A big thank you to Illumined Arms for lending us this weapon!!!

Good gun but need L4 traders for any good ammo

I’m a machinist at sig and take a lot of pride in the parts I’ve made for SPEAR and hearing you sing the praises of the rifle make me extremely happy. Keep up the great work!

This guy just killed me on Lighthouse

Thing to note is that the m16 wasn’t an immediate home run. I’m sure they’ll learn a lot in the next few years and make adjustments where needed

Am I the only one who felt strangely satisfied when he was shooting full auto with the clear mag and saw the bullets rising up?

As an armed forces memeber who has terrible hearing loss for my age, i cant express how thankful I am for supressors on service rifles. With the amount training you do, this is a godsend regardless of tactical advantage.

Something to consider, when thinking about the switch from the M14 to the M-16 with respective calibers is that something like the M249 didn’t really exist. Now that we have squad level weapons that are some thing that can be carried and sustained more easily than something like the M 60 moving back to a heavier rifleman round does kind of make sense.

The principle of using a higher pressure in the round to maximize the effectiveness of a shorter barrel has also been adopted by the Japanese in their updated MX10 tank.

What an awesome preview of a future episode of forgotten weapons! Thank you US army! Very cool!

At least it's better than AK-12

the new optic package combined with this rifle is hella crazy. basically aims itself. put all that with the next gen nightvision theyve shown as well and the lethality range is tremendous in any condition. maybe not necessary for every infantryman but its crazy stuff. the new sig machine guns are even cooler

Regarding training issues, look how long it took the US Army to fully adopt the M-4. Even today, most POG units still have the M-16. Even if the SIG SPEAR does become the "new" Army rifle, it will take years after that for Joes in S-1 to get them in-hand.

I think the greatest innovation is that it's balanced well enough to stand on the magazine floor plate. Makes photoshoots way nicer. Welcome to 2022

Looks like the starting assault rifle you get in every COD game that ends up being the most reliable and OP choice.

Great rifle. I agree with your findings as a main battle rifle. Now in my 20 years as infantry (now retired), I think that would be an awesome SDM (Squad Designated Marksman) rifle. It is lighter than the souped up M-14 they had us using for years that weighed over 14 lbs. Throw a 3-9×40 or a 4-16×50 on it and you have a great longer range weapon while still keeping that armor piercing capability within the infantry rifle squad. Just my opinion.

KZfaq recommended me this video because i play tarkov and love the SIG spear

Easily the most highly anticipated video of all time. This should have been in theaters

Finally an actual in depth review and not just small snip bits of shooting and rambling about how it’s gonna be another M14 blunder

The XM5 has been renamed to the XM7 due to avoiding Trademark Issues with Colt’s Manufacturer LLC from the M5 Carbine

Glad that i was able to try SIG Spear out.. its a great badass weapon, bit hard to get, but the marked rooms in Reserve usually have one, it rips PMCs and bosses aswell! Tarkov finally has a new king!

I think the army is going to use DARPA quadrupeds to mule ammo around for each battalion, which is one reason for the bulkier ammo.

The fact that this rifle reaches 2800+ fps out of a 13 inch barrel is pretty amazing. Also really dig the color!

The SIG Spear is an amazing weapon machine fitted in rugged environment and fitted to special forces due to the suppressor.

The good thing with this caliber and ammo is they can also shoot the non stainless case ammo if the hot stuff isn’t available.

I’m honestly impressed that he managed to control this gun in full auto mode so well that he makes it look as if the gun has the recoil of a 5.56. I suppose that all his experience in firearms training has paid off!

so this why its going for 690k on the flea

The Montage at the beginning of each of Mike's Videos are becoming that of Legend. Great Video Gents. Big Fan of the Spear

I feel like the charging handle issue is something that will phase out in due time as more soldiers get a hold of the rifle and find which they prefer and they pick one and stick with it.

The MCX Mk2, the Virtus, is a fantastic rifle in both 5.56 and .300 blackout, even though it is a bit heavy. I think this Spear is the result of that Sig design, isn't it?

I think the rear charging handle is a way to not have to deal with retraining every soldier to use the side charge but no doubt it will eventually be fazed out while the boot camp training changes to favor and teach all new recruits to use the side charge.

*SIG should have hired you for their promo materials. You are the only one I have seen that can handle the recoil effortlessly*

I figured 6.8 would be pretty hard to handle on full auto but GT seems to do alright with it.

I was in the Marine Corps when they promoted the 223 round. After over 50 years, they are going back to the bigger round. Crazy.

The sig spear basically shoots a .270 Winchester short mag. I was asking years ago why the military never entertained .270 rounds. It’s a great balance between Linda range accuracy, power and light recoil.

I love this gun because it’s everything annoying AR guys hate, it keeps the forward assist, it’s a larger caliber, it’s short stroke piston system, and it has a side charging handle. Also the pseudo monolithic upper is super cool.

Well, the need for a more powerful longer range round was apparent immediately in Afghanistan, now, 21 years later, after we left Afghanistan, we have it(Yet to be phased in). Great success!!!

Can't say enough good about your reviews bro. You are definitely a person I would base my purchase options from. Solid review

Color me skeptical, but I have my doubts that this will be adopted service wide. I have a feeling this will end up being an additional tool in the toolbox rather than a replacement. I've seen many AR killers come along and supposedly be the next new issue rifle only for them to end up being used pretty much solely by special ops guys in addition to the M16/M4 rather than a replacement. Younger folks often forget this and buy into claims that that the M16/M4 is going away. One example of this is the SCAR. It was originally supposed to a replacement and not a supplement. Now we pretty much only see the SCAR17 and only in limited use. I imagine the same will happen here.

The fact that the optic let's you ping positions with your squad is mind blowing 🤯

One thing that everyone forgets is that when the military was using the M14, and during Vietnam using the M16A1, we didn't have the M249 or now the M250. These are fire team level fully automatic weapons. In a fire team (in the Marine Corps) you have fully automatic gunner (M250), an assistant gunner (M5 simi-auto), a rifleman (M5 semi-auto), and the fire team leader and grenadier (M5 and/or grenade launcher). Only one person is to have their weapon on full auto. The M4 only has a burst of three rounds, (recently switched to full auto). In any case you're not suppose to put it on those settings (burst of full auto) except when being over ran. You will always be more effective with semi-auto except at very close range (trench fighting). So the concern about full auto on the M5 is valid to a small point. What you did miss is the additional 2 lbs for optics. Now how that new optic will help or hinder people will be found out once it gets deployed. Most new weapon systems don't survive first deployments as is. A private can break anything!!! Even unbreakable items. Where there is a will there is a way. Murphy's Law is alive and well. In my day we only used iron sights. When the Marine Corps switched to the ACOG all of us old Corps didn't trust it. Yet the Corps went on faith (and 2 years of field testing) to use the ACOG. Once the Marines were being accused of war crimes because of all the head shots they were getting, caused us old Corps to change our opinions. We will need to take another leap of faith on this. Great review!!!

My primary gripe with this rifle is its 100% engineered around the .277 fury round to operate properly with the 13” barrel. Without that cartridge you’re simply shooting a .308 from a very short barrel.

Just held one at the Sig pro shop. It's very heavy! Literally feels twice as heavy as a military m4 even if it's not technically. I can't see this being standard issue

Previously on GT: “plate carriers are more common place now, here's how to set yours up" GT now: "Why would the government switch to an AP round with less overall ammo?" Coincidence? I think not

If history is any guide, in America’s next war the soldiers will be like, “Wow, this rifle sucks in these conditions. We got any of those old M4s in storage somewhere?”

2800+ from a 13in barrel is insane. I’m curious to see how the cartridge performs as a precision rifle.

So the AR15 and Scar had a baby .... ok cool

It seems like it may be a decent rifle, what I would really like to see is someone on the shorter side (or a less experienced shooter) shoot the full power ammo side by side with Garand Thumb. It would provide a good contrast.

GT out here showing us why training is important. Recoil control is hands down THE BEST I have seen on this weapon. Watching literally everyone else shoot it, you would think it's an unweildy weapon that can't be used. Shows you how much people need to spend more time training and less time filming.

As an infantryman right now, my main concern with this rifle is the weight and the amount of ammunition we're going to be carrying is going to run out quick. I've actually held the rifle before, and it would suck to haul that for miles at a time. An M4 is proven, light and adaptable to any situation. We're also moving to a more conventional warfare role instead of GWOT, so engagement ranges are going to be less, we're going to be fighting in cities, and doing more CQB. I'd hate to use this in urban warfare. It seemed short-sighted of them to produce a new weapon like this when the M4 has proven itself capable in any situation, urban or rural.

This thing is insane on Tarkov

Between the scar and this rifle, I like the fact that most of the functionality of the old m4 still remains visible, probably to make soldiers more able to adapt!

If you swap out the operator foregrip for the ranger foregrip you'd reduce vertical and horizontal recoil by 12% only at a cost of 10% reduced ADS movement speed...

but is it good in tarkov?

fair point on suppression, in the vietnam war they used the m60 machine gun which had many problems and did not perform well, it was also less available than m249 or m240 today. New squad tactic will be deploying SIG M250 for suppression while deploying the xm5/7 as an assault rifle, technically a 'battle rifle', even DMR in the right hands. Furthermore the US did not pursue invasion in Syria, moved out of Afghanistan, they are not planning large invasions like the one against Iraq. Recent wars showed a more held back response where amreicans mostly intervened through bombing campaigns and supporting proxies on the ground (Syria, Libanon, Ukraine where we didn't even see direct air force involvement.) As it has always been the case after imperial expansion such as in the Middle East they move to protecting their proxies: Kurds in Syria, government forces in Ukraine; their puppets: Iraqi government forces as well as supplying occupant american forces in Iraq. Looking at these geographies all of them favor long range engagements where the SIG Spear will shine. Furthermore high levels of mechanization and much better logistics (compared to vietnam), the ease of employing the same caliber for all squad weapons, more accurate weapons, much better trained soldiers, computer assisted aiming make up for the drawback of heavier ammunition. Also as I outlined above the army is mainly preparing for defensive wars on flat terrains, everything makes sense about this adoption. And then we didn't even mention the needs of the long war in Ukraine: all the decommissioned arms, ammo, parts can be shipped to the proxy there.

I’ve seen a lot of controversy surrounding this rifle but to me, it makes sense. Regarding your point about volume of fire winning firefights, and not being able to carry as much 6.8 vs 5.56; my own experience tells me this isn’t going to be as much of an issue as we might expect. very recently we (British Army) have been moving away from the philosophy of filling every square inch of an enemies space with hot lead. We phased out our FN Minimi’s and instead of having an LMG gunner per section, we now have a 7.62 sharpshooter in every section instead. Filling much the same role as intended by your new Sig rifle. I think most modern western forces are going to go through this “evolution” in tactics. We learn from every conflict, we’re not totally regressing back to the Cold War era mentality, and carrying large powerful rifle cartridges, but we understand the limitations of our current ammunition technology. I don’t know if I’ve articulated myself particularly well, but the new Sig and it’s ammunition makes sense to me.

They have both charging handles so when the stock is folded over you can still load and clear without having to extend the stock.

i swear this guy looks so cool shooting any gun

That AR T-handle is one of the things that pushed me to the AK first. Recent developments in aftermarket ARs has brought me back to the middle ground though, in particular the MCX and other AR-18/180 derivatives

Supposedly, this weapon isn't complete without the "fire control system", which allegedly will negate some of the "problems you foresee". I'm skeptical, but I assume there are many professionals who have already tested the system and agree that the concept functions and provides us a significant overmatch. If all of that is true, and they are able to train the average troop to take advantage of all that overmatch, then I'm all for it.

I think it makes a lot of sense as a specialist rifle, for certain people like a Designated Marksman... just use .277 as a replacement for 7.62x51 and keep 5.56 as the standard for the regular infantry.

Binge watching your videos is a guilty pleasure of mine. You guys do a very nice job with the production. 0:48 to 0:60 the quick snap movements, suppressing a large sector alone... into the mag change at the end gave me all 2 inches my friend! I thought it displayed the versatility of this rifle well in a possible defensive posture. Looking forward to seeing the kinks worked out and getting her streamlined. $4500?!? OUCH Loved the M1A video as well, keep up the good work boys 🤟

That opening was better then all of battlefield 2042

18:25 For what it's worth, for my line infantry company in 2008/2011 we honestly shot somewhere between 250 to 400 live rounds through our rifles in a calendar year. It was a bit of a joke how little we shot "to maintain proficiency". Gearing up for deployment it'd be closer to 200 or 300 a month, but still. Everything else was blanks with BFDs. Very OSUT-esque. Mileage may vary of course. My unit was probably trash, too. Just figured I'd throw this in there.

I was all excited like “Damn he’s handling that reportedly high recoil very well!”, then he said he wasn’t using the higher pressure 227’s 😭.

"The MCX in .566 versus the MCX spear is you versus the guy she told you not to worry about" ... I'm dead lol

I think where he missed the mark was one of the things the testers put into priority was lethality of the round. Too many times during the Iraq and Afghan wars was lack of lethality. Soldiers putting 8-10 rounds into enemy combatants and because of the adrenaline drugs what have you enemy combants weren't going down. Even at close ranges. The Army knew from the get go, they were going to a heavier round. Hence why they went with 6.8 or larger. In vietnam 5.56 was good enough due to all the leaves and brush the bullets were going through led to the bullets beginning to tumble prior to hitting their respective target doing more damage. However the 5.56 doesn't didn't hold up. The Army wanted something more lethal. that's why they went with a larger caliber both for longer range accuracy and up close lethality. in an Urban enviroment soldiers don't have the time to stack 7-8 rounds ona single target before moving onto the next. Put 2-3 on him then move to your second target. Before anyone says it, target placement is better anyway. Put one in the Dome or the heart and the guy goes down. Yeah sure, but the average infantrymen doesn't get that level of training to accurately put rounds in those smaller target areas.

My 2 cent is this: yes the Army as adopted this rifle, and it seems to be a great rifle; but like GT said in the video, this is aimed toward the infantry units, direct action units (SF, 75th, etc.). As for the rest of the Army, Reserves and Guards included, the M4s will stay around for a long, long time. Now infantry platoons in the 82nd, 101st, 10th Mountain, etc., will probably get outfitted with the Spear rifles and MGs in the next 3 to 5 years. But for the rest of us POGs, it'll be DECADES before we even see this; especially if you're Reserves or Guards. Heck, my current arms room still have tons of M16A2s and M9s and those are still being used. Would I like to have this rifle for myself, absolutely! But as a Medical POG, the M4 and M18 are plenty for me.

The XM250 looks great and I think this would be epic as a DMR or an option, like you said, for missions that have the majority of firefights taking place at 400-500 meters but I think the military is going to rediscover the same lessons pretty quickly when their guys are saying that carrying less than half the number of rounds you can carry with a 5.56 just isn't enough. I really don't think the ability to defeat body armour is important enough to offset the round deficit.

bro your build is way to expensive like a mill roubles for a gun is insane man i could buy a whole kit for that money

I think my favorite part about these videos is the beginning montage/edit

This could be good in a "Tier" system, being issued to troops depending on what type of terrain they're operating in. It would be great in desert or mountains, but in jungles, you would run into the same problems we had in Vietnam with the M14. I guess it will do until we can make a Plasma Rifle in the 40 Watt Range!

I have a strong feeling that the spear xm5 won’t replace all M4s but will be relegated as the new DMR with that new vortex smart scope. Maybe some riflemans would have it, but likely not all considering the big reduction of fire superiority with less ammo. They’ll still get to be ran with the ngsw xm250 as the saw for ammo compatibility. DOD likely wouldn’t like the logistical nightmare of needing sig proprietary ammo for big army while other branches still use 5.56 with their newly procured HKs and noveskes. I’m guessing there could be a better m855a1 in the future with a beefier chamber on new barrels and perhaps a more robust bolt and bolt carrier group. Especially considering the relatively recent adoption of the urgi and the tango 6t, I’m thinking those m4s will get stretched a bit more. Similar to how 9mm made the millennium caliber .40’s reign so short-lived with ammo developments in view of wanting more capacity. In other news, US Army will soon be called SIG army. Ngsw: spear xm5 Ammo: 6.8 fury of sig Ngsw saw: xm250 6.8 can: sig Full size handgun: m17 Compact handgun: m18 Lpvo: 6t Sig Uniform and humvees next anyone?

I kinda wanna see a DMR version of the MCX Spear. Imagine the feet per second insanity of a 20+ inch barrel version of this weapon.

Sig bypassed the rigors of phase 2 testing to be adopted as preferred firearms of us military

Agreed about this probably being a reaction to mountain fighting in Afghanistan. The generals are always preparing for the last war rather than the one they're likely to fight next. If they wanted longer effective range they could've just converted existing M4s to 6mm ARC or 6.5 Grendel and replaced ACOGs with the new Vortex smart scopes.

I just realized an advantage that the XM5/XM250 will have over in urban warfare: The majority of peer/near-peer combat we are seeing in Ukraine that falls into the CQB realm is being decided primarily with superior initiative, better reconnaissance and with whoever is better at getting grenades into the enemy’s lap. There’s no real advantage to the Spear vs the M4 in the grenade aspect, the Army’s said the fireteam will retain its grenadier, whether it’ll be an underslung M320/M302 or something else I don’t know. But there’s the recon value: The Spear coupled with its new optic will be leaps and bounds more effective in seeking and picking off the main opponent of an infantry formation in an urban environment: Snipers. Now each American soldier can effectively act as a poor-man’s sniper, pinning, communicating positions and allowing other elements to move in and take tactical initiative. And overall the Army’s banking on its ability to be better aware of the battle space than their opponents, as evidenced by the sheer amount of information sharing and networked capability the infantry has now compared to what it did even as recently as Fallujah or Mosul. The Spear itself comes into play here in the ability of these weapons to make structures that were once considered cover against 5.56 penetrable to the average soldier if he knows what/who is there. This allows the Spear to use its size to its advantage by standing off and picking apart enemy units from locations placed at ranges that their weapons wouldn’t necessarily be able to punch through, and attempts at closing the distance would reveal their locations to superior reconnaissance and allow for counter maneuver to be conducted to defeat them or allow air support to counter them. It is either that or the enemy would be forced to vacate the position and surrender ground. At least, that is what I think (emphasis on “I think”) is the theory of the Army’s future tactics.

I think they should make a few divisions worth of them, and keep them in storage. It makes sense to have them. They would be great for long distance environments or near peer countries. The majority of the time however, I think carbine is the way to go.

Came here after watching Brandon Herrera’s review. Crazy how different the reviews were!

Totally should have stuck with side charging. I prefer that over the other for ARs. This is is probably the best review of this gun I have seen. Great job Mr. Thumb

Personally I’d like to run this with a 16-20” barrel configuration with Sig’s Tango MSR LVPO with 1-10x Magnification. This would make a killer DMR platform for sure.

I am literally alone in Virginia but your militant training keep studies more library than ever, I also learned to tame train "mature" dogs only.

We had that leap in 1957 with the 7 mm NATO ( 280 Brit ) . The US has leaped from 7.62 NATO to 5.56 NATO and leaped back up to the 6.8 . No middle ground round that is accurate as a single shot but which could be sprayed if necessary for suppressive fire which the British gave in 1957 . More ammo with versatility .

i think it's really the evolution of optics that's leading us back to long range accuracy in rifles, because it's going to become very easy for even inexperienced shooters to hit targets at very long distances as the technology progresses. the new optic supposedly lets you automatically zero the optic by pressing a button while aiming it at a target, and that sounds incredible. 20 round magazines in CQB doesn't sound very fun, but i suppose CQB is less of a concern in a near peer conflict than it has been during insurgency conflicts. we'll just have to wait and see how it performs in actual combat.

What the US military has failed to realize, is that in truth… it’s nerf or nothing

In 2009 USMC infantry our company armory had M16A4, M4, M21 (M14 DMR) MK32, M79, 203, Beretta M9, 1911, M40 (Remington 700), M240B and M240G, M2, SAW, and probably more. The idea was "right tool for the job". Point being that there is nothing standard about standard issue. In Iraq I carried a M4. In Afghanistan I had a M16A4. I see the Spear as a modernized battle rifle for mear-peer military opponents because that's where future priorities are shifting and something that is currently lacking on a mass scale. Good choice imo. Also don't forget how much the M16 has changed. Those carry handles and triangle grips are gone, socom barrels, bolt redesigns, ect. I can see the M16 style charging handle getting phased out on the Spear.

as an Canadian vet, i wish we could use suppressors, i just got compensated from the military for tinnitus and hearing loss, when i go to the range to shoot i just wish i could suppress my rifles, but lots of hearing protection is a must for what i got left lol, looks like a great rifle, i may shoot it some day,

9:38 "She is a thick boy" A modern rifle indeed

This rifle and cartridge seem like an excellent M110 replacement! In-fact from looking at the ballistic charts, it seems that the 6.8x51 would make an excellent 7.62 replacement pretty-much across the board (due to higher muzzle velocity as well as ballistic coefficient) in stuff like GPMGs & MMGs (like the M240) But, when joes start running out of ammo in firefights more and more often because a 7 magazine loadout only gets you 140 rounds (vs the current 210 5.56mm) while also weighing more, I'd wager a lot of questions are going to get asked about why this was adopted for this role. As for armor penetration capability, I'm a bit dubious of the 6.8x51mm's capability given that NIJ IV plates (which I'll use interchangeably with SAPI & foreign equivalents) are rated to stop a larger, heavier, & faster bullet with a tungsten penetrator (The M2AP) than what this caliber can deliver. 6mm ARC seems much better suited to the "Oh no, our infantry rifle can't reach out far enough" problem that was endemic of the war in Afghanistan, without sacrificing the M4's size or weight, and only moderately compromising on magazine capacity (30 rounds being reduced to 25, rather than 20) while still keeping the same magazine form-factor (As opposed to the significantly bulkier AR-10 pattern magazine)

Would have been interesting to see 8 m4 mags loaded on a chest rig Vs the mags for this and weight difference…

I think Sig got it pretty much dead on with the spear for a service rifle. It’s an evolution, yes, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The velocities coming out of it are pretty damn impressive, and the ammo will evolve and improve in short time. Ergonomically familiar. Quality components. Well thought out. I’m just a retired old grunt, but the Spear gives me a warm and fuzzy for our warfighters.

7:48 No photo popped up showing anything But awesome breakdown of the XM5. Absolutely love the design and function of this platform. I don't think anything will ever really replace an M4A1 or any AR15 platform for that matter, but this definitely has my acceptance of coming close.

I’ll be infantry 11b in a few months in Fort Wainwright AK! I might see these by next year! Feeling pretty excited to try out 6.8! Hopefully Sig gets it right for our sake 😅! 🤘🏼🇺🇸

The change to the 5.56 round was made because the military decided that it was better to wound someone as 3 soldiers would be needed to remove the wounded man from combat. Also, the 5.56 round was easily deflected by twigs and leaves such as found in a jungle environment. The increase in the number of rounds carried with the 5.56 round was offset by the fact soldiers rarely got a first round kill and most times it required 4 or more hits to be lethal. Which fits in with the military doctrine of that time.

Gonna be interesting to see how long the barrels last, also given what just happened with the Army PT test, gonna be interesting to see how some people handle lugging a heavier system around.

Our standard load out was 7 magazines. I had 28 rounds in each for 196 rounds. 7 20 round mags would only be 140 rounds plus all the new pouch’s they need to hold the new mags. I like the rifle but the logistics of it look daunting.

Such a badass intro 🔥battle of the universe such a good sound track

As I'm sure many of you have, I've read a lot of the history books written about American service rifle development. So many interesting questions as relating to previous doctrin . Almost like they've finally circled back and are trying to correct the issues with the M14.

Less than 30 seconds gang rise up

If I recall correctly, one of Sig’s representatives did say their new cartridge technology could be applied to other already existing cartridges and significant performance increases could be gained by doing so. I’m no expert, nor do I know the exact details of the NGSW program, but did anybody on that board raise their hand and ask sig to apply the bimetal case to 5.56 or any other actual intermediate cartridge that already exists to improve said cartridge’s performance and still retain roughly the same size as the m4/m16? The DOD keeps talking about how they want to keep up with near-peer threats like China, but China has a roughly 3 million man military. So the U.S army’s solution is to adopt a heavier rifle with less magazine capacity and most likely a lower ammunition load out than 5.56? Once again, I’m no expert, but it seems to me there is a disconnect here. The rifle seems like it is a good rifle, wether or not it’s a good standard-issue rifle remains to be seen. EDIT: You guys all correctly brought this up, and yes, I do understand the m4 would require retrofitting, perhaps to a substantial level, in order for it to be able to take high pressure bimetal cartridges. I do think it can be done, but it of course requires funds and resources I don’t have. I do love seeing you guys being all smart and scientific down here, though. Garand thumb’s comment section is far more intelligent then they give themselves credit for. Keep it up, gentlemen. 👍