[bravada]

Greetings. I'm new to the forum and AR15's in general and wanted to get some opinions on a few things and ask a few questions.



I need to get a cleaning rod and I'm pretty happy with my current Dewey 1-piece nylon coated rod so I'll probably stick with Dewey but I'm not sure what length I should get. Dewey recommends a 36" rod but that seems a little long for the 15T's 16" barrel. On the other hand I could see getting the 36" just in case I get another gun down the road that can use the same rod but has a longer barrel. What length would y'all recommend?



Next ? up is a muzzle Guide. The purpose of which is to keep from damaging the crown? I'm curious if one of these is a recommended cleaning accessory. I've never used one so I'm a little skeptical as to their necessity.



Also up for consideration is a forward sling mount. The 15T's got a rear sling mount but no front sling mount so I'm interested in suggestions. Seems like I'll need a rail mounted sling swivel stud and the choices are overwhelming doing a google search. Aluminum seems like it would be a better choice than polymer. Anyone got a favorite? I'm tempted to go with a LaRue Tactical Harris Bipod Adapter and just attach the sling to the sling point on the bipod but wanted opinions non of the less sense the LaRue stuff is pricey.



Lastly I'd be interested in any do's and don'ts concerning AR-15's. Cleaning suggestions, take down, shooting, ammo etc. I'm a complete newb with AR-15's having never shot one none of the less owned one. I'm in the process of reading the hell out of this forum, the ar15.com forum, and many others. Needless to say between the research on an M&P 9 and this M&P 15T I think my head is about to explode from information overload.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[G56]

The 36" is fine, you don't need a muzzle guard since you clean an AR from the chamber end. Some people get a chamber guide but it isn't really necessary. I recommend you get a AR15 chamber brush and the special rod to use it, very handy thing to have. If you have any other questions post them here or send me a PM.

 

[m4arc]

Congrats on your new purchase and welcome to the Black Rifle Disease

The Dewey 36" will work fine, keep in mind you have a 6" upper receiver and a 1" flash hider added on to the 16" barrel. A little extra cleaning rod isn't going to hurt. Like G56 said, you'll clean from the chamber end so a muzzle guard isn't necessary. Besides, it has a flash hider so the crown isn't exposed.



As for sling mounts, I recommend a MI #06. and Vickers Tactical 2-Point sling. I use one on several of my carbines. Don't mount it on the bipod, it will put it down to low and it will just get tangled up and make deploying the bipod a clusterf&%k. Run it at either end of the rail, I prefer to run mine closer to upper because it keeps the sling out of the way of my support hand.



LaRue stuff is nice, very nice. It's money well spent in my opinion and I have everything from their Aimpoint mounts, EoTech risers, rails and backup iron sights.



As for cleaning and such stick to the basics: Breakfree CLP or Slip2000. There's no need to expend more effort than necessary and there's no need to go overboard with exotic cleaners and rituals. As for ammo, as long as you are using good factory stuff you'll be fine.

 

[bravada]

Thanks for the replies. The 36" rod and the chamber brush kit are on the way so that's settled. I'll assume 5.56mm U.S.G.I. - 50 GRAIN bullets made by Federal are safe for ammo. Just want to make sure there isn't some issue with it being +P+ ammo that's too much pressure for this gun or some other issue before I order. If there is some ammo that I should stay away from like Wolf or some specific grain that's not acceptable let me know.

Thanks.

 

[G56]

There are some kinds of ammo to stay away from, a couple of the worst are Olympic from Greece, and American Ammo (Amerc) made right here in the USA, both of those two are so substandard that they are actually dangerous, another thing to generally avoid is commercially reloaded ammo, sometimes labeled "Remanufactured", only one brand is truly trustworthy and that is Black Hills, best policy is to avoid all others.



A good resource is AR15.com's Ammunition Review & Reference, they have done surveys of people who have used various different ammo and rated them by brand, the top of the list is the best, the worst at the bottom, notice Olympic is at the very bottom of the list, about 50% of the people who have used it say they will never use it again, Amerc is shown below the list, it's so bad they didn't even put it on the list.



http://www.ar15.com/content/page.html?id=210

 

[rjhauser]

fwiw, I have been having freat luck with 62 grain mil-surp,



just a suggestion, if you can find any....

 

[Crysour]

My M&P15T seems to love milsurp ammo - especially the Guatamalen stuff. It also loves the ADCOM M855. I have never had a FTF or FTE with either. just my two cents

 

[bravada]

Finally got most of the toys in and mounted. Some stuff I already had on my CX4 like the EOTech and the Harris bipod so the LaRue mounts for these was very attractive. While looking for the MI #06 I noticed the MI #8 and #30 and since they would accommodate the LaRue tactical sling QD's I went with that trio for the sling side. I've enjoyed the few hundred rounds I've fired so far with no hiccups. Thanks for the replies, here's some gun porn.

 

[Crysour]

woof...my wife happened to be looking over my shoulder and said "it really is gun porn isn't it". Yeah, including the black bar across the serial numbers (not unlike the one that otherwise goes across the eyes). At least that's what I've heard 8)

 

[G56]

Nice!

 

[Smith & Wesson Man]

Nice setup! You are starting to give me ideas to mine

 

[Simian]

Bravada,



How do you like that EOTech on the rifle? I have a chance to pick one up for $300, it is a 552 and like new, I may do so. Can you co-witness the Irons through the thing?

 

[bravada]

Sorry for the delay in a reply, been out of town. I love the EOTech, I've moved it from one carbine to another for a few years now. $300 for a 552 is a good price hope you got it, and looking it up I see it's a AA model which is good in my opinion given the prices on N cells compared to AA cells. As to co-witnessing yes it does, with the LaRue EOTech mount the irons line up in the bottom of the reticle so it would probably be dead on without the rise of the LaRue EOTech mount though I'll admit I haven't tried it without the LaRue mount.

 

[gotm4]

Be sure to better stake your carrier key. The factory staking is pretty weak on M&P ARs and completely non-existant on the M&P 15 PC.