Buying my first AR

I would like to buy my first AR too. ~$1000 budget in MA. What the advantages of the SW MP15 vs MP15 Sport?

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The M&P Sport is different in many ways. A lot of the differences were cost cutting measures. Most of which think makes it a BETTER gun.

1) Melonited barrel, inside and out. By not having a chrome lined barrel S&W cut costs. Except these melonited barrels are proving to be MORE accurate than the mil spec barrels and as durable if not more durable than chrome lined barrels. The melonited exterior is FAR FAR more corrosion resistant than the mil spec finish.

2) No forward assist or dust cover - who cares. It saves a couple of ounce and saves cost in an area that adds no value if you aren't in Iraq.

3) No grenade launcher cuts in the barrel. - this makes for a more accurate barrel as the M204 cuts serve as a natural hinge point for the barrel.

4) the lower has an integral winter style trigger guard. whats not to like with that?

5) the receivers are coated someway that is different than hard anodizing. I don't remember the difference. This might be a small negative.


Seriously, dare to spend less.

I'd put a sport with a free float tube and a match trigger against guns that cost hundreds more.
 
I lined up a S&W M&P Sport, a Colt 6920, a Palmetto State Armory 16" midlength, and a Bravo Company 14.5" midlength up and shot groups at 50 yards with some American Eagle cheap ammo. The S&W provided far better groups than any of the other rifles, bar none.

dcmdon said:
The M&P Sport is different in many ways. A lot of the differences were cost cutting measures. Most of which think makes it a BETTER gun.

1) Melonited barrel, inside and out. By not having a chrome lined barrel S&W cut costs. Except these melonited barrels are proving to be MORE accurate than the mil spec barrels and as durable if not more durable than chrome lined barrels. The melonited exterior is FAR FAR more corrosion resistant than the mil spec finish.

2) No forward assist or dust cover - who cares. It saves a couple of ounce and saves cost in an area that adds no value if you aren't in Iraq.

3) No grenade launcher cuts in the barrel. - this makes for a more accurate barrel as the M204 cuts serve as a natural hinge point for the barrel.

4) the lower has an integral winter style trigger guard. whats not to like with that?

5) the receivers are coated someway that is different than hard anodizing. I don't remember the difference. This might be a small negative.


Seriously, dare to spend less.

I'd put a sport with a free float tube and a match trigger against guns that cost hundreds more.
Click to expand...
 
dcmdon said:
But if you are new, you should shoot iron sights for at least a little while. Buy a .22 conversion kit, and 4 mags with the money you save and go shoot an appleseed. You will learn more about marksmanship at a weekend appleseed than you could ever imagine.

www.appleseedinfo.org
Click to expand...

This. Cannot say enough good things about Appleseed.
 
dcmdon said:
The M&P Sport is different in many ways. A lot of the differences were cost cutting measures. Most of which think makes it a BETTER gun.

1) Melonited barrel, inside and out. By not having a chrome lined barrel S&W cut costs. Except these melonited barrels are proving to be MORE accurate than the mil spec barrels and as durable if not more durable than chrome lined barrels. The melonited exterior is FAR FAR more corrosion resistant than the mil spec finish.

2) No forward assist or dust cover - who cares. It saves a couple of ounce and saves cost in an area that adds no value if you aren't in Iraq.

3) No grenade launcher cuts in the barrel. - this makes for a more accurate barrel as the M204 cuts serve as a natural hinge point for the barrel.

4) the lower has an integral winter style trigger guard. whats not to like with that?

5) the receivers are coated someway that is different than hard anodizing. I don't remember the difference. This might be a small negative.


Seriously, dare to spend less.

I'd put a sport with a free float tube and a match trigger against guns that cost hundreds more.
Click to expand...

This.

And on sale but OOS.

http://www.sportsmansoutdoorsuperstore.com/products2.cfm/ID/128766/c/firearms
 
^^ FS was selling at 599 a couple months ago. not sure where they are at now but it seems like prices are on the downtrend
 
I ended up ordering the Colt, although I gave them all a lot of consideration. I suspect this will not be my last AR. Looking at optics is already making my head spin! :) Thanks again for all the suggestions.
 
As someone who has handled an ar since 1995 on a continual basis I say windham weaponry. I recently purchased one at kittery and it is spot on. Great price point and fires like a champ. Over 200 rounds through it it so far and no so much as bump. Took 10 minutes to sight in at 50 using the iron sights.
It's also a local company.
 
Can someone help to see anywhere in MA that have M&P 15 sport in stock now so i can come to pick it up today? And how much for it? Also i would like to have a 30 rounds extra mag.
Thanks
 
Western MA I'd try guns n gear outlet

Eastern ma, no search is complete without checking in a 4 seasons.

One other option is to go to NH and buy one there if the dealer will make it legal. The benefit there is you get to choose a muzzle brake rather than a plain barrel end. Of course they'd also need to wack off the very dangerous bayonet lug and pin the stock.
 
dcmdon said:
Western MA I'd try guns n gear outlet

Eastern ma, no search is complete without checking in a 4 seasons.

One other option is to go to NH and buy one there if the dealer will make it legal. The benefit there is you get to choose a muzzle brake rather than a plain barrel end. Of course they'd also need to wack off the very dangerous bayonet lug and pin the stock.
Click to expand...

What you meant dealer make it legal if buying in NH???? I really want the adjustable stock and the cool looking muzzle :) instead of the MA version (none of those options)
Can i go to NH and buy it and bring back to MA??? Thanks
 
There is a reason the MA version is built the way it is.

Research "Assault Rifles" here or here.

Long story short... MA law does not allow more than one of the following on a modern semi-auto, magazine-fed rifle: collapsible stock, bayonet lug, pistol grip, flash hider (or a threaded barrel that can accept a flash hider), or grenade launcher. If you bought a standard M&P 15 in NH, you would need to swap the flash hider for a muzzle brake, have it "permanently" attached to the barrel (usually either a blind pin covered with a weld, or a high-temp silver solder), remove any bayonet lug, and have the collapsible stock either pinned in place to immobilize it, or removed.

Bringing an unaltered standard M&P 15 rifle in this state would be illegal.
 
loveat1night said:
What you meant dealer make it legal if buying in NH???? I really want the adjustable stock and the cool looking muzzle :) instead of the MA version (none of those options)
Can i go to NH and buy it and bring back to MA??? Thanks
Click to expand...

You can take an AR that is otherwise illegal in MA and make it legal. You end up with a better gun, but it takes a bit more time and will cost a little more.

The free state version of the Sport has an adjustable stock, a bayonet lug and a threaded muzzle with a standard A2 flash hider on it.

This will all need to be taken care of.

The stock is easily pinned, the lug is easily ground down and the flash hider needs to be replaced with a brake. I'm a big fan of the Miculek brake. Its very effective and cheap. But its loud. The brake needs to be permanently affixed per ATF "guidance". That means blind pinned with a drop of weld over the pin or silver soldered.

All of this needs to be done before it can come into MA. But if you want the gun to have your choice of a brake rather than a plain muzzle, then this is how you need to go.
The dealer is the most obvious person to "make it legal" by doing these things.

Don
 
dcmdon said:
You can take an AR that is otherwise illegal in MA and make it legal. You end up with a better gun, but it takes a bit more time and will cost a little more.

The free state version of the Sport has an adjustable stock, a bayonet lug and a threaded muzzle with a standard A2 flash hider on it.

This will all need to be taken care of.

The stock is easily pinned, the lug is easily ground down and the flash hider needs to be replaced with a brake. I'm a big fan of the Miculek brake. Its very effective and cheap. But its loud. The brake needs to be permanently affixed per ATF "guidance". That means blind pinned with a drop of weld over the pin or silver soldered.

All of this needs to be done before it can come into MA. But if you want the gun to have your choice of a brake rather than a plain muzzle, then this is how you need to go.
The dealer is the most obvious person to "make it legal" by doing these things.

Don
Click to expand...

Thank you

Dammit lots of work just for getting the std version. I'm a small guy so i need shorten the butt stock. Is there any other decent AR that have adjustable buttstock ~ 800-$1000 and MA compliance so i can shorten it for my need?
 
loveat1night said:
Thank you

Dammit lots of work just for getting the std version. I'm a small guy so i need shorten the butt stock. Is there any other decent AR that have adjustable buttstock ~ 800-$1000 and MA compliance so i can shorten it for my need?
Click to expand...

I have a Rock River Arms "Entry" stock on my AR. The style is the same as a standard A2 stock, but it is about the length of a fully collapsed M4 stock. Inexpensive, solid as a rock, and fits the bill for MA law.

Buy a MA S&W M&P 15 Sport, try it with the standard stock, and pick up something shorter if need be. You won't regret the Sport. The only regret I ever had with mine was selling it. I miss it more than my Colt 6920.
 
loveat1night said:
Thank you

Dammit lots of work just for getting the std version. I'm a small guy so i need shorten the butt stock. Is there any other decent AR that have adjustable buttstock ~ 800-$1000 and MA compliance so i can shorten it for my need?
Click to expand...

I don't know how they do it on the sport, but on the M&P 15-22, they just put a rivet or screw in to hold the stock in place. Its a piece of cake to drill out the rivet and reset it at a shorter length.

Can anyone who a MA version advise?
 
dcmdon said:
I don't know how they do it on the sport, but on the M&P 15-22, they just put a rivet or screw in to hold the stock in place. Its a piece of cake to drill out the rivet and reset it at a shorter length. Can anyone who a MA version advise?
Click to expand...
Mine were done with roll pins.
 
My S&W 15-22 had a roll pin through the channel below the buffer tube. Something happened between the pin and a drill bit, so I had to install an allen head setscrew.


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loveat1night said:
Thank you

Dammit lots of work just for getting the std version. I'm a small guy so i need shorten the butt stock. Is there any other decent AR that have adjustable buttstock ~ 800-$1000 and MA compliance so i can shorten it for my need?
Click to expand...

If you buy in NH, just have the dealer pin it at the length you want. It doesn't HAVE to be pinned in the fully extended position.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
loveat1night said:
Thank you

Dammit lots of work just for getting the std version. I'm a small guy so i need shorten the butt stock. Is there any other decent AR that have adjustable buttstock ~ 800-$1000 and MA compliance so i can shorten it for my need?
Click to expand...

You can replace your stock with any stock you want, all you need is the internet and a wrench. There are lots of options out there, and they will all for any AR. It just needs to be pinned into place if it's a collapsing stock.

Many people of shorter stature like the Ace skeleton stocks - they're incredibly comfortable, and they make a short version. If it's top short, they have spacers you can add on top build up to your size.
 
Last edited:
You could always buy a complete upper and and build the lower. You can adjust the stock to your setting and pin it. If you get a low profile has block no bayo to grind off and some places will pin weld the brake for you. If not smiths in the area do it for around 40 bucks.
 
My favorite stock for post ban guns is the Vltor Rifle Modstock. not too heavy and it is very very comfortable.

It will work with a rifle or carbine buffer tube. If I was "Massifying" my Sport, it would be with this. Fixed telescoping stocks are less than useless. Less comfortable than a rifle stock and not actually telescoping.

The thing about any telescoping stock is that if your style of shooting is to put your nose on the charging handle, your cheek is inevitably on the bare buffer tube. The Vltor is wide and flat.

I like the Vltor so much that i have one on a pre-ban gun that could have anything.

Don

 
Thanks guy. Before picking the Sport up. One more quick question:

Are the 30 Rounds Pre-ban Mags fit the M&P15 Sport or only the stock 10-round? This is a must for any AR i'm going to buy.
 

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