Sig’s New Belt-Fed Machine Gun – SHOT Show 2020

To find out more, please visit Sig Sauer.

If you asked me what was my favorite thing to come out of SHOT Show 2020 was, it would be Sig Sauer’s new Medium Machine Gun.  While I recognize it is largely unimportant to most people out there since it is designed for the military, for me having been in the military as well as security contracting and having had used other machine guns, from the M240-B to the Mk48, this new gun has a special place in my heart.

Let’s start with what it is.  It is a NEW, emphasis on new, medium machine gun.  Why the emphasis?  Well, for the last 40+ years, the only advances in that class of gun have been to put some lightening cuts on it and add a section or two of pic rail.  Literally, that is it.  But in 2020 Sig put out an amazing belt-fed machine gun with some truly meaningful upgrades.

Let’s start with the caliber.  Sig’s new machine gun is chambered in 338 Norma Magnum.  Ballistically, it is an incredible cartridge.  It far outpaces the .308 in maximum effective range and at the same time even beats out the .50 caliber with respect to armor penetration at distance.  Making it effective both against enemy personnel as well as vehicles.

And how about weight?  If you have ever carried weapons over distance, weight becomes a huge factor really quick.  The new machine gun is 4lbs. lighter than the current .308 machine guns being fielded, at 20lbs., and incredibly more capable.  Not to mention the weight savings versus a M2 50 cal…

As far as meaningful changes go, there are many.  For starters, let’s look at the feed tray.  Sig’s feed tray is relatively small and opens to the right.  This is a big deal.  Traditionally the top cover and feed tray open forward, hinging towards the front of the receiver.  This led to a number of problems.  One being your optic.  Your optic was mounted on a part of the weapon that was constantly moving, being opened and closed, which you hoped returned to zero.  Also, it would often connect and bang your optic off of the barrel or heat shroud when opened all the way forward.  Or, if you were trying to use a thermal or night vision device in front of your day optic, you would run into problems there as well.  Sig’s machine gun solves all of this and allows for the rock-solid mounting of any optics on the integrated top rail.

Have you ever tried to load a belt-fed while moving?  Not a lot of fun.  Usually, the top cover is bouncing around while you are trying to place rounds onto the feed tray, trying not to trip…  Loading is simple with this.  You can either open it up and do it in the traditional manner, albeit with a smaller and easier to manage top cover, or just inset the belt straight into the left side of the receiver till the first round clicks, then one more time till you get a second click, advancing those rounds into the feed claws.  Done.  Easy day.

I had the chance to shoot the new machine gun at Sig’s Media Range Day.  While my experience was limited, I will say the recoil impulse seemed a little lighter than that of a .308 belt-fed, even though it is chambered in .338 NM.  And speaking of .308, if the range can’t handle .338 NM, or for cost savings, it is just a matter of some simple parts swapping and you can convert the gun between those calibers.

While this may very well not have a broad appeal to the market, since it isn’t available for commercial sale…yet, I love the meaningful advances brought to the platform.  If they ever do offer a semi-automatic version of it, start saving now.  Rumor has it that the price tag is up past $30,000…

To find out more, please visit Sig Sauer.

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