laststandonzombieisland

Sig Sauer’s 716-series rifles have proven popular since they were introduced a few years ago. Essentially a 7.62 NATO variant of the company’s SIG516 carbine, it has been offered increasingly as a battle rifle, patrol rifle and designated marksman rifle (DMR), seeing a good bit of adoption in military and police circles. After all, India just ordered 72,400 of them last year.

The problem is, they run well north of $2K, especially for the SIG716G2 series, with is a piston gun.

That’s where the new 716i, with the appeal of being essentially the same gun at half the price, comes in at.

With a lightweight direct impingement system paired with the company’s TREAD line of semi-customization, the 716i is chambered in .308 Winchester. Standard features include a free-floating M-LOK handguard, a 2-stage Matchlite Duo trigger, and an M1913 Mil-Std top-rail for optics.

Using a 16-inch barrel with a 1-in-10 twist, the overall length of the 716i is 37-inches while weight is 8.5-pounds. The barrel has 5/8X24 TPI threads for muzzle devices.

More in my column at Guns.com.