SteveB called me today on the way home from shooting the Cross rifle. He was thrilled and he has $4,000 custom Scout rifles.
SteveB called me today on the way home from shooting the Cross rifle. He was thrilled and he has $4,000 custom Scout rifles.
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
My SIG Cross rifle is among those recalled for a single reported instance of delayed discharge. I decided to shoot it today to see if there was any problem with the firing mechanism. Some 60 rounds later, no problem. I really like this rifle; the modularity, the folding stock, great trigger, very slick, fast bolt. Love the ergos, AR grip, safety, easy adjustment of LOP and comb height. Light and well balanced. Mine is a 16” .308. Lot of rifle for $1599. And it shoots:
I actually did shoot a few 5-round groups during the chrono phase; surprisingly, the Federal T762TNB1 130 grain OTM SOST shot into just about an inch at 2900 fps out of that 16” barrel.
@SteveB I've got a question or two if you have the time. I am pretty interested in the cross in .308 since there is one hiding on the shelves local to me.
Were you just running off a bag, bench or bipod?
Follow up, if you shot standing, sticks or seated how does the gun feel and run from those positions and did you you make any adjustments to the LOP or comb height to make it more comfortable? Could you get comfortable behind it? For example the only person I know who had any time on one said he had to adjust the butt plate from prone to seated and even then he didn't care for the gun but he is larger than I am. So I don't think I would feel cramped like he complained about.
Were the 168's the heaviest rounds you shot?
Did you see solid grouping across all the weights from the SOST's on up like the groups you posted?
How did the Cross group with the suppressor on, i.e. did it open up a bit or group about the same, tighter?
Thanks for any other info you can provide. I've had great luck with the last 6 guns I've bought from Sig and I am really interested in the Cross despite it's teething issue.
Mike, I shot all 60 rounds off the bench. When I get out to my other range, I’ll shoot from field positions and let you know. I did get in a bunch of positions dry fire, and had a couple different scopes on the rifle. I had no issue with the stock; the spring-loaded adjustable comb is just great. I did not shoot with a can. I took pix of the 2 smallest groups, but all 6 rounds grouped around an inch. Velocities (75°):
Federal Gold Medal 168 - 2479
Barnes TTSX 168 - 2557
Nosler E-tip 150 - 2603
Hornady TAP 155 - 2636
SIG Sauer Copper 150 - 2690
Federal SOST 130 - 2899
I talked to my friend who’s an engineer at Sig about the Cross recall, apparently it was due some bad decisions by the design team and heads are rolling.
The delayed firing was due to very tight tolerances internally and if the sizes of certain pieces stack up wrong in an individual gun, it can cause that. They realized the possibility and resolved it but not before they had sold a few thousand guns (those in the recall). Even among those, the issue is likely very rare.
I’m planning to get one in 6.5 sometime next year
That is great stuff. I love the spring loaded comb and all the tooless adjustability. Barrel swapping looks straightforward. There are several other features that are just a bonus in my book but there seems to be a lot of gun for the money with boat loads of flexibility. Thank you for taking the time to answer me. I really look forward to hearing what you have to say after you've had some time with it. I think I will be buying myself an early birthday present.
It looks like he either works with or is a fanboy of Sig from his instagram, but Ryan Cleckner calling it his "favorite bolt gun" is relatively high praise: https://www.instagram.com/p/CF5lKeIJS0-/
For anyone else looking at this rifle… Sig seems to be shipping the recalls back and promising that new units are shipping to dealers now.