The SIG MCX-SPEAR is a multi-caliber rifle developed by the American division of

SIG Sauer Several brother companies that design and manufacture firearms use the brand name SIG Sauer . The original company, ''Schweizerische Waggon-Fabrik'' (SWF), later ''Schweizerische Industrie-Gesellschaft'' (SIG), went through several selloffs, ...

from the

SIG MCX The SIG MCX is a family of firearms designed and manufactured by SIG Sauer, produced in both selective fire and semi-automatic only models, and features a short-stroke gas piston system, which is inherited from the earlier SIG MPX submachine ...

series of carbines. The SIG MCX-SPEAR is primarily chambered in .277 SIG FURY and can be adapted to

7.62×51mm NATO The 7.62×51mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 7.62 NATO) is a rimless, bottlenecked rifle cartridge. It is a standard for small arms among NATO countries. First developed in the 1950s, the cartridge had first been introduced in U.S. service fo ...

and 6.5mm Creedmoor with a barrel change.

History

In January 2019, the United States military began the Next Generation Squad Weapon Program to find replacements for the

M4 carbine The M4 carbine (officially Carbine, Caliber 5.56 mm, M4) is a 5.56×45mm NATO, gas-operated, magazine-fed carbine developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle. The M4 is extensively ...

and

M249 light machine gun The M249 light machine gun (LMG), also known as the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW), which continues to be the manufacturer's designation, and formally written as Light Machine Gun, 5.56 mm, M249, is the American adaptation of the Belgian F ...

. In September 2019, SIG Sauer submitted their designs. The

XM5 The XM5 is the U.S. Army variant of the SIG MCX Spear, a 6.8×51mm (.277 in), gas-operated, magazine-fed, assault rifle designed by SIG Sauer for the Next Generation Squad Weapon Program in 2022 to replace the M4 carbine. The XM5 features a fr ...

was designed to fire the 6.8×51mm SIG Fury cartridge in response to concerns that improvements in

body armor Body armor, also known as body armour, personal armor or armour, or a suit or coat of armor, is protective clothing designed to absorb or deflect physical attacks. Historically used to protect military personnel, today it is also used by vario ...

would diminish the effectiveness of common battlefield rounds such as the 5.56×45mm NATO (used in the M4 and M249) and 7.62×51mm NATO. In January 2022 the SIG MCX-SPEAR was released on the civilian market. On April 19, 2022, the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

awarded a 10-year contract to Sig Sauer to produce the

rifle, along with the

XM250 The XM250 is the US military designation for the SIG-LMG a 6.8×51mm, gas-operated, belt-fed, light machine gun designed by SIG Sauer for the U.S. Army's Next Generation Squad Weapon Program in 2022 to replace the M249 light machine gun. The ...

Machine gun, to replace the M4 and M249, respectively.

Variants

SIG MCX Raptor

The SIG MCX Raptor is a short-barreled rifle variant intended to serve as a

carbine A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges. The smaller size and light ...

, featuring an barrel and a

Picatinny rail The Picatinny rail ( or ), or Pic rail for short, also known as a MIL-STD-1913 rail, 1913 rail or STANAG 2324 rail (cancelled), is a military standard rail interface system that provides a mounting platform for firearm accessories. It was ...

tail interface for attaching either a compact

buttstock A gunstock or often simply stock, the back portion of which is also known as a shoulder stock, a buttstock or simply a butt, is a part of a long gun that provides structural support, to which the barrel, action, and firing mechanism are attach ...

or a folding PCB (pistol contour brace). It is available in .277 SIG FURY, 6.5 Creedmoor and 7.62x51mm NATO.

CSASS Program

The SIG MCX-MR (Mid Range) was SIG Sauer's unsuccessful submission for the

's Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System (CSASS) program. It is chambered in

and has selective fire capabilities. It weighs and features a 416 stainless steel

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...

with a 1:10 inch twist rate, which is manufactured by Bartlein Barrels. The gas system features suppressed and unsuppressed settings. Unlike the

handguard A barrel shroud is an external covering that envelops (either partially or full-length) the barrel of a firearm, to prevent unwanted direct contact with the barrel (e.g. accidental collision with surrounding objects, or the user accidentally t ...

of the MCX, which slides off after pulling the front pivot pin, the MCX-MR requires removal of two screws first. It features both an

M16 The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-rou ...

AR-15 An AR-15-style rifle is any lightweight semi-automatic rifle based on the Colt AR-15 design. The original ArmaLite AR-15 is a scaled-down derivative of Eugene Stoner's ArmaLite AR-10 design. The then Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporat ...

type charging handle and a left side charging handle. It uses a 20-round magazine and is also compatible with SR-25 lower receivers for use of SR-25 box magazines.

NGSW (XM5)

The SIG MCX-SPEAR was Sig Sauer's submission for the

Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) program, as chambered in .277 FURY cartridge. Sig Sauer was chosen as the winner on April 19, 2022, designating the weapon the XM5 in U.S. military service.Army chooses Sig Sauer to build its Next Generation Squad Weapon
''

Army Times ''Army Times'' (ISSN 0004–2595) is a newspaper published 26 times a year serving active, reserve, national guard and retired United States Army personnel and their families, providing news, information and analysis as well as community and ...

''. April 19, 2022.

References

{{SIG Sauer Rifles 7.62×51mm NATO semi-automatic rifles Semi-automatic rifles Short stroke piston firearms ArmaLite AR-10 derivatives Carbines SIG Sauer rifles Battle rifles