I am pretty sure this is a something SIG will drop on the horizon, but it absolutely blows my mind that Sig USA hasn't released a Sig 716i in .277 Fury yet.
Unless you have been living under a rock, you are probably aware of the Army adopting the 6.8x51mm round aka .277 Fury. It is a 135 grain round using a necked down 7.62x51 case as its parent cartridge in its low pressure form. In the binary case round, it produces 20% higher pressure than its traditional all brass cartridge. Yea, sure it wares out riffling like a trucker wears out underwear the day after taco Tuesday, but the on paper performance isn't anything to scoff at.
Yes ammo is in short supply - BUT - Sig has already released a Sig Cross in .277 Fury. Why not give the market a Sig 716i in .277 Fury!? Or as I will call it the "Sig Spear Lite"
If you haven't heard my praise yet; I think the Sig 716i is the MOST feature rich 308 rifle in its price tag. Could it be better? Heck yea, but at a price of sub $1500 (I picked up mine for a little over $1200 after tax) you get a cold hammer forged barrel, mostly ambi lower, HUGE flared magwell, a 416 pattern anti rotation tab on the full length mlok handguard, a *longer-than-rifle-length-gastube* (which makes sense for the pressures of 308), tapered muzzle, flatwire buffer tube with a heavier than standard buffer weight, and a chromed carrier and gas key with a mp/hp tested bolt. When you compare that to the other AR-308 pattern rifle in its price range from Stag, Armalite, Aero, etc it makes a damn good argument to buy one.
I think for the consumer that wants a 6.8 cartridge to match the military issued round, while not investing in the MCX Spear, a 716i makes a ton of sense, would make sig a metric crap ton of money and consumers would want it!
Sure, knowing Sig it will probably have 16 undocumented generations in 2 years but, IMHO, a lot of European based manufacturers view the US market as a side market to over charge in *cough* H&K *cough* but Sig has closed its German doors. It IS an American company now, employing countless Americans - even if it has a Kraut name. Based purely on that, I am will to put my money where my mouth is, if only I saw the product hit the floor already!
Unless you have been living under a rock, you are probably aware of the Army adopting the 6.8x51mm round aka .277 Fury. It is a 135 grain round using a necked down 7.62x51 case as its parent cartridge in its low pressure form. In the binary case round, it produces 20% higher pressure than its traditional all brass cartridge. Yea, sure it wares out riffling like a trucker wears out underwear the day after taco Tuesday, but the on paper performance isn't anything to scoff at.
Yes ammo is in short supply - BUT - Sig has already released a Sig Cross in .277 Fury. Why not give the market a Sig 716i in .277 Fury!? Or as I will call it the "Sig Spear Lite"
If you haven't heard my praise yet; I think the Sig 716i is the MOST feature rich 308 rifle in its price tag. Could it be better? Heck yea, but at a price of sub $1500 (I picked up mine for a little over $1200 after tax) you get a cold hammer forged barrel, mostly ambi lower, HUGE flared magwell, a 416 pattern anti rotation tab on the full length mlok handguard, a *longer-than-rifle-length-gastube* (which makes sense for the pressures of 308), tapered muzzle, flatwire buffer tube with a heavier than standard buffer weight, and a chromed carrier and gas key with a mp/hp tested bolt. When you compare that to the other AR-308 pattern rifle in its price range from Stag, Armalite, Aero, etc it makes a damn good argument to buy one.
I think for the consumer that wants a 6.8 cartridge to match the military issued round, while not investing in the MCX Spear, a 716i makes a ton of sense, would make sig a metric crap ton of money and consumers would want it!
Sure, knowing Sig it will probably have 16 undocumented generations in 2 years but, IMHO, a lot of European based manufacturers view the US market as a side market to over charge in *cough* H&K *cough* but Sig has closed its German doors. It IS an American company now, employing countless Americans - even if it has a Kraut name. Based purely on that, I am will to put my money where my mouth is, if only I saw the product hit the floor already!