My take on a Dissipator, WIP

[Cerberus-]

Hello everyone,
Been a lurker here for a few years and reading up on the M&P 15-22. I settled on the M&P 15-22 after reading many of reviews, and watching videos on Youtube, and of course this forum. So, I finally bit the bullet, no pun intended, and got one for the family for christmas.

One thing though, I just cant leave anything stock, so I just had to make it my own. Along with the gun I got some stuff from Brownells for it. I've always liked the look of a AR with a 16" barrel and a rifle length handguard, kinda like this Dissipator:

[

So next I ordered from Brownells:
Magpul MOE Rifle length handguard OD
Magpul Grip OD
Magpul ACS/L Buttstock OD
And since I'm going to a handguard, not a free float:
Gas block with rail
Handguard end cap
Delta Ring
Barrel nut
Of course, to get the barrel nut off,and install the handguard, I ordered the standard barrel nut converter package from Tacticool22.com.
Eventually, I'll get a new flash hider, and being a fan of the XM177 since I was a kid I found this from DPMS:

I also got a couple of mags, which I'll also eventually paint OD too.
So I wanted to do this as a WIP, instead of just posting the finished product in the M&P15-22 pics thread. Since I'm waiting for the order from Brownells to arrive, my first mod is going to be the Tacticrayola mod I've seen a lot of people do. While I like the look of using the white and red colors that most people seem to being using, I wanted to have more of a Lo-Vis/combat look. I used white and red for the safety's lettering, but to offset the OD of the furniture, I decided on a light and darker shade of brown. Another thing I did different than a lot of people is use brake cleaner on the lettering before coloring. I don't know exactly if it helped, but most of the lettering was done in only two coats.

I started with the safety:

Then I decided to remove the selector. Being lazy, and not wanting to go over to my tool box to get a drift, I tried pushing it out with a 5.56 brass. Dooh ! It got stuck on the detent, and I couldn't get it out.

After pulling the grip it popped out. Got it all finished and here's the left:

And the right:

Again, most of it took only two coats.
The 15-22 lettering was the only pain in the butt spot. I took about 5 or 6 tries before it filled in. One thing I found was that you need to go in two directions (up down, left right) to get good coverage. Also, instead of going in light coats, I used some good pressure to get the most amount of coverage.
Alright, that's it for now. Like I said, this will be a WIP and when I get my Brownells order, I'll post more. Oh, some more gratuitous porn:

 

[ScrapmasterFlex]

Go big or go home brother. Good for you. I wish I used the ACS stock myself.

 

[Cerberus-]

Hmm... no pics in posting. But the links work. Anyone know why ?

 

[Cerberus-]

Haha ! Figured the pic issue out ! Now I can see 'em

 

[brucev]

Like the way you did your rifle. Amazing all the ideas that folks come up with! Sincerely. brucev.

 

[speedyquad]

you ordered a gas block with a rail for a 15-22? if so, why?

 

[HRArms]

you ordered a gas block with a rail for a 15-22? if so, why?

He needs it for the hand guard most likely as what he is using is not a free-float.

 

[Cerberus-]

Thanks brucev. After reading a few more posts about the tacticrayola mod I think I'm going to hit it with a hair dryer to level it all out.
Yep, the Magpul MOE handguard is a handguard, not a free float rail. So, I need a gas block to put the end cap against it to retain the front side of the handguard. I also ordered the gas block with a top rail so I could mount the front sight. I'm going to order a random length piece of aluminum DOM tubing from onlinemetals.com to adapt the .75 ID gas block to the S&W barrel. Since the ID of the tubing is .68, I'll slot the tube with a razor saw, and have the slot facing up, so the set screws on the bottom of the gas block have something to bite into. Here's the gas block by the way:

The block comes with just one rail on it, the other ones come separately. I'm gonna go over to the hardware store and see if I can find some button head hex screws for the empty threads.
I'm Just hoping that because of the taper of the barrel and smaller ID, that the front sight is not going to be to low. If it is, well, I'll just order a sight or scope then.

 

[shawnr5]

Since the rifle in your picture uses an A2 FSB, why not order one from True Shot Technologies and do it right. No shimming necessary. Otherwise, good luck.

 

[Cerberus-]

I was considering the Trueshot FSB, but I decided I wanted a "cleaner" look for the muzzle end. The pic I posted of the dissipator was representative of the look I'm going for, not the rifle I want to build. The gas block I got was kind of a compromise. I'm going to put a red dot or scope on it eventually, but I wanted something to mount the front sight on in the meantime. But, with the scarcity of ammo these days, I might be getting a red dot/scope before I shoot the thing anyways.

 

[Cerberus-]

Finally got my Brownells order, filled with goodies. Unfortunately, my local hardware store didn't have any aluminum DOM tubing, so installing the gas block and handguard is put on hold.
So, in my last installment I was left with this:

First the grip.

Just looking at the Magul grip I thought it would fit my hand a lot better. When I went to put it on though, I thought it wasn't going to fit. Then I pushed a little harder and it slid on, nice and tight. One thing though, you want to make sure you slide the grip on straight, not at an angle. I almost bent the rear spring when I first slid it on. I used the original S&W screw, instead of the supplied one. Being that the lower is composite, I wanted to have the most amount of thread engagement. here's what it looks like with it on.:

Left the safety on fire because I doing a function check on it to make sure the grip screw wasn't to far in and contacting any of the FCG. I was warned about the Magpul grip not matching the radius of the lower fillet on M&P15 as here:

But I don't think it's an issue. To me it doesn't look too bad, and I don't think it will catch my flight gloves I shoot with. But only range time will tell !
Now on to the buttstock. Man is this thing a lot bigger than the original one. Take a look:

Kind of a pain in the butt to get on the lower. One of those three hand jobs. First you pull the release. Then with two fingers of your other hand you have to pull up on the roll pin to get the pin over the end of the receiver extension. I had to put the rifle muzzle end down and then slide it on. Looks great on it. I'm not much for looks, I'm of the mindset of function over form. But AR-15/M4s with collapsible buttstocks always looked a little weak and splindly with the factory buttstocks.

Raising it to my shoulder, what a difference ! Gone is the original stock's wobble, my cheek found a natural position with the angle on the top of it, and the wider buttplate fit my shoulder better and more securely. The grip fills my hand now, and the radius at the back fits the web of my hand better.

Next up will be the forend. Got the Tacticool.com standard kit in today. Does anyone know if Tacticool's barrel nuts still have the thick anodizing? I'd really hate to have to shave the anodizing off on the threads and then run some anti-seize on it. Their tool looks great too, if the factory torque spec of 20ft lbs. is correct, this thing should have no problem getting off the barrel nut. Nice and light, and won't mar the barrel. Now, I just got to order the tubing. Oh, I just remembered, a machine screw also, to secure the endcap to the gas block. Instead of searching the forums, if anyone has replaced their rail with a handguard, what size machine screw did you use. A #8 or 10 ? I have a tap set but for this application I'm just going to use a self tapper.

 

[trebor127]

if you had bought the Magpul MIAD grip for the .308 you

would not of had the unsightly gap on the lower receiver

Magpul Pistol Grip Type 2 Kit MIAD Gen 1.1 AR-10 LR-308

but there is always a fix

Magpul MIAD Pistol Grip Receiver Wedge AR-10 LR-308 Polymer Black

i have the same butt stock to hold sweets in

but parts for our beloved 15-22's are harder to get hold of

here in England



keith


keith

 

[Cerberus-]

Thanks Trebor. I'll be definitely order one on my next payday.

 

[Cerberus-]

Well I got bored today, so I decided to mockup the handguard and make sure everything fits. Since it was a nice day out today, I decided to move the vice to my work bench outside. Flash suppressor was the only pain in the but thing to get off. Took a good palm hit on the wrench to get off. I didn't notice at the time, but the barrel slipped in the vice jaws and marred the barrel a bit. Not to worry, as I found out later, because the marks are covered up. Tacticool barrel nut wrench engaged with a satisfying thunk, and with a 15/16" wrench, the barrel nut loosened right up. Apparently the anodizing job on my barrel nut wasn't as thick as some other people reported. I ran my AR-15 barrel nut down the converter threads with only a couple of tight spots. So, the results:

I put the MOE hanguard on and immediately noticed I had a problem with the upper hanguard not fitting the delta ring correctly. Seems the collar that locates under the ring is a little too thick. Out comes the 400 grit and I sanded about a mm or two off and it fit snugly. Did it to the lower hanguard too, just in case. Now for the gas block. Looking in my screw/bolt organizer I found an 8-32 self tapping pan head machine screw. It fit a little loose in the gas tube hole, but after threading it al the way in, it was tight. When i put the endcap on and tightened the screw, the screw head contacted the rim of the endcap. Had to hit the edge of the screwhead on the grinder to take a little off. Then it tightened up fine. Slid the gas block down the barrel and engaged the front collar to the endcap. I pushed the handguard and block into the delta ring to slightly compress the wave washer in the ring, and lightly seated the set screws of the block to the barrel. There we go:

Holy Cr@p, I noticed the handguard and block weren't indexed to the top of the receiver, they were about 10-15 deg. clockwise to the top. What's going on I wondered ? Taking it all apart, i realized my mistake. The gas tube relief on the ar-15 barrel nut wasn't in the right place like on a AR-15/M4. Now I need to go get an armorer's tool so I can tighten the barrel nut correctly, and get the gas tube relief lined up. Magpul also has locating lugs in the front and rear collars of their handguard to keep it from rotating. Loosening up the barrel nut a little got the hanguard to line up right. After I went through all that I noticed that the front edge of the block was right at the end of the treads on the barrel. Luckily, the crush washer gave the flash suppressor enough spacing to clear the block.

I realize now why I like the XM177 flash suppressor so much on a 16" barrel with a rifle handguard. With an A2 suppressor, the muzzle end looks a little too short. So, I think it's time to order up that XM177 suppressor from DPMS.