KA SIG 556 'Shorty'

I’ve skirmished along side enough King Arms owning Airsofters to understand a quality branded AEG when I see one, so I thought it was time I give their SiG 556 ‘Shorty’ a good going over.

Packaging wise the box is pretty plain with a large King Arms logo and in the corporate colours with a small sticker specifying its contents. I’m guessing it’s a pretty generic box design for most of their AEG offerings with just the contents sticker giving the contents and specs away. Makes sense in these cost conscience times.

Tech Specs taken as per box lid:
Calibre: 6mm BB bullet
Magazine Capacity: 135 Rounds
Method of Operation: Electric Power
Battery Type: Intellect 1400mAh tact. Stock type
Weight w/o magazine: 2.98 kg
Length (Stock retracted): 67cm
Length (Stock extended): 75cm
Main Materials: Aluminium, Nylon Fibre
(Not on the lid: This AEG comes with 7mm bearings and a Ver.III Gear Box)


Opening the box you are greeted with a protective black foam cover with just a few tantalising holes to accommodate bolt catches etc. When removed you are free to see your investment in its full glory along with a supplied mid-cap magazine (135 rounds) and a good quality pistol style speed loader. Under the black foam inlay was also a strange metal rod (but more on this later).

Lifting the AEG out of the box you soon realise you’ve got yourself a quality piece of kit here. Full metal body and RIS front end with Nylon fibre pistol grip and adjustable stock (5 positions). This is a weighty AEG with a good ‘heft’ to it.

The full RIS front end is numbered and the RIS rail runs fully along the Upper Receiver with an integrated flip up rear sight and front sight post. You should note that the rear sight is in fact awkward to use unless you have good finger nails or something like a screw driver to flick it up with, this will probably become easier with use, but to be fair given all that lovely RIS I’d be tempted to fit some nice Magpul MBUS sights anyway or an EOTEC.

The ambidextrous fire selector on SiG’s is a given really but the stamped serial number and trades is a nice touch. Being a SiG fan this would be high on my ‘must have’ list. It is Marked as ‘SIG 556 5.56 NATO, SIGARMS INC. EXETER, NH, USA’. Being well embossed I don’t see these fading with use. The AEG is finished in a matt black paint work with the numbers on the front RIS in white.





It’s so good to see a manufacturer taking care in presenting their AEG’s, as this sample came complete with product QC card tied to the trigger guard. The card gave details of Chrono testing at the point of manufacture and mine was showing 102-105 meters per sec. which in English is approximately 344.4 feet per sec- so should be okay out of the box for lots of UK site limits.

One thing I’ve not yet mentioned is the comprehensive instruction manual that comes in the box which is generic to the SiG 556 range but also has a ‘Shorty’ specific insert sheet, which gives comprehensive battery installation instructions. The manual is generally very good and gives all the safety and disassembly instructions you could want. Reading the manual also told me what the strange metal bit was for – disarming the electric ‘blow-back’ mechanism. READ THE MANUAL before attempting any dismantling or maintenance on this AEG.

Now this is my first experience with an electric blow back AEG and boy did it put a big smile on my face to feel this baby kick. Okay it’s nothing like the real thing but it does add something to the skirmish experience, although the sound is loud and you may not want to give away your position that easily – so maybe it will be disabled by most owners once the novelty has worn off.

One feature I do love with this SiG 556 is the ability to accept standard M4 magazines, although I did find it a tight fit with some makes so that’s something to be aware of and King Arms do produce an optional 310rd Hi-Cap. I do think that maybe it should come as standard with either a Hi-Cap or an additional mid-cap and the King Arms Double magazine Clip for the SiG 556 style magazines.

Pro’s:
Quality and finish is good
Clip together magazines available and will accept standard M4 type mags
Full RIS on front end and full length on top receiver
Trade Markings deeply engraved onto receiver
Blow-back action can be disabled

Con’s:
Slight Wobble to the adjustable M4 type stock
Comes with only One Mid-Cap Magazine
Specialist shaped stock Battery required (although fitting is easy compared to some SiG models)

Yosser says: On the whole this is a great looking and performing AEG and if you already own an M4 variant you should have a ready supply of magazines. With a Eotec sight and some Magpul E-mags this AEG looks the business! Just feel EBB is a bit over the top for what is a top class AEG.
RECOMMENDED but look around for a good price.



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This review is copyright 2011 by Yossers Airsoft Odyssey © and may not be be copied or reproduced without permission. Some Pictures are copyright of EllieTDog Studios © others are used by permission of King Arms. You may link to this page.