In a crowded AR-15 market, consumers are looking for the best bang for their buck, and most look no further than the Smith & Wesson M&P15 Sport. The Sport is a well-made and reliable rifle at an affordable price backed by the S&W brand, which has led to it becoming one of the most popular AR-type rifles. New for 2024, Smith & Wesson is introducing an updated version, with the M&P15 Sport III.
The “III” in the name denotes the third generation of Sport models in Smith & Wesson’s M&P15 lineup. Introduced in 2010, the original Sport rifle was a bare-bones AR-15 that lacked a dust cover and forward assist. In 2016, the Sport II added these two features, while maintaining an affordable price.
The Sport III carries over many features from previous Sport models, such as the trigger guard forged integral to the lower receiver.
The Sport III represents this continued evolution of offering additional features but keeping the rifle’s cost reasonable. The most obvious change is that Sport rifles now come standard with a 15” free-floating handguard. The handguard has M-Lok slots in the 3-, 6- and 9-o’clock positions and a full-length M1913 Picatinny rail in the 12-o’clock position that mates up to the upper receiver rail. No iron sights are supplied.
The other changes lie underneath the handguard, in the form of a low-profile gas block and a longer mid-length gas system instead of the carbine-length system used in previous Sport versions. Smith & Wesson claims this longer gas system increases reliability and decreases felt recoil. The barrel now has 5R rifling with a 1:8” twist rate to stabilize a wide range of 5.56 mm bullet weights. Other features from the Sport II have been carried over, including an integral trigger guard on the forged lower receiver and a six-position telescoping stock.
The Sport III is offered in two versions, one that ships with a 30-round magazine and one that has a 10-round magazine (pictured).
The rifle is available in two versions, with either a 30-round magazine or a 10-round magazine supplied with the rifle. Both versions of the Smith & Wesson M&P15 Sport III have a MSRP of $799. For more information, visit smith-wesson.com.
