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SIG 556 Accessories to convert to 550, 551 & 552:
Updated 10-03-2008 @ ( 1219 hours )
QUALITY & FUCTIONALITY TAKES TIME:
First and foremost I understand everyone is very anxious to get products for the SIG 556 rifle. While I greatly appreciate your enthusiasm and support in this project. Please understand that MFI has only been working on SIG items since April 16th, 2008. Additionally know that we are NOT doing just one item for the SIG 556. There are now 12+ different items being developed and or produced. We are working as fast as we can but, we refuse to put out any product that does not live up to our reputation. It costs about the same and takes only a little longer to produce junk as it does to make a super quality and 100% functional item.
We need to be very sure that what we produce are:
MADE IN THE USA:
All products will be 100% made in the USA. Generally we make everything in the USA anyway... But, the biggest issue with the SIG 556 is that there is no way to know what parts SIG makes here in the USA. It is our understanding that they have only the minimum number of US made compliant parts for this weapons system. So as an 07 BATF Manufacture we do not want our customers to unknowingly negate a US made part from their rifle. In short adding any MFI parts to your SIG 556 will maintain or increase the total number of US made parts.
THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS:
Unlike other companies MFI does not do short production runs of only 200 to 500 units. In order to be able to offer products at reasonable prices we have to do a minimum run of 1000 units. It is NOT just a matter of reverse engineering as some would believe. In all cases we have to make the jump between 20+ year old product and the new rifles. Nothing is simple and we do change directions from time to time to improve either the quality or the way it is manufactured to be able to offer a lower price.
We generally make 3-4 different versions of any one prototype. These have to be tested in a real world application in order to be sure that they work. We do all our own testing in house on Class III versions of whatever weapons system we are designing for. Any deficiency causes us to re-think and redesign. On average prototypes cost about $3500.00. We need to be 100% sure that everything is as good as it can be before we make the move to the production stage.
Tooling for any of these items ranges from $8500.00 to $60,000.00. Tooling usually can not be adjusted if there is a problem caused by any small discrepancy in the design. Sure we can throw money at any problem but, all these mistakes have to be past on to the retail price of the product.
I am sure you would rather wait to have the highest quality, best designed and 100% functional product for the lowest price, rather than have a piece of junk now at a ridiculously high price.
ETA & TIME FRAME:
We have finished most of the prototypes and we are working on some of the tooling. Some products have entered the production stage at this time. Unlike most MFI products the SIG 556 line up will NOT have any slick & sexing packaging. In order to save time everything will be in simple clear poly bags. For the dealers we will likely have nice packaging for point of purchase in 2009. We list all the items below with estimated production dates and prices. Please understand that things change as we progress. We do listen to customer feed back so now is the time to voice your opinion.
As we have been developing product for 20+ years we know the ins and outs of the process. Generally a single item can not go from concept to finished product in less than 6 months. So we are basically on schedule. ETA dates are impossible to accurately guarantee with 100% certainty as anything can happen along the way. We sub-contract out all our production and plating to those in the industry who have the expertise and millions of dollars worth of state-of-the-art equipment. Of the manufacturing process we handle all conceptual, design, drawings, testing and prototyping in house.
Most of what we do is NOT just reverse engineering. I wish it were that easy. To date only the Bayonet Lug and Take Down Pins are direct copies of the original. SIG made enough changes to the 556 series that it has slowed us down significantly. It was easy to see what needed to be done in terms of product for this market. Actually getting truly functional prototypes to work flawlessly and 3D modeled takes time. All the other items have some changes to them.
I will give you 2 examples:
We did not want to sacrifice function and style on this item & as it turns out to be the number one most requested item I am glad we did not. We could have made a really short drum sight version, but that made it a little difficult to turn. It also negated any Retro Look of the original sight which is what this entire project is all about. I will not go into greater detail until we release the first production run as there are trade secrets that we wish to protect. Suffice it to say you have only heard about 25% of the story.
Trust me... There is no one more anxious about getting these items done than the guy who has spent 250+ hours in development and $75,000.00+ in samples, tooling and raw materials... The scope of this project exceeds a million dollars. So this is a very big deal to us and important enough to do it right.
In closing this issue you also need to understand that the SIG 556 project is only one of 4 different weapons systems projects under development. The other 3 will be announced later this fall. So all you HK and AK lovers will have something new and very special to look forward to.
PRIORITY LIST & DEEP DISCOUNTED PRE-PAY & WAIT OFFERS:
Those who contact us (606-787-0022 or mfrost@mfiap.com [ Subject or Title of e-mail = SIG 556 ] )and give us complete name and address (e-mail + phone) will be placed on our priority list for information and DEEP DISCOUNTED pre-pay and wait offers.
Generally we will contact you about 6 weeks from availability of in stock items and offer you the discount at that point. These discounts will generally be 35% below the lowest price you see listed after each item. We plan to pre-sell only 40% of the total production run at these super low prices which are actually just above cost.
We will be offering super discount on all items once we have a realistic and for sure ETA for them. We do not take money from anyone until we know actual cost and genuine ETA. In short we are not like other vendors who take money and leave you hanging. We just want to reward those who step up to the plate with us on this product line.
Due to the high number of interested parties priority is given to those who supply complete address information. This way we can add you to our data base which will make shipping / filling orders much faster once we have product in stock. Adding hundreds of customers at the last minute will only slow down the fulfillment process.
Information sent to us is always private and is never used for anything other than previously stated.
When sending address information via e-mail please know that we cut and paste so please format similar to this:
E-Mail Subject or Title should be "SIG 556". Generic subjects like: "Information", "List" or "What I want" can easily be over looked or deleted by accident.
If you do NOT get a response / reply back confirming that you are on the list... you need to send it again as you are not on the list.
Please avoid All Caps and All Subscript formats:
John Q Doe-Public
445 Main Street
Freedom NM 77420
606-787-0022
MySIG-556@aol.com
I am interested in the following items:
Drum sight + Rail
Hand Guard
Etc.
This saves us a lot of time… time we could use on development and testing of new SIG 556 products.
NOTE: The prices listed on this page are special discounts to SIG 556 customers. When you clink on the link to the item for more information you will find prices that are higher... To get the discount you MUST reference the SIG 556 page.
M4 Style Fake Silencer with Special SIG 556 Adapter @ $100.00
SOCOM Style Fake Silencer with Special SIG 556 Adapter @ $115.00
IN STOCK SIG 556 Scope Mount Rail REPLACEMENT BOLTS (Allen Key) Correct counter sink so they fit FLUSH to the top of the rail. @ $0.50 per bolt.
I hope that we can have something by Feb of 2009 and at a cost of perhaps $75.00 to $95.00. These will be plug and play and will REQUIRE the user to REMOVE the exactly SIG 556 Pistol Retaining Ring by means of the removal the gas block or by cutting off the retaining ring. We will mold the retaining ring into the plastic of the hand guards and thus the user can then snap our 552 Style Hand Guards in place just like the 551 and 550 or 556 Rifle.
So I kind of need to hear from those who want the 552 HGs to see if they are willing to remove the 556 Retaining Ring or not. If not there is nothing that we can do for them. We will NOT even consider making a version that will allow the use of the existing 556 retaining ring as that would look 100% stupid and completely un-original.
The more requests that I get for 552 Hand Guards the more time and money I am willing to put into the project. Just FYI... Molds for these will cost $35,000.00+ so I need to have feed back before we do anything.
Lastly: Assuming we do make 552 Style Hand Guards we will also produce the lower rail to accommodate an RIS Grip. We will NOT be drilling holes in the hand guards for either SIDE or BOTTOM RAILS as not everyone will want them and to avoid any NFA issues.
This item is the most difficult to do as we are now on our 6th prototype. We have arrived at this configuration (Rear Sight Permanently Attached to a replacement Top Rail) because there was no other way to keep the original SIG 550 look and still retain the correct height for the sight to align with the any standard / original SIG front sight.
Other corrections that we have made to the rail are as follows:
This item would have been perhaps the easiest of all the items we are doing. To date only 9 people have contacted me about this. This is basically a copy of our existing AR15 Multiple Aperture Device / MAD / Flip Up Rear Sight. We re-designed the rear flip up portion to be shorter and thus to line up with any SIG556 or SIG 550 / 551 / 552 front sight. For specifics on materials used and aperture diameters go to the AR15 Rear Flip Up Sight page: www.mfiap.com/smallarms/madd-site.htm.
We have changed the material from aluminum to steel to be more cost effective and produce higher volumes over time. We have also added a device to allow adjustment for elevation. Total elevation adjustment should equal that of an original SIG 550 sight rated from N+ + to N- - as we have twice the adjustment of the original 3 options. This has been done in a manner that does not retract from the original look. Certainly not the most cost effective way of doing it, but by far the most functional and keeping with the original SIG 550 look.
You might recall that in the past SIG relied on the fact that the weapons are test fired at the factory and then marked with "N", "N+" or "N-". The "N" stands for "normal" where as the "+" & "-" mean shooting low or high of "normal". You the customer is suppose to know this and be able to order the correct sight for your specific weapon. God help the dealer or SIG themselves to actually have one of these 3 in stock. Not the way it should be done in our eyes.
Other changes that we have made are as follows:
NOTE: So if you want our Rear Drum or Flip up MAD sight you have to use it with: Original SIG 550 / 551 Hooded Front Sight, MFI Hooded Front Sight or Original SIG 552 non-hooded flip up sight. The converse is also true… If you want to use our Hooded 550 / 551 / 552 Front Sight you will need: an Original SIG 550 / 551/ 552 rear sight welded to your receiver or one of our 2 rear sights previously mentioned.
We wanted to have something that looked like a Genuine SIG 551 Side Folding Stock from 5 feet, but that was still cost effective. It was a real trick to get this formed and able to attach to the existing SIG 556 lower receiver. You get all the require attachment hardware and tools to get this on in less than 5 minutes without any modifications to your original receiver. Yes we looked long and hard at trying to make an acceptable folding stock that attached to the existing SIG 556 receiver but, it is impossible due to the fact that they all end up looking wrong in so many ways. As stated... we are perfectionists and it takes the same amount of time and money to do it right as it does to do in wrong... so why not do it right the first time around?
NOTE ON TEXTURE: The prototype in the photos was NOT textured to mimic the bead blasted type of finish found on the original weapon. We did not want to slow down the manufacturing process to do this as it was for photographs and to check fit only. The finished product will NOT have the CNC tool marks and glossy finish that you see in the photos. The finished product will have the same super light bead blasted texture that the Original SIG 550 furniture has.
As you can see from the photo we do incorporate the finishing touches on the stock to make it appear to be a real SIG product. The Lighting Flash Cut Outs on the sides near the front of the stock and the rear locking point for the stock when it folds over to the hand guard are both there. We also incorporated the Channel Cut Out in the lower leading edge that is also found on the real SIG 550 & SIG 551 stocks. Obviously these are all strictly cosmetic.
The MFI Solid Non-Folding SIG 556 Stock has the exact same profile, length and contour to that of the original 550. So if you laid a SIG 556 with our stock on top of a real SIG 550, 551 or 552 and lined up the pistol grips the ending point of the butt plates would be identical.
Many people as about the length when not viewed with a real SIG 551 to compare too. This question arises as the shape of the 556 receiver at the connecting point is radically different from that of the Original SIG 55X series, thus the shape and contour of the MFI 556 Non-Folding Stock between the cut out triangle in the stock and the connecting point into the receiver creates a slight optical illusion that can not be avoided. We have to make the stock narrower in this area which creates a scene of longer length. Basically we have to go from the original Square Peg (the stock) into a Square Hole (the original Receiver end) to the current 556 where we have a Square Peg (the stock) reshaping to fit into a Round AR15ish hole / receiver.
Trust me on this one... after $15,000.00 in RND & Prototypes there is no better way to do this. We tried everything and all other attempts look like: "El Crapola".
When ever you retro-fit / try to fix a design flaw there will always be some point of deviation.
SPECIAL NOTE ON COLOR: To date I have only gotten 9 people who want anything other than black. 7 of the 9 want SIG Green as a color option and the other 2 want Dark Earth. With so few requests I do not think color choices are going to ever be available. Unfortunately I am one of the 2 who would like to have Dark Earth.
I am open to all possibilities but, there is a minimum of 500 units when doing a color change. Minimum run of stocks is 2500 total. So you can see the dilemma.
The other issue we have is that SIG in 20+ years has had 3 different shades of green. So do you want the Light Gray Green for 1984 thru 1987, or what I will call standard SIG 541 Green from 1988 to 2000 or the new PE90 / PE541 and SIG 556 Green (slight shade lighter than previous color) from 2000 to current?
So you can see that any color option would also require us to make Grips and Hand Guards to match... $$$ in tooling... not sure it would be worth it.
To be honest I would rather do a completely new color like Dark Earth rather than SIG Green. But, that is just my opinion...
We are making an exact reproduction of the SIG Take Down Pin that has harden steel reverse cut angled clips that spring out and hold the pin in place. These are not just simple QD pins like HK. They are far more complex and stronger than anything on the market. Typical SIG over-design and we love it! We are only making these as the originals are hard to get and cost $50.00+
Note that we are NOT using Ball Barings to replace the original SIG Hardened Spring Clip that stick out the ends. Ball Barings are known to slip past the edge or the receiver that they are suppose to grab hold of. Unless you depress the opposite end these will NOT come out. You can even wack them with a hammer and they will not go anywhere. As you can see these lock in tight and hold and they will scratch your receiver.
These can replace BOTH the front and rear take down pins on your SIG 556. Far faster and easier to install and remove than the SIG 556 pin / bolt / screw. When replacing the rear lug pin you will no longer need the small detent pin and spring that keeps the standard 556 AR15 style pin in place.
Basically direct copy of SIG originals without SIG logos. We will make these in black... perhaps some in SIG Green. If you want Green you NEED to contact us.
As I am one of the 14 people who are on the list who want these it is highly unlikely that we will produce them any time soon. Additionally I am not sure I like the look of them on the Non-Folding Stock. They fit perfectly and are rock solid as the area that they grip is identical to that of the Original SIG 551. Let me know what you think.
We are looking at doing these as well. Not high on our list as not many of you have asked for these. We could do folding or non-folding. Folding would just replace the SIG or MFI folding stock (see below). Contact us if you would like to see us make these.
Basically direct copy of SIG originals. We will make these in black... perhaps some in SIG Green. If you want Green you NEED to contact us.
I have been asked a number of times... "Will you make any picatinny rails(sides and bottom) so I can attach accessories on my 551 hand guards?"
Even though I am dead set against this idea. In that it detracts from the Original SIG look... Yes we plan to modify our existing 6" rail to have holes that will line up with pre-drilled SIG Hand Guards (they have 4 holes) we plan only to have 2 bolts mate up. Our hand guards will NOT be drilled with holes, however... we will supply a template with the rail so that the customer can drill them in the same position as the SIG hand guards are. As for lower we are already in production on a lower rail that about 4" long and has the rib slit cut out and slop of the hand guard so that a laser of flashlight are level / horizontal with the barrel. Obviously all this is somewhat antiquated as our existing barrel mounts are far more effective and cost ½ what the rails will be. We are doing only the 4" lower as it also fits the SIG 552 which we supply to Law Enforcement.
My advise is that is you want to have rails... Buy a Quad Rail for your 556... Or use our Barrel Mounts.
Comes with: Complete Stock, Stripped Lower with fold away trigger guard and mag catch (paddle & push button) release ONLY. All other parts you will take off your existing SIG 556 lower and transfer over.
We are still working on improving the look of this item. We are hoping to have the 3rd version prototype done and tested in the next 2 months. The real issue here is how low a profile magazine well can we make and still have it work. As you may know the original SIG mags are like the AK47 magazines that require only 3/4 of an inch of grip to stay in place. The AR15 / M16 magazine requires 2-3 inches to be stable. You can see from our photo that the 2nd version (Left) is a variation of the existing SIG 556 Lower where as the 3rd version (Drawing Right) is more like the original SIG 550 & SIG 551 Lower. Regardless of which one we end up doing the following will be true.
First of all the Upper on a SIG 556 is the Receiver. The Lower is like any other part. So you do NOT need an FFL to order a lower from us.
The rear portion of the lower (behind the rear take down hole) will be weapons grade steel to take the opening and closing of the side folding stock. The side folding stock will be an exact duplicate of the original SIG 550 / 551 / 552 stock... so that an original will fit plug and play to our receiver or like wise our stock can be placed on an original SIG 551 lower and function 100%. If you want a receiver without a stock you need to contact us ASAP as we will not generally offer these. You can expect a $125.00 discount off the price for no stock. Note that if you want to use the SIG 556 hand guards you will need to do slight modification to the locking lug and 3 ribs that are right next to it. We will supply detailed drawings and explanations as to what needs to be done. These areas need to be cut down as they get in the way of the stock catching onto the locking lug. Blame SIG not me for this one as there is no way to accommodate both without changing the configuration / shape of the stock on the right side... and trust me... you would not like the look if we did. We may offer replacement SIG 556 hand guards that are modified to work plug and play. Cost??? At least $100.00... so worth doing yourself.
The front portion of the lower forward of the rear take down pin will be 6061 T-6 aircraft aluminum (same as on the SIG 556 lower) machined from billet. There will be a flip away (right and left) snow / glove trigger guard. There will be a paddle lever magazine catch release and standard M16 style push button release. We will provide the complete magazine catch release. You will need to swap out all other parts from your original 556 lower. We will have the sides marked as if full auto / select fire but, all will be blocked (both selector and disconnector) to BAFT specs. We will supply 07 + SOTs with information as to how to convert to select fire but, you will need a complete original SIG 550, 551 or 552 fire control set and disconnector which we will NOT provide. All NRA Rules Apply.
I hope that covers most of your questions. If not please feel free to contact me: (606-787-0022 or mfrost@mfiap.com )
As a Class III manufacture we are well aware of the
requirements of the most demanding customer.
Our customers include:
MFI designs
the most applicable & cost effective accessories
available. Do NOT let our low prices fool you.
We NEVER sacrifices CRAFTSMANSHIP or
QUALITY for price.
This item is NOT RESTRICTED FOR DOMESTIC US SALES in any way and we offer DOMESTIC USA shipping to ANYONE. Sorry we can NOT ship to ANY APO address regardless of actual location.
This item is
This approval IS AVAILABLE through MFI as we are an ITAR / Dept. of State Registrant with the Directorate of Defense and Trade Controls Office. We can obtain a US State Dept. Export License for you.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions on this issue. mfrost@mfiap.com
Again real world solutions for real world operations.
Customer Service is available via telephone 606-787-0022 from 10:30 AM to 6:30 PM Monday through Friday. We are often in earlier and or later than the aforementioned hours so if we hear the phone ring we will answer it.
DAILY DEADLINE FOR ORDERS: Any order received by 1:00 PM East Coast Time (Monday through Friday... excluding closures of course) is GUARANTEED to be filled this same day. Orders received after this deadline will be filled on the next business day.
For more information call: 606-787-0022 10:30 AM to 6:30 PM (East Coast Time)
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