M&P AR-15 Opinions

[SupaRice]

Looking to buy a reasonably priced, reliable AR-15. I've been looking at the S&M M&P line. Reliability is an important factor for me.

Anyone have an M&P? Opinions on them? Any others you'd suggest I look at in a comparable price range?

http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product4_750001_750051_786010_-1_757784_757784_757784_ProductDisplayErrorView_Y

[Guest XD that is me!]

This is where I got mine. If you want to put it together. I was able to do it the first time. Fires as fast as you can pull the trigger.

Ammunition, Magazines, Rifle Parts, Bulk Ammo and Rifle Accessories – Palmetto State Armory

[RWF]

bought the V-Tac model was/am very happy with it. come with the JP trigger, JP/V-Tac free float tube 1 x7 twist, V-Tac sling etc.

[Guest hawkeye10]

I traded for this S&W M&P15 a few weeks ago and so far I like it. So far I have had zero problems with it. The only thing bad I have to say about it is it's a money pit. You want to buy a bunch of stuff to dress it up. This is my first AR so I am not an expert but I do know it's fun to shoot. Don

[Smith]

The M&P's (IMO) is a lot of gun for the money. You get a good mil-spec AR with a melonite finish and a lifetime warranty (not that you'll ever need it ).

[TN-popo]

The M&P's (IMO) is a lot of gun for the money.

+1

Within it's price range, it's a "best buy" backed by a company with arguably the best CS in the industry.

[Guest Baron]

I thought I might of made a mistake buy buying a M&P 15, but I was gladly wrong. I have yet to find any ammo that it wont spit out. If you train with it a lot, it will pay for itself by saving you $100-$200 every 1000 rounds because you can buy the cheap stuff that they other ARs choke on.

[Dolomite_supafly]

S&W's offerings are as good as any other factory AR in the under $1,000 category. And as others have said the CS is among the best if you do have problems.

As far as ammo goes it depends more on the individual gun than anything. I have literally put together at least 30 guns. And with tolerance stacking you can have the same, thoeretical, guns act totally different. As a matter of fact I have seen an M&P at a range that choked on Tula and Wolf but ran great on American made stuff. This is contradicting Baron's gun's performance. It all depends on the individual gun.

Recently I had a group of guns that had triggers, because of tolerance stacking, I would have paid for. Most were the usual factory 7+ pound trigger pulls while others had nice, crisp <4 pound triggers. Same goes for S&W I am sure. When buying a factory gun pull the trigger on as many guns as you can to find the one with the lightest trigger, you will be surprized at the difference between seemingly identical guns.

Something else that contributes to how well a gun digests the cheap stuff is how broken in it is. A brand new gun has much tighter tolerances and with the lower powered import ammo you might have problems. And if you do then fire 300-400 quality rounds and try the cheap stuff again, I bet the gun will cycle them even though they didn't before.

If you really want to save money buy a 22lr conversion kit. Before I built a dedicated gun I used a kit to put over 15K rounds through one of my guns for training. They work well enough for any run and gun drills you might run within 50 yards. Although not as accuracte as a dedicated upper/gun they are still capable of decent accuracy. Through a 9 twist barrel and shooting CCI Minimags mine shot under an inch at 25 yards. With the dedicated I can shoot under an inch at 50 yards and with ammo it really likes under 3/4 inch at 50 yards.

Or if you want a more useful gun that is cheap to shoot look at an AR in 9mm. I built one for my wife and it is by far the funnest gun we own. We have over 7,000 rounds through it and other than a few brands of HP's is 100% reliable. It is our house gun because the muzzle blast is more forgiving than a 5.56 is in an enclosed area. It is one gun that will never get sold. It is accurate enough that 100 yard shots on clays is easy with a red dot.

Dolomite

[R1100R]

I have a M&P 15 in 5.45 Russian and love it. Runs the cheap mil surplus flawless and is just as accurate as any 5.56 shooting commercial ammo. A lot of the guys in my unit owned them also and we ran thousands of rounds through them. I know none of these had any problems and ran well on the magazines we had.

S&W service is awesome and there are case where they even replaced the barrel for free after 20k rounds.

One note on the .22 conversions, They run well if kept really lubed but they get really dirty. The CMMG units are set up to run on

the cheap Remington Golden Bullets.

On the other side I have owned a couple of the Palmetto State Armory AR's and they are a whole lot of bang for the buck. I think when i was there last they stated they have a lifetime warranty. Not around a long time nationally but well know in South Carolina. Great prices on all their guns and ammo. Good People.

[SupaRice]

I was also considering getting a .22 AR or a 9mm AR. Who makes an off the shelf 9mm AR that is good? I've seen the M&P 15-22, and it looks pretty good, but I'd like to maybe have a 9mm version.

[Guest Baron]

That is why I ended up with the M&P 15.

I was looking at a more expensive DPMS for weeks. When I went in to buy a it, the store just got in the M&P 15 and 15-22 and I could buy both for the price of the single DPMS. The M&P 15 had most of what I was looking for so I took the chance.

The 15-22 is the most fun I have had with anything that has a trigger. I use it for training and range sessions. My wife reminds me all the time that it is HER rifle.

[Dolomite_supafly]

DPMS is not milspec and is not the same quality as the S&W. About the only good thing DPMS does do is their lower parts kits. Other than that most of their stuff is budget minded stuff.

Dolomite

[TN-popo]

DPMS is not milspec and is not the same quality as the S&W. About the only good thing DPMS does do is their lower parts kits. Other than that most of their stuff is budget minded stuff.

Dolomite

+1

The fact that the DPMS was more expensive than the S&W makes me chuckle.

[gotigers]

I've had a M&P 15 M4gery for 2-1/5 years with maybe 1500-2000 rounds. No issues. It is still very accurate for a carbine. I would buy one now without worry.

EDIT: I like DPMS parts and their comlpete rifles are ok, but i agree that DPMS complete rifles are over priced.

[Dolomite_supafly]

And one more thing. Milspec is a minimum standard, like getting a "D" which is passing but not outstanding. When a manufactuer can't make a passing grade, for the government no less, then that makes me question their quality.

Dolomite

[Magiccarpetrides]

Seems like I read somewhere s&w started using cheaper steel in their barrels and de mil spec'd something else any truth or just rumor?

[R1100R]

I have owned some nice DPMS rifles. I can't speak for their quality in for 5.56 in the last few years. But I own a AP4 .308 and it is a great rifle (Rifle of the Year). Their SASS and Super SASS in .308 has been fielded and just barely lost to Knight's SR25 for general procurement. I also know quite a few people that own DPMS in the large frame and know of no complaints. They are a bargain in this area.

For a a first rifle I would go with the M&P. And as stated earlier the Palmetto State Armory, it's defiantly worth looking at.

[cch2a]

I have a S&W M&P15 tactical with an acog on top. It is an outstanding weapon and I think you would be happy. If your not building one I think smith is a good place to start brand wise.

[eapking]

The M&P15 is a great value.

[Guest edc]

I bought a MOE edition today and shot a couple mags through it. I like it a lot and appears to be great quality. Sure I could have ordered and built one cheaper, but I am lazy and willing to pay the "I want it now price". Plus the flat dark earth looks awesome

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[monkeylizard]

I have an M&P MOE (black) and I'm very happy with it. My first AR and so far it likes the cheap stuff just fine. It's more accurate than I am. I tossed on a Primary Arms M3 red dot and a grip-pod and called it done. With their cantilevered mount for the M3 there's still room for their 5x magnifier and the MBUS rear site.

[BigK]

I have an M&P 15-22 and love it. It seems like a good idea to me to buy the M&P 15, since it's essentially the same gun only heavier and more powerful. However, I've never owned a centerfire rifle that wasn't a deer rifle, so what do I know.

[SupaRice]

Ended up getting one. Academy Sports had it on sale, so I swooped over there and picked one up the other day. Then put a few extras on it today. Just bought some MagPul backup sights to use for right now until I get a few more bucks for a reflex.

Hopefully I'll be able to get out and put some down range this weekend.

[Magiccarpetrides]

like the gasblock sight...looks great!

fwiw....try the Troy Battlemags....imho they are quite a bit better then the pmags....actually for the moment they are all i use.

[Guest BenderBendingRodriguez]

I was actually at the shop to pick up a new .22 pistol yesterday (had been using a veeeeery old High Standard, but it recently gave up the ghost), and ended up walking out with an M&P 15 Sport, as well. May not be the nicest model, but for $650 OTD (tax and b.g. check included), it was hard to say no. It will be my first venture into AR-15 land, so I figured if I could get in cheap and figure out my likes and dislikes, that would probably be the best approach to things.

Hope all the reports about M&P quality and reliability in this thread and elsewhere on the internet prove to be true.