As I related in another thread, ordered an S&W M&P 15-22 Sport from Sportsman's Outdoor Superstore.  Actually, I bought two. One for me and one for my daughter, an early Christmas present.   They arrived at my FFL in a couple days.  Whoo-hoo.

First thought is that Picatinny rails are the creation of the devil.   I managed to cut my finger on one of the many thousands of sharp corners that those things have.  Of course that cut is right where my finger bends so everything that I do today hurts.  

Second thought is compared to my Colt HBAR those things are featherweights.  Only 4.75 pounds without the mag.  

So Sunday morning, we got up and cleaned the new rifles.  Yes, I made my daughter clean her own gun.  Cleaned and lubed.

Big surprise, there's no front sling swivel.  I wanted to put slings on the guns but couldn't do it.   An official Magpul MLok sling swivel and base runs about $40.  Google found me another branded set for $16.  We'll see what those are like.

Then we headed to the outdoor range.   Went through about 300 rounds apiece before the young one started to get tired.  Had one failure to feed and a couple clicks with no bang.   After I got it sighted in, I was shooting at a 50 ft bullseye pistol target from about forty yards and keeping everything (mostly) in the black.   After I get a proper sling mounted and maybe a red dot sight, things will get better.  

All in all, a good time was had by all.

Fun guns for sure.
I'm sorry you hurt your finger, maybe a antibiotic smiley face would help?

I have those rubber ladder type rail covers for my 15-22s, not sure if they would work on the new hand guards?

I bought some cheap rubber rail guard sections for mine off an airsoft website.  Sometimes you can find the same exact accessories from airsoft retailers for much less money than from firearms accessory retailers.  Mine might have been made by UTG.  Anyway, I've got no issues with sharp edges.  They are VERY comfortable to grip and they look cool, too.

I've had one for a while now.
Was told they were picky on ammo.
We have never had an issue cycling anything, even subs.
I try to shoot it AFTER handling the normal ARs since shooting it before makes the normal ARs seem much heavier.

Here are examples:

Rail Guards

I can't find the ones I bought years ago, but if you look a bit, you can find something that will work well.

Think I have some of those UTG rubber covers in my parts box. They are comfortable, but ugly imo.

Rubber ladder rail guards work nice.

Already ordered rail guards. Eight for $7.

Yes ladder covers.

Awesome carbines. My daughter and I love ours. Congrats.

I like the Larue index clips to smooth out the rail better than the ladder covers. I believe they are on sale for $15 on larue's website.