Curious about length of M&P 15 MOE Mid

[WA101]

I'm looking into buying my first AR 15. I shot a few at the range last weekend and checked out many more at my LGS today. One of the models that stood out to me was the M&P 15 MOE Mid. I'm a tall guy with long arms and the longer fore grip on this gun felt more comfortable to me compared to most other carbine length AR's I have checked out.

The S&W specs for the MOE Mid lists the extended length as 37". Most other 16" barreled AR's I've looked at have extended lengths of 35". Obviously, the mid length gas system on the MOE Mid provides for a longer fore grip, which I like, but I don't understand where the extra 2" in overall length comes from.

I'm curious if anybody knows what about the MOE Mid model makes it 2" longer than comparable AR's?

 

[BillyJack2012]

S&W ships the MOE version with the S&W Enhanced Flash Hider. This flash hider has a closed expansion chamber leading a fairly large flash hider essentially adding about 2" in length compared to a standard A2 Flash Hider.

In my opinion, the MOE Mid is a huge value and if I had it all over to do again, the one AR that I would buy. Love the Magpul roll mark on the lower and several AR owners wish S&W would sell that lower as a stripped lower so they could just swap out what they have. I'm also a big fan of the gas system, integrated trigger guard and flared mag well.

I'm not however a huge fan of that flash hider. I like shorter barrels and that is going in the opposite direction. But, it's easy enough to change with a few turns of a wrench.

 

[Roldanis]

What Billy said, it's the muzzle device that is adding the extra length.

 

[moe smith]

I have a mid and I can tell you I don't think the flash hider is 3+ inches long, is it (?), which it would have to be to add 2 inches to the overall length.

It is longer, but there has to be another factor at work somewhere. My rifle was also shipped with a magpul adjustable stock. Perhaps that is adding some of the extra length? I notice the S&W VTAC (Viking Tactical) overall length extended, for example, is listed as 36.75 inches.

Maybe someone here will have the definitive answer.

 

[BillyJack2012]

I have a mid and I can tell you I don't think the flash hider is 3+ inches long, is it (?), which it would have to be to add 2 inches to the overall length.

It is longer, but there has to be another factor at work somewhere. My rifle was also shipped with a magpul adjustable stock. Perhaps that is adding some of the extra length? I notice the S&W VTAC (Viking Tactical) overall length extended, for example, is listed as 36.75 inches.

Maybe someone here will have the definitive answer.

The VTAC ships with the VLTOR IMOD stock. That stock is 6.25" (6.626" with buttpad). The Magpul MOE that ships with the M&P15 MOE is 6.9". There's your rounded out length difference between the two you compare.

 

[WA101]

Thanks everybody for your replies.

I went back to my LGS on Thursday and picked up the MP15 MOE Mid that I had looked at the day before. This mid length MP15 fits me really well.

My LGS also had the MOE version of the Colt LE6920, and just for fun I asked to have them stand this Colt on end next to the MP15 MOE Mid with the butt stocks fully extended on both models. They're practically the same gun from the end of the butt stock to the front end of the hand guard ring.

The Colt specs out an extended length of 35.5", but it didn't look 1 1/2" shorter than the 37" MP15 Mid. The Colt doesn't work for me. There just isn't enough real estate between the end of the extended stock and the front of the hand guard for my larger frame to hold this gun comfortably. The mid length MP15 solves this problem.

As shown in the attachments, I did confirm the 37" max length of the MP15 MOE Mid. It measures 18 1/4" inches from the front end of the receiver to the very front end of the flash hider, so I guess that makes the flash hider 2 1/4". I'm not sure how that length compares to standard flash hiders, and I'm not sure if it fully accounts for the extra 1 1/2" in this gun, but it's not a big deal to me. I'm okay with the flash hider as is, and I'm very happy with my acquisition.

 

[BillyJack2012]

You should be extremely happy with your purchase. S&W makes a great mid length AR and the MOE version is unique. The Magpul roll mark is enviable. Congrats on the purchase and enjoy!