SW M&P15 5.56 Sport II Optic Ready Range Configuration

What brand/model of iron sites would you recommend, and the best vendor?

My LGS said to avoid polymer sights due to ease of breaking, and stick with metal. Thoughts about that?
 
What brand/model of iron sites would you recommend, and the best vendor?

My LGS said to avoid polymer sights due to ease of breaking, and stick with metal. Thoughts about that?

You're LGS guy is a putz. Nothing wrong with the Magpul polymer BUIS.

If you're determined to go with metal BUIS you might as well go with something by Troy, Yankee Hill, GG&G, etc. Stay away from the ChiCom junk.
 
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Eric300, thanks. Are Palmetto State Armory's home-brand of polymer sites okay?
 
Update:

Shot at the range for first time yesterday. Smooth as silk and fired every round effortlessly.

Sighted in Mbus Pro Iron sights, and carried with a magpul sling. I did not notice the hand-rest getting more than slightly warm, so don't feel the need to replace it at the moment. Grip was fine. The butt stock has some wiggle, but I didn't feel like it negatively affected shooting.

I spent about an hour consulting youtube vidoes on how to clean/then cleaning it. I'm gonna get some better tools and do it in 1/3 the time next cleaning. Fun day!

https://ibb.co/R4dtrVV

Edit: I almost forgot. What is Magpul thinking when their instructions recommend a zero distance for these iron sights at 200 meters? The bullseye is already small at 50 yards without magnification! Can you even see the target at 200m?

R4dtrVV

OK it's pretty obvious your new to rifles. So some knowledge about sighting in rifles and sights.

First yes I do know what I'm talking about. I'm a firearms instructor for the third largest police department and I've attended the FBI Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor course. I also have 10 years of service with the Marine Corps.

So 200 yards/meters. Just to put things into perspective up until a few years ago Marine recruits qualified at 500 yards with iron sighted M16A2 rifles. Now they shoot with M16A3's with ACOGs.

Anyway when your talking about sighting in distance factors such as the size of the target your shooting at, muzzle velocity of the cartridge your shooting, ballistic coefficient, a fancy term for how aerodynamic a bullet is, and height of your sight over the bore.

This drawing shows in general terms what happens you fire a round with a 100 yard zero.

trajectory-figurea.gif


Couple of things to note.

1. What this drawing calls "base line", is your line of sight. At one end is your eyeball and at the far end is your target. Between the two are your sights. This line for our purposes is a straight line.
2. All barrels, in order to hit a target more then 25 feet away, are canted at an upward angle. The absolute split second the bullet is no long in contact with the barrel gravity starts to affect it's trajectory. If it was not for gravity then the bullet would fly at the upward angle forever, which is shown here at the "bore axis" line.

Because of gravity a bullets path at longer distances is in the shape of an arc, specifically a parabolic arc, meaning it's drop becomes steeper towards the end.

Now because AR15 sights are normally mounted 2-2 1/4 inches above the boreline, people over time have come up with ways to sight in ARs so at both closer, meaning 50 yards, and longer, meaning 200 yards, the bullet with cross the base line/line of sight.
 
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Continued.

This drawing illustrates this point.

>


Basically what's happening is the bullet is crossing the baseline at an upward angle at 50 yards, and crossing the baseline/line of sight at 200 yards on a downward angle.

This setup, sometimes called a 50/200 zero, allows for a fair degree of precision at both closer range and longer range.

At very close range, 20-25 feet, your bullet will strike 1 1/2-2 inches below your line of sight, depending on if your using irons or optics, and if the optic is true or 1/3 cowitness. Regardless knowing if your bullet is above or below line of sight, and at what distance, is important to hitting your target, or NOT, depending on the size of your target.

A 50/200 zero will have your bullet above/below line of sight no more the 2 1/2 inches out to 250 yards, give or take. So if your target is bigger then 5 inches in diameter and you zero 50/200 then you can aim center and hit it out to 250 yards, making 250 yards your maximum point blank range, or the distance you can hit a target without making a sight adjustment. This is all based on standard AR ammo and barrel length. Going to extremely light/fast or extremely heavy/slow bullets, or extremely short barrels will affect your zero and point blank range.
 
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Continued.

This drawing illustrates this point.

>


Basically what's happening is the bullet is crossing the baseline at an upward angle at 50 yards, and crossing the baseline/line of sight at 200 yards on a downward angle.

This setup, sometimes called a 50/200 zero, allows for a fair degree of precision at both closer range and longer range.

At very close range, 20-25 feet, your bullet will strike 1 1/2-2 inches below your line of sight, depending on if your using irons or optics, and if the optic is true or 1/3 cowitness. Regardless knowing if your bullet is above or below line of sight, and at what distance, is important to hitting your target, or NOT, depending on the size of your target.

A 50/200 zero will have your bullet above/below line of sight no more the 2 1/2 inches out to 250 yards, give or take. So if your target is bigger then 5 inches in diameter and you zero 50/200 then you can aim center and hit it out to 250 yards, making 250 yards your maximum point blank range, or the distance you can hit a target without making a sight adjustment. This is all based on standard AR ammo and barrel length. Going to extremely light/fast or extremely heavy/slow bullets, or extremely short barrels will affect your zero and point blank range.
Your link for the drawing did not work for me.

Here is a link of the same drawing that does work for me.

trajectory-figureb.gif
 
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