I can completely understand the frustration, however, I've been saying since it was released not to buy one.

The XI was originally developed circa 2010 in an effort to modernize a dead platform with modern upgrades. They couldn't get it working with multiple ammo calibers and shelved it. A couple years later they bring on a new guy and say "fix it" and he goes to work getting it running.

At the same time in another, much more flexible, R&D group along comes the LVAW contract to compete against the Honeybadger. It's then reworked into the MCX to be much more than just a niche suppressed .300BO SMG. This flexible R&D group turns it into a full, modernized AR (and 556) competitor.

This rifle does everything the 516 does with much more flexibility, and everything the XI is supposed to do but much better. Instead of competing with themselves, they release the XI while finalizing the MCX, and then while attempting to kill the 556 devote needed resources to the significantly more promising platform.

I put this out in practically every XI thread in the last 2+ years since I left. The 556 was a dead hobbyists platform and the need for the XI was killed when the MCX was developed. I enjoyed working on the XI, and I thought it was a great rifle, but I saw the writing on the wall as the MCX came out of the shadows and proved it was a much better rifle.