Smith & Wesson M&P 15

[Slater]

These have been on the market for about a decade. Over the years I've heard them described as everything from "decent AR's for the money" to "pretty much just a hobby gun". I know that opinions vary widely, but what's the general consensus in 2017 as to their overall quality/reliability?

[Eurodriver]

Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
Just buy a Colt
It’s what we all should do.

[everready73]

The Sport is the one that gets the most talk because it is a now sub $500 gun. It is hobby grade with inferior parts such as 4140 barrel, 6061 receiver extension, and other non mil-spec parts such as untested (MPI/HPT) BCG and barrel. The other M&P rifles that are a "step up" in the line still lack features that a Colt Trooper, 6920, OEM would have for the same or more money. Like Eurodriver said so eloquently, buy a Colt

[Doc Safari]

I had a Sport II.

I bought it to have a cheap truck gun. Trouble is, its shortcomings bother you after a short time if you know anything about AR's.

Bad right out of the box:

No chrome in bore
Poor castle nut staking
Toy-grade handguard that I replaced with real handguards before a single round was fired

Good:

Staking on bolt carrier key was actually pretty good and comparable to any top tier BCG

My objective opinion:

Get it for a beater that you can sacrifice if it gets stolen or you want to experiment with crappy ammo or something. If you know anything substantial about AR's you might as well get something better like a Colt or BCM.

[crusader377]

These have been on the market for about a decade. Over the years I've heard them described as everything from "decent AR's for the money" to "pretty much just a hobby gun". I know that opinions vary widely, but what's the general consensus in 2017 as to their overall quality/reliability?

The M&P 15 is a decent entry level (M&P Sport) to mid level AR (M&P 15/M&P Mid MOE) depending on model. Would I feel comfortable running a S&W M&P 15 for a home defense rifle? Yes. Would it be my first choice? No. With the current aggressive pricing from Colt, there is very little reason to by a S&W AR.

[ginzomatic]

What everybody has said already... there is no good reason to get one over a Colt or any other combat proven brand. In the current climate a partially assembled LaRue can be had for around $1K...

[Slater]

Looking at the below model, the barrel is finished internally and externally with their so-called "Armornite" finish. Is this supposed to be some sort of nitriding?

http://www.smith-wesson.com/firearms/mp-15-moe-sl-mid-magpul-spec-series

[methical20]

Please take a look at the Colt Trooper thread and don't spend that much money on an M&P. Please.

Colt Trooper can be had for 685 right now...

[Slater]

Please take a look at the Colt Trooper thread and don't spend that much money on an M&P. Please.

Colt Trooper can be had for 685 right now...

I don't intend to buy either. My daughter has expressed interest in a M&P 15 and I'm not familiar with that particular brand. But I'll put a bug in her ear about the Colt.

[heavygunner8]

I bought a m&p15 sport ii in late August for 440$ out the door. I sold it a month later for $500 and bought myself a colt trooper m4 and a Ruger MPR. With all the praise sport ii got, I don’t think it’s a bad gun for the civilian market.

[everready73]

Looking at the below model, the barrel is finished internally and externally with their so-called "Armornite" finish. Is this supposed to be some sort of nitriding?

http://www.smith-wesson.com/firearms/mp-15-moe-sl-mid-magpul-spec-series

Yes that is what they call melonite/nitride. That one still has the 4140 barrel steel. I would show her the Colt Trooper or even one of the OEM ones she could add the furniture of her choice

[voiceofreason]

For the $$ they're asking for the Sport 2, I think it's a great deal if you don't plan on upgrading much.

Mine has been solidly reliable, works great and loving it.

For people that think spending $1,000 on a rifle is crazy... it's a GOOD value

-

For people that use guns for serious purposes, actually like guns, want to do more than plink, the same $$ is better spent on a higher quality rifle to start. You can't upgrade a lot of the important pieces... but the same pieces should hold up fine for a light use schedule.

If you have the $$, the BETTER VALUE lies with the Colt, BCM, DD, etc. lines

The VERY BEST VALUE right now lies with the Colt Trooper. Far and away.

[Beat Trash]

Their current LE guns are now basically a Sport II with different rails, depending on the model ordered.

In the last two years, I've seen batches of 60 guns ordered each year. The first batch had 8 guns with barrel issues, the second had 11 guns with barrel issues. The issues have been rounds that were key holing at 5-7 yards.

I'v also seen the non-taper FSB pins fall out over time.

Personally, I'm not impressed with the QC coming from the Sport line.

With the current market, it's hard not to justify buying a Colt 6920. Grab a 6920 OEM-1 and slap your favorite color of MagPul furniture on it. Or save up about a week's worth of lunch money and buy a Colt 6920 Trooper.

[Slater]

S&W has been promoting some of their guns as having "5R" rifling. Is this a departure from previous configurations?

[Vegasshooter]

The S&W MP is just what it is: a crap rifle. I'm basing this on SEVERAL things I have personally seen. Not hearsay, or "friends buddy's neighbor's cousin". My background: full time trainer/instructor/ Armorer with a very large Sheriff's Dept. We have over 1300 rifles on the street, and I work on all of the brands. When S&W first came out, they were a parts gun being thrown together by Stag Arms and being sold as a S&W. Over time S&W started doing more and more of the building inhouse. The early rifles we got were so bad we had to run the sights ALL the way to the right or left to get a zero. Many wouldn't zero and had to be returned to S&W. On later model guns I have seen poor staking on the receiver extension tubes, little to no staking on the bolt carrier group. I have literally had to rebuild guys guns after the receiver extension tube came loose, the receiver extension left the rifle, taking the spring and buffer with it. If a guy bought one, went over it with a fine tooth comb, tightened, loc-tited, and staked the whole gun, he'd still have a gun with inferior internal components.

I JUST CAN'T SEE, in this day and age going with the S&W when so many other companies do it right, with mil spec components, for not much, if any price difference.

[Iraqgunz]

I'm doing a class in GA right and one of the agencies here has hundreds of S&W rifles in use. One of their guys has reported multiple issues over time with receiver extensions loosening and other stuff.

I recently was asked to remove a seized barrel nut from an M&P upper. It was waaaaay over torqued and had to be cut off. The barrel nut had zero anti-seize, grease, etc..

[SiGfever]

The M&P 15X that I bought back in 2008 during the panic had to go back to Smith twice for them to get it right. First was improperly cut M4 feed ramps, poor staking on the BCG. and the upper and lower wobbled enough to put a mack truck through (just kidding but it was terrible). Well when it came back they replaced the upper so the feed ramp and slop issues were fixed, and they properly staked the BCG. Only thing is the FSB was canted off to the side, so back it went. It came back corrected, but damn! I gave it to my son-in-law as his first AR, and now he has a nice BCM w/15" KMR. So the Smith became his truck gun.

47911

[hdrolling]

I have a sport II, it's my budget beater gun. The trigger was cheap and didn't have a good feel to it so I replaced it with a spare BCM trigger. The hand guards have no heat shields so I replaced with a Troy free float. I wanted a QD end plate since it ddin't come with one and after I installed I staked the castle nut. I did change out the furniture and added a Aimoint Pro and just to try one out I put a lantec dragon on mine. It's an okay rifle at best.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4386/36696215862_8a76545d8f_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XUHGuW)s&w1 (https://flic.kr/p/XUHGuW) by hd_rolling (https://www.flickr.com/photos/22585324@N07/), on Flickr

[Slater]

Heck, looks like the M&P 15 is on the same level with Olympic.

[Animalhd1]

I’ve got an older M&P15A (came with Troy rear sight, CL 4140 barrel 1/9) that a buddy bought during the Obamer panic of early 09, later, September 09 I think, I gave him $800 for it still nib. It’s been a good rifle and I’ve got it set up as a coyote gun. Mines a tack driver and has been 100% reliable. I think there was a window in time when S&W started making them in house and were trying very hard to put out quality and build a good reputation. That being said, I would not buy a new one today.

[The_War_Wagon]

I owned an early one - it was a rebranded RRA in those days. It would appear to not have improved much since.

[5.56 Bonded SP]

Just sharing my personal experience.
I had one of the fancy versions. I believe the M&P-T mid length free float 5R rifling.
Had burrs inside the rifling, had to send it back. They ( S&W ) sent it back with the same barrel with burrs :mad: , their shop smith said it was fine (WTF?) It also took about two months for the ''warranty '' work. So I sold it, and told the person I sold it to to replace the barrel and showed him the problem before he bought it.

I did some training with an agency that had a bunch of Colt 6920's, and M&P's sport II's. We weren't even running the guns hard, but the M&P's were the only guns that had malfunctions, one locked up so bad we could not open the BCG at the range, it did not have a popped primer, but upon later inspection the upper was out of spec. ( working the charging handle was a horrible sound ).

I'll never give S&W another dime of my money because of my purchase experience, and wont encourage anyone else to either. Save up your money and buy a properly built rifle.

[wichaka]

I won a Magpul version a couple years ago at my LE instructors conference. Its mid length and haven't had one bit of problem with it. I've used it to teach and train, no problems...guess I got one that was made mid week?