Fiber optics on my 15-22 MOE fornt sight post?

Greetings all. I'm a new M&P 15-22 MOE owner. Got mine for Christmas. (Thanks Honey!)

I've been reading on here daily for a few weeks even before we pulled the trigger, so to speak, on a 15-22. I'm glad to see that the folks around here are friendly and eager to welcome noobs like myself. Brett's videos have been viewed by myself several times now and have been invaluable. Much appreciated Brett (also a fellow IT worker I see).

I took my new toy to the indoor range with my 2 young kids to start teaching them to shoot. We all loved shooting the 15-22 (wife included). However, the black front sight post on a black target is too much for my old IT worker eyes to see anymore. I was considering various options to make the front post more visible. Here are what I've come up with so far.

1. Colored plastic posts to replace the stock Magpul MBUS metal one. As seen here AR15/ M16 Multi Colored Front Sight Posts

2. A Sightlink fiber optic sight post. What I like about this is that you can adjust it in increments of less than 180 degrees because the top of the sight and the threaded portion of the sight can be rotated in their orientation to each other. That also woks against you because the Magpul MBUS doesn't use a detent pin so it will be free to move. Although I think a little black silicone dot would affix them to each other. The sight can be seen here.
MOUNTING SOLUTIONS PLUS : AR-15 SIGHTLINK FRONT SIGHT - World's Largest Supplier of Firearm Accessories, Gun Parts and Gunsmithing Tools

3. Just buy some brightly colored fishing lure paint and paint the stock MBUS post. I'd prefer not to alter the original though. Although it DID come from S&W with a fat scratch in the surface of it . I wonder I I can get them to send me a new post?

Anyhow, I'm open to any other suggestions. I'd also like to hear if anyone knows if these will work for certain on the Magpul MBUS front sight or not.

Also, does anyone know of a place where I can see a photo of what the MBUS sight picture is supposed to look like? After some experimentation I ended up putting the tip of the post in the middle of the aperture and aiming like a punkin on a post. Is this correct?

Thanks in advance and Happy New Year to all.
- Tim

Bitbyte said:

3. ...Although it DID come from S&W with a fat scratch in the surface of it . I wonder I I can get them to send me a new post?

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I can't really comment on the rest of your post but give S&W customer service a call and tell them about the damaged post. Their customer service is great and I would be very surprised if they did not send you a replacement.

I had the same issue, with a black sight post being hard to see in certain situations. The following pictures are my sollution to this problem. Its a product from Tapco. Its a AR 15 sight post replacment kit. It runs $5.99 for 5 various hard plastic colored posts. I prefer the blaze orange for my front sight. Hope these pictures help you out. If you need more I'd be happy to post more from any angles you may need. I have included a picture of the actual packaging of the sights for reference. Please disregard the shirts that are laid on the tv.. its the spare bedroom/man room. And I hadnt gotten around to hanging the shirts up yet( wifes orders lol) Lastly, my sight post will be different in height to your's, as each rifle has its own need for adjustment for the shooter, how/direction that the gun is shooting,etc etc. I hope that these few quick pictures have helped you out, if not I'll do what I can to help with if you need something different.

I bought a similar Tapco set for my SKS. I've been using the yellow, but in most instances it still appears black and difficult to follow.

A red dot or reflex sight that gives you a bright dot will be much easier to use. My mom loved shooting my 15-22 with M3 clone red dot since she uses glasses and cant use rifle sights very well.

If you get the fiber optic post, go with something along the lines of 0.075-0.050" wide. Keep in mind the MBUS uses the front for elevation and with the fiber optic post you will lose so ability to adjust since the post can't be in any random position to work.

Ufd108 said:

I can't really comment on the rest of your post but give S&W customer service a call and tell them about the damaged post. Their customer service is great and I would be very surprised if they did not send you a replacement.

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Yeah, I was thinking of doing that. Wasn't sure if I should call Magpul or S&W though.

I'll call them Monday. Thanks.

DownRange&Upwind said:

I had the same issue, with a black sight post being hard to see in certain situations. The following pictures are my sollution to this problem. Its a product from Tapco. Its a AR 15 sight post replacment kit. It runs $5.99 for 5 various hard plastic colored posts. I prefer the blaze orange for my front sight. Hope these pictures help you out. If you need more I'd be happy to post more from any angles you may need. I have included a picture of the actual packaging of the sights for reference. Please disregard the shirts that are laid on the tv.. its the spare bedroom/man room. And I hadnt gotten around to hanging the shirts up yet( wifes orders lol) Lastly, my sight post will be different in height to your's, as each rifle has its own need for adjustment for the shooter, how/direction that the gun is shooting,etc etc. I hope that these few quick pictures have helped you out, if not I'll do what I can to help with if you need something different.

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DownRange. Those are the ones I listed in option 1. Are you happy with them? I was concerned about them not being very visible in dim light like rustspot mentioned. The indoor range I go to isn't exactly brightly lit.

Rustpot said:

I bought a similar Tapco set for my SKS. I've been using the yellow, but in most instances it still appears black and difficult to follow.

A red dot or reflex sight that gives you a bright dot will be much easier to use. My mom loved shooting my 15-22 with M3 clone red dot since she uses glasses and cant use rifle sights very well.

If you get the fiber optic post, go with something along the lines of 0.075-0.050" wide. Keep in mind the MBUS uses the front for elevation and with the fiber optic post you will lose so ability to adjust since the post can't be in any random position to work.

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Rustspot. I would like to get a red dot or some sort of optic. But part of this exercise is to teach my kids to shoot. I want them to learn to use the open sights and not just optics.

That being said. I've looked at an Eotech 512 at the gun store, I'm not sure if it's supposed to look like this, but to me the reticle looks like a bunch of small dots. I had read that people with astigmatism might not do well with red dots, perhaps that's the problem. I will admit that if I focus on the target and not the dot it gets better.

Unfortunately while I was at another place they showed me the Burris xtr-14. For a SWEET price of 650 and that includes the mini red dot on top. The reticle in that scope is gorgeous. Crisp clean and not cluttered. I'm afraid I'm ruined now. That will be what i compare everything to, even though I'm not sure I can bring myself to put a $650 optic on a $550 plinker.

As far as not being able to adjust the fiber optics. The fiber optic I linked to allows you to reorient the fiber part independently from the screw post, so I think it wouldn't suffer from what you described.

Anyone tried the sightmark fiber optic posts?

Bitbyte said:

DownRange. Those are the ones I listed in option 1. Are you happy with them? I was concerned about them not being very visible in dim light like rustspot mentioned. The indoor range I go to isn't exactly brightly lit.

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I've used my new sight posts during day and late evening hours at my local outdoor range( Knob creek, ky) and as well as a few times I had to get a VERY bothersome 'coon out of a tree. Each time I have had to use my rifle this way, with my flashlight turned on I could see my sights perfectly against the tree branches, and night sky. Where as black sights, as you can imagine would be more diffucult to track at night.

Also for target shooting, the bright orange, so far at least stands out very well against all types of backdrops for fast target pickup. Im very satisfied with the new posts. Even using orange posts on the Shoot'N see brand targets works well as the colors of those are dark black, then neon green for the rounds hit detection. The orange post sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb.

DownRange&Upwind said:

I've used my new sight posts during day and late evening hours at my local outdoor range( Knob creek, ky) and as well as a few times I had to get a VERY bothersome 'coon out of a tree. Each time I have had to use my rifle this way, with my flashlight turned on I could see my sights perfectly against the tree branches, and night sky. Where as black sights, as you can imagine would be more diffucult to track at night.

Also for target shooting, the bright orange, so far at least stands out very well against all types of backdrops for fast target pickup. Im very satisfied with the new posts. Even using orange posts on the Shoot'N see brand targets works well as the colors of those are dark black, then neon green for the rounds hit detection. The orange post sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb.

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Cool, that's what I wanted to hear. The price is certainly right.

I've tried to find them locally but all I get are looks from the gun shop people like i've lost my mind.

sight posts are also very cheap to replace if you booboo while painting them.. just find any A2 post and it should fit in there.. they also come in generally 3 sizes.. .034, .050, and .100. the .100 is stock.

grimreaper21 said:

sight posts are also very cheap to replace if you booboo while painting them.. just find any A2 post and it should fit in there.. they also come in generally 3 sizes.. .034, .050, and .100. the .100 is stock.

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Maybe I'll just buy some nice metals ones and paint them using that crazy colored fishing lure paint. Any recommendations?

Bitbyte said:

Maybe I'll just buy some nice metals ones and paint them using that crazy colored fishing lure paint. Any recommendations?

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Yeah, that could be even better. Use some florescent metallics.


'iPhone posted using TapaTalk'

Bitbyte said:

Maybe I'll just buy some nice metals ones and paint them using that crazy colored fishing lure paint. Any recommendations?

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I was going to buy these, just for the wide variety. KNS Sight Post Assortment AR-15 Matte Package of 7 - MidwayUSA
that way you can try out whatever best works for you.

grimreaper21 said:

I was going to buy these, just for the wide variety. KNS Sight Post Assortment AR-15 Matte Package of 7 - MidwayUSA
that way you can try out whatever best works for you.

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WOW! That's very cool. I'm ordering that one. Thanks!

I had the same problem, hard to see. I got some bright white car touch up paint from Walmart and painted the post.

MAD FALCON said:

I had the same problem, hard to see. I got some bright white car touch up paint from Walmart and painted the post.

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Yeah, I wanted to leave the original post the way it came though. I have no problem buying extra posts and paintin the heck out of them.

Here is another fiber optic front sight that's priced a little cheaper than the first one you were looking at.

HIVIZ

I also have the KNS assortment pack and several of them are worlds above the stock sight post.

seems like the reviews aren't too hot on that one. How do you like the KNS, and did you try the .034 sizes? It seems like they might have just shimmed down the sides a little, instead of a straight post from top to bottom. Although it would probably lose strength if they made the entire length of the post that small.

grimreaper21 said:

seems like the reviews aren't too hot on that one. How do you like the KNS, and did you try the .034 sizes? It seems like they might have just shimmed down the sides a little, instead of a straight post from top to bottom. Although it would probably lose strength if they made the entire length of the post that small.

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For the price, I like the set a lot. It's handy having several different sizes and designs to determine what you like best. I saw some sold individually, but the cost of each plus the chance of me not liking one and having to purchase another pushed me right to the assortment pack.

I tried out the .034 square post, but found the 0.52 dot to be most comfortable. I like to center the dot on my target as opposed to sitting the target on top of a square post.

When I first saw the posts in the packaging, I thought they were plastic (are the Tapco ones plastic?), but once I took them out I realized they were steel. They are of nice construction and look to be pretty strong and durable.

If you read most descriptions for this pack, is seems like you are actually getting 8 posts (3 square, 3 round, 2 Vs), but in fact you are only getting 7. The two V posts are actually a single post that you rotate by 90 degrees to change it's viewable body style.

UpstateNY said:

Here is another fiber optic front sight that's priced a little cheaper than the first one you were looking at.

HIVIZ

I also have the KNS assortment pack and several of them are worlds above the stock sight post.

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I had looked at that one before the other one I posted. My reservation about the HiViz one is that because the sight top orientation is fixed in relation to the threaded part. So you can only adjust in increments of 180 degree turns of the post. Whereas on the one I posted it was adjustable in quarter turns.

This wouldn't be an issue on most regular iron sights because the elevation adjustment is on the rear sight, but with the MBUS the elevation adjustment is on the front sight, so it becomes problematic.

Thanks for the info though!