Originally Posted by cyphertext

Goodoboy,
I guess you can see that you have to get the nomenclature correct, or you will confuse everyone...

Which rifle are you talking about now?

1. M&P 15 Sport II - This is the 5.56mm rifle with the fixed front sight and the flip rear sight.

2. M&P 15 Sport II ORC - 5.56mm Optics Ready Carbine... no sights included

3. M&P 15-22 Sport - This is an AR style rifle that is chambered in .22lr and includes a MLOK handguard with flip up sights.

4. M&P 22 - This is a .22lr pistol

I'm going to assume that we are still talking about either option 1 or 2. Yes, with 5.56mm, you can shoot out to 300 yards. With either of the 5.56mm rifles, if you decide that you want the long, free float hand guard, then yes, you will more than likely have to remove the front sight / gas block... I say more than likely because there are a few "drop in" solutions that have a cut out for the front sight, but most opt to get rid of it.

Is this your first rifle? What is your level of experience. I'm not trying to make you feel stupid... It will help us help you if we know exactly what your experience is. If you are fairly new to shooting, I would say not to worry about 300 yards, free float hand guards, etc...