SIG STGW PE 90/ 550 Rifle vs SAN "SIG" 550 rifle ??? in Sturmgewehre Forum

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SIG STGW PE 90/ 550 Rifle vs SAN "SIG" 550 rifle ???

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daotoys1	SIG STGW PE 90/ 550 Rifle vs SAN "SIG" 550 rifle ???	Lead	[-]
Posts: 433 Jul 15 11 11:16 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : None How does the earlier production rifles made by SIG, like the Swiss SIG STGW PE 90/ 550 series rifle, compare to the newer SAN made SIG 550 series rifles? Is these much difference in the quality of the build and/or materials used? How does the accuracy and fit and finish compare between the SIG and SAN made military rifles???? I own an early Swiss SIG STGW PE 90 / 550-1 series rifle. Im currently looking at a newer made SAN "SIG" 550 series rifle to add to my small collection ( it is a SIG 552 Commando made by SAN for LE/Military applications. It is being sold after being re classified as civilian legal ). I really like my "real" SIG made SIG rifle. I have never seen a newer SAN made SIG to get a comparison between the two different firearms. Will the quality of the newer SAN made rifle come close to matching the early SIG made gun???? Im really interested in getting this short Commando model rifle for my collection but only if it is top of the line quality. I have seen and compared the newer SIG SAUER made 556 series rifles and they are so far away in quality from the Swiss SIG original that Ill never buy one. Is the SAN made SIG better than the SIG SAUER 556???? Any replys in this area are welcomed as your input will help me decide to either buy or pass on this SAN made SIG 552 Commando. thanks
Guisan		#1	[-]
Posts: 18934 Jul 15 11 11:24 AM Contributing Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Quality of SAN rifles is ok, the reason that they are still active in switzerland is that there is maintenance contract with the Swiss army so the quality needs to be ok. Guisan. Fight to your last cartridge, then fight with your bayonets. No surrender. Fight to the death. Gen. Henri Guisan, Switzerland, July '40
darkest2000		#2	[-]
Posts: 10 Jul 15 11 2:26 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Comparing the 552 to my circa 89~90's PE90, Other than the 522 looking a lot newer, the quality of the stamping, finish, and machining appears to be just as good. And please don't compare a SIG 556 to a real Swiss made SIG/SAN firearm, that would be an insult. Completely different animals and there is no comparison in quality. Last Edited By: darkest2000 Jul 15 11 2:33 PM. Edited 1 times.
daotoys1		#3	[-]
Posts: 433 Jul 15 11 3:20 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	darkest2000 wrote: Comparing the 552 to my circa 89~90's PE90, Other than the 522 looking a lot newer, the quality of the stamping, finish, and machining appears to be just as good. And please don't compare a SIG 556 to a real Swiss made SIG/SAN firearm, that would be an insult. Completely different animals and there is no comparison in quality. I totally agree with you about the piss poor quality of the SIG SAUER 556 series rifles. I was planning on buying a few prior to their release but when I actually saw them in the metal at a dealer I was totally put off. There is no comparison.....I agree. The SIG SAUER 556 rifle is completely different and only loosely copies the original SWISS made SIG rifles. SIG SAUER has disappointed me recently as their firearms have all declined in quality and accuracy recently. The American made guns are even worse than the German made SIG SAUERS. I find it comical that many American are buying the SIG SAUER 556 series rifles and falsely believe that they are getting exact copies of the more expensive SWISS originals. I have seen many reviews where the author brags about spending a small amount of money to buy a German/American clone/copy of the Swiss made SIG rifles. I have also read reviews that compare the 556 to the Swiss guns when it is obvious that the writer has never seen the Swiss original. If you look at both guns side by side its like comparing a Ferrari to a VW bug dressed in a fiber glass Ferrari body........ones the real thing, and the other is a squat thing. I use to own/collect multi national firearms, but over the years I have slowly focused on improved quality. So I shifted to only owning fine European guns, and now in my old fart stage of life; I only own genuine Swiss made firearms ( as nothing, or close to nothing can compare to the quality of Swiss items). I thank you for pointing out this important point. It is all to often that copy cat items seldom equal the item being copied. And all to often this is due to money and time. The best quality requires the most expensive materials and tools, and the most actual human man hours put into the build of the piece. You just cant cut corners and make equal quality product from inferior ingredients.
JoshNC		#4	[-]
Posts: 61 Jul 16 11 1:22 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The 552-2SP rifles to which you refer are real deal Swiss made rifles. They are comparable in quality to my SIG produced 551-1. They are every bit Swiss and a far and away better than the garbage 556 as put out by Sig Sauer USA. Buy one, you won't be disappointed.
rezaff		#5	[-]
Posts: 314 Jul 16 11 2:31 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	daotoys1, The view in Switzerland amongst a lot of the experienced shooters I know is that the 552 is one to avoid. The 552 did not undergo the same military testing as the 550 and 551 and does not have the same quality action. I have also seen this first hand in terms of reliability problems, which is why the 553 action is like the 550/551 and not like the 552. The recommendation is to go with 550/551/553 and to avoid the 552. My personal favorite is the 551-LB but if you want a more compact rifle, the 551 and 553 are the ones to get. best.....
rezaff		#6	[-]
Posts: 314 Jul 16 11 2:44 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	PS - to my knowledge the 552 has not been adopted and is not used by the Swiss Army, hence the peculiarity I mention above. If you want a commando I would recommend the 553 (or even better, a shortened STGW 57! ;^) )
daotoys1		#7	[-]
Posts: 433 Jul 16 11 2:52 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	rezaff wrote: daotoys1, The view in Switzerland amongst a lot of the experienced shooters I know is that the 552 is one to avoid. The 552 did not undergo the same military testing as the 550 and 551 and does not have the same quality action. I have also seen this first hand in terms of reliability problems, which is why the 553 action is like the 550/551 and not like the 552. The recommendation is to go with 550/551/553 and to avoid the 552. My personal favorite is the 551-LB but if you want a more compact rifle, the 551 and 553 are the ones to get. best..... I did not know this. I already own a Swiss SIG STGW PE 90 ( 550 style ) rifle without any import marks on it. I thought that the 552 did have the same guts as the other SIG rifles. I thought that only the barrel length was different. I was not aware that the 552 had its own action. In the USA we have a ban on most SIG rifles unless we find one that was brought into the country early enough, and/or can find a law enforcement rifle for sale. The 552 rifle Im looking at ( by picture only) is an ex-law enforcement gun that has been modified to be able to be owned by a USA civilian. Now that you bring up this poor quality issue, I may have to re evaluate getting the 552. It is Swiss made ( marked SAN ). Im sure it is better than the crap 556 SIG SAUER rifles...... Thanks for the new to me information. I doubt that Ill ever be able to buy a 553....unless I wait 10 or 20 years and find another ex-LE gun. I appreciate all of the helpful replies so far.
rezaff		#8	[-]
Posts: 314 Jul 18 11 4:27 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	daotoys1, I am not necessarily saying that the 552 is poor quality build - in fact as mentioned correctly above, it seems similar in quality to the 550, 551, and 553 as far as the build goes. It is more like an inferioir design which was not de-bugged by rugged military testing and oversight. I have seen two specific problems with it: the spring setup is different from the 550/551/553 and seems to break/create more problems more frequently, and the original flash hider vibrates like a high pitched and loud tuning fork. I have several shooter friends/colleagues who have had broken parts replaced by SIG and eventually (and happily) sold them to purchase a 553. Similarly, the 553 initially had problems, but these have been debugged. It must also mean something when the http://swissarms.ch/ site currently lists the 550, 551, and 553, but no 552 as available for sale......? ;^)
Guisan		#9	[-]
Posts: 18934 Jul 18 11 5:25 AM Contributing Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	For the army the 552's were modified into 553's by SAN. Guisan. Fight to your last cartridge, then fight with your bayonets. No surrender. Fight to the death. Gen. Henri Guisan, Switzerland, July '40
Stgw77		#10	[-]
Posts: 14 Jul 18 11 8:56 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	You might want to check out the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIG_SG_550 Skip down and read the SG 552 Commando and the SG 553 variants descriptions..... I also remember an article that stated the reason for the 552 re-design was that spring technology at the time could not produce a recoil spring small/short enough with enough umph/reliability to do the job correctly. By the time of the 553, an acceptable recoil spring technology was found that allowed the "standard" 550/1 design to be used. I'll try and find that reference.... My $.02 Don
Guisan		#11	[-]
Posts: 18934 Jul 19 11 12:51 AM Contributing Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Don, why wikipedia when there is the SRDC ? http://theswissriflesdotcommessageboard.yuku.com/topic/5336/SG553-1-SP Guisan. Fight to your last cartridge, then fight with your bayonets. No surrender. Fight to the death. Gen. Henri Guisan, Switzerland, July '40
JoshNC		#12	[-]
Posts: 61 Jul 24 11 12:18 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The 552 does have a tendency to beat the bolt carrier/piston to failure, especially with high round count fullauto rifles. Semiautos seem not to have this problem. The 553 solves this problem. Keep in mind that the 552 can be converted into a 553 with the appropriate SIG 552-to-553 conversion kit. These kits are available in the US through Colorado Gun Sales. They are not listed on the website; you have to call and ask for it. Take a look at the post detailing the conversion kit over on M4Carbine: http://m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=76374

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SIG STGW PE 90/ 550 Rifle vs SAN "SIG" 550 rifle ???

SIG STGW PE 90/ 550 Rifle vs SAN "SIG" 550 rifle ???