It’s always interesting when a firearm manufacturer dips into new territory and Sig has been doing quite a bit of it lately. Suppressors, optics, lights and lasers, ammunition, it’s all been welcome additions, but what really gets my interest are the guns themselves. When I had first heard that Sig was coming out with a bolt action rifle, their very first bolt action, I was quite intrigued. I was fortunate enough to try out a brand new example of the Sig Cross in .308.
Admittedly, I don’t think that I can call this a totally brand new offering as a good friend had pointed out that the Sig Cross is operationally the same as a rifle called “The Fix” by a company known simply as “Q.” While externally I’d consider the Cross to seem more refined the similarities between the two are very clear. But I digress.
The review model had the basic anodized black finish. Sig also offers the Cross in “First Lite Cipher ARMAKOTE” which I have not heard of before. The First Lite model has a desert camo appearance and, curiously, an AR-style hinged dust cover. The camo may not be just for aesthetics, the First Lite model does look like it was built to play in a sandbox.
One of the first eye opening moments with the Cross comes from picking it up. Most chassis rifles put on some weight when wrapped in aluminum and steel but the Cross isn’t actually a chassis rifle despite its outward appearance. Rather than dropping an existing action into a metal bed the Cross uses a one piece aluminum receiver like an AR-15. This means that the rifle’s weight starts at 6.5 pounds for the .308 and .277 Fury and ends at 6.8 pounds for the 6.5 Creedmoor with the stainless barrel being pushed out from 16″ to 18″. Sig claims this is the lightest rifle in its class with up to 40% weight reduction. It even felt like picking up an AR-15 instead of a chassis rifle and my example was already outfitted with optics and a suppressor!
Up front there’s a long free floated MLok aluminum handguard which is secured by a couple of hex head screws to the receiver. The Cross does have a removable barrel and the process begins with these screws.
The bolt has a dog-leg bend to help clear optics and what I’d call a somewhat oversized bolt knob, it was accessible without being too much. The action is fed through detachable AICS magazines so there are a number of options to work with. One detail I had learned from my Ruger American project is that a brand new bolt gun tends to be a bit stiff and gritty with the bolt throw and I did experience this break-in with the Cross. The rifle previously hadn’t been fired so I tried to pay attention to what it was doing. The very first few rounds had some pronounced wear marks from the extractor but only by the tenth round through this was starting to clear up. If my Ruger was any indication then I’d say a hundred rounds down the pipe should get things running smooth as silk.
The Cross has a smooth operating ambi safety exactly like an AR-15 with a 90 degree throw. The arms are only about half as long as a typical AR selector but I had no trouble operating it with my thumb. The magazine release is a little curious in that it’s a button inside of the trigger guard right up front.
In the back is a folding and fully adjustable aluminum stock which had all of the fat trimmed off. Length of pull, comb, and the vertical position of the recoil pad can all be adjusted on the fly. When the stock is folded the largest of the hollowed out sections neatly fits around the bolt handle which doubles to help keep the bolt closed during transport.
The trigger deserves closer inspection on the Cross. Sig describes it as a double stage match trigger and it really is quite nice. The first stage has enough room to travel before reaching the breaking point, you definitely know where it is. The break itself is fantastic, just a little more pressure and away it goes. What surprised me though is that for a trigger as nice as what the Cross has there’s quite a bit of over-travel. While it didn’t bother me on the range it’s worth noting, I haven’t felt another trigger quite like this one. Certainly not on a bolt rifle. The manual states that it’s adjustable but only in pull weight between two and four pounds.
Now for the part which had me a teensy bit concerned. When it comes to lightweight bolt guns in full power cartridges I tend to enjoy them more than they enjoy me. Meaning, my forehead has been introduced to a couple of scopes at uncomfortable velocities before. With the Cross being so much lighter and still packing a .308 I had been bracing for a literal impact!
Yes, it does move quite a bit upon firing. Mine was running a hefty suppressor on the end and I’m certain it helped mitigate a lot of the bite. Shooting with a can felt more like a prolonged straight-back push rather than a jump-kick. With a bare muzzle I expect there would have been a lot more drama. If you plan to run a Cross loud then a good compensator on the business end might be worth looking into. As anticipated, a lighter weight rifle translates to harder felt recoil.
With my test example being so fresh out of the box I also took the time to dial it in at our super generous 25 yard indoor range. It’d be great to put one out in its natural environment, the Cross is a capable platform! However, there is one criticism with the barrel. After just four rounds of slow fire while adjusting the sight I was already seeing heat shimmer through the lens. The suppressor may have played a part here but I’d expect any extra heat to be retained within the can rather than the barrel, especially on a bolt gun. I believe this is a combination of using stainless instead of carbon steel and a lighter barrel profile than something like what my Ruger American has but that’s only theory. While my Ruger runs HOT I don’t recall seeing so much haze from the barrel.
Because of this detail and with how lightweight the rifle is I am again reminded of the Cross being designed as a portable precision instrument; It does not seem suited for large volumes of fire. That said, if I was ever hiking through the woods the Cross is exactly the sort of rifle that I would want hanging from my shoulder. The combination of ergonomics and modern features without the added mass of converting an existing bolt gun make it an appealing option for today’s hunter. Additionally, the Cross has me looking forward to what else might be cooking over at Sig.
