Not sure if anyone is tracking this review, I am a Fan of the M&P 15, Although I'm not a fan of the sport, it is a decent review.
http://thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/06...rt/#more-49985
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Not sure if anyone is tracking this review, I am a Fan of the M&P 15, Although I'm not a fan of the sport, it is a decent review.
http://thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/06...rt/#more-49985
Eh.. No dust cover or forward assist? I'd still prefer to have them. I do understand though where they're coming from trying to make it affordable.
Two curious statements in that review:
That seems to claim approximately 85,000 rounds on a Melonite treated barrel "without any visible damage." Are they counting severe throat erosion as visible damage? Are they claiming these barrels could go 85k? That would more than double anything I would expect for a Melonite treated 4140 barrel.Quote:
Smith claims that the bare bones approach has no effect on durability. They’ve fed two M&P15 Sport test rifles a combined ~170,000 rounds of various brands of ammunition without any [visible] damage to the Melonite coating.
I've read about the 1/8 twist, but this is the first I've heard of it being a gain twist design. That would be extremely unusual. The only modern firearms I know of using a gain twist are S&W's massive .460S&W and .500 S&W revolvers. Can anyone confirm this?Quote:
The M&P15′s 5R rifling is a 1/8” “gain twist.” The twist starts longer and tightens to 1/8” towards the end of the barrel.
Brennan; if you want the cover and FA; along with the chrome barrel, insulated hand guards, trigger cover, and a few of the other things the sport leaves off, there are 2 decent options. 1) If you have sights or optics, or was planning on buying those extra anyway, then you can find the M&P15-OR (Optical Ready). You can find it on sale for about $750 with a $100 s&w rebate. "Rebates and deals fluctuate and come and go; but they do appear". The sport has never been eligible for the S&W rebate, but all their others have. So, for the same $650, you can get the OR model. 2) You can get the basic model with adjustable sights / carrying handle for about $799 and the $100 rebate when available. So; for not much more, you can get the full fledged M&P15.
And this is the advice I give to a lot of new AR buyers. I really do like my M&P15, but ONLY FOR THE RIGHT PRICE!!! If you're willing to spend the normal $950-$1100 for an M&P15, and won't look around for a sale/deal/rebate, then you'd be better off buying a Colt, BCM, DD, etc... for the exact same price. This also applies to those who are willing to spend $900+ on a Bushwacker, RR, Oly, DPMS, etc... For the same exact amount of money, you could get a much better rifle. The problem seems to be with those that will ONLY buy from a local gun shop. If that's your choice, and they don't have sales, then you will always pay those higher prices. Then again , those local shops won't have the $900 colt. They'll charge $1100 for it. So if you won't order or go online, then price is a moot point.
But if you can get an M&P15 for the $650-$750 price range ($600 for the Sport); then that is a very good price. It's well worth it. But if you can get a rebate or aren't into ordering online or waiting for a sale, and you're willing to spend $900+, you should really consider better options like the colt, bcm, dd, etc... That's only if you're willing to shop around or order online.
Agreed. I think that the Sport is going to be the AR of choice for those who buy locally, and don't shop around for sales or online. With a retail price of $700, the normal price in a LGS will be $650-$700. That will be substantially less than the $850-$950 for an M&P15-OR or the $1100 price of a Colt at the local gun shop. But I guess there are those that simply go to their local gun shops and don't shop around or go online. I think S&W may have hit a home-run for that market of customers. The local gun shop can't afford to put the colt on sale for $900 or the standard line of M&P15's for $700-$750.
I'm seeing a definite trend emerging here and on other boards. Everyone who actually owns and has shot a Sport loves it. The Sport has been on the market for three months, it's been flying off the store shelves and not a single malfunction has been reported by any of the owners or reviewers. That is highly unusual. I don't know of any other new weapon that has performed this flawlessly from the first production run.
The only criticism that I've seen of the Sport has been from people who don't own one and haven't shot one. Most of the criticism seems to be based on the assumption that, because of the price, the rifle can't be as good as the traditional, overpriced versions of the AR.
The review linked by the OP seems to answer the question of whether a dust cover is really necessary (it's not). The scallop in the bolt is all the forward assist that you should need. If you need to exert more force than that, you shouldn't be forcing the issue.
The BCG is standard LMT. The upper and lower receivers are 7075 T6 aluminum forged in house by S&W. The barrel has the same rifling as the Army's sniper rifle and melonite treatment has been demonstrated as early as 1967 in Army tests as providing wear resistance greatly superior to untreated barrels and close to chrome lined barrels.
So, I'll take the Sport. In fact, I'll take two for the price of one Colt, Noveske or other "superior" model and, if I alternate shooting my two Sports, I strongly suspect that they'll both still be shooting when the "superior" model has given up the ghost.
The lower on the sport is nice with a built in extended trigger guard.
I think the sport for the avg joe who wants an AR but doesnt want to spend gobs of money is a good choice. Heck SW has lifetime warranty
I love my S&W not a single issue reported...dirty russian ammo doesnt affect its performance at all..its just asking...give me more
Enjoyed the review. Looks like S&W have another winner on their hands. This rifle sure makes sense to me, and as more and more enter the market and are sold the price will probably drop.
I think the only other rifle as inexpensive, not counting the parts guns that some online places sell, is the Bushmaster Carbon-15. I saw one on sale at sportsman's warehouse at christmas for $599. I wouldn't say the bush is the same quality as the sport. But my point is; I don't think the price is going to go much lower. If anything, the other manufacturers might have to lower some of their prices if the M&P15 sport and the Bush carbon-15 become very popular and most new buyers aim for those two.
I came across one of these when a guy was bench-shooting one at the local Fudd range. He asked me to check it out, and when I looked at the barrel markings and saw 1/8 5R in conjunction with the profile and finish I just scratched my head. I figured it was some gimmick, as I've only heard or 5R rifling in bolt actions and maybe some SPR's.
Anyway, the rifle came stock with a LMT style rear sight, and the guy was thrilled with the price he got it for. (IIRC $600-$700 range)
Looks to be the best AR you can get for under 800 MSRP. Definitely not the rifle I would want for duty use but Id rock one as a range gun any day.
I figure the point of this rifle is to introduce the fudds or newbies to the AR world, without costing an arm or a leg, so in this I congratulate S&W. The more people who acquire the AR, the more allies we'll have on our side when the left tries to bring another "assault weapons ban" bill.
Hey guys, long time reader, first time poster.
You guys have a great site here and I have learned so much just
reading through all the stickys for beginers and other threads on this site. So thanks for having such a great place to come to and learn.
I purchased a S&W Sport about a month ago and have taken it out
to the desert to do target shooting. I haven't had any problems with it at all and I am very happy with my purchase as this will be a just for fun gun and target shooting. For me not having a lot of money to buy a nice quality set up yet I came to the decision that for what I will use it for it was the way to go.
Just wanted to put in my .02 cents on the subject.
Again thanks for having such a great site.
Ty
I was actually going to ask about that.
I've read and compared the lower to the normal M&P lower and other than the trigger guard it looks to be pretty much the same. Well same to me but I'm no expert. So the sport lower is able to recieve a different upper then?
Also thanks for the welcome, and I live in SLC Utah.
Ty
Nice. That's good to hear.
Hopefully I made a good purchase.
Thanks,
Ty
Hey guys,
Just wanted to put up a couple pics of the Sport and
what I did with it.
This was at about 45 yards from prone.
Don't laugh ha ha.
Ty
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/...612_172429.jpg
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/...612_172441.jpg
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/...612_171944.jpg
Well said, Christcorp. I agree that the price probably won't go much lower. My concern is that the demand will be high enough to make them hard to find, which may lead some retailers to charge more when they have them in stock. Fortunately, I already bought mine.Quote:
I think the only other rifle as inexpensive, not counting the parts guns that some online places sell, is the Bushmaster Carbon-15. I saw one on sale at sportsman's warehouse at christmas for $599. I wouldn't say the bush is the same quality as the sport. But my point is; I don't think the price is going to go much lower. If anything, the other manufacturers might have to lower some of their prices if the M&P15 sport and the Bush carbon-15 become very popular and most new buyers aim for those two.
I, too, hope that the Sport will exert some price pressure on other manufacturers and force them to lower their prices. The AR-15 platform is fun to shoot, easy to handle and the ammo is inexpensive. If the Sport and similar rifles make the platform accessible to a broader market, then that's a good thing.
Good thread OP, I got to shoot my father in law's M&P15 today, not sure which version it is (it did come with a forward assist/dust cover though). Both shot great mine ran a little smoother IMO, I attribute this to mine being a mid length and having the VLTOR buffer kit, so not a fair head to head. Anyway, here are some comparisons:
the two in question:
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...2/1117514a.jpg
BCGs - DD on left:
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...2/ab2cb8a2.jpg
DD on left - both staked, M&Ps a little 'shallower' but not by much
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...2/268ce97c.jpg
The pics of the bolt assembly, cam pin, etc didn't come out as well but the assembly parts are mainly the same with the exception of "MP" not being marked on the M&Ps bolt assembly. The DD has an M16 carrier, the M&P has an AR15 carrier. Both firing pins fully shrouded.
and the castle nut was staked on the M&P and DD
sorry to butt in, just thought I'd post a comparison for all to see
Good pics Munch,
Cool to see them side by side.
The MP looks pretty close to how my Sport looks.
That DD is a awesome looking rifle! Wish I could get one but alas I don't have the cash for
it right now. Plus I want to get good with the Sport with Iron Sites before I start
spending the cash on somthing really nice. I think of it like my first car,
no reason to have a Porche if you don't know how to drive it :)
If you guys are interested I can post some pics of how
all the Sport parts look. I've looked over all the staking
and they seem to be pretty good.
If you guys want some pics let me know what you would
like to see.
Thanks,
Ty
yeah would be cool if you could throw up some detail pics
and thank you - neat to see that at a lower price point, the necessities are still included
How yours differs, if at all, from the pics I posted of the father in laws M&P
And maybe more detailed pics of cam pin, firing pin, bolt assembly, extractor - thanks in advance.
Ok Munch,
Here ya go. Sorry for the poor pic quality I don't have a digital camera at the moment so these are just from my phone.
Hope they are ok.
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/...yxxvxl/Top.jpg
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/...xl/Staking.jpg
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/...l/Staking1.jpg
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/i349/tyxxvxl/MP.jpg
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/...xvxl/Lower.jpg
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/...l/LowerTop.jpg
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/.../LowerSide.jpg
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/...yxxvxl/Gas.jpg
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/...xl/GasTube.jpg
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/...l/FeedRamp.jpg
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/...vxl/Buffer.jpg
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/...l/BoltFace.jpg
http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/...xvxl/Upper.jpg
Thanks Tyxxvxl - nice to have some detail pics up for other users looking at the S&W lineup
I forgot to look, is the M&P buffer tube 1.148" or 1.168" in diameter?
I stand corrected...I will have to go back and look at that M&P I referenced. I swear I saw no "MP". Will look further into this.
i picked up a mp sport last week for 587, great shooting gun, over 600 rounds of american eagle 55grain, dead accurate and never missed a lick. My friend had a sig 556 and another guy at the range had a smith and wesson mp15 tatical, and when it was all over, my sport shot just as well, and each of them where talking about getting one. I have a bushmaster carbon 15 that i picked up used, and it is not a accurate and just dont like the feel, i think i have it sold if the guy comes through on his offer. I have the sig 522 and thought about picking up the 556, but after seeing and shooting one of the smith mp15 sports a couple of weeks, at the price it was I just had to have one. Dont plan on crawling around in any jungles, and dont plan on not cleaning it or trying to force a round in that does not want to go in on its own, actually would just prefer to get that round out and find out why, so very happy with the sport.
great site, now looking at putting a scope and a forward grip on it.
my friends and i have been shooting the sport for a few weeks and we all love it. i put a vortex sparc on top and love this rifle. the only "complaint" is i wish the interior was a little smoother when you pull back the charging handle-if that is really a "complaint"
i personally have put close to 1000 rounds through it and never had a problem with any of them-we used all kinds of value minded rounds-umc, monarch, pmc. no issues with any of them.
after being in the army it was weird at first bc it is a carbine length hand guard but was easily able to see the benefit after carrying the rifle through the woods for a few miles on foot. {just feels lighter}
all in all this is a GREAT general purpose rifle and everyone who has shot it LOVES it. active marines, active army and a couple of guard and reserve buddies have shot and loved it! it has od green moe furniture and the sparc on it and a magpul green rear flip up-all of this was added the moment we got it home.
we do not use or have a bench but shoot mostly from standing or kneeling postion and the rifle does great for us. it has been out in a rainstorm or two, thrown into the back of trucks and atvs and boats and fired while covered in dirt and soaked ue to the rain- NO issues:smile:
i will give a little better report later but wanted to share my .02 here as i am a sw fan now.
btw ours is a mil spec buffer tube-i know this for a fact due to buying wrong buttstock at first{commercial}
Great thread, thanks guys for the info. Hopefully you won't get tagged as trolls.. and the thread locked.. :lol:
I just got an email ad from a Mass gun store with the sport model avaiable now!! Looks like we get to purchase one here. Being in Mass and 10 minutes from where Smith and Wesson is located, Mass is the last place to have S&W guns available, while we wait for them to be approved. I have to figure out where I can store another AR.. not that I need one, but heck... gotta get it. :smile:
i hope it doesnt get locked-did i do anything to get it locked?
i am new to the forum-my bad!:suicide2: