I will be shooting mine this week probably 200-500 rounds. I will post back to see if any more wear has occurred. I guess I'll be sending mine back to Sig as well.

Updated the first post with the list of people who do not have this issue. I think the serial number trends speak for themselvs.

JS0286XX
Made 03/09
3500 rounds (give or take a few)

No abnormal wear in the areas of concern.

7/28/09: My rifle has now been at Sig for 2 weeks (arrived on 7/14 at 9:26am) with no apparent progress.

Don't worry, they had my rifle for 2 entire weeks before they even touched it. Then all of a sudden I called and they called down to the gunsmith and he took it out of the box to take a look at it. They must be really busy.

you can add mine to the list that have wear although it is mild its still wearing serial #235xx...
I've put about 800 rounds through it

racenet, is there no wear at all on your carrier? Or is it only very mild, which is why you said there is no "abnormal" wear?
I just want to make sure what others are seeing is correctly represented when I add them to the list.

Thanks.

Called Diana this morning around 9:30 to check on status since she had not responded to my previous emails or voicemails. Diana said she would call me right back after she checked it out. So I got a call back at ~2:45 this afternoon from Valerie Hunt since Diana had been called into a meeting. Valerie was very nice and friendly, she was passing along a message from the gunsmith.

Essentially, the gunsmith put in another carrier, which resulted in the wear again occurring after shooting. The gunsmith then said that this wear is normal because other 556's in the shop also had it.

I informed Valerie that in the 2 weeks my rifle had been sitting at Sig I had also done some research, and that I had uncovered a range of serial numbers earlier then mine which had NO wear on them what so ever. Since some of those rifles with no wear also had round counts into the thousands, I believe that the wear seen on this critical part of my rifle is absolutely abnormal. The fact that my rifle also shoots erratic groups, and that the groups changed after the first round of grinding on the carrier, also indicates that something is not right.

Valerie took notes for everything that I said, and informed me she would call me back after talking with Diana.

Thanks to all for sharing your info here. Hopefully I won't have to take it to the next level to get Sig to do the right thing and fix my rifle instead of again trying to pass it off as “in specâ€

...

Around 600+ round count. No marks at all.

JS 017XXX

Cheers

So very mild, it isn't even worth a mention. Just normal wear of parts that move and make contact with each other. Not abnormal like this thread is about.

500 rounds 307XX serial number and no wear marks.

[quote="SigOhio"]So far, 12 members on here have discovered that the carrier in their 556 rifle is hitting the receiver causing damage to the carrier. Please check to see if your rifle has the same issues so we can try to identify a problem batch.

This interference may be causing accuracy issues since it causes the carrier to bind just before coming all the way forward. But more importantly is that there is a defect causing damage that could compromise the longevity of a critical part that sees high stresses. I personally would like my 556 rifle to last me a long time, and I'm sure others here would as well.

Serial numbers with known carrier-to-receiver interference:

JS0235XX: abrams_34 (800 rounds) [mild]
JS0250XX: fun2shoot (800-1000 rounds) [severe]
JS0255XX: jjksutton (120 rounds) [mild]
JS0259XX: tibim (800 rounds) [moderate]
JS0261XX: 762nato (50 rounds) [moderate]
JS0266XX: Parsley Charlie (200+ rounds) [mild]
JS0267XX:TwiztidKlownzTX (200 rounds) [mild]
JS027XXX: SigOhio (750-800 rounds) [severe]
JS0273XX: KB (cycled manually) [mild]
JS0277XX: 2Loud4You (200+ rounds) [mild]
JS02963X: Mastoo (100 rounds) [moderate]
JS0313XX: Sapper326 (360 rounds) [moderate]

Below is a list of serial numbers with NO wear or marking on their carrier at all, even though some have a quite high round count. Some have also indicated their upper receiver does not have the “humpâ€

I wonder if all of us decided to send the rifles back at the same time if that would get there attention.

When I called the other day I asked them to check the carrier wear before they sent it back and they said "What?". They had no clue about any carrier wear. Mine does have a slight mark but nothing like the pictures. They acted like I was crazy.

I just bought a new classic 556 (my third 556) and after 300 rds my optics rail fell off right at the range. The center stud is loose also. So while I was looking over my rifle I noticed that I have carrier wear starting at the same place s/n: JS035204. The reason I bought this rifle was to rape parts off of it for my original rifle that Sig sent me to replace the very first one I bought due to a canted rail and finish issues on the gas block (finish came off and it rusted).

The replacement rife cannot be zeroed at all. At first I thought it was me but I shot my son's 556 and found I could shoot 1" groups at 50 yds all day long. Well after over 200 rds fired his stock fell off the rifle. By this time I was pissed!!!.

I called Sig on Monday and was told that my expectations may be too high for their rifles and to call back with the serial numbers. When I called his extension later I left a message but have not received a call back yet!

I called and left a message for the customer service head and explained how I have almost 5K worth of junk at home and all I wanted was two rifles that worked as advertised-----I have not heard back from Sig in two days.

I will be writing a letter to Ron J. Cohen the CEO of Sig and sending it certified mail asking for a full refund for all 3 rifles due to false advertising of a "To hell and back reliability" rifle and so far, failure to honor warranty.
Hell, I might as well call the BBB while I am at it.
When I dump these rifles I will NEVER buy another Sig product again.
-Mike

While I agree with the previous post that low quality is not acceptable, I still fee SIG is one of the best choices out there. They need to stand up for their product and fix this problem.

I have 5- 556's. 4 rifles, sns 85xx, 95xx, 13xxx and 14xxx and all have the trunion like in the picture of the "good" one - not raised up. I also have a 556 P which I have only hand cycled about 50 times, but the trunion part is "raised" and appears to be beginning to "smear" the carrier. I plan on putting 100 rounds through it and we shall see. If it is damaged, I plan on sending it to SIG with pic's of the other 4 rifles.

I think SIG is a good company and we need to help them open their eyes to this problem and fix it. I looks to me like they got a bad batch of receiver parts, and if they fix it, the rifle will continue to shoot as designed and proven.

Good luck SigOhio, and thanks for bringing this problem to light. Please advise of your progress.

SN JS014xx, no wear of any kind, about 150 rounds through it.

This is good stuff to know, though, in case I do go to get another 556 at some point.

Not to get off topic but wouldn't it have been a better idea to make a optics rail built right into the upper receiver? Much like how other rifles do it.

Well if mine falls off again im going to have it tig welded on, The first signs of a problem was when i could not get my Leupold Mark IV to zero then rail fell off, sent it back got new reciever and now bolt showing some wear as described in previous posts. Even through all of this i have not lost faith in SIG. Hopfully they will resolve this issue also............. To be continued........

I have updated the first post again. Please let me know if you find any errors, because the lists are getting long! It would also be helpful if members that have earlier builds with no wear posted a few pictures of their carrier and receiver so we could see the differences.





Both of your descriptions match perfectly with "Mild", so I have added you to the list, especially since the pictures of earlier builds show zero contact in that area. I do not think mild wear is a problem as long as it doesn't progress to moderate or severe. The "hump" in your receiver may not be as tall, or the carrier may fit more snugly in the guide rails, keeping it from causing the damage some others have seen.

Spoke with Diana again, she repeated that the gunsmith claimed this was "normal" wear. I informed her that I had found a batch of earlier serial numbers with NO wear, and that I believe the wear on mine was absolutely abnormal. Diana offered to replace the rifle but said she would not replace it again after this. I told her that I had some pictures which may show what the problem is and could help with this issue, since it appeared she may be getting some more calls about this in the future. So here is what I emailed to her:


"Diana,
As I mentioned over the phone, I have identified a batch of serial numbers from approximately 3,000-20,000 that have no wear on the carrier what so ever. This batch also does not appear to have the raised “humpâ€

I think they should just replace the rifle. What was the deal with the comment when she said they would replace this one but not after that?

I checked mine again and it looks ok. I will check it out after some more rounds down range.

Since this is considered "normal" wear according to the gunsmith, she would not replace the rifle for this issue again.

You have me in the wrong catagory. I do not have any wear related to this thread. Simply mild normal wear from normal use.

I wonder how bad the damage will have to be before Sig takes any action. I had considered taking a dremel and grinding the offending hump down just a bit, but I could see me doing that and having something else go wrong and being denied warranty work because of my "fix."

Right now with such mild wear (although a very low round count) I'll standby to see if Sig concurs with there being a manufacturing defect with the upper...then I'll ship it off for a fix.

Thanks to SigOhio for putting the issue out there, being the Sig warranty guinea pig for this, and doing the work to show what's wrong and who is likely to be affected. Sig should consider bringing you on as a QA advisor.

Mine is a JS 018XXX no marks or hump about 500 rounds through her. So far so good with the weapon no problems.

Model: SIG556302
S/N: JT0004XX
Date mfg: 23 APR 2009

Less than 200 rounds through the weapon, I have wear that can just barely be seen in same area as photos; have same protrusion as in photos. I fear it will only get worse with more rounds down range.

Hi- I too have a slight hump on my swat classic dob 07/09/09 # JS0378XX about 200 rds through it.

1000+ rounds js13800 no problems