First-time rifle owner: purchased an MP15 Sport 2 brand-new from an FFL here in California. Any other California owners figure out how to take apart this rifle? The pictures in the manual look very different from my actual firearm, and I suspect it's because of differences to make it California compliant.

Page 21 of the manual (https://snwcdnprod.azureedge.net/sit...19_3005747.Pdf) makes it look super easy. Remove magazine, activate safety, push bolt release, then push in the takedown pin from the left of the rifle and pull it out from the right-hand side.

Except my bolt release looks totally different. It has no "top" to push and is completely immovable. My takedown pin also looks different, and while I can push from the left it to partially release it, no amount of force allows me to pull it from the right-hand side of the rifle.

What is stupid me missing?

unnamed-1 — ImgBB
unnamed-2 — ImgBB

Well mystery solved. The takedown pin was warped, which would explain why it required pliers to rip it out. Not only that, I now notice multiple springs have fallen out of the fun and I have no idea where they came from.

Should I send the entire firearm back to S&W for warranty service? This is very disappointing for me.

unnamed-3 — ImgBB

Probably the best move. Everyone has a less than stellar item leave the factory once in awhile. How they take care of you in that case is what separates the successes from the failures.

Typically the take down pins do not come all the way out of the gun. Those springs and detent keep the pins captured in the rifle. Get it fixed and then go back to the gun shop where you purchased it and have them show you how to take it down.

As a new rifle owner who is unsure of what to do, getting out pliers is usually a bad move.

I'm just spitballing here, but the S&W Sports I have owned had different looking takedown pins. On the right side of the pin, Open and Close, with direction arrows, is stamped. Maybe you rotate that pin before you remove it or put it back? I'm also guessing you bought this used, and that is an aftermarket pin, but I've never seen a CA compliant Sport, so I could be totally wrong . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Thanks all. I've emailed S&W for possible warranty work and I'll just send it back to them. If they want to charge me, I suppose that's fine.

To clarify, the right hand side of the takedown pin did have instructions to Open and Close with the arrows. I pushed the takedown pin on the left as hard as I could to partially open the lower. Going to the right hand side of the rifle, I attempted to turn the takedown pin in the corresponding Open/arrow position, but it would not budge. I struggled with it for about 3 hours before finally taking a pair of pliers to get it to turn, so that's why I'm thinking it may have been warped to begin with.

I was lucky to have noticed the missing detent and springs. Does anyone know if S&W does any standard function and safety checks when they ship the rifle back to me? I'm afraid something else may have fallen out or gotten damaged, and I'm a bit nervous if I don't know with 100% certainty that the rifle is in good working order.

That's your problem. I've used those types of pins before. You TURN them BEFORE pushing them.

What you did was push the stop hard against the detent pin, so hard that you could not rotate the pin. Using pliers to yank the pin out popped the detent out of place.

If all else fails try to find and read the manual before forcing anything.

Unfortunately, the S&W manual DOES NOT show this. 🤬 I’m a new purchaser of this rifle and in the same predicament 🤬