I’ve had a Swiss Stgw 57 (SIG 510) for some years now, so it was only logical that I also get the successor, the Stgw 90 or SIG 550-1.









The device for shooting semi auto only when you’re in the army, the white dot must be visible when you go to the range



Full auto position (however the trigger innards for FA are removed when the rifle is handed over to the retiring soldier)





I believe it was made in the mid nineties

Very, very cool. Here in the US they’re quite rare as only about 300-400 made it in before the AW ban in 1989. When encountered, here, they tend to bring $8-10k.

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Some Might Say.

Sights front





Flip up night sight



Rear, for 100, 200, 300 and 400 meters or 300 meters with 6 o’clock hold

Really ?? And they were not allowed back when the ban expired ?

I bought it for $ 1600 here in Switzerland

The import ban on foreign rifles, enacted in 1989, is still in place.

The Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 went away in 2004. It dictated magazine capacity and certain features of ANY semiautomatic rifle produced for civilian sale.

From a collector standpoint, it's a seller's market. From a shooter standpoint, the 1989 ban had little effect as there are plenty of legal and available alternatives.

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Psalm 27:2

You sum it up well, sir. SIGARMS imported them in 1988-89 as well as a handful of 551 Carbines. SIG toyed with the idea of introducing a modernized 7.62 version called the 750 but seemed to drop the idea in favor of more SIG ARs.

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Some Might Say.

A slight differentiation:
In 1989 the George H.W. Bush administration unilaterally banned import of "paramilitary-type semiautomatic weapons" from other countries, a measure that annoyingly and illogically remains in effect today.
It was due to a re-examination of the "sporting purposes" test that the BATFE used to determine whether a firearm was importable to the US, and was largely a knee-jerk reaction to a shooting in Stockton, CA in 1988, and increasing drug-related violence. The moratorium was imposed at the behest of national drug policy director William J. Bennett, and it just went sideways from there.
However it had no effect on American-made "assault weapons" which could only be regulated only through actual legislation.

And so.....
There came the " Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994" (which included it's own "assault weapons" ban) signed into law by the Clinton administration.
That was the one which you refer to that "sun-setted" in 2004, and led us to a new golden age of AR-15s.

Now to un-do the 1989 ban....

The ‘89 ban impacted all of the other really cool stuff as well...Valmets, Galils, original config HKs, etc.

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Some Might Say.

JDI Firearms in Frisco, TX is currently importing pistol variants of the SIG 553 that are produced by Swiss Arms (SAN). They have imported the 550, 551, 553R (7.62x39), and the 751 (7.62x51) in the past. They also sell 550 and 551 conversion uppers. They aren't cheap by any means, but they are still a lot less expensive than the pre-89 models. Jdi Firearms, inc - Swiss Arms, Swiss Arms Firearms, Gunsmithing

I took it to the indoor range to test fire it for function and first sighting in, at 50 meters rested









Standing is a lot tougher, this thing is no lightweight





The rifle functions great, both with Swiss GP90 ammo (62 gr) and cheap GGG 55 gr

Then I installed an adjustable iris (06-2.2 mm)



An adjustable bipod



And I bought the Stgw 90 edition Swiss knife



Ready for some 300 meters action at the military range