By no means do I consider myself a firearms expert, more of just mildly educated enough to figure it out as I go. I bought my first AR-15 Rifle last week, and wanted to share my experience and opinion on the M&P 15 Sport ll.
I have wanted to buy an AR-15 for a while, I just haven't been able to bring myself to spend the money. We all know its a trap once you buy one because all of the accessories, ammo, modifications that end up costing more than the guy itself. Here is the advice I can give to any rookies looking to buy an AR, from one rookie to another...
1. Shop Around - I spent about 2 days going to different shops locally (I live in Fort Wayne, IN) until I found a deal, or at least what I think a good deal was. I went to Freedom Firearms, ZxGun, Rural King, Gander Mountain. Long story short, Rural King kicked everyone's ass on price for the M&P Sport. Freedom didn't have one, ZxGun didn't have one, Gander wanted $739 for the one they had. I looked at a few other AR's at Freedom and Zx, but just seemed like too much money for a "starter". Ended up buying it at Rural King, for $619. I was just looking for an entry level, base model AR that was a good way for me to explore and learn. I was actually surprised by how competitive the pricing on firearms is at Rural King, but definitely worth checking out if you're in the market.
2. Educated Dealers - I was surprised at some of the stuff the "gun sales" people at Gander Mountain told me, they clearly don't all know what they are talking about. Freedom Firearms and ZxGun both have very educated firearms salesman. The manager at ZxGun I was most impressed with, I don't think there is anything he doesn't know the answer too, and not just the answer but the explanation behind his answers. Rural King doesn't have the most educated salesman, but anything is better than Gander. What I'm trying to get at is speak to the people at reputable dealers before buying. Gander Mountain told me that $739 was the "best price in town", and they also told me there was no difference between and optics ready M&P and the base model, which is not true at all. Note : The difference is the base model has a front sight that is very, very difficulty to remove. I kept mine on when I mounted the scope, but if you are all the way zoomed out on your scope you see the front sight mount. May remove this at a later date but haven't wanted to mess with it yet. The "optics ready" version just has a rail where that sight is on the base model, making it easy to add a scope without any obstruction. I'm not willing to pay an extra $200 just for the optics ready version of the gun though. ($939 at Gander Mountain).
3. Scope - After purchasing the gun the next big step is getting a scope. I chose to get a long range scope because that is simply what I wanted to use the gun for. I actually ended up buying it at Gander Mountain, simply because they had a good deal on it. I bought a Bushnell AR 1/4 - 30mm scope, and I am fairly impressed with it. It was $199.99 and a good starter scope. Typical Gander Mountain tried to sell me a scope mount for $89 that doesn't even work on my gun, they insisted it did, but I researched online to find out with this particular gun the only way to go is a cantilever mount. I bought that at ZxGun for $99.99.
4. Accessories - Now this was my favorite part, buying all the accessories and modifications to make the AR "mine". I went to Wrigley's in Fort Wayne (only place in town that had it) to buy a quad rail attachment to get rid of the ugly hand guard. It was just $25. It took a little work to put it on, but figured out if you put the bottom piece of the quad rail on first, the top slides in much easier. I also purchased a laser (for short range shooting), fore-grip w/ bi-pod, and a limb saver for the butt of the stock. Still waiting to receive some of those since I ordered everything but the rail online.
5. Ammo - I have always purchased all of my ammo from freedommunitions.com, and continue to do so with .223. They have good prices and ship directly to your house. I ordered 250 rounds from them that I'm waiting to be delivered.
May be more to come to this post as I continue to experiment with modifications of the AR. But figured I would share my experience with anyone (mainly rookies) in the market for an M&P 15 Sport ll.
I have wanted to buy an AR-15 for a while, I just haven't been able to bring myself to spend the money. We all know its a trap once you buy one because all of the accessories, ammo, modifications that end up costing more than the guy itself. Here is the advice I can give to any rookies looking to buy an AR, from one rookie to another...
1. Shop Around - I spent about 2 days going to different shops locally (I live in Fort Wayne, IN) until I found a deal, or at least what I think a good deal was. I went to Freedom Firearms, ZxGun, Rural King, Gander Mountain. Long story short, Rural King kicked everyone's ass on price for the M&P Sport. Freedom didn't have one, ZxGun didn't have one, Gander wanted $739 for the one they had. I looked at a few other AR's at Freedom and Zx, but just seemed like too much money for a "starter". Ended up buying it at Rural King, for $619. I was just looking for an entry level, base model AR that was a good way for me to explore and learn. I was actually surprised by how competitive the pricing on firearms is at Rural King, but definitely worth checking out if you're in the market.
2. Educated Dealers - I was surprised at some of the stuff the "gun sales" people at Gander Mountain told me, they clearly don't all know what they are talking about. Freedom Firearms and ZxGun both have very educated firearms salesman. The manager at ZxGun I was most impressed with, I don't think there is anything he doesn't know the answer too, and not just the answer but the explanation behind his answers. Rural King doesn't have the most educated salesman, but anything is better than Gander. What I'm trying to get at is speak to the people at reputable dealers before buying. Gander Mountain told me that $739 was the "best price in town", and they also told me there was no difference between and optics ready M&P and the base model, which is not true at all. Note : The difference is the base model has a front sight that is very, very difficulty to remove. I kept mine on when I mounted the scope, but if you are all the way zoomed out on your scope you see the front sight mount. May remove this at a later date but haven't wanted to mess with it yet. The "optics ready" version just has a rail where that sight is on the base model, making it easy to add a scope without any obstruction. I'm not willing to pay an extra $200 just for the optics ready version of the gun though. ($939 at Gander Mountain).
3. Scope - After purchasing the gun the next big step is getting a scope. I chose to get a long range scope because that is simply what I wanted to use the gun for. I actually ended up buying it at Gander Mountain, simply because they had a good deal on it. I bought a Bushnell AR 1/4 - 30mm scope, and I am fairly impressed with it. It was $199.99 and a good starter scope. Typical Gander Mountain tried to sell me a scope mount for $89 that doesn't even work on my gun, they insisted it did, but I researched online to find out with this particular gun the only way to go is a cantilever mount. I bought that at ZxGun for $99.99.
4. Accessories - Now this was my favorite part, buying all the accessories and modifications to make the AR "mine". I went to Wrigley's in Fort Wayne (only place in town that had it) to buy a quad rail attachment to get rid of the ugly hand guard. It was just $25. It took a little work to put it on, but figured out if you put the bottom piece of the quad rail on first, the top slides in much easier. I also purchased a laser (for short range shooting), fore-grip w/ bi-pod, and a limb saver for the butt of the stock. Still waiting to receive some of those since I ordered everything but the rail online.
5. Ammo - I have always purchased all of my ammo from freedommunitions.com, and continue to do so with .223. They have good prices and ship directly to your house. I ordered 250 rounds from them that I'm waiting to be delivered.
May be more to come to this post as I continue to experiment with modifications of the AR. But figured I would share my experience with anyone (mainly rookies) in the market for an M&P 15 Sport ll.
