Help with my Sig 516

[mpmike25]

Is there anyone out here that knows anything about the Sig 516 piston driven? I'm trying to get a picatinny rail for it but have been told that sig is the only place I can get it and then also been told no I can get a aftermarket one. I've searched the internet and cant seem to find a solid answer. Thanks for your help.

 

[Martin Draco]

Picatinny rail to put where? Don't they come with a railed hand guard?

 

[totenkopf]

Unless Sig's website isn't up to date, the only two models of the 516 that they offer come with rails (the 516 Patrol and the 516 Precision Marksman). However, I own a Sig 556 SWAT model and I know that for a while now, Sig has been taking a lot of flak for their rail designs. IIRC from reading the Sig forums, Sig's rail designs were styled after the 1913 system, but weren't necessarily built to the exact specs. This caused some fitting issues for people when they attempted to add various accessories to their rifles. Supposedly Sig has rectified this situation, but Sig USA's quality control being what it is, I wouldn't count on it.

 

[mpmike25]

They have a basic patrol model which has 2 differences compared to the patrol. The basic doesn't have flip up iron sights and also has polymer hand guards instead of the rail. Sig said they didn't start putting the rails and sights on until 4-5 months ago. My rifle was made in March of 2011. I just want to find a "aftermarket" rail to put on because Sig wants $389.99 for there's but can't seem to find any "aftermarket" ones.

 

[Tim1911]

You won't find aftermarket rails for that rifle. I have the same rifle, and have been through the ringer trying to find the same. When Sig designed the 516, they put a notch in the upper receiver to accept the rail. You have to separate the upper and lower, and ship it back to the factory to get them added. If I knew this before, I wouldn't have picked up this rifle. I'll try to attach a pic, but it may not work as I'm on my phone.

 

[Tim1911]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v176/forty5r/Sig 516 Piston/IMG_3588.jpg

Here is a link to the notch I was talking about. Elmore's told me I was stuck like Chuck because of this notch. I'd love for someone to tell me otherwise. Ideas?

 

[CountryBoy19]

That's why I quit buying Sig products... make everything proprietary, then price it out of this world... see how long you have a customer basis... add on to all of that the major decline in quality over the last decade and you eventually end up with a declining customer base. They're figure out when it's already too late...

I have a review of the 516 in the gear reviews section, tells you exactly what I saw when we took multiple brand new 516's and put them through a 3 day training course where each rifle fired approximately 300 rds of ammo IIRC. Many of the rifles went down at some point, at least one went down permanently and had to be sent back to Sig... after 300 rds, it went down permanently and had to sent back... that is unacceptable... buy an AR15 from a reliable manufacturer and just be done with it.

 

[mpmike25]

@tim I saw that notch cut out on there but didn't even think anything about it when I got it. I'll probably just keep this one with hand guards and am going to build one the way I want it. That way it eliminates all this bs. It's not really much to put a advanced short stroke in anyways. Thanks for your help.

 

[Tim1911]

Mike, I know your disappointment. I was excited about the 516 when I first got it. Thought it had a lot of potential. I was really upset to find I couldn't dress it like I wanted. That's why people buy into the AR platform. I know that's why I came back to it after owning a Sig556. I was a Sig fan, but that is slowly changing.

I also hate to hear that the rifle went down after 300 rounds. Unacceptable. Sig aims a large part of their advertising at law enforcement and military. I'd hate to have that kind of reliability when it truly counted. I guess when it came down to it you'd have a good looking club.

 

[mpmike25]

Oh you can dress the 516 like you want, just after you buy the $300 quad rail from sig and send your rifle to them.