The Firearm Blog

You saw it here first! I had no idea that Sig Sauer were making AR-15 / M16 rifles but my DSEi spy spotted this prototype SIG516 ¹ PDW at the DSEi 09 expo. It features a 7" barrel, putting it firmly in the PDW class, and chambers the 5.56mm NATO.

The SIG 516

Markings indicate manufacture at the Sig Sauer plant in Exeter, NH, USA

I do not know if Sig plan on a civilian carbine version. If they did it would compete directly with their Sig 550 line of full length and short barreled rifles.

UPDATE: jcmiller points out that the lower receiver is semi-automatic. A production PDW would have to be fully automatic. Maybe Sig are thinking of civilian sales.

UPDATE:

The SIG516 Tactical Rifle line has three different models:

• SIG516 PDW : 7" barrel. A personal defense weapon (pictured above).
• SIG516 CQB : 10" barrel. A Colt M4 Commando equvelent.
• SIG516 BASELINE CARBINE : 14.5" barrel. A M4 Carbine equvelent.
• SIG516 Patrol. 16" barrel.
• SIG516 Tactical Marksman: 16" barrel A squad level sniper / designated marksmen rifle.
• SIG516 Precision Marksman: 20" barrel. Possibly a true sniper rifle, or designated marksmen rifle.

They are all piston operated and feature an adjustable gas regulator like the Ruger SR-556.

Upper receiver assemblies will be sold. Just before anyone gets their hopes up, while it is likely that Sig will sell civilians models, this has not been confirmed.

Big thank you to Lusaka for the information and photos.

SayUncle spotted this ad for a SIG 556 Short Barreled Rifle. What is very interesting is that the rifles being sold by Manchester Firing Line are factory manufactured, not conversions of the standard rifles.

SIG 556 Short Barreled Rifle

Although the price is steep at $3,495, Sig 556 Reviews notes that SBRs conversions are popular with the Sig crowd:

The P556 has definitely been popular with the SBR crowd so its good too see that Sig Sauer is paying attention and grabbing some of this pie by jumping into the NFA market. There have been a few post’s on the SigArms556 forum about people with P556 SBR’s that have had customer service issues (Sig basically coming back saying theiy voided they’re warranty)

Gun writer and SBR enthusiast Bob Boyd is currently building his own Sig SBR and modeling it after the Sig 552 Commando Carbine. The Commando is probably better classified as a PDW (Personal Defense Weapon), than a Short Barrel Rifle.

8.9″ barrel Swiss Army Stgw 90 kurz aka. Sig 552 Commando Carbine.

I am looking forward to seeing Bob’s rifle when it is completed.

ATI is importing 5.56mm NATO and 7.62×51mm NATO ammunition from Turkey. It is manufactured by Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKEK), the Turkish state owned arms and munitions manufacturer.

Last week the IDET military expo was held at the famous arms manufacturing town of Brno, Czech Republic. I had been looking forward to the expo for some time because CZ announced they would have their new rifle military arms on display. Developed in conjunction with the Czech Army, the new CZ S 805 assault rifle looks like a solid addition to the range of “3rd generation” (I use this term lightly) 5.56mm military rifles.

Click to expand. Photo ⓒ Adamicz. Used with Permission.

The model pictured above, the CZ S805A, is the standard assault rifle/carbine model and interestingly enough has a 14.5″ barrel compared to the 16″ or 18″ barrels of similar rifles. Although it has been designed so it can be converted into a light machine gun or designated/squad marksmen rifle.

While it appears to be another plastic fantastic, it in fact has an aluminum receiver. The rifle is chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO but by changing the bolt head, magazine, magazine well and barrel it can also be chambered in 7.62×39mm and 6.8 mm Remington SPC (6.8×43mm). The trigger group, as you can see below, allows the selection of fully automatic, two round burst, and single shot modes.

Click to expand. Photo ⓒ Adamicz. Used with Permission.

Like all modern military rifles it is out fitted with a folding/adjustable stock and quad rails. The transparent magazine is a nice touch but is not STANAG (M16) compatible.

According to REMOV CZ plan on producing a semi-automatic model for the US and European civilian market Hopefully legalities and politics do not prevent it from showing up in a store near you.

Many thanks to Adamicz for providing me with photos and credit for the information goes to REMOV

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Robarms will be making a PDW (personal defense weapon) version of their XCR rifle. The PDW has a shortened stock and a 9″ barrel. From the videos it looks like it will be available with either a fully automatic trigger group, for those who can buy such things legally, and a semi-automatic trigger group for the rest of us.

So far they have a 5.56mm NATO and 7.62×39mm model.

5.56mm NATO model


7.62×39mm model

Compare the sound and recoil of the 5.56 and 7.62 models in these videos:

5.56mm NATO model


7.62×39mm model

A very sexy firearm that will be available in July. This video shows a 5.56mm semi-automatic model being shot:

Also from Robarms is a new two stage trigger for the XCR called the Enhanced Trigger.

This trigger is two-stage with a 3.5 pound pull. We’re calling it an “Enhanced Trigger” rather than a match trigger for several reasons. First, match triggers usually have very small tight control surfaces and/or small screws or springs that cannot hold up under tough use. Our Enhanced Trigger is a very light two-stage trigger that is very controllable whether shooting paper at a distance or at moving targets. We are taking orders for the Enhanced Trigger now. The parts consist of a a new trigger, hammer, and disconnect. They can be added to existing XCRs without modification to the rifle.

UPDATE: 6.8 SPC is now also offered. Two models are available: the Mini (9″ barrel) and Micro (7.5″ barrel). The basic models cost $1500.

In my recent article about the Norwegian H416 rifle, Mauken, a Norwegian soldier, posted a link to this article at aftenposten.no (I have translated it into english using google):

Soldiers may have been sick of the military’s new rifle

Army turns the alarm after a number of officers and soldiers have health problems after the shooting with the military’s new standard rifle, “HK 416″.

Gun are heirs to AG3, and is about to be phased in for all Armed Forces branches. Some departments, including the Norwegian soldiers in Afghanistan, has had the gun in about a year, writes Dagbladet.no.

Hærstaben have been in three different concern from messages incidents where about 40 skyttere have experienced various health problems. It has been reported that strong discomfort in the chest, neck and munnhule after the shooting, unpleasant cough for several hours after the shooting, nausea, fever, headache, joint and cold svetting after the shooting.

Chief of Staff in hærstaben, Brigadier Rune Jakobsen, have now initiated full investigation to find out what it evokes the most serious problems. It has already been initiated medical examinations of the involved personnel.

One of the main theories in the military is now working on the basis that it is the gunpowder gas from the ammo, and not the weapon, which causes problems. HK 416 uses a smaller caliber, and thus a different type than the old munitions AG3.

Norway has been using the H&K G3 which is chambered in 7.62×51mm NATO. The HK416 that is being adopted is an AR-15 derivative and chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO.

H&K G3 rifle. Photo from Wikipedia.

It is not uncommon for an ammunition producing country to develop a new powder specifically optimized for the a new cartridge / rifle combination when it is adopted by the nations’ armed forces. It is possible that this powder used in the Norwegian 5.56mm ammunition is toxic. Maybe the lubricant they are using reacts badly with the gas from the powder? Maybe plastic parts are melting and releasing a toxic vapor? It will be interesting to see how this story develops.

Thanks to Mauken for the link.

Florian @ sig556reviews.com has posted an extensive review of the TangoDown Model ACB-4 Advanced Combat Bipod.

I finally got my TangoDown Combat Bipod in on Friday after an almost 4 week wait. I put it on my Sig 556 SWAT the same day and took it out on Saturday. I have to say, the wait was definitely worth it.

As a bonus Florian has included a bunch of photos of his Sig 556 rifle.

More here.

Sig have launched the Sig 552. It is a .22 Long Rifle version of the 5.56mm Sig 556, which in turn is a civilian clone of the Sig 550. Externally it looks identical to the Sig 556 Classic with the swiss-style folding stock and handguard.

From Sig:

The Look and Feel of the Classic SIG556 ™ in Affordable .22 Rifle SIG SAUER, Inc., the leading manufacturer of commercial, law enforcement, and military firearms fuels the demand for the legendary SIG556 performance but in an affordable .22 LR caliber with the new SIG522 semi-automatic rifle. Featuring SIG556 parts including a Swiss type folding stock and polymer forend on a durable metal receiver with integral Picatinny rail, and a Mini Red Dot sight. The SIG522 provides the avid sport shooter plenty of action on a classic military style platform that give the look, feel and dependability of our full size SIG556.

Specs:
Overall Length: 29.8 in
length w/Stock Collapsed: 29.1
Barrel Length: 17 in
Rifling: 1 in 7 in
Sight Radius: 14.4 in

The MSRP is $515.

Sig are offering the Sig 556 rifle in a pistol configuration called the P556. It has proved very popular at SHOT Show and looks like a really fun gun!

Sig P556

Apart from the 10″ barrel and lack of a stock, it has all the same features of the SIG 556 rifle: Flash suppressor, picatinny rails, two stage trigger, weather resistant Nitron finish. It also comes with a Sig branded mini red dot sight.

Specs:

Caliber: 5.56mm NATO
Overall Length: 21.5”
Barrel Length: 10”
Rifling: 1 in 7”
Weight (w/o Magazine): 6 lbs 7 oz
Magazine: 30 Round STANAH (AR-15)

The MSRP is $1875.

It also comes in a SWAT variant which has a alloy quad rail in place of the standard handguard. No word on pricing for this model.

P556 SWAT model

H&K fans rejoice. The HK416 / HK417 piston driven AR-15 derivatives are finally coming in a semi-automatic form for civilians. The civilian 5.56×45mm HK416 is called the MR556 and the 7.62×51mm HK417 civilian equivalent is the MR762. They are expected to arrive in late 2009.

5.56×45mm MR 556

From HK:

A direct descendent of the HK416, the MR556 is a semi-automatic rifle developed by Heckler & Koch as a premium level commercial/civilian firearm. Like the HK416, the MR556 is a major product improvement of conventional AR-type carbines and rifles.

Using the HK-proprietary gas piston system found on the HK416 and G36, the MR556 does not introduce propellant gases and carbon fouling back into the rifle’s interior, making it the most reliable of any AR-type firearm.

The MR556 will be produced at Heckler & Koch’s new manufacturing facility at Newington, New Hampshire from American and German made components. To conform to German export regulations, certain design changes made in the MR556 prevents the rifle’s upper receiver from being used on other AR-style firearms.

So in other words this is not an AR-15 and in theory would not be banned as a named rifle on AWB 2.0.

Specs for the MR 556

Caliber: 5.56 x 45 mm NATO
Length, maximum (stock extended): 37.68″
Length, minimum (stock retracted): 33.90″
Overall width: 3.07″
Height: 9.45″
Barrel Length : 16.5″
weight (without magazine): 8.60 lb
Trigger pull : 7.64 lb
Barrel Profile: 6 lands & grooves, right twist, 1 in 7 in
Sight radius : 14.60″

Oddly enough both models are being shipping with 10 round magazines … AWB 2.0 fears?

7.62×51mm MR 762

Specs for the MR 762
Length, maximum (stock extended) : 39.10″
Length, minimum (stock retracted) : 35.94″
Overall width: 3.23″
Height : 8.36″
Barrel Length: 16.6″
Weight (without magazine): 9.60 lb
Trigger pull: 7.64 lb
Barrel Profile: 6 lands & grooves, right twist, 1 in 12 in
Sight radius: 16.14″

I will update this page as more information becomes available.

[ This article was written by Sven Ortmann of Personal Defence Weapons Central, an excellent small arms resource. ]

by Sven Ortmann, lastdingo@gmx.de, 2008-01-05

Caliber: 9×19 mm and .45ACP (= 11.43×23mm)

This is the standard NATO caliber for pistols and a popular caliber for submachineguns. The only ones who seem to have a strong dislike for this caliber seem to be those U.S. Americans who continue to compare it with .45ACP.

The U.S. American problems with the 9×19mm caliber seem to include a mix of emotions (a Colt M1911 in .45ACP feels much more powerful) and poor quality of the U.S. standard issue 9mm pistols. The latter is as far as I know more a magazine production quality problem than a pistol design problem. The origin of .45ACP is said to lie in combat experience around 1900 in the Philippines where determined Philippinos weren’t stopped reliably by smaller revolver calibers. Tests on live animals in 1904 showed better effects for heavier bullets, but little improvement with velocity. Bullet design has improved a lot since then, and hollowpoint bullets that flatten their nose in soft tissue to increase their diameter are much more effective than simple soft lead bullets. A good 9mm bullet enjoys a similar advantage over a .45ACP soft lead bullet than the latter over a 9mm soft lead bullet. There’s a fundamental problem, though: There’s not much difference in effect on the target if you hit the wrong places and the permanent cavities of pistol bullets are all relatively small. Many body parts are simply not essential enough – their destruction doesn’t stop a determined opponent immediately; no matter whether you hit with .45ACP or 9×19mm.
Continue Reading »

Ammoland has the info:

The Desert Digital Special Edition is a matched set featuring the SIG556 ER folding stock rifle and P226 pistol in 9mm. Both rifle and pistol share unique matching serial numbers and ship in a custom tactical hard carry case by Pelican.

The set includes (1) double 30 round magazine set for the rifle and (3) 15 round magazines for the pistol. A certificate of authenticity is included. This collectors edition is limited to 1500 units total.

Pretty cool. No word on price.

More info at Ammoland.

Earlier this month SIG announced an the new SIG 556 Classic. The design is modeled on the SIG 550. From what I can see the primary difference is the swiss style folding stock and polymer handguard.

SIG 556 Classic

SIG 550 (Photo from Wikipedia)

I am surprised they did not duplicate the “classic” 550 handguard exactly since the main selling point of this rifle is the look. It does not include the 550 integral bipod.

Specs:

Caliber: 5.56mm NATO
Overall Length: 37.1”
With stock collapsed: 34.3”
With stock folded: 28.1”
Barrel Length: 17”
Rifling: 1 in 7”
Weight (w/o magazine): 8 lbs. 2 oz.
MSRP: $1998.00

I like the lines on the Classic. Very sleek looking, at a price.

Hat Tip: Police One

Earlier this year the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced they will be switching from the G3 7.62mm rifle to the HK416. The Turkish government owned arms and ordnance manufacturer MKEK will be producing the rifle under license from Heckler & Koch.

The H&K G3 battle rifle has been phased out in many countries and replaced with assault rifles chambered in intermediate cartridges. Along with the H&K G3, MKEK also produces the a variety of H&K MP5 models so the move to another H&K rifle is not surprising. Norway is also replacing the G3 with the HK416.

An important Turkish guy holding the Mehmetçik-1.Photo from worldaffairsboard.com

The pistol grip and stock look different to most of the HK416 photos on the internet. The wikipedia page has a photo with “HK416N” markings and the same configuration. The photo is marked for deletion from Wikipedia and there are few other references to the “HK416N” on google.

HK416N markings. Photo from Wikipedia.

Mehmetçik-1 markings

I cannot see any other differences between the Mehmetçik-1 and the HK416N other than the MKEK markings. The only different I have read about on a couple of forums is that MKEK are using different manufacturing techniques and different metals than H&K, which I take to mean a slightly different aluminum and steel alloys, which is not surprising.

The scope pictured above is the Elcan SpecterOS34x scope which well known for its use on the Canadian Diemaco C7/C8. The grenade launcher is the H&K AG416.

The Turkish Wikipedia page says the rifle will be manufactured in four different models. A Sub-carbine (10.5″ barrel), Carbine (14.5″ barrel), Rifle (16.5″ barrel) and “Distance” (Sniper/Marksmen, 20″ barrel).

Below is a video of a press conference with that important Turkish guy showing off the weapons and looking out of his depth:

By all accounts the HK416 is a great rifle combining the best of the AR-15 platform with the benefits of a gas piston system.

Turkey has also adopted a new sniper rifle that I cannot identify. Anyone know what it is? See the below photo.

UPDATE: Alcibiades, correctly identified it as the 7.62×51mm JNG 90, also made by MKEK.

Mehmetçik-1 and JNG 90 sniper rifle. Photo from worldaffairsboard.com

Hat Tip: GunPundit