Latest-Variant Smith & Wesson (S&W) M&P Tactical AR (AR-15) Rifle/Carbine/SBRs for Special Operations Forces (SOF) Displayed at SOFIC 2010: Ambidextrous Controls!

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By David Crane
defrev (at) gmail (dot) com

June 30, 2010

DefenseReview (DR) got to see the latest Smith & Wesson (S&W) M&P tactical AR (AR-15) rifles/carbine/sBRs developed for Special Operations Forces (SOF) at SOFIC 2010 (Special Operations Forces Industry Conference 2010. The new guns incorporate ambidextrous controls and advanced coatings. It’s possible that the weapons we saw could be the same or similar configuration to what S&W submitted to the Army for the recent “Individual Carbine” sources sought notice/solicitation and/or for the Army’s sources sought notice/solicitation for a “Market Survey” for an M4 Carbine “modification kit”/performance upgrade kit, but we don’t know, yet. Defense Review wasn’t permitted by the S&W staff to take any photos of the relevant products at their booth, but here are the features we saw and/or that were communicated to us at the show:

Adams Arms gas piston/op-rod system. S&W may also have a direct-gas-
impingement system option, but we’re not sure.
– Ambi controls (ambidextrous operating controls, all controls), including bolt carrier release/stop
button.
– Quick-removable (enlarged) trigger guard/receiver floor/trigger
housing ceiling for easy cleaning and maintenance of trigger group
(non-removable). S&W claims this feature is patent pending.
– Coated bolt carrier group and possibly other internals like hammer,
barrel extension, inside upper receiver etc. Latest-version FailZero
Nickel-Boron coating/finish
was what they were using on bolt carrier DR saw,
but they’re testing additional self-lubricating coatings.
– Desert tan (anti-ir/thermal?) external coating/finish. Don’t know who’s.

DefenseReview will try to obtain photos of the weapons we saw, ASAP.

The guns (tactical ARs) we saw at the S&W booth looked good. And, S&W seems to have its act together with regard to product development, market responsiveness, and aggressiveness, at present.

Company Contact Info:

Smith & Wesson (S&W)
2100 Roosevelt Avenue
Springfield, MA 01104
800-331-0852 Toll Free
800-331-0852 USA Office
413-781-8300 International Office
413-747-3317 USA Fax
413-731-8980 International Fax
qa@smith-wesson.com Email
http://www.smith-wesson.com Website

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Latest-Variant Smith & Wesson (S&W) M&P Tactical AR (AR-15) Rifle/Carbine/SBRs for Special Operations Forces (SOF) Displayed at SOFIC 2010: Ambidextrous Controls! by

About David Crane

David Crane started publishing online in 2001. Since that time, governments, military organizations, Special Operators (i.e. professional trigger pullers), agencies, and civilian tactical shooters the world over have come to depend on Defense Review as the authoritative source of news and information on "the latest and greatest" in the field of military defense and tactical technology and hardware, including tactical firearms, ammunition, equipment, gear, and training.

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