Sig Sauer Brings the Classic 550 Rifle to America
Well respected around the world, and the subject of intense collector interest in the United States, the SIG 550 series will finally be produced for sale here.
In the late 1970s, the landlocked country of Switzerland, renowned for chocolates, and cuckoo clocks,
alongside finely crafted watches and firearms, was in need of a new rifle for their military. The SIG Company of Neuhausen, Switzerland submitted a design they classified as the SG 550 for testing. By 1986, the rifle had been adopted and some 600,000 were being produced for the Swiss Army.
Today they are in use with more than a dozen countries and have even been bought by the US government for the FBI and DEA. Before 1989, about 500 semi-auto versions were brought to the United States and sold on the civilian market before the ATF banned further importation of non C&R eligible rifles without a ‘sporting use.’ This made these few gems of the firearms world skyrocket in price to over $10,000 due to the nature of supply and demand.
Now, SIG has gotten around this 20+-year import ban by producing these rifles here in the United States in their Exeter, New Hampshire facility.
Read the rest in my column at Top Gun Review
