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Posted: 10/5/2009 5:44:18 AM EDT
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I have been wanting to put my 556's through a carbine class for awhile and this last weekend was able to do so. I purchased my rifle used with no idea how many rounds it had through it. It is one of the earlier models with classic Sig type foreend and a Magpul MOE buttstock. For sights I was running an Eotech.
I used the worst ammo that I had on hand which was some TCW Russian steel cased ammo. I bought a .50 cal can full of it from a buddy about 3 years ago for $100. I wanted to see how it would run. Long and short of it is that I had no malfunctions whatsoever. None. I did have one mag that seemed a little hard to seat from time to time even though I was loading only 28 rounds in my 30's. That one goes in the "training" pile. I also ran straight GI surplus mags-aluminum, green follower but nothing special otherwise. We ran about 600 rounds over three days. I did not clean the rifle or lube it at all. I noted last night when I was getting my gear out of the truck that the bolt and chamber area were covered in red primer sealer- the TCW has a sealed bullet and primer. We'll get that taken care of later today..... The only irritating thing was that the trigger guard has all the failings of the AR system and will be replaced with a Magpul or other "gap" filler type. I let another student shoot my backup 556 just to get the feel of it. He liked it quite a bit, loved the trigger and commented that it was "soft shooting", he did note that it weighed more than the M4 he had been running. |
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There were 11 people in the class, two running 556's, two running Ak's and the rest were AR's.
One Ar popped a primer and tied the gun up for awhile but an easy fix. Another fired out of battery- supposedly that can't happen but the instructor was watching the guy and when he went to the line he told him to "check his weapon" and the guy did and said he was ready. Instructor says, "Are you sure?" because he's looking at the bolt of the weapon from the side and can plainly see it's not fully locked. Guy says "Yea, I'm ready". Instructor says ok. Guy puts the weapon on target and the rifle fires.....This same rifle had something of a wandering zero for the first 30 rounds fired, then it settled down and no issues at all, just strange. One of the Ak's had a really weird malfunction. The safety lever would flip up 90 degrees- like in takedown mode, if it was on and you retracted the bolt hard. It was swapped to another rifle and the problem went away- on both guns- must have been some kind of tolerance stacking issue? The other 556 had a really odd malfunction. Somehow a fired case wound up backwards in the receiver propping the bolt open. The really odd thing was that it had already loaded a live round into the chamber.....Never did it again and he didn't have any other problems. Funny things happen in classes. I was very happy with my Sig though I am in need of some real iron sights for it. My Eotech never went down but I'm uneasy about a rifle with no backup sights for hard use. I'm going to fix the trigger guard situation and I'm going to go to another type of sling. I was using a two point but will probably end up with either a Magpul single point or the Viking Tactics. Always good to get out and burn some powder under the eyes of a quality instructor. |
I just swapped out my receiver rail and the fore end for the Troy and I love it. Allowed me to put a LaRue BUIS and LMT front sight on. Still haven't mounted an optic but honestly, I don't really know if I need one. Its very light and handy the way it is and shoots into 1/2" at 50 yards with good ammo. I may have to throw a T1 in a LaRue mount on there though Here is a pic:
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Excellent report op. Thanks for sharing! Sarge, this must be a perception thing. tome the 556 has a bit sharper recoil than piston or my di ars. i put this upto the mass of the bolt and piston cycling. or maybe the sig i have is in the serial range where the bolt is battering itsel ausing increased recoil? what are others thoughts on the recoil issue? Quoted:
Congrats Will. I have a 556 SBR that has close to 2000 rounds through it now. Never a problem. Its more accurate than my 20" AR and softer shooting. I'm sure the 556 haters will be in here shortly to tell us how crappy the weapon system is though  |
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Quoted:
Excellent report op. Thanks for sharing! Sarge, this must be a perception thing. tome the 556 has a bit sharper recoil than piston or my di ars. i put this upto the mass of the bolt and piston cycling. or maybe the sig i have is in the serial range where the bolt is battering itsel ausing increased recoil? what are others thoughts on the recoil issue? Quoted:
Congrats Will. I have a 556 SBR that has close to 2000 rounds through it now. Never a problem. Its more accurate than my 20" AR and softer shooting. I'm sure the 556 haters will be in here shortly to tell us how crappy the weapon system is though Hmmmm. My perception is that the recoil energy is better distributed (straight back) versus my DI AR's. I have a 10 1/2" LMT that "seems" more violent in its recoil impulse than my SBR 556 but that could be that I have an A2 FH on the LMT and a Vortex on my 556. That would be interesting to test. I know that "muzzle blast" can directly relate to the amount of "felt" recoil due to concussion. I may have to swap out FH's to test that Knight. BTW: I have no indications of the wear some folks have reported at the top right of the BCG. I figure that after 2000 rounds, it would have appeared by now. It may be possible that it is contributing to the perceived recoil you talked about. |
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