New AR-15: How bad did I screw up?

Congrats on the purchase!!

If I were you, I would not worry too much about the price. Some people are going to say you got the deal of the century, others will say you got screwed. Some will say S&W are junk, other will swear their lives on them. Don't worry about it, its not like you could return it if you wanted to (talk about a major PITA). Go out to the range and enjoy the gun. IMHO, when you were at the gun show, you got a pretty good idea from a bunch of different vendors of what the market for these weapons is like right now in the Greater Philadelphia area. You also looked at other weapons which were cheaper and less well equipped. It looks like you got a real winner and I have a feeling that regardless of what you paid, the market for these weapons is only getting stronger. Sadly, guns seem to be recession proof.

 

If your post contained the words;

"crowded" and "it went off..."

yeah, I'd say it was a bad screwup
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Sure, you could have gotten a "stock" unit for 1/3 off, but, it seems like with all the bells and whistles, short the rail cover, you got a M&P15T [Tactical], and then some, so fair money. Gunna get a grenade launcher next?
http://www.shootingtimes.com/longgun_reviews/swmp15_121906/
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The only who'll have regrets is the varmint who gets in your way.

 

Congrats on the purchase. I'm not too sure of the value, but you seemed to have a lot of goodies with it. Just before the election, I jumoed in on a group buy for AR-15 stripped lowers for 80 a piece, so I bought three. I plan on building mine up. One with a 24" varmint barrel from rock river, and the other two with 16" barrels tacti-cooled out, lol. Be sure to post up some pics of the range results, that's where you'll find out if it's worth the money.

 

Oh....I'm jealous. I was at a gun show today also, but in Kalifornia we have 'waiting periods' and 'assault weapon' bans. They sold CA-legal M15's that have fixed magazines (low cap) with prices in that range, and one stand had 10 or so people waiting in the purchase line.

I think you got a pretty good deal considering all the extras. Buying frenzy also ups the price....

 

Overpaid by a few hundred bucks in my estimation.

 

Colts are always expensive because of the name. What people don't know is that FN makes most of the US military's small arms and by most accounts Colt only has the M4 contract because the Army screwed up.

 

1800 is not a stupid price-you are in a decent price range for what you got. Figure you hit midpoint of price for this piece. 1600-2k is what i have seen-but it is difficult to gage as theses guns are like a Chinese menu-too many options! But look at it this way. You will not find a lot of depreciation on these things-at least not like a Ferrari!

And these things are very popular right now. As I am sure you know-gun sales have skyrocketed with Obama win. Everyone is scared over what new gun rules may be.

 

True or false:

Colt is the ONLY AR manufacturer that makes the receiver so that the semi-auto sear cannot be replaced with full-auto sear.

 

True, IIRC, you have to grind out a chunk of material in the Colts to utilize the full auto sear. I'm not sure if they're absolutely the only one but I'm leaning toward true...

To the OP, I think you did okay, not a steal and not a ripoff. It's fine. Enjoy it, and buy lots of ammo while you can still get it at a reasonable price. "Buy it cheap and stack it deep" as they say. Ammo for an AK was $99 for 1000 rounds 5-6 years ago. I got it at $189 per 1k over the past couple years. Now many sources are selling it at $259-$299 per 1k, if they have any. Prices on this stuff just keep climbing, and with Obama's stated intentions of eventually bringing about a new AWB you may have a sweet investment there. During the Clinton ban most of that tac-ti-cool stuff was unavailable or (if "pre-ban") very expensive. I really hope we don't return to the days of $79 Glock magazines again...

While you have some spare cash you might wanna pick up an AK since it is apparently the most evil of all evil rifles, at least in the eyes of lawmakers....


gp

 

Yeah, thats MSRP for the actual S&W tactical model. Yours looks more like a base model that has been modified to be like the tactical model, problem is that it's hard to know just what you bought. Unless the upper is marked somewhere with S&W you don't necessarily know what it it might be. The quad rail system on the S&W MP15X looks different from the pictures you posted and the front gas block is definitely different. Just for the sake of it lets assume its a fully S&W rifle that was modded with a rail forearm and gas block. The basic flat top upper rifle is available in my area for under $1k from larger sporting goods dealers. The gas block is <$50 and the rail forearm is $100-150. Most all the AR manufactures include two mags and a hard case so that doesn't really count for anything. The fore grip type stuff is another $50 or so depending on what brand it might be. The green laser is ~$70 and the flashlight depends a lot on what brand. If it's a pricey Surefire or something then more but there are lots of them for $30ish. The front and rear iron sights come with the S&W MP15X rifle but assuming yours is put together from a base model MP15 you can figure it's another $120 or so. The six position stock is pretty much standard kit for a decent rifle so nothing for that and the sling is probably $10-20 at most. The Sig sight goes for $150 but nobody would buy one, it's basically a cheap add on to the SIG556 rifle that people replace with something better.

At the two gun shows I have been to since the election the prices seem to be set to separate those who are getting a late start to the panic buying from their cash.

I don't think any of the other major MFG's use the weird size pins and include the sear block but they may be some.

 

You over paid mainly because the Halo sight is cheap. If it was a EOTech, it would be another story.

 

Very cool. Now you have to go clean it though....

 

If its the one you want, then the price is fine. If you don't like it then it doesn't matter how much you paid.

 

#1 reason why my gun never leaves the safe. What a pain in the a$$ to clean RIGHT. I have said it before, G@d bless our soldiers who have to rely on these things in the field...especially in the desert.

 

I don't know the value of modified AR-15's. If these are banned from new production (sometime in the future), it will be worth even more money.

Jawad,

Some tips:

Buy yourself some q-tips/cotton tipped applicators, and keep the critical areas of the rifle, as clean as possible. Take special care of the "inside" area of the gas port, that is located on top of the bolt carrier. Swab it many times, until the swabs/cotton tipped applicators come out clean and white.

When you take the bolt from the bolt carrier, look inside the area of the bolt carrier, where the bolt is located. You will find a lot of carbon build up, in this area (at the bottom of the inside). It needs to be cleaned, to prevent carbon build up. You should take a cotton swab/patch and move it around with a screwdriver or similar device - repeat as necessary until the swabs come up without black carbon deposits. Don't forget to remover the extractor (push the pin - it is located on the bolt), and clean the inside area.

You also get carbon build up, in the breech area of the upper receiver (rear of the barrel). When you are ready to fire the weapon, lube the bolt carrier, and charge the weapon several times (of course without a magazine in the weapon) with the charging handle.


(1). Buy yourself some excellent HK 416 magazines, that will last a lifetime. The cheap lightweight mil-spec magazines, will often cause the weapon to jam. If a new AWB becomes law, the HK 416 magazines will no longer be importable. No reason to rush, you have plenty of time, to buy several magazines.

Congratulations !!

 

Perfect...couldn't have said it better myself. With the caveat that, to do this right, it is a very time consuming process. It takes me an hour to get her shiny as new after a day at the range. As for the HK magazines. The quality is far superior to any AR magazine that I have ever seen.

 

Can I ask a stupid question (and I should probably just look this up myself), but is a fully auto model like this completely and totally illegal in the United States? Is it legal to convert one of these to fully auto? Is it possible to do so in the first place?

 

Full autos are perfectly legal.

You simply have to have the stamps for $200...but that takes a bit of work.

ARs (or other weapons) can be converted legally under certain circumstances.

It depends on WHAT is registered.

If a weapon is registered as fully auto, it can be kept fully auto forever; if its sear breaks you can buy a new full auto sear for a few bucks.

If you own an auto weapon in which the SEAR is registered, the registration stays with the sear, not the weapon.

this has 2 implications.

For the owner of a registered sear:

1. if the sear breaks and it is not fixable, you just lost your automatic weapon.

2. the sear can be put in another weapon.

To my limited knowledge, there are many more registered sears than weapons. I would make sure I knew which I was buying. I believe most would agree a registered weapon is better than a registered sear.


Colts would be difficult to convert so many people don't care for them for this reason. As far as I know, all other ARs can be converted with a legal sear.

 

Local regulations vary. Some states will not allow Class 3 weapons.

 

Dang. don't live there.