Tokyo Marui SIG SG552 AEG
Real Steel:
SIG 55x series: I'll start this review off with a little bit of SIG history as the 55x series is not very well known here in the U.S. The SIG 552 is based on the Sturmgewehr 550 rifle designed by Schweizerische Industrie-Gesellschaft as a 5.56mm replacement for the aging Stgw57. The Swiss Federal Council announced in February 1983 that the first .223 assault rifle of the Swiss Army would be the SIG SG541. SIG refined the weapon, renamed it, and started producing the 600,000 rifles ordered by the Swiss Army to be manufactured over 15 years. The first 2000 rifles were issued in 1986 and official delivery began in 1990. The SIG 550 was considered a great feat of engineering because the majority of the Swiss population take shooting sports very seriously and the 5.56mm round was considered useless after 200m. Fortunately the 550 met all the requirements, including being as accurate as the older Stgw57 (which uses the more accurate 7.5 round), and passing various harsh tests which can be seen at
http://www.biggerhammer.net/sigamt/550/550techinspection/.
SIG 552: So after a while, the SIG 550 gains popularity and is still considered the most accurate standard service rifle (without modifications) in the world. The SIG 551 carbine is adopted by many law enforcement teams, but special forces groups all over want an even smaller SIG around the size of a submachine gun but with extreme reliability and a 5.56mm round. So SIG designed the SIG 552, which is not quite the same internally as the 550 and 551. Due to the shorter barrel, the main spring was relocated to the receiver instead of the hand guard. The U.S. Navy SEALS and other special forces teams worldwide, along with law enforcement units, use the SIG 552 to some extent, though it is not as popular as cheaper alternatives.
TM replica: The SIG 55x series is truly a great rifle. Many experts agree that it is the "perfect rifle" from an engineering perspective. This has been replicated to some extent by Tokyo Marui, but the reliability, range, and overall performance is still the same as other AEGs.
The Rifle:
First impression: I bought this SIG 552 as a Christmas present to myself after saving a lot of money over the years. It is my first AEG and I ordered an ICS AN/PEQ-2 with laser, King Arms vertical grip, and 4 MAG 100 round SIG midcaps to go along with it. The package arrived at my house wrapped in rather ugly green paper, shipped from Hong Kong. I got this on sale from Hobby Asia (
www.hobbyasia.com, excellent retailer) for just $196 plus about $48 shipping. It arrived in great condition, along with the scope mount I ordered cleverly put under the instruction manual cutout along with the black metal flash hider. I've always liked the 3-prong 552 flash hiders, and was very happy to be able to replace the amazingly ugly bright orange birdcage flash hider with the metal one. Next I looked at the trademarks. The box's trades were all cut out, but fortunately the gun had the trademarks covered in putty. It took a bit of work to get it all off, but I think it's worth the work because customs will very likely let it through, unlike taped trademarks. Inside the box was the instruction manual, rather funny safety fliers, a really cool speed loader (not exactly new or rare anymore but at the time it was pretty awesome to people), and a bag of .25 bbs in a box that looks amazingly like 5.56mm ammo. I think customs might have gotten a bit of a shock from the text on the bb box because it was opened and slightly bent =).
Body analysis: I'm going to do this back to front and try to cover everything about the gun, but I'm pretty sure I'll still miss something =).
So first is the stock... I swing it open, which took some force compared to my Cybergun SIG 552 springer, and it locks securely in place. The rubber pad on the stock is very comfortable, it beats all other stocks I've ever used, which includes stocks on the G36c, AK-47, MP5, and M4 among others. The plastic on the stock is very solid. None of that breaking junk like with the 550 and 551 here! Not a single squeak! I feel like I could pole vault with this gun, though I will definitely never actually do that =). The hinge and clasp thingy is completely metal. With the stock open, you can see the rear part of the gearbox, which has a very interesting effect when you shoot the gun. I've compared this gun to the TM AK-47 full stock, TM Spetsnaz, and G36c. It has significantly more "recoil" than any of them, though it is still nowhere near any real gun. It's actually more of a vibration... but with select upgrades you might be able to enhance the feel of this gun a bit. I suspect the piston slamming on the front of the gearbox sends vibrations through the back and onto the metal part of the stock, which then is dampened a bit but you still feel a bit of "recoil."
The grip is excellent like the stock due to being direct replicas of the real-steel SIG 552. It absolutely owns any other grip I've held, though I've never held any custom sniper grips or anything like that. It fits on the body very solidly and I have no concern that it'll fall off the receiver or anything like that. The motor adjustment screw is in the center, and there is a plate with a spacer holding the motor up.
The metal selector switch is secured with little grub screws so I'm fairly sure they won't fall off, though it seems common for the SIG 550 (strangely, I haven't heard of the 551 doing this) to lose the right selector switch. It clicks into place with an audible sound, and you will never have to check to make sure the switch actually moved like some other guns. It is also very well-designed, completely ambidextrous and it doesn't get in the way at all, unlike the mp5 series switches.
The trigger is not quite the same thickness as the real-steel but then again on an Airsoft gun trigger pull isn't much of a concern. It moves back and forth pretty easily, and I see no problems with it. It's metal too, but that's a given =).
The trigger guard is a very interesting point. Switzerland is very cold, so it makes sense that soldiers there would wear gloves. The trigger guard flips to either the right or left easily so you can use gloves with the gun. On my rifle it was a bit hard to flip to the sides at first because there are grooves on the sides that hold the trigger guard in normal, left, or right position. The magazine release, which is AK-style, kind of shares its spring with the folding trigger guard. I wouldn't go crazy flipping the trigger guard all over in case it wore the spring, but this is set up exactly the same way as the real-steel so TM is not at fault.
The magazine release is similar to an AK's, but is easier to use simply because of the mags. The release is fully ambidextrous and sits behind the mag well. I can easily push it with my thumb and change mags without even looking, which is good for a rocking-type mag.
SIG mags in real-steel come in 5, 20, and 30 rounds. TM for some odd reason decided to only make replicas of the 20-rounder, but another company called MAG produces 100-round midcaps for the SIG series. To put a mag in the mag well you need to put the front lip of the mag into the well, and then kind of rock it back in place. A lot of people say they hit the release and these mags fall out easily but I don't seem to have that problem. When you push the release, the mags do fall out, which is convenient, but even with the trigger guard folded I have yet to accidentally release a mag. The TM standard comes in two flavors, a 42-round one with fake bullets (amazingly real... don't show this gun to random people lol), and a 60-round one with a clearish black finish. The mags are plastic like the real steel and have a unique feature. You can connect mags using two tabs on the sides. Theoretically you could connect as many as you want, but I like to stick with 2... This is a great feature because you do not need mag clamps. Unfortunately the TM 60-round standard and high cap have weak tabs that are prone to breaking. The 42-round mag seems a lot stronger though and seems to hold up well. On a side note, the MAG mid cap tabs easily broke, one set of mags broke in the mail! =( The high cap capacity might put some people off as it's only 220 rounds, but I think that's plenty enough.
The SIG 552 charging handle is accurate to the real-steel, something you really have to give TM credit for. The 550 and 551 had handles similar to the AK, with a flat part, but the 552 has a slightly different rounded handle. It slides back and comes back with a loud clack, though without a metal body and bolt it sounds really fake. Nice and loud, but fake. At least the handle is metal... nice feel when you want to do the whole fake lock and load thing =D. What's underneath the charging handle is the good part. The SIG 552 has a hop up adjustment drum, like the G3 and AUG rifles. I personally think the AK-style notch thingy is the easiest to use but this is probably even harder to unwind than the AK ones. It also looks cool, a lot better than a bunch of small round parts or a little stick like on some rifles. You rotate it down for more hop, and it stays securely. No chance of unwinding like M4 and MP5 hop ups!
Now I'm going to do the sights because I want to save the best for last. The front and rear sights are full metal. The rear is a drum type sight like HK uses. It has 4 different holes, 3 are pinhole type things in varying sizes. The fourth is what sets this drum sight apart from others! It's a little half-cut for fast targeting, complete with dots which on the real-steel would glow for night shooting. I've painted these dots with bright green paint because it actually does help in low light conditions. I love this sight setting and rarely use the others. It's very accurate as long as you put the front post between the two dots and I see no reason to take longer to use a pinhole sight in an intense firefight. The front sight is hooded, and it's not a huge hood like MP5s =). I don't know why, the huge MP5 front sights have always kind of annoyed me. The best part is the flip-up night sight, which has a dot like the rear sight. With all the dots painted, aiming is simple and quick. The rear sight is adjustable for windage and elevation, and TM has faithfully replicated the instruction-type pictures on the side of the drum. The windage is adjustable with a coin while the elevation requires a flathead screwdriver.
The plastic hand guard covers squeak just a tiny bit with the battery holding thingy removed, but only if you really torque it. There is a small nub on the side for the folding stock to lock on to, and it's pretty ergonomic for a piece designed to simply keep your hands from burning. The rail on the bottom is metal and kind of ugly, but useful. The side rail on the right is plastic but very sturdy. Both rails are removable with an Allen wrench, though it'll leave holes in your hand guard =).
Hand guard pin. This deserves its own section. Unlike the easily lost M16 variant pins, this pin has a little spring-loaded retainer. You can push it out, but it definitely will not fall out on its own. Mine came installed on the left, which is inaccurate, but it was easily fixed.
Past the hand guard is the assembly for the front sight, outer barrel, and flash hider, along with the integrated sling point and bayonet mount. This chunk is FULLY METAL. And it gets better! Everything inside the hand guard is metal. There's a solid block of metal from the tip of the flash hider to where the nozzle meets the inner barrel. This works wonders for the rifle's accuracy, range, and durability. I can honestly say the SIG 552 rivals and might even surpass the range and accuracy of the full length AK-47. The only other guns I know of that have similar full metal assemblies are the G36c (not quite full metal but it has a metal spine and hop up) and the new version 2 M4 (dunno much about it... just heard it was metal heavy lol). There's a little space for a mini battery in the hand guard, complete with tray. I removed this tray because it's just an obstruction. A lot of people think you can only fit a mini 8.4v in the hand guard, but if you take away the tray you can fit a 9.6 and maybe even a 10.8 mini size in there. I kind of regret getting a $50 8.4v 2000 mah peq battery now that I'm considering upgrades. I should have just gotten a mini 8.4v and gotten a 9.6v for the peq =(.
A cool little bonus is that the gas regulator on this gun moves to two settings like the real-steel. It's of no use, but it's still cool to simulate going into rifle grenade mode. The flash hider is screwed on the barrel with a 14mm CCW thread, which is an improvement over the fixed flash hiders on the 550 and 551. Sling points are very sturdy, though if you have metal on your sling it may scratch the sights a tiny bit. The plastic receiver is amazingly similar to the metal. I really couldn't tell the difference between the rear sight's metal and the plastic body until I felt the coldness of the drum sight. The HurricanE metal body for the sig costs about $200 so I'm probably going to wait for a cheaper alternative... I think the plastic body is solid enough anyway. With the low-mount rail on the top the plastic body won't break easily.
I ordered the low-profile scope mount for about $20 along with the gun and it is very very cool. The metal Swiss cross on the front end of the receiver actually is a mounting point. You hook the front of the rail onto the cross and tighten a bolt that pushes against the rear sight. This makes the rail and high rise scope mount quickly detachable and leaves no screw holes.
The trademarks on the body are very accurate. On the right side it says RESTRICTED FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT/GOVERNMENT USE AND/OR EXPORT ONLY in white letters. Under the rear screw disguised as a pin "made in Japan Tokyo Marui co. ltd is engraved." The bolt carries the number 0531, which is pretty cool even if it's not a unique number. The left side reads "SIG ARMS inc. Exeter-NH," then the round SIG logo, and afterwards "Made in Switzerland Cal. .223 Rem." This is in white text, engraved underneath is a strange backwards "B"/forwards "P" symbol. After the symbol it reads "SG 552-2 Commando 0531" The number matches the bolt =D! The lower receiver also has 0531 engraved on it. For some odd reason I cannot find the "agsk" logo that seems to be on every TM product, but I'm sure it's hidden somewhere...
Performance:
Battle: I've used this gun in several skirmishes in a swamp/woodland area. The small size is a definite plus in this thorn-heavy and muddy terrain. My vertical grip makes holding the rifle a lot easier because I've got a PEQ on the side. I suppose it's easier to acquire targets with a vertical grip, but I kind of prefer the normal hold. This is a pretty heavy gun for its size, but it's still easy to move around with. Stock folded, it can't use the mag clamping to its full potential but the size is greatly reduced. I intend on getting a long side rail so that I can fold my stock with my PEQ on because I like it folded so much =). The SIG 552 outranges the AK spetsnaz, is pretty much on par with the G36c because they have pretty much the exact same internals, and amazingly performs as well or better than the AK-47. I've shot all 4 of these guns and the G36c and SIG 552 are pretty even. The spetsnaz is significantly less accurate than the other 3 but can hold a large battery in a small gun. My opinion is probably biased but I like the SIG the best. I don't like the longness of the full stock AK, the spets is too small and inaccurate, and the G36c IMO has worse sights.
Range: The metal assembly and newer hop up design really helps this gun's range. The small size and barrel might make you think it's only good for CQB but it is fine in woodland. Against a significantly longer barrel like the SIG 550 or G3 SG-1 it'll probably be a bit outranged but I'd still say this can compete with the long rifles.
Accuracy: Accuracy isn't spectacular but then again this is an Airsoft gun. I can't really say much on this, but with the sights zeroed you can pretty much hit whatever you aim at provided your gun can reach it. In battle it's a bit hard to rapidly acquire targets and take a good aimed shot at a protruding limb, and that's why I like the cutout CQB sight on the rear drum so much. I like using the night sights even in daytime because you just look to see if all 3 dots are lined up and squeeze the trigger.
30 foot semi auto groupings:
30 foot full auto groupings:
50 foot random shooting groupings:
These were done with a little bit of wind, which is why the shots are a bit off to the right. I zeroed my sights for 80 feet so the bbs are a bit high, but you can get a general idea of how accurate the gun is with these very informal tests.
Durability: This thing isn't going to break. Very strong body, stock, grip, and hand guard unlike the older 550 and 551 rifles. It lacks the burst feature which is a bit disappointing but then again the 552 doesn't come with burst like the 551 in real-steel. TM was very generous with the metal content on this gun. The most likely part to break would have to be the tabs on the mags. Other than that I can't see this gun breaking without significant force... it's literally solid as a rock!
Upgradeability/customizability: The version 3 gearbox and the EG1000 motor means lots of upgrades internally. You can do pretty much anything to the gearbox. The battery capacity is kind of poor, but it's not quite as bad as people thought earlier on. If you remove the battery case thing, you can fit another row of cells in between the two on a mini battery. I've seen a 9.6v used this way and have no reason do doubt a 10.8v would fit also. Voltage is adequate but capacity is still disappointing... That's why I got a PEQ for mine. External upgrades for SIGs are pretty rare. I've seen a HurricanE metal body, various side rails by First Factory, Guarder, and some other companies, low and high scope mounts, stock cheek pads O_o, and replacement parts by TM. There's also a carrot $160 hand guard from back in the 550 and 551 days... it can hold a larger battery but the price is a bit crazy if you ask me. mock silencers are common on real 552s though I don't really like them myself. Anything with a 14mm CCW thread will fit, including the Marui tracer unit =).
=) just a picture of my two sigs... one's a springer lol.
Real-steel/Airsoft comparison:
Real SIG 552 TM SIG 552 SEALS
Length
730/504 mm 720/465 mm
Barrel Length
226 mm 247 mm
Weight (empty)
3.0 kg 1.8 kg
Caliber
5.56x45 mm/.223 Remington 6mm BB
Rate of fire
780 rpm 832 rpm
Magazine capacity
5/20/30 round 42/60 std, 220 high, 100 mid round
Velocity
2379 FPS 281 FPS
-By rtrdpenguin
e-mail:
rtrdpenguin@gmail.com 
