Long-time 3rd Gen pistol lover, finally got caught by a deal
that I just couldn't pass up...went into one of the LGS's and
was fiddling around...the Manager said she had a gun that might
interest me, as I was always buying beat-up old rifles and fixing
them up...she brought out a S&W Sport II that had a couple scratches
on the upper, said one of the guys was unboxing a load and laid it
against a desk and it slid across some stuff & scratched it up...
it had two moderate scratches, looked ugly, took the black off.

I said, Yeah, it can be fixed, Parkerized, or Cerakoted, but it'd be a PITA
She countered with offering it to me for $379...well, couldn't pass that up!!
So now I have an unexpected AR15 on layaway...

I've decided to have it Cerakoted once I get it out next month...
but I'm wondering what differences there are between it and everything
else out there...saw in one thread that it doesnt have pans? for
putting a free-float guard on?? Not entirely sure what that means...
my last 5.56 rifle was an 90's Army M16-A2, so it's been like 22 years
since I even held anything of this nature...lol

Love the idea of the Quad Rail, to install a Green Laser, a good Strap, & a Bipod.
An Angled Foregrip & a Tritium front post appeals to me as well...
But if the quad ain't a drop-in, might just keep it standard & find other ways
of mounting the good stuff...
Think that's about all I'd want put on it...how much of a headache will that be??

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Marlin & Calico Specialist

Welcome to the club. You can free float it if you want, but with most of the free float hand guards, you would need to replace the A2 front sight/gas block with a low profile gas block. If you aren't worried about free floating, there are tons of different hand guards that are straight drop in that you can hang all sorts of gadgets off of, if you are into that.

Shoot the snot out of it in stock condition first. You may find out that what you want to add as a civilian is different than your needs as a soldier. Most of us have boxes laying around full of stuff we thought we needed but actually didn't. You might even find that the scratches add character and you don't even need to Cerakote the rifle.

I agree with Scott. A black marker will cover the scratches.
After shooting your new rifle the scratches wont bother you one bit.
Great deal. Have fun.
Jim

They have some black pen out there in the gun shops, they are for touch-ups on the black AR-15 finish. Same company makes a pen to touch up blueing on a gun. I have used the black and it works just fine. (Birchwood Casey AR touch-up pen)

Neither could I.

Look, the gun is going to get scuffed up in use, so if I can get a discount for one that has already been scuffed up, I say take it!

As far as modifications goes; what did you buy this rifle for? To shoot, then, by all means shoot it. If your bought it as a starting point for many additions/modifications you could have gotten for less had you bought them already on the rifle, then by all means start modifying.

Oh, the Cerakote is all about a Civilian Mod...
It's to make it a vehicle to peeve off the Liberal side of the family...
Gonna do this...minus the knife...lol

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Marlin & Calico Specialist

379 is a great deal. A hundo or more off the going rate for a brand new rifle. Shoot it and sell it during the next panic.

Great deal on the purchase and I would spend the money you saved on Pmags, ammo and maybe a red dot or scope. The scratches won't bother you after shooting it for months and it getting normal wear and tear.

Congrats on a great deal. Before going quad, read through this thread and you'll find other options to which you can attach accessories. New to AR's I have a question There are also handguards which allow the fixed front sight to remain attached to the weapon. handguard with fronr sight cut out - Google Search

For $379 you'd be dumb not to pick that one up. Good find!

The "pans" they might have been talking about are probably the lack of heat shield in the forearm. Standard drop in forearms have a piece of metal under the plastic. This keeps the heat from the barrel from affecting your hold on the gun. You can live your whole life without them.

Drop in forearms are not the best platform for mounting precision devices. For flashlights, fine, but for lasers, sights and bipods, not the best. The reason they're bad for this has to do with how they mount. They are held on by spring pressure from the delta ring. This means there will be a little wiggle to them.

Not the end of the world. If you want to use a laser, you can still mount it to the receiver. This will give you a solid place to put it. Also, you can forego the bipod and just use a bag or back pack. I prefer a bag over a bipod and I shoot out to distances of 1,000 yards. This shot was 1,250 yards and you can see my rifle on the right with the bipod folded because it was easier to use the bag that you see it sitting on.



However, that's just me and, you're not going to be taking 1,000 yard shots with this gun. Still, if you really want to attach a bipod to the forearm, I highly recommend a free float. Here's one for $75: Aim Sports AR-15 Free Float Keymod Handguard - 700862, Grips at Sportsman's Guide Considering the purchase price of the gun, you're still money ahead of most of us.

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Freedom isn't free.

Don't think I'll be going for those 1000 yard shots
Florida underbrush pretty much results in everything being well under 300 yds...
most critter-getter shots being 75-150 yds...

The Keymod & Mlok stuff looks interesting, but don't know squat about it...
but have plenty of time to research it while paying it off...
Kind of like DVD vs Blu Ray...which is gonna win...which will continue as long
as the rails...etc, etc...

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Marlin & Calico Specialist

M-LOK is nothing more than a "locking" system. Instead of add accessories via the picatinny rail system, which is basically a screw / nut / shaft system, the M-LOK is a considerably different system used for attachment purposes. The majority of AR owners now prefer M-Lok over the quad system. M-LOK accessories can be mounted directly to a M-LOK hand guard or, lengths of picatinny rails can be installed to the M-LOK hand guard to which any accessory utilizing the "rail" system can be added as well. There is also the Keymod system similar to M-LOK. Accessories come in polymer, aluminum, and steel. This will give you an idea of the above: M-LOK Accessories

M-LOK - Wikipedia

If there's ever a winner between the two, smart money will be on M-LOK. I have no dog in this fight; only an opinion based on trends and forecasts.

Here ya go
MOE M-LOK Hand Guard, Carbine-Length – AR15/M4
While I agree that a laser might be better on a free float, I have two (on two rifles) on an old non-Mlock version of this. When you try to remove the OE handguard, you will see how tight that spring is and may agree it's a tight enough fit for a laser. Especially within 15 yds or so.
Universal Fit Laser Sights and Lights | Official Crimson Trace

I'm leaning towards the Mlok at the moment, part of it due to it being Magpul...
and part of it being Keymod being a Noveske Product...which puts me off for multiple reasons.
Most of which everyone is probably at least passingly familiar with & don't really need to be re-hashed...
suffice it to say Noveske lost me as a customer years ago...

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Marlin & Calico Specialist

I don't think you are likely to be disappointed with Magpul products nor the M lok system for attaching things to an AR!

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So long ... Ken

Had been looking at the Angled Foregrips available...and found one in a different
pawn shop today...for $5
It's Tinyer than I thought it would be...but I'll fiddle with it a bit after it's on the rifle...
might be better on an AR pistol to keep my hand from going too far forward

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Marlin & Calico Specialist