G&G SG552 Review

[spetsnazdave87]

G&G Sig Sauer SG552 carbine review.

 

Background

 

 

The Sig Sauer SG552 carbine is a commando version of the Swiss-made Sig Sauer 550 rifle. Popular with Law Enforcement, contractors and and military the world over, it is a very small, compact assault rifle giving the user AR firepower in a submachine-gun sized package. The 552 features a folding stock, fixed, Heckler-Koch style iron sights, a short barrel and polymer furniture and magazines, and is also available in the ‘LB’ long barreled version which has attachments for a grenade launcher or bayonet as well as increased accuracy.

 

I was attracted to the 552 for its compact nature, stylishness and its prominence in films such as Miami Vice and games including Rainbow Six Vegas, and Kane and Lynch.

 

 

However, I didn’t particularly want to go for the venerable TM 552 despite its great reputation and 3 round burst mode as I’d have had to get the hurricane metal kit. The ICS has apparently had issues with poor battery size and I’ve seen several pictures of the metal bodies rusting, which put me off.

 

Fortunately, G&G last month released the 552 and the more modern 553 (LB), based on their popular 553. Features include high quality polymer furniture, solid full metal construction, a G&G V3 gearbox and, on the 552, included rails for accessories and foregrips. I’ve never had a problem with G&G guns though I hear they do have a reputation for dodgy early versions of their new guns (See the fn2000 mag compatibility problems), but I thought it worth the risk.

 

 

The Sig cost me about £550 from WGC by TNT express along with 10 MAG 100-round Sig midcaps (more on them later), a KSC Sig P226R tactical, two suppressors and two spare 226 magazines. This worked out at about £250-£275 posted from hong kong, not including customs. They retail new now at Airsoft World for £299.95, which is a reasonable price IMHO for a brand new gun of this quality.

 

 

The box is G&G shiny goodness. Nice hologram of the gun, good presentation, though WGC didn’t half tape the shipment together, which flayed some of the exterior. Hell, this gun was much more securely wrapped than a lot of AEGs I’ve had in boxes so a bit of missing paper doesn’t bother me. Included with the gun are some bbs and two instruction manuals; one from the 550 series, and one 552/553 specific manual.

 

 

 

Edited October 14, 2010 by spetsnazdave87

[spetsnazdave87]

Initial impression on picking it up is fantastic. The polymer is rock solid and a lovely OD colour, and the metal is light but seems rugged. Stock folded out, it feels a lot firmer than many solid stocked weapons I’ve held. No play in the length of the gun at all.

 

 

 

It is a small gun, don’t get me wrong, but this isn’t a bad thing. It feels fantastically maneuverable while simultaneously reassuringly weighty, and is definitely sufficiently ‘pointy’. I could see this being a cracking CQB weapon in terms of design straightaway.

 

I picked up the included 40-round ‘short’ lowcap provided, and was impressed with the construction of this. For a plastic magazine it feels good, the dummy rounds and imitation spring look realistic enough, and a nice touch is a follower that makes sure every single last bb in the mag feeds into the gun. It locks into the gun in a very similar manner to an AK mag, a lip hooking into the magwell then rocked back to lock in on the catch in front of the trigger guard.

 

The trigger guard itself is nicely designed. As on a real 552, you can move it to left or right so if you’re wearing bulky gloves you can move it aside and it’s easier to use in that respect.

 

Hop up is a simple wheel-type, easy to adjust and access via the bolt pulling back into a very nice realistic rubber split cover. The bolt catch is functional so you can lock the bolt back while setting the hop, before releasing it with a metallic clack that will guarantee to put a smile on your face.

 

 

The stock folds and clips in place on a hook on the lower half of the foregrip. This I was very relieved about as both my old G&G LR300 and my Star FNC had issues with the folding stock flapping about when folded. However the G&G 552 locks firmly in place and I reckon you could easily use it as a foregrip or handstop when folded for a very compact CQB weapon.

 

 

 

The foregrip itself comes with two rails, a short side rail for lights, lasers etc, and a long lower one for grips or accessories beneath the gun. These rails are proprietary, it doesn’t appear that the 552 could take the bolt on g36 rails so beloved by airsofters without some serious modification. 553 potential owners should also bear in mind that it doesn’t appear that the 553 comes with rails at all (would welcome confirmation/disproving of this though).

 

 

 

I have to confess, the grip is a little slim for me. It feels a little elongated, and I can’t help feeling this is probably the sign of a good replica of the real thing, as this is the only explanation for a design which is so spectacularly battery-unfriendly (more on that later).

I however had a bit of a plan, as a friend had told me how he’d appreciated the Magpul PTS AFG on his 552, and I have to agree with him. Once the grip was bolted on, the ergonomics felt totally natural, comfortable and chunky to grip while leaving the upper side rail free for accessories.

 

 

(Seen with Madbull Gemtech Halo suppressor mounted, which does fit the 552 flashhider).

 

I’m sure some Swiss airsofters are making a mental note to hunt me down and kill me for desecrating such a fine piece of Sig Sauer design with a ‘*I use homophobic slurs and want to get banned*’ accessory, but hell. It works for me, and I recommend the ergonomics if, like me, you have slightly bigger hands. This gun definitely cries out for a foregrip, and had I the money I reckon an M900 light would work wonderfully.

 

However, the foregrip is also the cause of the gun's major flaw for me right now, which will be covered very shortly in part 3...

[yee245]

I picked up the included 40-round 'short' lowcap provided, and was impressed with the construction of this. For a plastic magazine it feels good, the dummy rounds and imitation spring look realistic enough, and a nice touch is a follower that makes sure every single last bb in the mag feeds into the gun. It locks into the gun in a very similar manner to an AK mag, a lip hooking into the magwell then rocked back to lock in on the catch in front of the trigger guard.

...

Hop up is a simple wheel-type, easy to adjust and access via the bolt pulling back into a very nice realistic rubber split cover. The bolt catch is functional so you can lock the bolt back while setting the hop, before releasing it with a metallic clack that will guarantee to put a smile on your face.

 

Sorry to interrupt the review, but the magazine I believe can only hold 30 rounds.

 

Also, a word of caution with the bolt. While it does make a nice clacking sound when slamming forward, don't repeatedly let the bolt slam forward. If done too much, it can cause that pin that the bolt handle release lever thing pivots on to break and/or fall out. Or, it could have just been a fluke accident, but after doing this a bunch of times (probably well over a dozen times) with my 550 one time when I was standing around, it broke on mine. I did find the lever and the handle, but I lost the pin. The springs inside stayed in place.

[spetsnazdave87]

Aha, I will have a look at that. I had heard the bolt on the 552 was meant to be removable, as per the real steel, but I don't want to lose it while adjusting hop.

 

As for the mag thanks for cluing me in, I was sure I'd heard that the lowcaps were 40 rounders, but can't remember where. Part 3 will be up tonight, with the 'bad points' part...

[yosser]

owning the ics 552 its good to see a different one being reviewed and seeing whats the same/better/worse type thing - thanks Dave

[spetsnazdave87]

Ok part 3 has been put on till tomorrow as I made the mistake of 'having a quick go on Medal of Honor'...

 

 

Updates, I have worked out the missing bolt catch issue of Yee's, there is a catch on the bolt cover which allows the bolt to be removed. There's a knack to remove it so I'm not too worried about it just falling off, but as yee says it's something to watch.

 

I've also managed to mod my MAG 55X midcaps to fit, so one of the down sides is cleared up. Will post pictures of the mod tomorrow

[yee245]

The bolt handle is meant to be removable. I was basically saying that if you repeatedly release the bolt when it's locked back and let it slam forward a lot, one of the pieces can break, causing pieces to fall off, which in turn makes two other pieces not stay in. It's just something to watch out for. A kind of terrible analogy would be like if you took a hammer and hit the selector switch (not that you would), doing it a couple times might be fine, and it wouldn't necessarily break, but if you kept hitting it over and over, it's probably going to break.

[spetsnazdave87]

Ah right. I'll keep an eye on it.

[spetsnazdave87]

Part Three

 

On to the downsides.

 

It has to be said, despite the lovely externals, whoever designed this Sig was determined to make a buck or two extra for G&G.

 

First: The magazines are proprietary; TM, JG and ICS won't fit. The Mag midcaps, although possible to mod to lock into the magwell, do not mate with the hop unit properly to feed bbs into the unit. This means you're left with either the 370 round G&G highcaps, RRP £20+ in the UK, or the 30-round G&G realcaps, RRP around £20. I'm not a highcap or lowcap fan, I like my mids, so this really kind of kills my enjoyment of this gun as a skirmishing AEG. Still, it looks pretty and if you like highcaps, you'd have no problem with these.

 

Second: The battery compartment in the handguard, isn't really a battery compartment. It's a small space that happens to be inside a real-dimensioned handguard, which they expect you to fit a large connector-d battery with zero modification.... right.

 

 

There is no room inside the grip for mini NIMH batteries stock, AT ALL. G&G recommend a special lipo made by 'Kong Power', but I have the following remedy I worked out today, based on how I fitted a battery into my old XM177:

 

1) File down the 'ribs' in the bottom part of the handguard (the polymer is very strong, this will take a while), so it's smooth.

 

 

2) Grind down the bottom of the barrel to create as much spare room as possible.

 

3) The large connector makes it very difficult to fit the battery (an 8.4v mini crane stock batt from component shop, £14 each and the smallest they do), but the connector is easy to unscrew and detach, which can then be filed down and made into a fairly regular large male tamiya connector.

 

4) You should be able to fit the four cell in the top of the handguard, and the three cell in the bottom, the fuse to the left, and the wiring and connector to the right.

 

 

And that fits. It's only an 8.4v, you could get higher RoF with lipos, but the RoF is perfectly respectable on 8.4 and I don't think you'd need more.

 

 

Third: something to keep an eye on, the fire selector seems a little finicky. It's ambidextrous and you have to press the switches in, swivel it, and it will slide into place. If this sounds complex, that's because it is, a little. Compared to an M4 selector it takes a bit of getting used to, but it's manageable. I'd just keep an eye on it.

Edited October 16, 2010 by spetsnazdave87

[spetsnazdave87]

Performance

 

Loading up the only mag that worked, the 30 round lowcap, I gave the sig some shoot.

 

It's doing about 340-350 at the moment on my my 25s, with a respectable range. Hop is easily adjusted, and it's pretty accurate. With a tightbore accuracy and consistency may improve but out of the box it's perfectly skirmishable and effective for a fair distance. A lower spring might be a good idea though.

 

The rate of fire on an 8.4v is above average, I expect that a 7.4v lipo will have a very fast RoF. Any higher than that and you might have a problem.

 

Disassembly

 

 

Disassembly is quite simple; the upper receiver and barrel assembly, including an integrated hop unit, comes off with the removal of the front body pin. The gearbox, apparently a V3 but without a motor cage, is easily accessible from the lower receiver, and the hop is accessible from the upper. A nice touch is the connector plates, which pass current from the battery to the motor. This means there's no irritating wiring to disconnect and reconnect when disassembling the gun.

 

The gun also includes a full, comprehensive disassembly diagram.

[spetsnazdave87]

Summary

 

Summing up.

 

Positive:

 

+ Lovely externals, very realistic polymer and full metal construction. Solid as hell.

+ Good weight to it, despite being compact doesn't feel toy like.

+ Very respectable out of the box performance. Good RoF, comes out around 350 fps.

+ Scope rail, side rail and under rail all included for mounting of accessories.

+ Compatible with the TM and ICS cheek rests.

+ Sling mounts front and back, and a one point sling point.

+ Good solid adjustable HK style sights.

+ Working bolt catch for easy hop adjustment, very cool.

 

Negative:

 

- Battery compartment makes it lipo or nothing without modification.

- No midcaps, the G&G proprietary mags are expensive.

- Fire selector feels 'wobbly', though this is likely a design feature.

- Potential for removable bolt cover to fall off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The G&G 552 is simultaneously a great gun, and a very frustrating one. It looks lovely, it feels great, and it shoots very well. However, it's stopped from being a truly great gun by its tiny battery compartment and incompatability with TM and MAG magazines, which are the most widely affordable and available. The battery problem is fairly easily sorted with an hour or two of hard work, but the lack of midcaps really puts me off the gun as a skirmishing piece. If you don't mind highcaps or realcaps though, this gun would be a great bit of kit.

 

Thanks for reading.

[spetsnazdave87]

EDIT: Apparently to Yee (who knows a damn sight more about airsoft sigs than me, clearly ) It is possible to get MAG mids to fit this, so that's a major downside to the review removed if so. I'm going to have a potter around and sort this out and will report back tomorrow evening

[yee245]

Yeah, I'm a bit of a SIG nut, both user and collector. While I'd like to expand my already large collection (2x TM SIG 550, G&G SIG 550, TM SIG 551, ICS SIG 551, JG SIG 552), it's a bit expensive. Having seen the pictures of the G&G SIG 552, it basically sold me on which of G&G's newer products I want to get first once they arrive in the states. It was a toss up between the SIG 552/553 and the G2010.

 

Something I mentioned in a different thread was that at least in my SIG 550, TM mags fit perfectly fine, and are the only non-G&G mags that seemed to fit without modification. Also, with only like 5 brands of SIG mags total (G&G, ICS, JG, MAG, TM), there isn't really much to choose from. ICS mags "fit" (if you sort of push the mag in, then force the mag release lever to lock it in) with very little to no modification, JG mags are similar, but require a little bit more work, and then MAG midcaps require even more. With the midcap situation, given there's only a single brand of midcaps for SIGs (if you ignore the hard-to-find 60-round TM ones that aren't really midcaps by most standards), it's not like you have all that any other options, even with its ICS competitor.

 

With the selector switch, that sounds like a problem that developed with mine. It isn't how they are supposed to work. It should rotate basically smoothly (well, as smoothly as it can given that it's turning a gear train to allow ambidextrous functionality) and then click into place at safe/semi/full. The selector switch on the left side of the gun (the side that you'd use your thumb if you were right handed) wouldn't happen to be a little loose, would it? If you could, take a picture of that side at sort of an angle, like almost parallel to the side of the receiver. What happened with mine is that the screw underneath the selector switch that screws into all the gearing of the selector assembly on the gearbox began to get a little loose. For some reason, this made it so that the spring and ball bearing underneath (that makes it click into place) would get a little jammed unless you pressed the far end of the selector switch lever in, then rotated. Removing the grub screw to take off the switch and then tightening down the screw underneath fixed the issue.

 

Another thing to note about the G&G SIG lineup is that they use a short type motor, rather than the medium type that basically all other SIGs on the market use. This will give you a lot more options when it comes to changing your motor, though with the battery space issue, that might be a problem if you want to upgrade it too far and need a big battery. You could always resort to an external battery, but internally, you would get strapped for space. Having a shorter motor makes the grip smaller than that of the ICS/TM/JG models, so it's something for people with larger hands to be aware of. I've heard complaints that the grip is too small, but for those with smaller hands, it's slimmer and shorter. I've also read about this difference as G&G cutting corners and just sticking a short type motor in, since they didn't make their own medium type motor. Take it how you will.

 

Also, I don't know if they "fixed" it, but there was also a compatibility issue with different top rails. I assume the G&G branded ones work fine, but I don't have one. The TM (both low and high mount) and JG ones don't quite fit right, though they can be attached such that they will go in, but they will just not necessarily hold your scope perfectly firmly. The ICS one works fine, and is actually what I use on mine.

 

Yes, the G&G does have its faults, but I personally like the looks and feel of it more than the ICS, and I like the ICS and G&G both more than the TM and JG.

[spetsnazdave87]

Cheers mate, I tried the sig mag fix and the mag is locked in perfectly, but still not feeding at all. I may shell out for a couple of highcaps.

 

Thanks for the tip on the safety catch too, the wobble didn't seem to be random but was a bit odd so it's good to know that's fixable.

[abbadon101]

Nice job on the review Dave. I await the review of the pistol now

[IronOverlord]

I have a G&G SIG550 and a G&G SIG552, and I use TM locap SIG mags, and they all work great. no issues at all fitting, or feeding.

The Mag SIG midcaps also fit and feed..... you just need to file a bit away from the lip that catches on the mag release.

 

I also did the mod to fit a 8.4v Nimh mini chuck. I did a thread about the mod at AirsoftCanada (ASC) And it is no problem fitting in a battery now.

http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthread.php?t=108065

 

And here is my review on the G&G SIG550

http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthread.php?t=93112

 

 

I also own a real steel Swiss Arms Black Special. (SIG 550 civilian version) and I can say the G&G SIG 55x series airsoft rifles are so close to the real thing, that I couldn't have a more identical version of a SIG rifle even if I converted my real steel to airsoft.

G&G SIG550 and G&G SIG552

Real Steel Swiss Arms Black Special

So to summarize....

 

- TM SIG lowcap mags do fit and work.

- Mag brand midcaps also fit after a little filing

- the battery issue is easily remidied with a little dremel work.

Edited October 17, 2010 by IronOverlord

[spetsnazdave87]

Right, so i need to file the mag lips as well?? I am so sick of bloody filing with this gun

 

Having said that, that's good to know. Back to work with it this evening!

 

I think your battery mod was far more professional than mine, I just unscrewed the battery connector and cut the sides off Yours probably involved a lot less swearing as well...

 

Cheers for the tips guys, I'm gonna go back to attacking the MAG mids and see how I go.

 

Abaddon, the review should be up by tonight on the P226 RT.

 

Dave

[IronOverlord]

Just another tidbit about the G&G SIG rifles....

 

I was asked if the pistol grip of the G&G SIG rifles are the same size as real steel SIGs.

 

G&G SIGs, and real steel SIGs, are indeed, exactly the same size.

 

The TM, JG, and ICS pistol grip on their SIG rifles are larger than the real steel.

[DahlTR]

Fantastic review, I must say the 552 is one of my favorite non-US issued weapons. I had owned the Jing Gong version of this rifle about a year and half ago. The JG was by far one of the best clones i've ever handled the ABS plastic was hard as a rock. Til this day the JG is running stock, I know this because I dated the buyers sister...but besides the point! Don't be afraid to try out guns besides M4s or other Armalites, I love the SIG Sauer rifles I suggest everyone find a non-armalite gun they enjoy it's good for your health haha. Never the less 10/10 review! Definitely on my list to purchase!

[spetsnazdave87]

Cheers for the kind words. I never managed to mod the mag mids to fit, it did nothing but irritate me so I swapped it for a King arms 556... its since developed feeding problems so I dunno if it's just my version or not, but this gun has been one internal cluster f*ck after another.

 

Externals are beautiful though. If you have far more patience than me I think externally its the best 552 available, it just took a hell of a lot of effort on my part to get it to where I'd be happy skirmishing it.

Edited November 8, 2010 by spetsnazdave87

[IronOverlord]

You don't file the feed lips. you don't need to do anything to the top feed part of the magazine.

 

The edge that needs filing on the mag brand midcaps is the ridge on the front of the magazine, where the mag release latch catches..... it needs to be filed so the latch catches the ridge.....

the mag release will click when a mag is inserted, when it is filed enough.

 

If you were having feed issues, maybe you messed with something you shouldn't have. I have never heard of anyone not having mags work properly, after the correct edge was filed properly.

 

I have had this gun out in the field. It is 100% skirmishable. And it performed flawlessly. With TM locap mags, and Mag midcaps.

[spetsnazdave87]

Fair point, edited the last bit.

 

I did file the ridge on the front first, and although that got the mag to finally lock, the gun still didn't feed properly with the mag mids. Genuinely have no idea why not.

[IronOverlord]

Hmmmm sounds like there was something wrong, somewhere else.

Hop up not installed correct or something. Something was not aligned right . You must have got one made on a friday afternoon.

[kay]

Hello, I recently got myself one of these, but it's rather hot at 370fps. I've had a quick go at disassembly by removing the front take down pin (the one that allows removal of the fore-grip, however; the upper and lower do not separate at all (have tried tapping very lightly on the back of the rear site with a hammer and simply pulling on the fore-grip and stock in opposite directions). Have i missed something?

Thanks

[pacino]

Great review mate.

I'm absolutely lovin' my ICS 552, except for the battery issues. 8.4v don't fit. I read that the ICS metal RIS front end would allow for a bigger battery.

Got one for £65 from Firesupport (Top cats!)fitted it, but won't even fit my 9.6v mini.

 

I'm digging the full metal- so does anyone know exactly how I get mine to fit a 9.6v mini? I don't wanna go LiPo, and I am rubbish at modding stuff.

 

Cheers!