I have several AR rifles and wanted to try a 14.5" barrel with a Troy 13" rail. I had handled a friends set up like this and really liked the quick handling and feel of the rifle. I found this rifle on a dealer shelf and it was almost what I was planning to build. Being impatient I figured I would give it a shot instead doing the mail order thing on parts. It is my first S&W AR.
The rifle came in black and I ran it that way until I was sure I was going to keep it then hit it with a paint job. I live in the desert and black rifles get very hot out in the sun all day. Every rifle I keep gets painted for that reason. Here it is after the rattle can job:
I have ran the gun in a few local classes and some rifle matches plus practice sessions. From the beginning I wanted to see if it would run cheap ammo. My opinion is a gun that wont run just about anything is a gun I do not want to own. It has about 1500 rounds of mostly Wolf 55gr through it with several different brads of brass cased ammo for good measure. It has been 100% reliable with no malfunctions.
Before I shot the gun I tore it down cleaned it and applied Froglube per their instructions. The whole gun was kind of a test bed so I wanted to see how the Froglube ran on a clean gun from day one. So far its perfect.
The gun is a carbine gas system, 14.5" barrel, 1/7" twist with a Vortex flash hider pinned and welded on. The gun does not shoot as flat as my 16" barrled rifle with a Battlecomp which is to be expected. The Vortex job is to kill flash and it does it extremely well. It does have a peculiar "ping" sound that I am not crazy about.
The TS version of the MP-15 comes with the Troy 13" rail installed. The rail has been rock solid for me so far. I run a Magpul foregrip and use it basically a handstop. The combination is very solid and works well for me. I attached one of the included rail sections to the Troy rail and installed a Surefire Mini-Scout light with the pressure pad on the top rail.
I swapped out the fire control group for a Geissle SSA-E trigger and a BAD-*** 45 degree Ambi safety. Both are fantastic parts that I am very pleased with. I use the 45 degree ambi's on all my rifles. Once you get used to them it spoils you. For an optic I use an Aimpoint H-1 in a Larue mount. Both are reliable and do what they are supposed to with no fuss.
As far as accuracy I do not shoot tiny groups with this rifle my use for it basically 100 yards and in. It will put the rounds where I need them as long as I do what I am supposed to. Head shots on a steel IPSC target at 100 yards from standing postion is boring with this rifle and optic. Thats all I ask out of it and it does it every time.
The biggest drawback to this set up is that the rail does get hot if you run it hard. After a couple of mags in a bounding drill or doing up drills for awhile you need gloves to run it. It is annoying but everything has a trade off. The form factor of the rail is awesome and its worth the heat issue to me. If I know I am going to be burning down a bunch of rounds on a steady basis I would pick another set up.
Overall I am very happy with the gun. IMO if you are looking for a general purpose carbine with the fast handling of the 14.5 bbl and thin rail it is perfect for that role. The pinned Vortex flash hider is something I would change out to a Battlecomp and still might on this gun. Being pinned and welded it is just a pain to do but not impossible.
Based on my experience with the TS version of the M&P-15 I would buy another S&W rifle if the circumstances were similar. Its still early with this rifle but I have shot it enough to feel confident with it. Its a solid rifle.
M&P-15 TS Review
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