Which M&P Is Best Value?

I owned a sport. Shot it a bit and was satisfied .....for a couple of weeks. Soon gave in to the "Mister Potato Head itch " to make it something else. ( It's the best and the worst thing about AR's. They are darn hard to leave the way you buy them!_) Ended up changing pretty much everything out but the receiver. Good news is that I got $350 back by selling the sport upper. Eventually put a dedicated .22 lr upper on it.
Here it is as it sits (for now :-))

 
I've been on this forum for what...a week? In that time I've had my first...and last...expirience with Palmetto State Armory.

NEVER...EVER...AGAIN, Period.

Sounds about right. They are not famous for customer service.
 
I've been on this forum for what...a week? In that time I've had my first...and last...expirience with Palmetto State Armory.

NEVER...EVER...AGAIN, Period.

Yeah, they are known to take their time with shipping and getting back to you....they must be severely over worked and under staffed.
 
The Sport if you can live without the FA or dust cover.

The OR if you can't live with a fixed sight.

While people love to go crazy and dump a bunch of stuff on a budget gun, I like keeping core components as they are. If not, you should be looking at something else.
 
Comparing the Sport to other similarly configured rifles, and comparing the PA MicroDot dot to other similar dime store optics, I think you're doing about the best in those categories.
 
I'm pretty much a newbie with ARs still (got my Sport in January) and other than strapping on a cheap scope it is still stock. I've just gone over a thousand rounds (maybe 1200), and I love it. Although I can't give you the great advice of the other members, I can tell you that it works great for me!
 
I'm pretty much a newbie with ARs still (got my Sport in January) and other than strapping on a cheap scope it is still stock. I've just gone over a thousand rounds (maybe 1200), and I love it. Although I can't give you the great advice of the other members, I can tell you that it works great for me!


1,200 Rounds in 5 months... You're not a newbie. :D

You inadvertently gave great advice. Inexpensive, yet good, optics + more ammo + stock 15-Sport = Winning.
 
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I'm a Sporter owner too. It is the perfect rifle for those who are new
to the AR platform. My rifle has around 1000 rounds through it and
has given me no problems. It is a tackdriver too. The great thing
about the M&P 15 Sporter besides the price (under $ 600.00 in a lot
places when they are on sale) is that it is a AR which are the Lego
Blocks of the gun world. I've kept mine as it is but there is so much
you can attach and accessorize with the AR platform.
 
I already have a Rock River carbine. I guess I'm a little different in my ideas of the AR. The original design of the AR-15/M-16 was to have a lightweight rifle (7-8 lbs) and the ammo for the rifle was lighter and took up less space. That's what I like, a lightweight carbine.
Somewhere along the way, people started adding all kinds of accessories and hanging all kinds of stuff from their rifles. Now these rifles with all the "improvements" have made some of these rifles weigh 10-12 lbs, maybe more. What happened?
The M&P Sport looks like a lot of rifle for the money. I'm not going to a jungle to fight and I don't need to protect a mall so I just want a plain ol' carbine.

Yep, the Sport is a lot of rifle/carbine for the money--and it is close to the original concept for the AR-15/M16. About 3 years ago I purchased an A1 Viet Nam era clone made up of Colt GI parts with a new AR lower and a new barrel. I've owned guns for 30 years and this was my first AR. While I liked the weight, size and history, that particular rifle wasn't very accurate and didn't function 100%. Sold the A1 when the demand was high.

About a year later I bought a Sport . I liked the way an AR handles, and decided to see if a new AR from a top manufacturer was better. Yes it is. My Sport functions 100%, is well fitted and assembled, and is much more accurate than the A1 I had. I suspect the accuracy is in part due to the 16" Sport barrel having a heavier profile than the A1 pencil barrel. Handling wise, it is virtually the same size and weight as a M1 Carbine, only it fires a small caliber rifle cartridge. So it stays close to the original concept

I'm a traditionalist (read that as: old guy) with sights and like the iron sights. The sights that come with the Sport work well. I did want something a little more substantial for the rear sight so I found a LMT fully adjustable rear and a carry handle/sight. I still have to mount one of the two. With the carry handle mounted the Sport will have the same general outline of a 'Nam era CAR15. And yeah, I use 20 round GI mags- much lower profile than the 30s.
 

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