First 5.56/.223 AR15: Del-Ton Echo or S&W M&P15 Sport ?

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il.bill

il.bill

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I am getting ready to buy my first AR15 in 5.56/.223. My local dealer has a Del-Ton Echo and an S&W M&P15 Sport on hand and they would be basically the same price to me out the door. What do you think?

I plan to be using the rifle for putting holes in paper and blowing up water bottles with iron sights from 25 to 100 yards at the range. I am looking for a cost effective introduction to the platform. With retirement coming closer, I can picture building my second AR15 myself later, but I think one of these two will fill the bill nicely for now. Any input is appreciated.
 
Either rifle will suit your needs, the Del Ton's are well made and darnded accurate---- the Sport is one of my favorite AR's (i have twenty three AR's including both Del Ton and S&W) both of these rifles seem to send more rounds down range than many of my other and more expensive rifles. My Del Ton has a light weight barrel that is not chrome lined and 1/9 but still will match the accuracy of some of my heavier melonite or chrome barreled rifles with 1/7 or 1/8 twists...of course punching holes in paper is fun but shooting soda cans, left over bean cans, dirt clods and steel plates is where these rifles excell for pure enjoyment (refer to the "pray and spray" post..........i am one who practices double tap and beyond at cans and gongs. But i digress, again either rifle is accurate and capable if providing lots of fun....save a bunch of cash for an extra few cans of ammo on the shelf.
 
I have a Sport and my buddy has a Del-Ton. They both work great and we have had no problems. I do like the dust cover feature of the Del-Ton. It gets very dusty out in our desert and it is nice to flip that up when a storm arrives. That said, I have never had a problem with the Sport. It is accurate and just keeps working. Tough call...
 
Thanks for the replies.

If they are both still available I will make my choice when the time comes. It sounds like I should be OK either way and hope to have some range fun next week. It is nice to see the prices coming back to earth, and one of the main reasons for choosing an inexpensive entry level rifle is to have some money left over for buying plenty of ammunition right away.
 
I am taking my Sport out to the desert tomorrow. I will update if anything changes and try to remember to take some pictures of groups. I have a 3x9 Leupold on mine and use it for coyotes. The first weekend out I got three with it; it has good mojo.
 
Despite a few changes, the newer Sport is reportedly a good, solid AR. My older one has been stellar. I will suggest you get a double shielded handguard as mine came with a simple plastic version that heats up quickly. I've never needed a dust cover, forward assist or removable trigger guard though.
 
LGS has the M&P Sport on sale this week for $549. If I had it on me and was in the market for another AR... It'd be right next to my Franken rifle and Franken pistol.

DelTon is good, I've heard more mixed reviews with the DT than the S&W. A lot of people compare them to DPMS, which is another good, but lower end brand. My Franken rifle sports a DPMS upper, so I'm not knocking the brand.

Either will serve you well, it's just a question of whether or not you want a dust cover and forward assist, or are okay with the slab side.
 
I just got back from the desert and barely escaped the storms...The Sport ran great and was plenty accurate. A buddy had the new Ruger AR 556 and it worked really well. It was more accurate than the Sport and had zero issues. That might be something to consider...
 
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I would say this, if you plan on shooting less than 5k rounds, get the Del-ton. If you plan on shooting more than 5k rounds, get the Sport. The Sport has a treated barrel (similar to melonite), which is good for higher round counts, but is missing a dust cover and forward assist. The longer lasting barrel is a moot point if your round counts are low, but a dust cover helps for the entire life of the gun.
 
I'd go with the S&W Sport. the lack of FA is pretty much a non-issue entirely, and the lack of dust cover is also largely overblown, unless you live in a dusty/desert environment.
The reports on the Sport have been absolutely glowing, for years now (and i concur). Another big plus is the name recognition, which will help considerably should you ever want to sell or trade it. I've had a personal rule of thumb for many years, that has benefited me countless times with everything from bikes to guns to guitars: "All other things being (more or less) equal.....go with best re-sale value".
And that is going to be the S&W. ;)
 
I have some experience with Del-tons, the one I have now very accurate and well made.
I have no experience with the Sport.
 
Well the Ruger does come with FA and a dust cover... I know, I know, but yesterday when I was shooting in the desert and huge monsoon came in and it was dusty, muddy, and wet; all at the same time. I had the Sport and a Colt LE 6920. It was nice, and gave me a piece of mind, to close up the DC on the Colt. I am sure that is it purely psychological, but I like my dust covers and they work as intended. If the Ruger had been available when I was buying the Sport, I probably would have gone with the Ruger. Having said that, on the first weekend out with the Sport, we were on a several day coyote hunt. It was cold, windy, and rainy and had no effect on the sport whatsoever. It ran great for three hard days and got three coyotes.
 
Way to go Matt, coyotes are not the easiest critters to bag. My Sport has never failed to fire when expected although i have not placed it in a desert situation it has seen the sandy soil of E Texas (as has my Delton Echo) and both shrugged it off without incident. The OP must make his own choice but most AR's offered will provide adequate service given the average shooters record. My AR's gobble thousands of rounds each year where other shooters average considerably less.
 
Thanks again for the replies. It was nice to have a choice of which good, entry level AR15 to buy at a reasonable price (less than $550 + tax). The resale value of the S&W was a point I had not considered, although by the time I would be ready to sell it, NIB will probably be less than $500 (or over a $1,000 - who knows). If, and when, I 'move up' to a better rifle, I will likely keep the first one around anyway. I suspect that the lack of forward assist and dust cover would be a non-issue for my intended use.

I went with the S&W M&P15 Sport, and it ran flawlessly right out of the box through about 100 rounds of Wolf Polyformance .223 ammo. The water bottles simply had no hope of surviving the trip to the range. Now to find some Pmags on sale ...
 
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