What size groups are you getting at 100yds? I am interested in in either M1A or the MP10 for target shooting. Is the M&P an out of the box sub MOA gun?

I have 3 M1As/M14s with long Barrels, and 2 standard M&P 10s. With so many variables, i think at 100 yards it makes little difference. Beyond 300 yards I'd go with the M14 I used to shoot in Nam.

Maybe just my mis informed opinion, but more barrel usually means more accuracy at distance.

dave dillehay
USMC who hated to turn in my heavy assed M!4 for a light Mattel toy.

I now like the M&P10, but no better than my M14s and M1As. The M14s are way heavier, but both M&P 10s were a piece of S**t out of the box. FTL, FTE, etc. Personally I found it amazing that S&W would send them out that way. Springfield Armory didn't.


Took lots of cleaning and oiling but they work now, just be careful of ammo that choke the M&P10, the same ammo the M14s don't mind at all. You can see that info on other threads.

Dave Dillehay

Mine is not hitting for **** at 100 with 150gr AE FMJ-BT. Unfortunately I bought quite a bit of it before trying it. It will nail two at ~MOA and then the next few will end up several inches away.

Not to mention the bolt isn't coming back all the way with it Perhaps when the gunsmith put the rails on the gas port is misaligned

Going to try with some 168gr Sierra Matchking HPBT next time, but so far 150 gr is a bust

It's more MOB than MOA.

(Minute Of Bad guy. Or........... Minute Of Barn!)
Thankfully, they are in general shooting about 1.5ish. Which is pretty good for a box stock AR platform 308.

I must be one of the lucky few:
after a few session of running too dry, My M&P10 is flawless and shoot sub minute with the good stuff and right at a minute with common stuff.

This rifle has a permanent spot in my arsenal

edited to add: groups at 100yds don't really mean much my groups are 300+ haven't had much opportunity to stretch out much farther....yet

not to bash the M&P 10, I do like it very much or I would not be on this forum. And after I got the "bugs" worked out it seems OK, but I cannot say i like it better than the M1A. The M1As are a lot heavier for this old guy.

I think the thing that pisses me off the most is that S&W would ship an "out of box" problem--not once but seems like every time.
Never had a problem with 1 M14 (from way back) and 2 M1As (recent)... not out of the box or with ANY ammo.

Dave Dillehay

I must be one of the lucky few also. Mine will shoot consistent MOA or better groups with good ammo and if I do my part. And I haven't been trying too hard. With a match trigger and load development I believe the rifle and I could do better.

As far as reliability and function, mine has been perfect since day one. I have shot FGGM .308, commercial .308 of various flavors, 60s vintage USGI 7.62 ball, Malaysian 80s vintage 7.62 ball and a few different handloads. All have run perfect.

I have owned almost every type of .308/7.62 semi auto rifle available from the FAL to the SCAR 17s including several in AR pattern. My M&P has been one of the best.

__________________
Cliff
CCSO, FPD ret, USN ret.

The m&p10 can be accurate but seems to be very ammo sensitive (for accuracy)

I had some hiccups out of the box, but 200 round break in and it's been 100% reliable with everything i've fed it including steel case

Accuracy wise it seems to love 168gr. I've run the Remington, FGMM, Privi, and Freedom Munitions reloads. the 168gr stuff is sub MOA or pretty darn close to MOA. I've also run the 175gr FGMM and that was sub MOA as well. In my gun i found the privi 168gr to be the most accurate, i can put 5 rounds into 1 ragged hole at 100yds.

I got about 2-3 MOA with the colt/silver bear steel case 168gr

Now with 147gr/145gr/150gr, it can be pretty bad, i've shot fiocchi, privi, freedom munitions, pmc, M80 and probably some other stuff i've forgotten. Most of this stuff shoots anywhere from 4-8 MOA for me.

For reference most of my groups are shot as 5 or 10 shot groups. I have the heavy barrel version of the m&p10, and as far as mods, i have a magpul stock, magpul forend with utg bipod, 3-16x primary arms scope, and a CMC trigger.

I plan on free floating it next to see if i can get some more accuracy out of it.

We must have gotten a good lot of M&P10's here in Colorado this Summer. Every owner I've talked to has been routinely getting sub MOA at 100yds after the first couple of hundred rounds of break-in. Nearly everyone says they get better accuracy out of 165 - 168gr bullets than the do the 147 - 150grainers. Also, very few of them have installed free-float handguards. I will say that probably 75% of the M&P10 guns I've seen on our range have been the NY, NJ, compliant models with the mid-weight barrels, but I wouldn't think that would be the reason for better accuracy with three shot groups; esp. if a guy takes a little time between shots to let the thinner lightweight barrel cool slightly. Best accuracy with my compliant model has been with Hornady 165gr SST handloads made-up using CFE223 powder, Winchester brass, and WLR primers. I was able to work-up a load fairly quickly. (Also, I've been shooting out to 600 yds fairly frequently with this thing. I'm not any kind of crack shot, but I can hit a steel jackrabbit at that distance a pretty fair percentage of the time at that distance using my handloads and a 10X scope.)