I’m rifle shopping. I think I’ve narrowed it down to the M&P Sport II. What accesories should I plan on buying?
My initial buy will include, extra mags, ammo, and a case. Is there a light that will work on a full-size hand gun and an AR?
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I run this on both my rifle and pistol
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This is what I have on my 300 Blackout pistol. Its made for handguns as well.
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I actually have been researching this light today. I have a full-size HD handgun I’d like to get it for, but It’d be a double whammy for me if I could put it on a long gun as well. Buying one of everything for each gun gets expensive! 
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Well I actually have the Olight mini 2 Valkyrie on my Sig P320 and on my Hk Vp9Sk. I know the PL2 is made for a hand gun but the weight and size are perfect for my 300 blackout setup. And its very bright at 1200 lumens.
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Everyone covered the basics! Pretty much everything after that is personal preference. Foregrips, additional optics, iron sight upgrades, etc.
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As long as the M&P you are looking at has a picatinny rail, or the ability to add one, that light should be mountable. I googled the M&P Sport II and the images I saw didn’t have any way to mount on the handguard so you may need to solve that first
The Streamlight HL-X posted by @Sheepdog556 is a great rifle light, but it wont mount on a pistol. The Olight PL2-Valkrie is a great pistol light that you can mount on a rifle. I posted some pics of that light in @Joseph_1970’s other thread. Olight has a couple other lights to consider as well, the PL-Mini is tiny and rechargeable, the PL2-PRO is similar size to the PL2 but is rechargeable and outputs a little bit more lumens.
I’d also add, dont go too crazy with accessories before you run the gun for a bit and get a feel for what you may or may not want out of it.
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Thanks Harvey. I’ll have to check. I’d hate to put a lot of money into something incompatible. It’s a very basic rifle with some features minimized or cut to make it more affordable. That being said, I’ve heard nothing but good about it. My goal is mainly to get a reliable budget AR and go from there.
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The M&P is a solid choice, so I don’t want to dissuade you from it. But I also don’t want you to buy stuff for it that doesn’t fit 
.
I googled for a pic and found mostly ones that look like the below pic. There may be variations available on the base model with different attachments:
If the one you’re getting looks like that ^^^ you wont be able to attach anything to the handguards. Maybe someone more familiar with those M4/M16-style handguards (maybe @Craig6?) can give you mounting options.
The only one I know of would be to replace the existing handguards with something like the Magpul M-LOK handguard, you can buy them all over, here is a video of installation its dead simple to do.
Anyone with an AR will tell you, you will be buying accessories for it forever because they’re just such Legos 
, so no need to rush.
If it comes equipped like the pic (with iron sights already) you can just run it like this for a while and decide whether you want to mount a light on it (if this will be used for HD, I highly recommend it) or anything else on forward on the handguard. Later on you can add an optic (or not), swap the stock (or not), swap the pistol grip (or not), change the trigger (or not), etc, etc ,etc…
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I plan on buying the minimum at first and taking it to the range. I really plan for it to be a range toy, but I also want to own an AR. I don’t plan on it being the first gun I reach for home defense. I have a quick access safe with my pistol (I have a small house so if I have to move, I need to move really fast). My HD plan is to get the family in my bedroom, and hold out there. At that point, the AR may come out if that makes sense.
I mainly want a functional rifle out of the box. I would like to get proficient with Irons before I looked into fancy optics anyway. BUT it’s fun to discuss what I may look into to upgrade the weapon.
There are A LOT of things you can do with a basic carbine and iron sights.I carried an M-16A2 in Kuwait, Bosnia, Africa and a few other places. Got an M-4 for Trashcanistan with irons and one with optics for Iraq X3 & second trip to Trashcanistan. I wasn’t primarily with a door kicker unit so mine didn’t have all the Gucci PEQ lasers and such but I did bolt on a Surefire with a forward hand actuator as sooner or later you had to go inside.
This may come as a shock to some but I am really not a fan of the AR platform. I know them and work on them out of necessity and the simple fact that they are the most versatile platform on the market, bar none.
So if I were to build a basic M-4 type carbine these are the things that I would do.
Free floated hand guard: Improves the accuracy substantially over a delta ring and front sight base. I have fairly large hands (XL size gloves) but I have grown fond of the slim line M-Lock or Key Lock tubes from Outdoorsportsusa.com as they come with a full length top rail, some are interrupted and one or two 3" Piccatinny rails that you can add at your discretion.
Upgraded Butt stock: I am a huge fan of the B4 SOCOM stock. Very comfortable in ALL positions.
Clamp on gas block: Low profile, fits under free flat tubes and acts as a barrel resonator (from the 22 and air rifle world). I have seen group sizes cut in half after putting on a free float tube and clamp on gas block. Not a fan of screw the plug’s in type. they screw up the harmonics of the tube horribly. (Remember I’m a long range guy so 5" at 500 yards is barley acceptable)
Having reached that age where my arms are too doggone short (I’m like 20/80 inside 3’) I like optics. I like First Focal Plane (FFP) scopes and EOTECH’s along with BUIS that I can co witness if desired. Most FFP scopes preclude the use of a rear sight but depending on your mounting option you might could sneak one in there.
Other than that the only thing else I would do is go to a gas piston system (the main reason I dislike the AR platform is that it $h!t’s where it eats). I am fond of the Osprey System I talked with the designers and engineers and it is good kit, but a bit spendy.
IMHO if you are going to buy a built gun, run it and see what appeals to you or you dislike. Most fellas and girls at the range will let you fondle their sticks and may let you shoot them because we all started with a basic stick somewhere. Don’t be surprised that you will have a box of take off parts within the first year. They are like Lego’s and new stuff keeps coming out.
Cheers,
Craig6
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I haven’t pimped my rifle, but consider more than just things you can slap on the rails. I bought a heavy buffer, for example Not something you need when shooting 5.56, really, but I wanted to mimic the feel of an M4. Your shoulder will thank you after a long day at the range. The M&P has a pretty basic butt, too. If you find it’s leaving marks on your shoulder, you can upgrade it to something more comfortable.
Bottom line, shoot it before you buy bling. Prioritize your purchases based on what will help you shoot more accurately. You can add toys later.
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Not sure if you may have seen this on sale at Palmetto State Armory (commonly referred to as PSA). In addition to the bag, and a magazine (30rnds if your state allows it), it comes with the Magpul handguard already AND a light integrated into the foregrip.
Not sure how long the sale will last, when they’re gone… they’re gone.
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That’s a good deal 
. Thank you.
How do you keep the light charged? I keep my handgun in a locked quick access safe. I would hate to charge it, put it on my gun, leave it in the safe, and find out it’s drained?
This is my only concern with this light. I really like the price though.
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The PL2 uses batteries. 
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The PL-2 Valkyrie uses 2 CR123A batteries. These are lithium non-rechargeable batteries commonly available. You can get RCR123A rechargeable batteries (I use these in some of my EDC flashlights), but for this type of usage (HD, sits in safe most of the time) I prefer non-rechargeable and just replace them every year.
The PL-Pro Valkyrie is rechargeable. Their magnetic charging system is awesome. The use case for this would be as a duty light where you use it every day and every night you put on the charger so the next day you have a fully topped off battery. This uses a proprietary battery, so I am 99% sure you cant just replace it when you feel like it.
The PL-2 and PL-Pro are similar in size (maybe exactly the same?).
Then there is the PL-MINI 2 Valkyrie which is tiny and is also only rechargeable. It is maybe half the size of the PL-2 and PL-Pro, also has half the output
If you are interested in these lights, and you are not in a hurry, I highly recommend you sign up for their email list. Maybe 3 or 4 times a year they have some great sales that are 30-40% off a new product and 20-25% off their older/existing items.
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I am very fond of my M&P 15. A thousand rounds fired and not one malfunction. As I am old school, I put a simple Quad Rail handguard on mine. My M4 on my Iraq trips had this. It quickly let me mount my light, fore grip, sling attachment with still some room for more. The carbine handguard is short but you have enough room for the essentials.
The quad rail is a little heavy though. It is a two piece aluminum part that goes on in seconds. UTG made this one. The other option for me was the Magpul M-Lock handguard. Both are relativly cheap and easily installed.
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I think I’ll get their battery powered one. I really like the mini mainly because of price, but I do like the charging concept. I will not be charging it everyday. My HD gun sits in a nightstand safe. Batteries would probably be a better option.
I did not realized Olight had battery powered options. I did find one for about $100. I think I’ll join their email list like you recommended and see what happens.
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Just started a payment plan on an M&P 15 Sport II at my local gun store! I will get it paid off in a few weeks!
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