Hi All,

Just acquired a new M&P-15 Sport and have some questions for you old pros:

1. What specific AR-15 Tools do you recommend?

2. Do any of you shoot steel cased ammo without problems?
(I have heard that a Carbine length AR, traditionally being over gassed, doesn't allow the steel case enough time to cool and shrink before extraction and can, over time, damage the extractor.)

3. What Picatinny riser do you recommend for mounting a dot reticle so it clears the forward sight?

4. What single-sling attachment hardware do you recommend?

Many thanks in advance your advice!

Howdy and Welcome,

As far as cleaning...

Here is some good reading on cleaning stuff...

New to AR's? Here are some tools I use to clean.

I just use a Bore Snake and my normal rifle cleaning stuff. You really don't need anything special.

There are some good Youtube videos on the subject of maintaining an AR.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdBiZfv1jSs

Others will soon chime in on your questions.

Enjoy the Sport. I'm very impressed with mine. Very accurate.

I am also new to the AR platform (I got my sport in November). I have found that the Tula Steel cased ammo shot better then PMC Brass in my gun.

There have been many debate's on steel case ammo and extractor's. Both sides can present a pretty convincing argument to the pros and cons. The way I look at it thought is yes steel case most likely does ware out a extractor faster.

My thought's on this thought are overall I think in the long run shooting steel case will be cheaper. I was getting steel case ammo for 4.99 a pack before the panic hit vs 6-7.99 a pack for brass.

I think overall if your gun likes steel case ammo its a cheap alternative to brass if you don't plan to reload.

Right now you really cant be picky with ammo. I know thats sad to say but if you can find ammo at decent price then I jump on it. Most places are selling at a 1-2 dollars a round vs pre panic .25cent a round.

Grats on your new M&P-15 Sport there sweet rifles.

I shoot steel case ammo. No problems. IMO, no worries about breaking an extractor over time. I have a spare extractor, extractor spring, o-ring and punch in my range bag. Extractors swap out easy peasy.

If you're really worried, buy a spare bolt.

As far as tools, the CAT M4 tool is worth it.

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-John

Welcome to the forum. The cleaning question has been answered. I shoot steel cases with mine, and it probably does wear the extractor, but I can replace the extractor several times over with the savings on a case of ammo.

As far as what riser you should use, that will depend on what type of red dot sight you get. Some models are built so that they are the proper height for co-witness, without an additional riser. Some will require a rail riser, and some of the tube type can use a scope mount. Tell us what red dot you are planning on and we can probably make some recommendations.

I'll refer to someone else on slings.

there is lifetime warranty on the gun. won't that cover a broken bolt or ejector?

S&W probably would cover it, but why go two weeks or more over a $5 part?

I use FAA Corp. risers, they have flush fasteners and are very accurate as far as dimensions, You can get a long one piece or smaller ones.

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Grover Oathkeeper

As far as sight riser, I used a Leapers. I Believe it is 1 inch by about 6 inches. I didn`t like the length of it so I cut about an inch off each end and painted it flat black. It gets the red dot above the front sight so it is usable. Works fine so far-but make sure you use thread locker as the screws tend to loosen up if not.

M&I ambi-sling adapter so u dont have to remove castle-nut...tools get the cat m4 and otis cleaning kit...no idea on steel ammo, i use all brass...enjoy!

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part-time ninja...

Thats what Ive said to people. A spare bolt is $50 or less and a good investment just to have a spare regardless of shooting steel case or not. Ive only shot one box of steel through mine I had no issues with it. Ive seen co workers of mine that cringed when I said I tried a box of steel case through it. My response was...it was one box of steel case its not going to break the gun or wear out the extractor when others have shot thousands of rounds through it w/ 0 problems.

Hi All,

Thanks for your informed responses. Time to start searching for the parts. Relative to the steel cased ammo, my LGS has Russian "Silver Bear" for $11.00 per box. I'm going get ten boxes for SHTF use. Also like the idea of a spare bolt... I'll contact S&W for one. Thanks again!

I shoot Silver Bear in mine at the range. I've never had a problem with it, but with that said, my just in case ammo is M193 and M855.

Thanks, cyphertext... appreciate the encouragement!

You dont have to get a bolt from S&W, any of the major manufacturers make and use quality bolts and they will all interchange.

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Grover Oathkeeper

Any specific recommendations? And, do they all come with staked gas keys?

Your thinking of the whole bolt carrier group. What you would want to keep a spare of is just the bolt it's self, you dont need the whole group assembly which has the staked gas tube on top. BCM sells a nice bolt for $70.00 Ive seen some cheaper, some more expensive. Ones like this seem like a good middle of the road and it has great reviews.

BCM AR15 Bolt Assembly MPI


This is not something that you HAVE to have, its just something for piece of mind if you want a spare part or if you want to shoot a lot of steel case ammo. You can go even cheaper and just get the extractor itself since that is the actual part that wears out but getting the whole bolt insures other things such as having a spare firing pin retaining pin which can wear out bend or break over time. If your just using your gun for occasional shooting and dont put a lot of rounds through it then none of these parts should ever break b/c S&W does build good quality AR's but its also a piece of mind thing as well if its just something you want to have as an extra part for any "what if" situation.

Thanks, Travis... I get it. I was thinking of the BCG.

No prob, if someone asked me what an AR-15 bolt was 2 months ago I would have thought it was something you took off w/ a wrench and socket and if you asked me what the BCG was I would have said....the what??

Might depend on age. New maybe. Old,I'd guess no on a free-be,being it IS a wear item. I've never wore one out yet and do have a spair ejector in my shop parts.

You biggest problem right now is the "Out of Stock" on most things or they're way over priced because of all the "hoopla" going on. You bought a VERY high quality Modern Sporting Rifle and shouldn't have any worries about breaking down. S&W also has the best lifetime Warrenty going and it's all on their dime. Not that it's not handy having some wear parts on hand... Your biggest worry is finding mags & ammo for a reasonable price along with any reasonable priced "furniture for it. So,take your time and do some shopping around. I've shot some steel ammo (usually on ranges that won't let you pick it up) and it shoots fine. I prefer brass for reloading,but steel cases are better than no ammo at all. Brass is best.

Thanks, Maddmax. I've been trying to tred lightly but... you know what it's like with a new, accessorizable rifle. So far, just an MOE forend and several hundred rounds of fmj at $ .68/ round. My AK ammo averages $ .25/ round (although, these days, it's closer to $ .50). Hell, these days .357 magnum is almost as expensive as 5.56!

You can also get an "OH Shoot" Kit and a Bolt rebuild kit and have most of the wear items covered. That is what I have done.

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Grover Oathkeeper

As we all know quite well. That's why some refer to it as a "Barbie for men" because of all the different things you can dress it up with. Not hard to turn "7lbs" into a 15-20lbs hog quick