Sig 556 conversions

d_s · June 12, 2011, 20:55

This place has been to quiet lately so here are a couple of projects I've been working on. 2 sig 556's converted to original 551 and 550 specs. I had new barrels installed by a gunsmith. Then I welded the rear sights back on and painted them both with a mx of duracoat grays that closely match the original sig 550 gray, finalized by repainting the numbers on the lower receiver, upper receiver stampings, etc.

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Stranger · June 12, 2011, 21:16

Beautiful rifles.

Where did you get the barrels? Do you plan on installing a wire spring in the grenade launcher swell?

d_s · June 12, 2011, 21:18

I got the barrels from Colorado gun sales, not sure about the grenade springs, its probably something Ill add later. They both are alot of fun to shoot

Scott S · June 13, 2011, 14:02

Nice work. That's a handsome pair of shootin' irons.

MajHenryWest · June 15, 2011, 01:00

Wow, you brought to life what the shooting community wanted from the get go!

The obvious question is why couldn't SIG USA come up with such great rifles on their first attempt?!

Beautiful stuff, how much did they end up costing? (If you don't mind me asking....)

p.s. If you ever want to sell that 551, please let me know!!

d_s · June 15, 2011, 01:47

Quote:

you brought to life what the shooting community wanted from the get go

Thanks MHW, why Sig didn't just go with the original configuration is beyond me, cost maybe? In any cause these arent cheap, but they are far less than half of what a real sig 550 would cost on the used market today from start to finish. They shoot just as nice. Have no plans of selling them, but if your interested in doing a similiar converson PM me and I'll do what I can to assist.

**Lee Carpentieri** · June 16, 2011, 01:37

VERY Nice D_S. Saved yourself some serious money also.

**phillyray** · June 16, 2011, 18:40

I want one!

K.O.A.M. · June 17, 2011, 09:14

Nice. I've been toying with the idea of one of those, but I'm kind of hoping that someone gets tired of theirs and sells it.

leek · June 17, 2011, 21:30

Or , one could move to Canada , become a Canadian and buy a real Swiss Arms 551. Canadians can buy these guns new but Americans can't because of George Bush 1. Bush signed an executive order outlawing foreign made "assault weapons" . This order was not rescinded with the sunsetting of the AWB of the Clinton era. Bush's order is the reason we have the 922 r rules.The gun grabbers are in both parties people.

I am an American that lives near the Canadian border. Canada allows foreigners to get Canadian PAL/ RPAL licenses that are required for Canadians to P osses, A cquire, fireams, L icense. With my license ,I can buy a 551 in Canada but cannot take it back to America!!!!!

I got around that issue by buying a firearm business here in the states. We are a class three dealer and have two 550's select fire models that I can fondle and shoot. But they are for sale for the right NFA buyer. Great guns!

Great job on the conversion!!

d_s · June 17, 2011, 21:57

Leek, I coudln't agree more on all your points, it kills me that you can buy these things new in Canada, but here??!?!? More pics with a reflex sight: [IMG]

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dirtyrice · June 18, 2011, 15:00

Awesome. I would love to own something just like that. But I know the older parts are hard as hell to come by and not cheap. I have seen a full kit at a gun show before. It had the green furniture.

eta: I'd never seen that website you got your parts from. That is awesome they have everything to do it. Do they still make 550/551 series rifles or do they just have a crapload of replacement parts??

But yeah not in my price range at the moment. Of course not much is

But eventually I want one. People in canada can gets tons of norinco stuff still too. They have a silly 5rd mag limit. But lots of guys use pinned mags which are insanely hard to revert if necessary.

I've seen guys on youtube shooting the latest rifle used by the chinese military. Which we can't get.

d_s · June 18, 2011, 16:48

Quote:

"Do they still make 550/551 series rifles or do they just have a crapload of replacement parts"

This is still the standard rifle for the swiss military so yes it is still in production. You can buy them in Canada for around $2500 US I believe. Colorado gun sales gets the leftovers from what I understand, some of the parts are new unissued, the parts kits are used but in very good condition, the barrels of course are new US production due to our looney 922r rules, etc. I still just wonder why the hell sig usa just didnt recreate this version in the first place..

tiger222 · June 18, 2011, 19:44

Wow, those are nice, thanks for sharing. If I didn't have an HK problem, I'd be following your foot steps.

For all the "Why the h*ll.." look for the SIG 556A1 coming to CDNN. I just completed my 556 set up, and the A1's are coming...

MajHenryWest · June 18, 2011, 20:40

Some interesting discussion on the 556A1 and related here -

http://m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=82901

d_s · June 18, 2011, 21:37

While that version is closer, I really have to question if SIG USA actually listens to the shooting community, with all of these half assed reiterations, maybe they do listen, but just suck at follow up and execution!

KKN39 · June 24, 2011, 00:20

Very nice builds! Those are some of the nicest clones I've seen; Excellent color that looks pretty authentic.

Out of all the Swiss rifles I've handled and seen photos of, I've yet to see a gray 551 with the older double-dimple receiver. Those older 551's were always green. I've seen 550's though in gray with that lower. Maybe swap the lowers with each other?

d_s · June 24, 2011, 00:33

Quote:

Those older 551's were always green. I've seen 550's though in gray with that lower. Maybe swap the lowers with each other?

KKN, I actually have some original sig rifles and yes, the double dimple lower even on sig 550s were a darker olive green, not gray. In the case of these clones I had one old version parts kit and one newer version, the older was also green but for the sake simplification and interchangability, I painted them all basically the same shade of gray, one a bit darker than the other but in the pics, they look the same. Nice example you have of an original 551. I've tried looking into why sig changed the lower receiver design but have never found anything conclusive, do you happen to know why they changed the mag well design?

homelandprotector · June 25, 2011, 09:05

You're not foolin me, those are airsoft guns......

KKN39 · June 25, 2011, 23:24

Yes, the receivers develop small cracks at the mag well. I'm sure that it probably only happened under hard use. I have some photos stored at another location, which I'll post here in a few days.

d_s · June 26, 2011, 00:21

"Yes, the receivers develop small cracks at the mag well" Interesting, must be stress from the movement of the magazing during full auto firing

IHC53 · June 28, 2011, 12:58

Very, *very" nice...

What did you do with the stock flash hiders?

d_s · June 28, 2011, 14:07

Quote:

"What did you do with the stock flash hiders?"

All the leftover parts, including flashiders, were sold on Gunbroker less some of the more important things like extra firing pins, extractors, etc..

Insider · October 22, 2012, 10:14

Great looking rifles!

Spartatus · October 22, 2012, 16:37

Select fire weapons?
Did you make them such?

d_s · October 23, 2012, 11:40

they aren't select fire, the lowers and carriers have been modified to be semi auto only

bubbaguns · October 29, 2012, 12:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by d_s

they aren't select fire, the lowers and carriers have been modified to be semi auto only

The boltcarrier and bolt are identical to the select fire rifles. The fire control parts are different and there is no cut-out in the rail in the upper for the sear trip.

Tokarev · January 22, 2013, 14:48

Who did your rebarrel work?

d_s · January 22, 2013, 19:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tokarev

Who did your rebarrel work?

Gunsmith at CO Gun Sales, they did extremely well, accurate, no problems like canted sights, etc.

d_s · October 01, 2018, 15:13

If anyone is interested, the SIG 551 in this thread is for sale on Gunbroker: https://www.gunbroker.com/item/787508380

**brunop** · October 01, 2018, 18:22

Super nice rifle!

GLWS

tiblow · October 13, 2018, 18:55

WOW, those are Beautiful, just Beautiful.....

NICE WORK!!!

I bought a USA Sig 556 Swiss Style this summer and got it all set up like I wanted. I would really LOVE to have a real Swiss model I think. I take pride in all my rifles I build or have GS built up that they shoot pretty accurate and more accurate then I can shoot them these days. That said, this US Sig is not as accurate as I'd like it to be....I'd really love a "real Swiss" gray or green one!

Thanks for posting pics!
t

June 12, 2011, 20:55	#1
d_s Registered FALaholic #: 5575 Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Oregon Posts: 976	Sig 556 conversions This place has been to quiet lately so here are a couple of projects I've been working on. 2 sig 556's converted to original 551 and 550 specs. I had new barrels installed by a gunsmith. Then I welded the rear sights back on and painted them both with a mx of duracoat grays that closely match the original sig 550 gray, finalized by repainting the numbers on the lower receiver, upper receiver stampings, etc. [IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] Last edited by d_s; June 08, 2018 at 16:07.

June 12, 2011, 21:16	#2
Stranger Registered Contributor FALaholic #: 3555 Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 10,198	Beautiful rifles. Where did you get the barrels? Do you plan on installing a wire spring in the grenade launcher swell? __________________ If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the precipitate.

June 15, 2011, 01:00	#5
MajHenryWest Registered FALaholic #: 11906 Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 1,032	Wow, you brought to life what the shooting community wanted from the get go! The obvious question is why couldn't SIG USA come up with such great rifles on their first attempt?! Beautiful stuff, how much did they end up costing? (If you don't mind me asking....) p.s. If you ever want to sell that 551, please let me know!! __________________ ****************************** "Steel is Strong because it Knows the Hammer and White Heat." - Johnny Cash, These Things Shall Pass

June 16, 2011, 01:37	#7
Lee Carpentieri Old Fart Silver Contributor FALaholic #: 4936 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Florida Where it's Hot and Humid Posts: 6,603	Sig Rifles. VERY Nice D_S. Saved yourself some serious money also. __________________ Live life to the fullest, Because in the end there's only death and taxs.

June 16, 2011, 18:40	#8
phillyray Veteran Member Contributor FALaholic #: 43105 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Charlotte Posts: 1,581	I want one! __________________ "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have." -- Thomas Jefferson

June 12, 2011, 21:18	#3
d_s Registered FALaholic #: 5575 Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Oregon Posts: 976	I got the barrels from Colorado gun sales, not sure about the grenade springs, its probably something Ill add later. They both are alot of fun to shoot

June 13, 2011, 14:02	#4
Scott S Registered FALaholic #: 355 Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 3,524	Nice work. That's a handsome pair of shootin' irons.

June 17, 2011, 09:14	#9
K.O.A.M. Registered FALaholic #: 8025 Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Central Florida Posts: 7,838	Nice. I've been toying with the idea of one of those, but I'm kind of hoping that someone gets tired of theirs and sells it.

June 17, 2011, 21:30	#10
leek Registered FALaholic #: 16697 Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 549	Or , one could move to Canada , become a Canadian and buy a real Swiss Arms 551. Canadians can buy these guns new but Americans can't because of George Bush 1. Bush signed an executive order outlawing foreign made "assault weapons" . This order was not rescinded with the sunsetting of the AWB of the Clinton era. Bush's order is the reason we have the 922 r rules.The gun grabbers are in both parties people. I am an American that lives near the Canadian border. Canada allows foreigners to get Canadian PAL/ RPAL licenses that are required for Canadians to P osses, A cquire, fireams, L icense. With my license ,I can buy a 551 in Canada but cannot take it back to America!!!!! I got around that issue by buying a firearm business here in the states. We are a class three dealer and have two 550's select fire models that I can fondle and shoot. But they are for sale for the right NFA buyer. Great guns! Great job on the conversion!! Last edited by leek; June 17, 2011 at 21:45.

June 17, 2011, 21:57	#11
d_s Registered FALaholic #: 5575 Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Oregon Posts: 976	Leek, I coudln't agree more on all your points, it kills me that you can buy these things new in Canada, but here??!?!? More pics with a reflex sight: [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG]

June 18, 2011, 15:00	#12
dirtyrice Registered FALaholic #: 20129 Join Date: May 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 5,805	Awesome. I would love to own something just like that. But I know the older parts are hard as hell to come by and not cheap. I have seen a full kit at a gun show before. It had the green furniture. eta: I'd never seen that website you got your parts from. That is awesome they have everything to do it. Do they still make 550/551 series rifles or do they just have a crapload of replacement parts?? But yeah not in my price range at the moment. Of course not much is But eventually I want one. People in canada can gets tons of norinco stuff still too. They have a silly 5rd mag limit. But lots of guys use pinned mags which are insanely hard to revert if necessary. I've seen guys on youtube shooting the latest rifle used by the chinese military. Which we can't get. __________________ “The people are the best guardians of their own rights and it is the duty of their executive to abstain from interfering in or thwarting the sacred exercise of the lawmaking functions of their government.” -William Henry Harrison “I pity the man who wants a coat so cheap that the man or woman who produces the cloth will starve in the process.” -Benjamin Harrison Ron Paul 2008. Wtf happened people God Bless Texas! Last edited by dirtyrice; June 18, 2011 at 15:24.

June 18, 2011, 19:44	#14
tiger222 Registered FALaholic #: 3145 Join Date: May 2001 Location: los angeles,calif Posts: 294	Wow, those are nice, thanks for sharing. If I didn't have an HK problem, I'd be following your foot steps. For all the "Why the h*ll.." look for the SIG 556A1 coming to CDNN. I just completed my 556 set up, and the A1's are coming... __________________ "a man's character can be judged by what his cat thinks of him...." "you know you are getting older when gloss black and wood suddenly looks good on an assault rifle...."

June 18, 2011, 20:40	#15
MajHenryWest Registered FALaholic #: 11906 Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 1,032	Some interesting discussion on the 556A1 and related here - http://m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=82901 __________________ ****************************** "Steel is Strong because it Knows the Hammer and White Heat." - Johnny Cash, These Things Shall Pass

June 18, 2011, 21:37	#16
d_s Registered FALaholic #: 5575 Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Oregon Posts: 976	While that version is closer, I really have to question if SIG USA actually listens to the shooting community, with all of these half assed reiterations, maybe they do listen, but just suck at follow up and execution!

June 24, 2011, 00:20	#17
KKN39 Registered FALaholic #: 14831 Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: NV Posts: 6	Very nice builds! Those are some of the nicest clones I've seen; Excellent color that looks pretty authentic. Out of all the Swiss rifles I've handled and seen photos of, I've yet to see a gray 551 with the older double-dimple receiver. Those older 551's were always green. I've seen 550's though in gray with that lower. Maybe swap the lowers with each other?

June 25, 2011, 09:05	#19
homelandprotector Registered FALaholic #: 16592 Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Reno, Nevada Posts: 7,690	You're not foolin me, those are airsoft guns...... __________________ Me and a .30 cal rifle make a quorum that vote otherwise.....Shlomo

June 25, 2011, 23:24	#20
KKN39 Registered FALaholic #: 14831 Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: NV Posts: 6	Yes, the receivers develop small cracks at the mag well. I'm sure that it probably only happened under hard use. I have some photos stored at another location, which I'll post here in a few days.

June 26, 2011, 00:21	#21
d_s Registered FALaholic #: 5575 Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Oregon Posts: 976	"Yes, the receivers develop small cracks at the mag well" Interesting, must be stress from the movement of the magazing during full auto firing

June 28, 2011, 12:58	#22
IHC53 Registered FALaholic #: 429 Join Date: Jul 2000 Posts: 139	Very, *very" nice... What did you do with the stock flash hiders? __________________ On 8-31-06 Dr. Jason Greenberg at LasikPlus performed blade lasik on my eyes and RUINED them. Beware of this BUTCHER!

October 22, 2012, 10:14	#24
Insider Registered FALaholic #: 1183 Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: central florida Posts: 1,071	Great looking rifles! __________________ I like guns and coffee!

October 22, 2012, 16:37	#25
Spartatus Registered FALaholic #: 64333 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Simi Valley, CA Posts: 220	Question Select fire weapons? Did you make them such?

October 23, 2012, 11:40	#26
d_s Registered FALaholic #: 5575 Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Oregon Posts: 976	they aren't select fire, the lowers and carriers have been modified to be semi auto only

January 22, 2013, 14:48	#28
Tokarev Registered FALaholic #: 880 Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: The Big City of Denver Posts: 34	Who did your rebarrel work? __________________ Nobody needs a gun! Unless he needs it badly!

October 01, 2018, 15:13	#30
d_s Registered FALaholic #: 5575 Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Oregon Posts: 976	551 for sale If anyone is interested, the SIG 551 in this thread is for sale on Gunbroker: https://www.gunbroker.com/item/787508380

October 01, 2018, 18:22	#31
brunop Refresh Key Masher Gold Contributor FALaholic #: 17136 Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Oregon Posts: 13,000	Super nice rifle! GLWS __________________ "How we burned in the prison camps later thinking: what would things have been like if every security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family? Or if during periods of mass arrests people had simply not sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, ham- mers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand. . . . The Organs [police] would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers . . . and notwithstanding all of Stalin‘s thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt." - A. Solzhenitsyn, Gulag Archipelago

October 13, 2018, 18:55	#32
tiblow Registered FALaholic #: 12893 Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: middle earth Posts: 1,120	WOW, those are Beautiful, just Beautiful..... NICE WORK!!! I bought a USA Sig 556 Swiss Style this summer and got it all set up like I wanted. I would really LOVE to have a real Swiss model I think. I take pride in all my rifles I build or have GS built up that they shoot pretty accurate and more accurate then I can shoot them these days. That said, this US Sig is not as accurate as I'd like it to be....I'd really love a "real Swiss" gray or green one! Thanks for posting pics! t

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