The Sig AMT is one of the orphans of the .308 autoloader world here in the US. They were imported in small numbers many years ago, and then the supply dried up.Lots of folks have seen little more than an occasional photo of one, so we decided to do a video on the rifle.
More info on the Sig can be found in the Vault on the Sig PE-57 page.
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Great video !
Ian, why don’t you place that nice logo in the site? That looks really well designed !
That is one beutifull peice of engineering.
There are two things you forgot to mention. First, that really strange extractor serves both and as ejector! This is pretty well descriped in the german technical manual which you’ve posted in the vault.
Second, the StGw 57 has a chamber indicator on top, right above the trunion. I don’t know if the AMT has that, too.
How does changing the trunnion work? Does the barrel need to be removed as well?
Hi Ian. The Sig AMT and PE-57 have a few more unmentioned features. The hollow pistol grip has a spring loaded cap allowing space for a pull through cleaning kit and a small flat block used to hold the loaded chamber indicator on the top of the chamber to be held up so you can clean the chamber.to be stored in it. The Ejector swipes the face of the bolt ejecting the empty out rim end first. this allows the ejection port to be shorter than the case being ejected. The mag release on most rifles pivot on one pin. Sig uses 2 pins allowing more ease in it’s use. Use of the winter trigger lightens up the trigger pull and helps shooting accuracy. I think the spring loaded takedown pin must cost about as much as a Liberator pistol maybe a Sten gun. The bi pod of the AMT is fixed at the front, but it can be moved to below the chamber on the PE-57 allowing rapid engagement of widely separated targets with ease. The replaceable roller recesses allow the gun to be returned to it’s original superb accuracy long after most battle rifles have been scraped as shot out. The SIG’s represent the Rolex’s of military rifles. Expensive but worth its price.
My take on the SIG-AMT, two overall points:
Mandall’s Shooting Supplies in Scottsdale, AZ imported these in the mid-late 1970’s when they were in their first location just off Scottsdale Road behind the Dairy Queen. My buddies and I when we were in high school used to ride our bikes over their and droll over all the rare and exotic guns for sale. Around 1977 a buddy of mine scrape up enough money from his barely over minimum wage job ($1.80 an hour) and purchased a SIC-AMT for $800.00 NIB-more about “NIB” Marty Mandall sold later.
At the time $800.00 for a semi-auto rifle was an astounding sum. AR-15’s were $300.00 retail, M1A’s were just a bit over $300.00 and nobody cared if they were made in Devine, Texas or Geneseo, Illinois. AR-180’s about the same price and used HK-41’s sold for $225.00. I have to say I wasn’t impressed by the AMT then or now. Yeah, it was a scary accurate rifle and could put three rounds under an inch at 100 yards with iron sights, however it had a number of flaws/undesirables.
First, the mags were $50.00 bucks a pop. Second, the damn scope/mounts were more expensive than the rifles. Third, the much vaunted bipod was useless in the field and frequently folded at inopportune moments. Fourth, there were no spare parts. Period. Fifth the magazines were overly large as the feed ramp was built into the front of the mag. Sixth, the handguard was way too small and did almost nothing. Seventh the rifle was just plain awkward and felt like it was designed to be used by the “Elephant Man”. Lastly the dip in the stock pushed your shooting muff up thus forcing you to used earplugs and muffs when shooting. I never cared for it.
Another HUUUUUUUUUUGE drawback to the rifle, which was no fault of the weapon or SIG, was the fact that Marty Mandall was for quite a while the sole importer for SIG. Marty’s lets say, “imaginative” business practices were legendary among the local gun community for years. So, when the SIG-AMT’s came into the shop Marty would literally take EVERY accessory out of the styrofoam box the rifle came in and sell them separately from the rifle. So, when my buddy bought his AMT all he got was the rifle and one magazine because Marty had removed the following: sling, manual, cleaning kit, sight adjustment tool, spare magazine, and believe it or not HE WOULD EVEN UNSCREW THE FLASH SUPPRESSOR FROM THE RIFLE! And people, like my buddy, just sucked it up and bought these raped rifles regardless.
Marty always liked me, and I have to say I liked him. Several years later offered me a job working in his shop which I accepted. Yeah, he could be a bit of a scammer (OK, at times he could be annoyingly unethical) but he had a wealth of knowledge and I got to sell and play with some really cool stuff, like a ?Gyrojet pistol, Lahti anti-tank gun, and Standard Arms semi-auto to name a few. He also had tons and tons of parts that I wish to God I knew at the time how desirable they’d become like hundreds of original “L” M-1 carbine rear sights or “Gee, these Garand followers look kinda weird” (I realized decades later they were 20 degree followers).
Yeah, them were the days……….but even if I knew they what I know now I wouldn’t have bought a SIG-AMT.