but there also isn't as many of those. so the sample size is smaller.

One think I will note is that my friends handguards are a little wobble/cheap feeling. but that may just be me. He also complains about the mags and actually refuses to open any of them except for the 2 he has designated as range mags. he said they were too expensive to break.

I have a classic 550/551/552 fetish however.... so It doesn't bother me.

I picked it up today. Won't be able to get to the range with it till next weekend. So far I'm quite pleased with it. It has the Swiss stock, and the handguards have very little play in them. Trigger is a little weird, but I think I'll be able to get used to it.

I had two, the first one the rear diopter would rotate when fired, barrel was marked in a weird location,
and I could get it to run right despite the ammo or gas settings

I sent it back to Sig, they sent me a new gun, same problems minus the rear sight issue,
and I also got a new problem with the magwell. I couldn't get the mags to lock in
unless I beat it in...

I ended up dumping it for a Benelli M3

The trigger is a nightmare.  I bought one of the upgraded triggers on the market but haven't installed it because I'm afraid of the trigger group.  Will send it to someone else.
 




Love the mags.  I don't care how much they cost.


 

It is very simple to replace the 55x FCG if you have a little bit of mechanical skill.

 
You've identified my weak spot.  

I liked my Sig 556's, but I spent way too much time trying to make it a SAN 551, instead of appreciating it for what it was-the best mix of a 5.56 AK and AR, while being the closest I could get to a "real" Swiss gun at a price I was wiling to pay. I liked the triggers on mine. The operating system was smooth and reliable. While not "real Swiss", the side folding stock was handy and the 551 style handguards with a small 1913 rail made for a comfortable and easy way to mount a light. Iron sights were another source of frustration too. The 552 style "emergency" sights were absolutely adequate for their intended purpose-giving a shooter some frame of reference in the unlikely event that their Aimpoint failed. Those of you who have owned these know why I didn't reference EOTech I chose to ignore these sights and went down the Aurora/SAN/MFI rabbit hole... The Exeter/Beijing diopters are functional, but exist to appease people who insist upon having diopters on these guns. As a sighting system, they are cumbersome and crude...

A properly built Sig 556 could be a damn fine carbine, unfortunately a properly built 556 seems to be more scarce than a pre-ban 551... I had two that got returned because they hand canted top rails, a third for improperly installed frame rails. The assembly, furniture and engineering of the Exeter guns is shoddy at best. The 556 magazine, "fish gill" handguards, diopter sight, polymer side-folding AR buffer tube, air soft furniture etc etc just shows how out of touch both Sig and the U.S. consumer is on these guns. I think Sig recognized the market for these guns in the U.S. but also knew, based on the last time they sold them here, we wouldn't pay what these rifles actually cost to produce properly. With this in mind, I think they gave us the best mix of nostalgia and performance that we were willing to pay for.

Just look at the 553's that are available now. That's the coolest variant of them all, but even as a fan of these guns, it's just not $4k cool...
With all that being said, the 551A1 is the closest to the "real deal" priced closely to the actual value of the gun for me. It reminds me of the SAN guns, but the dubious track record and proprietary magazines keep my financial curiosity low.

If and when I can buy one for under 1k or trade for one advantageously, I'll absolutely own a 551A1. I just won't re-apply lipstick to the pig like I did before, nor will I do anything other than keep it in my Mule to dispatch 'yotes or coons

At that price I feel that you'd be getting a good buy for what it is. I love my 556 and would love to own one of the earlier 55x series rifles. If its what you want, I would go for it. I wouldn't hesitate if it were me. The only thing with the 55x is the mags. It doesn't seems like there too commonplace or inexpensive.