S&W AR-15s

[EdInk]

Anyone own an AR made by Smith-Wesson?

How do these stack up to other brands? I don't really care for ARs but these have been priced very cheaply and I was just curious if they were pretty good or not? If I got one I would probably leave it stock, so if it's a gun that requires replacing stuff to make good I have zero interest.

 

[RT]

Good to go but some folks dont like the 41401:9 barrel

 

[EdInk]

Why?

 

[gotigers]

1:9 is less accurate with heavier ammo. I only shoot .55gr, so i am ok with it.

I have a S&W M&P15, the M4gery version. I love it. Best rifle i own. I think it is on par Colt, Daniel Defense and BCM. Not in the same league as Sabre Defence, Noveske, LWRC and LMT. A little better than Bushmaster, DPMS, RRA, Stag. A lot better than Double Stars and such.

M&P have a lot of milspec specs... See the chart at the bottom of this link. http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pwswheghNQsEuEhjFwPrgTA&gid=5

IMHO

 

[CraCZ]

The best Ar I have ever owned from the oldest gun manufacture in the biz.

 

[zombieslayer]

Well, you asked. I feel I should say that for $599 they're a good deal. I bought 2 $1350 piston M&P's and they were very disappointing. And so was S&W's customer service. I own more S&W's than any other manufacturer. Kionda chapped me. Thought I'd at least throw in that no product or company ios perfect. In this case, they lost me as a customer. I only acquire vintage revolvers they made now. My new-to-me 13-1 is awesome. But I wish I'd never bought these AR's.

 

[briang2ad]

A couple points. I did SOME research, and based on the S&W reputation, I bought one for my sone with HIS money. OR from CDNN - you know the "$600" deal. But, it needs sights, etc. We likely have over $950 in it now. So... choose the version you want. $100 rebate will be good though. Things to keep in mind:

1) I ignored this, but it is a 1 YEAR warranty. Will Smith back it after that? Don't know, but I would BET they do,. Best CS in the business. And Smith will be here 50 years from now - will LMT?

2) It likley IS the best of breed of the "non-milspec" guns. They are fairly high on the "M4 Chart" - everything is Milspec but the barrel and buffer. But, the barrel is probably decent quality and IS chrome lined. You CAN get totally Milspec for NEAR the price of a Smith today in the LMT and DD line - but they won't have as many bells/whistles at that price. (OK - think they have an AR BC...)

3) They have GOOD F/F and likely shoot very well OTB. My son's Smith is likley equal to my DD in F/F - maybe a slight edge even.

4) 1:9 will shoot up to 70 gr. just fine from what I read. SOme of the 1:7 need is military from LONG tracer ammo.

Consider the "chart" and don't get too caught up. You will not fire full auto, and most of us will not fire enough to see a diff. between the Smith and a LMT.

 

[EdInk]

How much more is it for just the basic iron sights that flip-up or whatever.

 

[jsimmons]

I have the MOE version, and it's been absolutely flawless, despite my tinkering with it. I used in in a tactical carbine match last weekend, and it worked really well, despite the overly dusty conditions and 100-degree heat. However, knowing what I know now, I would choose to build my own rifle from scratch if I had it to do again.

You really want a mid-length gas system, and a M16 full-auto bolt carrier group, a heavier buffer, and a better action spring. You can't get any of that in a factory S&W.

I'm assembling a cokmpletely new upper with a mid-length 16-inch stainless barrel, upper reciever and M16 full-auto BCG, and am trying to decide if I should float the barrel (it costs $100 more than not floating the barrel). At that point, the only original S&W parts on the rifle will be the lower receiver, buffer tube, fire control group. Everything else will have been replaced.

Parts list:
Blackhole 1/8 twist stainless Barrel - $165
Other upper parts (no floated) - $140
Upper Receiver/BCG $200
CTR Stock - $80

That's $585. If I were to get another complete lower, you can add $250 to that ($835), and event then, it still would have cost less than the rifle I originally bought at the local gun store ($1100).

BTW, stay away from the S&W ORC - they weld the gasblock onto them.

 

[demigod]

If you "don't really care for ARs", you probably won't shoot it enough or run it hard enough to need a better gun than Smith is putting together.

 

[dontcatchmany]

I am looking at getting the S&W M&P 15R (5.45x39mm).

I am seeing prices just a little under 900.00. Then you need a rear sight (I looked at Troy for 119.00). Front sight could probably be replaced, I am not currently planning that, but we shall see.

Optics are not necessarily cheap, but I have not fully researched that yet....a guess is minimum 470 or so bucks. Still learning.

I have allotted myself about 1500.00 for what I am gonna end up with. Dumb, yes. Fun, yes.

Now if I could really, really, really find an M14 just like the one I had in Nam I would be almost in heaven....but legality is a problem...and the money for the M1A is something I need to plan for.

The 5.45 will get me on the range less expensively....my deer rifle cartridges run a buck 35 to a buck 75....per.

 

[Palmetto-Pride]

I bought 2 $1350 piston M&P's and they were very disappointing.

I don't think its fair to compare a piston AR to the DI versions, the AR was not designed to be piston operated and I don't think there is a company out there that's not having problems with there piston ARs. Stay away from any piston AR. I have Smith & Wesson M&P15T DI and it has been nothing but flawless with any brass cased ammo, a friend has the Smith & Wesson M&P15OR DI and his has performed flawless, I have gotten close to 1 MOA with mine and his will do less than 2 MOA.

 

[jsimmons]

Optics are not necessarily cheap, but I have not fully researched that yet....a guess is minimum 470 or so bucks. Still learning

If you're talking about a red-dot scope, you don't need to spend that kind of money to get a quality optic. Check out Primary Arms. I got their MicroDot for $99, and it's been great. I use my rifle for tactical carbine matches, and it's been knocked around pretty good. The scope has never lost zero. It looks a lot like the AimPoint micro-dot, but only costs 1/4 of the price.

 

[gotigers]

to: briang2ad

M&P buffer tubes are milspec.

to OP

get optics ready and put a primary arms red dot on it like jsimmons said. Shoot it for a while. Then figure out what irons or better optics you want. That is what i did. I sold the cheap red dot when i was done with it. Upgrading can be a step by step process. No reason to drop all that cash on it when you get it. Even if you do buy it all at the beginning, you'll want to change it later.

There are a lot of good red dot out now from $100 to $600:
Primary Arms $100
Vortex Strikfire $150
Burris XTS 135 $180
Vortex Sparc $200 This is my next red dot. very cool.
Millet Zoom Dot $300
Eotech XPS $450 & up
Aimpoints $450 & up

I started with a plain M&P. It now has a Daniel Defense Omega 7 rail, Magpul CTR, CAA grip, Magpul enhanced trigger guard, Badger charging handle latch, Eotech XPS, 2.5 larue magnifier, YHM flip up rear BUIS, JP 4.5 trigger springs. It took some trial and error to get it the way i wanted. so, dont go broke at first. It will come to you.

 

[S&W Kinda Guy]

Mine has been great. I got it in 2009. Before I took it to the range, I broke it down and cleaned it, and have shot over 400 rounds(with only that first cleaning) and have had less than 5 FTE's, no lube or anything. That thing was dry as a bone, and still reliably putting rounds down range.

Right now I just have the standard carryhandle and sights, but I plan on getting a EOTech red dot for it.

 

[TXGunNut]

Mines great, other than the price but that was an impulse error on my part. From this thread tho I feel like I actually got a pretty good deal. Just reliabilty and familiarization drills so far. Still under 500 rds but no failures of any kind. I'd buy it again.