One of my buddies ordered a M&P 15x from S&W through their officer purchase program in April.  It has been backordered since.  Anyway today he called S&W to check on it and they told him that his order had not been switched over to LE and that LE M&P 15x's were backorder still.  However "regular" ones were in stock and if he was willing to take one of those it would be shipped out this week.  

My question is this:  Is there a differece between LE M&P 15x and so called "regular" models? Or is this just something internal S&W uses to track LE ordes?  My buddy said the woman on the phone didn't know for sure, but said she didn't know of any big changes they made to the rifle.  Bare in mind she is only an assistance who handles tracking LE orders.  THANKS

Looks like the M&P15X has a non FF rail, FSB, and Troy folding rear sight.

Assuming that he could get the same deal on the same model, he should switch his order. If it was a different model, they'd give it a different name.

What if by "regular" they meant the m&p15A, or the standard m&p15 with the carry handle??  Just a thought

Hello, Highspeed5,

I've recently purchased a nearly new (fewer than 1000 rounds fired, per owner) M&P 15A in excellent condition. I am not aware that the owner was LE or anyone professional requiring carry of a MILSPEC or similarly-equipped weapon.

Needless to say, the rifle is a pleasure!

The main difference between the "A' and the "X", I believe, is the four-rail tactical hand-guard.

The rear site on mine, although labelled "S&W M&P", is a Troy Industries Folding Battle Site, apparently same as on the "X". The previous owner did not mention any custom modifications he performed, and photography of samples on the S&W Internet site shows same-appearing rear sites on the two models, although Troy Industries is not specifically listed as the rear site brand in the spec. sheet for the "A".

Since I have the actual rifle and accompanying paperwork, you may contact me via the Forum if you further have specific questions.

From my limited knowledge of the SWAT-type requirements, those personnel highly value a versatile platform from which to launch additional capabilities, and the tactical hand-guard, I suspect, would be a real "hot" item in those circles (pun intended, I guess)!

I would not be surprised that there is a real supply/demand differential between the "X" and the "A", with the brand-new former (released Dec. 2007) being channelled to the professionals and, therefore, being less available to the general citizen, despite the fact that they are both "Military&Police15...". If your friend is not LE, he may have to wait longer or "settle" for the outstanding "A"!

Hopefully, I've been able to clarify a little.

Best wishes.

Victor.

Sorry, forgot to mention, probably the obvious!

Assuming the "X" and the "A" are basically same rifle excepting what was already discussed, outstanding add-on tactical rails, sites etc. are widely available from numerous suppliers and can be swapped-out.

VB

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Quoted: Hello, Highspeed5, I've recently purchased a nearly new (fewer than 1000 rounds fired, per owner) M&P 15A in excellent condition. I am not aware that the owner was LE or anyone professional requiring carry of a MILSPEC or similarly-equipped weapon. Needless to say, the rifle is a pleasure! The main difference between the "A' and the "X", I believe, is the four-rail tactical hand-guard. The rear site on mine, although labelled "S&W M&P", is a Troy Industries Folding Battle Site, apparently same as on the "X". The previous owner did not mention any custom modifications he performed, and photography of samples on the S&W Internet site shows same-appearing rear sites on the two models, although Troy Industries is not specifically listed as the rear site brand in the spec. sheet for the "A". Since I have the actual rifle and accompanying paperwork, you may contact me via the Forum if you further have specific questions. From my limited knowledge of the SWAT-type requirements, those personnel highly value a versatile platform from which to launch additional capabilities, and the tactical hand-guard, I suspect, would be a real "hot" item in those circles (pun intended, I guess)! I would not be surprised that there is a real supply/demand differential between the "X" and the "A", with the brand-new former (released Dec. 2007) being channelled to the professionals and, therefore, being less available to the general citizen, despite the fact that they are both "Military&Police15...". If your friend is not LE, he may have to wait longer or "settle" for the outstanding "A"! Hopefully, I've been able to clarify a little. Best wishes. Victor.

His understanding was that the only difference between the X and the A were the quad rail handquards.  That is what he wanted and is what he ordered.  He is a LE so he recieved the LE pricing which was great.  He just wasn't sure what the woman ment by a LE M&P15X compared to the regular M&P15x.  

Thanks everyone, it sounds like it may just be an internal thing with S&W because the woman did say they try to get LE rifles out faster than non LE rifles...this may explain why he has had to wait since April for it.