The SIG MCX Spear (stylized as MCX-SPEAR) is a multi-caliber rifle developed by the American division of

SIG Sauer SIG Sauer is since the 1970s a combined brand name of several Firearms manufacturing companies, with SIG referring to ''Swiss Industry Group'' originally founded 1853, while the latter part comes from Sauer & Sohn, founded in 1751 in Germany a ...

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 gu ...

series of carbines. The SIG MCX Spear is primarily chambered in .277 SIG FURY but can be adapted to

7.62×51mm NATO The 7.62×51mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 7.62 NATO) is a rimless, straight walled, bottlenecked, centerfire rifle cartridge. It is a standard for small arms among NATO countries. First developed in the 1950s, the cartridge had first be ...

and

6.5mm Creedmoor The 6.5mm Creedmoor designated as 6.5 Creedmoor by SAAMI, and as 6,5 Creedmoor by the C.I.P. is a centerfire rifle cartridge introduced by Hornady in 2007. It was developed by Hornady senior ballistics scientist Dave Emary in partnership with D ...

with a barrel change.

History

In January 2019, the United States military began the

Next Generation Squad Weapon Program The Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) program is a United States Armed Forces, United States military program created in 2017 by the United States Army, U.S. Army to replace the 5.56×45mm NATO, 5.56mm M4 carbine, the M249 SAW light machine gun ...

to find replacements for the

M4 carbine The M4 carbine (officially Carbine, Caliber 5.56 mm, M4) is a 5.56×45mm NATO assault rifle developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle. The M4 is extensively used by the US mi ...

and

M249 light machine gun The M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon), formally the Light Machine Gun, 5.56 mm, M249, is the United States Armed Forces adaptation of the Belgian FN Minimi, a light machine gun manufactured by FN Herstal (FN). The M249 SAW is manufactured in t ...

. In September 2019, SIG Sauer submitted their designs. The XM7 rifle was designed to fire the 6.8×51mm SIG Fury cartridge in response to concerns that improvements in

body armor Body armour, personal armour (also spelled ''armor''), armoured suit (''armored'') or coat of armour, among others, is armour for human body, a person's body: protective clothing or close-fitting hands-free shields designed to absorb or deflect ...

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. The decision to make the Spear available to the public was criticized by some anti-gun and law enforcement groups. 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 primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

awarded a 10-year contract to Sig Sauer to produce the XM7 rifle, along with the

XM250 The M250 is the U.S. military designation for the SIG LMG 6.8, a 6.8×51mm (.277 in), 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 mac ...

Machine gun, to replace the M4 carbine and M249 light machine gun, respectively.

Development

The main driving force behind the US Army's wish to upgrade its small arms came from lackluster performance when engaging insurgents abroad. Standard caliber M4 Carbines and M249 light machine guns chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO did not have the firepower to effectively engage in long-range firefights. Also found inadequate was the NATO standard 7.62×51mm. The SIG-produced .277 Fury has an increased muzzle velocity and allows longer-range shot placement.

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 ligh ...

, featuring an barrel and a

Picatinny rail The 1913 rail (MIL-STD-1913 rail) is an American rail integration system designed by Richard Swan that provides a mounting platform for firearm accessories. It forms part of the NATO standard STANAG 2324 rail. It was originally used for mount ...

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 attac ...

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

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 Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...

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 stave (wood), staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers ...

with a 1:10 inch

twist rate Rifling is the term for helical grooves machined into the internal surface of a firearms's barrel for imparting a spin to a projectile to improve its aerodynamic stability and accuracy. It is also the term (as a verb) for creating such groov ...

, 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 touch ...

of the MCX, which slides off after pulling the front pivot pin, the MCX-MR requires the removal of two screws first. It features both an M16/ AR-15 type

charging handle The cocking handle, also known as charging handle or bolt handle, is a device on a firearm which, when manipulated, results in the bolt being pulled to the rear, putting the hammer/ striker into a spring-loaded ("cocked") "ready and set" positi ...

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 The SR-25 (Stoner Rifle-25) is a designated marksman rifle and semi-automatic sniper rifle designed by Eugene Stoner and manufactured by Knight's Armament Company. The SR-25 uses a rotating bolt and a Stoner bolt and carrier piston gas syste ...

box magazines.

NGSW (M7)

2022 09 16 Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade Rangers in Action demonstration and Graduation 200609-A-YH902-002

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—since re-designated the M7—in U.S. military service.

Civilian

SIG MCX-Spear was released on the civilian market in 3 standard configurations, which includes the , , and length versions, with the former two including bipods. Each model starts at an MSRP of $4,999 and are non-California compliant.

References

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