Sig Sauer M400 Tread Snakebite SE Review — Bang for the Buck!

Today's rifle is the Sig Sauer M400 Tread Snakebite SE. There are two versions of this gun: the regular Snakebite and this SE — special edition — which carries a handful of upgrades. It's a 5.56 with a 16-inch barrel and a 13-inch free-float handguard, and the whole thing is caked in what Sig calls Cerakote Elite. The SE even gets a high-temp FDE Cerakote over the entire barrel itself, which I've only seen on a couple rifles — the actual Cerakote job on this thing is pretty badass.

Up front is a proprietary hybrid muzzle device: ported on top for compensation with an A2-birdcage-style flash hider built in. Kind of unique, and a nice added touch. You also get Sig's PDW-style grip with a storage compartment in the bottom, a Magpul SL-K stock — you guys know I love running an SL-K, there's another one on the Geissele over there — and fully ambidextrous controls: a miniaturized safety selector and mag release on the right side, full-size on the left. The two-stage match-light trigger is semi-flat with a little curve at the end, breaks at about 4.5 pounds, and I've been super impressed with it. It's not on the level of a Geissele — honestly, my RISE Armament RA-140 is a better trigger — but it's a real upgrade over milspec.

Now the stuff I'm not a fan of. The charging handle functions, but it's nothing to write home about and not as smooth as you'd like — I've thought about swapping it. And the handguard: I like the widened, flattened bottom, which gives you a better base shooting off bags, but I'm not a huge fan of cutting handguards off this far back. Thirteen inches on a 16-inch barrel with that big flash hider leaves a lot of muzzle sticking out — mostly an aesthetic gripe, but functionally there's no Picatinny section up front either, so if you want to run a set of backup irons or accessories out there you're adding a little pic rail with an M-LOK attachment. It's also not a mid-length gas profile, which I'd prefer, though the adjustable gas block is a very slim design that doesn't eat your M-LOK slots — a lot of rifles lose part of the mid-handguard to the gas block, and this one doesn't.

For the video I had the NorthTac optic I'm currently testing riding up top — that big honking thing — though I usually run a solar Romeo 4S on this rifle. Sig also built out a whole Tread accessory line: different handguards, optic mounts (the Romeo 5 has a Tread version), flip-up sights, and a forward grip I own but have never bothered to install.

How's it shoot? Really, really well. I've got probably 1,500 to 1,600 rounds through it so far with no complaints. And the value math checks out: at $1,100 to $1,200 you're getting the ambi controls, the Cerakote, the upgraded trigger, and the Magpul furniture already done. The base M400 is a different story — at $800 to $900 you're shopping against a lot of good rifles, and I'd take a Springfield Saint Victor over it without a doubt. I'd also love to pick up the Predator version in that jungle green for longer-range hunting, and the 716i in .308/7.62 would make a really good AR-10-style battle rifle.

Would I grab this over the Geissele Super Duty build sitting next to it? No — in fact, I know I wouldn't. But that gun is probably $400-plus more before you even count the Aimpoint Pro, magnifier, and Geissele charging handle hanging off it. For what the Snakebite SE costs, this is a really, really, really good rifle, and I really do love it.