StrikeFire83
Member
Okay, so I'm a longtime pistol guy who recently bought my first rifle a few months ago...an AR-15 in the form of the Smith & Wesson M&P 15 Sport. After putting 300 rounds through it with the iron sights and becoming reasonably proficient, I've decided to add a new handguard/rail system, flip up sights, and a red dot. I've decided on the red-dot and the flip-ups, but I'm having trouble with the rail.
First off, sorry if I'm getting the lingo wrong. All if this is very new to me. I've heard them referred to as "handguards", Free Floating Rails, FFRs, etc. I'm talking about something like this:
http://www.laruetactical.com/larue-tactical-120-handguard-lt15-12
So I paid a local gunsmith to hack off the front sight blade/gas block (S&W mushroom-stamps the pins on the front sight for the M&P 15 Sport, so you can't just push them out with a punch) and install a gas block that was given to me by a friend. I've been told that Larue Tactical is top notch stuff, but my experience with pistols has taught me that there are several levels of quality and some are perfectly adequate without being overkill.
My Reqs
-12 inch
-rails on the top and bottom (side rails might be a nice bonus, but I don't see myself using them right now)
-maybe some other stuff that I don't know I need
Anyhow, do I NEED a $300 rail to get what I want? Is there something in the $150 range that would do just fine? Any thoughts and suggestions will be welcome!
First off, sorry if I'm getting the lingo wrong. All if this is very new to me. I've heard them referred to as "handguards", Free Floating Rails, FFRs, etc. I'm talking about something like this:
http://www.laruetactical.com/larue-tactical-120-handguard-lt15-12
So I paid a local gunsmith to hack off the front sight blade/gas block (S&W mushroom-stamps the pins on the front sight for the M&P 15 Sport, so you can't just push them out with a punch) and install a gas block that was given to me by a friend. I've been told that Larue Tactical is top notch stuff, but my experience with pistols has taught me that there are several levels of quality and some are perfectly adequate without being overkill.
My Reqs
-12 inch
-rails on the top and bottom (side rails might be a nice bonus, but I don't see myself using them right now)
-maybe some other stuff that I don't know I need
Anyhow, do I NEED a $300 rail to get what I want? Is there something in the $150 range that would do just fine? Any thoughts and suggestions will be welcome!