MacTech
Member
A couple years back, I bought a first-gen S&W M&P15 Sport (5R 1/8 twist, no dust cover) and was happy with it, a fun, reliable gun, I got it primarily as a virtual "middle finger" to the then current nannystate protectionist administration, as I'm mainly a manual action guy at heart, revolvers, pump action, bolt action, lever, break barrel, etc, to me it feels more natural, probably why I also only own manual transmission vehicles, I hate and loathe sludgeboxes
Anyway, due to some financial issues that are irrelavent to the point of this thread, I had to sell off a good portion of my collection to stay financially solvent, those problems have been solved, and will not happen again (no, I'm not offhandedly referring to marital issues, I'm happily single, however, if I did encounter the right woman....
Anyway, back on subject...
I've finally added an AR back to the collection, I was looking mainly between the Ruger AR556 and the Smith Sport II.
Both guns seemed solid, well built, and I know that coming from reputable manufacturers, they should be fine, can't go wrong with either....
So, why did I go with the Sport II?
Mainly, when I picked it up and shouldered it, it just felt......right, comfortable, like an old freind, the Ruger felt technically competent, well balanced and well built, but it just felt... Sterile, I really can't properly explain, but hefting the Ruger I felt an overall sense of "meh", with the Smith, it was "this feels right"
Being a computer repair tech, and technically minded, I had done a lot of research on both guns, and the Sport II had fewer "flaws" or minor annoyances I'd "have to" fix down the road...
The "Issues" I had with the Sport II was the barrel downgrade from 5R 1/8 to standard 6 lands and 1/9 twist, theoretically if I could find a new replacement 5R 1/8 barrel, I could swap the barrel and have a complete "SuperSport 2.1" have all the advantages of the original Sport barrel with a dust cover and forward assist equipped upper reciever
The stock plastics feel cheap ('Cuz they *are*
) but I've already swapped the front handguard for a stock M4 guard with heat shields, so now I just need a more ergonomic and palm filling pistol grip, as the stock one is too narrow, and eventually swap out a better adjustable buttstock
The issues I had with the AR556?
The front handgrip felt cheap, and the screw down delta ring, while I appreciate the concept, and it *is* a great concept in theory, just felt cheap and gimmicky, and not *just* because it's plastic, would have wanted to replace with a factory spring loaded delta, and replace the proprietary Ruger barrel nut with a standard as well
I actually did like the pistol grip better than the SII, but the trigger pull was noticeably worse, grittier and spongier, I can live with the trigger pull in the SII, it's not horrible, but the Ruger trigger was just bad
I liked that the barrel was a 1/8 twist, would have been nice if it was "Melonited" as well,but no need to change it
The rear BUIS felt like a cheap knock off of the Magpul and it was missing a second aperture, would've had to swap that out with a Magpul
The front sight assembly being aluminum, and "staked" on the wrong side was also an annoyance
The bolt carrier being cut away so that the hammer recoils on the firing pin seemed illogical as well, I understand the original Colt M16's did this as well, but it seems like an abnormal level of stress to put on a small, breakable part, I'd also have to swap out the bolt carrier assembly too
Basically, I'd have to replace more parts on the Ruger than the Smith.
As far as purpose, the Sport II is going to be a general purpose gun, fun/plinking, home defense, and varminting, perhaps with an additional upper, something 6.something or .300 blackout it'll be used for deer, not many feral hogs up here in Maine
Ive almost got it set up just the way I want it now, I'm not the type to hang a bunch of crap off the gun, keep it light and simple, as it stands right now I have the M4 heat shield front handguard on it, a GI cotton websling, a Bushnell TRS-25 cowitnessed with the irons, and the last thing im going to add is some form of flashlight, probably on a micro rail bolted to the lower front handguard
....Then shoot the crap out of it, the only real "accesory" I'm going to need is plenty of ammo and range time
Anyway, due to some financial issues that are irrelavent to the point of this thread, I had to sell off a good portion of my collection to stay financially solvent, those problems have been solved, and will not happen again (no, I'm not offhandedly referring to marital issues, I'm happily single, however, if I did encounter the right woman....
Anyway, back on subject...
I've finally added an AR back to the collection, I was looking mainly between the Ruger AR556 and the Smith Sport II.
Both guns seemed solid, well built, and I know that coming from reputable manufacturers, they should be fine, can't go wrong with either....
So, why did I go with the Sport II?
Mainly, when I picked it up and shouldered it, it just felt......right, comfortable, like an old freind, the Ruger felt technically competent, well balanced and well built, but it just felt... Sterile, I really can't properly explain, but hefting the Ruger I felt an overall sense of "meh", with the Smith, it was "this feels right"
Being a computer repair tech, and technically minded, I had done a lot of research on both guns, and the Sport II had fewer "flaws" or minor annoyances I'd "have to" fix down the road...
The "Issues" I had with the Sport II was the barrel downgrade from 5R 1/8 to standard 6 lands and 1/9 twist, theoretically if I could find a new replacement 5R 1/8 barrel, I could swap the barrel and have a complete "SuperSport 2.1" have all the advantages of the original Sport barrel with a dust cover and forward assist equipped upper reciever
The stock plastics feel cheap ('Cuz they *are*
) but I've already swapped the front handguard for a stock M4 guard with heat shields, so now I just need a more ergonomic and palm filling pistol grip, as the stock one is too narrow, and eventually swap out a better adjustable buttstockThe issues I had with the AR556?
The front handgrip felt cheap, and the screw down delta ring, while I appreciate the concept, and it *is* a great concept in theory, just felt cheap and gimmicky, and not *just* because it's plastic, would have wanted to replace with a factory spring loaded delta, and replace the proprietary Ruger barrel nut with a standard as well
I actually did like the pistol grip better than the SII, but the trigger pull was noticeably worse, grittier and spongier, I can live with the trigger pull in the SII, it's not horrible, but the Ruger trigger was just bad
I liked that the barrel was a 1/8 twist, would have been nice if it was "Melonited" as well,but no need to change it
The rear BUIS felt like a cheap knock off of the Magpul and it was missing a second aperture, would've had to swap that out with a Magpul
The front sight assembly being aluminum, and "staked" on the wrong side was also an annoyance
The bolt carrier being cut away so that the hammer recoils on the firing pin seemed illogical as well, I understand the original Colt M16's did this as well, but it seems like an abnormal level of stress to put on a small, breakable part, I'd also have to swap out the bolt carrier assembly too
Basically, I'd have to replace more parts on the Ruger than the Smith.
As far as purpose, the Sport II is going to be a general purpose gun, fun/plinking, home defense, and varminting, perhaps with an additional upper, something 6.something or .300 blackout it'll be used for deer, not many feral hogs up here in Maine
Ive almost got it set up just the way I want it now, I'm not the type to hang a bunch of crap off the gun, keep it light and simple, as it stands right now I have the M4 heat shield front handguard on it, a GI cotton websling, a Bushnell TRS-25 cowitnessed with the irons, and the last thing im going to add is some form of flashlight, probably on a micro rail bolted to the lower front handguard
....Then shoot the crap out of it, the only real "accesory" I'm going to need is plenty of ammo and range time
