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They have melonite treated barrels.
They are good as,some say even better than chromed lined.

Btw if you know where one is at good price probably best not to wait as the 15 sports are becoming hard to find.

You'll find a lot of threads on this topic. There are many that prefer the barrel on the Sport to the others. Just depends on what you are looking for and what you'll be doing with the rifle. After researching, I found that it really didn't matter to me as there are pros and cons to both that just don't impact my use for the rifle.

Decent thread that discusses:

http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-w...r-sport15.html

http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-w...ecs-sport.html

If you read this thread you will get a lot of information showing that the melonite treatment is better than chrome. I myself have upscoped my sport from a 4-16x40 to an 8-32x42 and at 100 yards shoot cloverleafs and at 200 are still under 1" groups, I do not really do the mag dumps that other people do, I go for precision shooting and absolutely love my Sport. It is my go to rifle for varmint and predator control.

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Grover Oathkeeper

Under 1" (that IS UNDER 1/2 MOA) at 200 yards?
Look, I was in the Corps too and understand Sea Stories but really??????????? (Before you cuss me out, that'd be Sgt. MPDC to you Corporal!

Hey Sarge I wouldnt have believed it but I will take pictures next time...we sat out with the 8-32x42 scope and the federal xm193 ammo and at 50 I was making ragged one holes and at 100 I was cloverleafing and at 200 I took a tape measure and it was 1" groups I was in shock, then I decided I have the best AR possible...mount a big ol scope on your rifle with that 1-8 5R barrel and use good 5.56 and just see for yourself. I am amazed myself. But try it...Not Offhand, I have a nice Caldwell Bipod on it, my nephew thinks I am the greatest shot in the world, it had nothing to do with me. Its the rifle...No BS involved. Try It

P.S. I am not going to cuss anyone out, I make enough enemies already!!! LOL

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Grover Oathkeeper

I can get under one inch groups of 1 shot with any pistol or rifle I have, distance doesn't matter either!

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Rod
M&P 22A, 40c, 15A, 15-22

I suppose if I hadnt seen it I would question it myself....

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Grover Oathkeeper

OK I am going to dinner with my parents and my wife and when I get back I will take all the abuse you want to put out...Rod its time for you to make the little road trip...bring the boys....we will do some shootin!!!!

In fact come after the 1st of the month and I will pay part of your gas money just so I have an impartial witness!!!

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Grover Oathkeeper

Hey, that is great shooting. I am not the expert or world class shot. Just really rare that anyone can group like that. I sure can't.

OK Grover, we talked about me coming out. We'll work out a weekend before it get too warm and I'll come out for a Saturday.

I'll bring the 30-06 and you got the 8mm, we'll try to kill some pdogs in a single shot without the boolets bouncing off....

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Rod
M&P 22A, 40c, 15A, 15-22

The first piece of information you need to make an informed decision is the purpose of chrome lining and what it does. Without going into minute, mind numbing detail...

A barrel is chrome lined to impart hardness, wear resistance, heat resistance, & corrosion resistance. A side benefit is ease of cleaning over a traditional non-lined barrel. Fouling doesn't adhere to hard chrome lining as strong as a traditional non-lined barrel.

Hard Chrome lining adds a layer to the interior of the barrel. Barrels that are hard chrome lined are bored and rifled to accommodate for the extra material Hard Chrome lining adds. Even though manufacturers try to compensate for the additional chrome, the extra material in the barrel degrades accuracy.

The general accepted notion is that a non-lined barrel is inherently more accurate than a hard chrome lined barrel.

The barrel on the S&W M&P 15-Sport undergoes a Melonite treatment. Melonite is a salt bath nitriding process. The Melonite process imparts upon the barrel properties similar to hard chrome (hardness, wear resistance, corrosion resistance, heat resistance) without adding material to the barrel.

A Melonite treated barrel gives the end user the desirable properties of hard chrome without degrading the barrel's potential for accuracy.

This is a good thing. One of the properties of Hard Chrome is lubricity. The gas key & bolt carrier are Hard Chromed because lubricity, in addition to the other aforementioned properties, is necessary in those parts.

Some individuals go full monty and buy a fully hard chromed bolt carrier group. Others use more exotic finishes such as NP3, nickel boron, etc... Again the goal is to increase the lubricity, heat resistance, hardness, wear resistance, corrosion resistance of the moving parts.

The 15-Sport will meet your needs and then some. Rapid fire it all you want. The biggest factor that affects accuracy is the person behind the trigger. Having said this, I admit that the 15-Sport is more inherently accurate than I am.

A Ruger Mini 14 is a whole different platform. The general complaint about the Ruger Mini 14 is that it wasn't very accurate. The combination of aging manufacturing machinery & barrel material contributed to the Mini-14's problems.

Ruger addressed the Mini 14's accuracy issue by retooling the manufacturing equipment (new) and using a better, heavier barrel. Accuracy improved. The current iteration Mini 14's accuracy is good when kept in the context of the Mini 14.

A decent quality AR platform holds more potential for accuracy than the Mini-14 platform.

I reiterate my emphasis on the word "potential" because I believe that the biggest contributing factor to accuracy is the individual pressing the trigger.

It's getting late, and I realize I may have rambled a bit. If you have any questions, just ask. I'll do my best to answer what I can after I've had some sleep.

I wish you good luck in your decision process.

My last AR was an Olympic Arms PCR in 556. I replaced the barrel with a Oly 20in heavy barrel (not a bull barrel) and put a free floating hand guard on it. It had a Bushnell Sportview 4X12X40 scope on it. I had a Harris bipod up front and a sand bag under the stock to steady it. Shooting hand loads with 26grs of Varget and 60grn Honady HPs I was getting 5 shot groups into 5/8in at 100 yrds measured center to center. That's the best the barrel could do, never could do smaller than 5/8 in. This was 15 years ago and I'm not as steady as I used to be.

My Sport shoots that well if not better but the only range I have available at this time is a 25 yrd indoor range. So it's very possible to get 1/2 MOA at 200 yrds. The target below was shot at 25 yrds unsupported (squares are 1"), I just leaned on the partition wall with my left shoulder to steady myself. My Sport has a PA M3 style red dot sight on it. I found a box of the same ammo I loaded from 15 years ago and it still shoots great! This was 30 rds, all I had left of the old ammo.

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gunfighter48
NRA Life Member