guns

One more comment as I was going to hit the text limit ... Tenicor and Joel Park produce excellent carbine training videos on YouTube, their technique gets results and is easy to learn.

If you can be patient this Andro Corp goes on sale often for $400. Really good except the trigger. But hey, perfect excuse to get the excellent LaRue MBT-2S trigger.

https://www.primaryarms.com/primary-arms-slx-1-6x24mm-sfp-rifle-scope-gen-4-illuminated-acss-nova-fiber-wire-reticle an LPVO is nice for versatility and accuracy at longer ranges. This one is really good for the price.

With this optic, trigger, and rifle I think you've got the best bang for your buck.

Tools wise, flat punches are nice.

I just use Break Free CLP to clean. Mostly just wipe down the bolt carrier group and inside the upper receiver.

Per the School of the American Rifle, you can make a lifetime supply of lube with a mix of synthetic grease and synthetic motor oil such that it's about as viscous as honey, but any gun oil is fine, you'll just have to reapply more often than the sticky mix.

I don't clean the barrel that much because I'm lazy but a segmented cleaning rod is fine. Precision shooters often say, if anything, you should concentrate on cleaning the part of the chamber where the bullet leaves the case mouth. There's a carbon ring that forms there that can eventually restrict the bore diameter, squeezing the bullet and thus harming accuracy. With just a segment of a cleaning rod handle and a ~~bore brush~~ chamber brush you can clean out that carbon ring.

You'll also want Blue Loctite or some equivalent for your optic mount screws. Degrease the screws first and let the threadlocker cure 24 hours before shooting. The FAT Wrench torque screwdriver is also nice for that.

Apologies in advance if this is too much of an infodump, I welcome questions as well.

Both are good deals, I like to use gun.deals and plug in the item number or UPC of an item to see about what they go for. Also check TacSwap for used items and Ammoseek for ... ammo

I would skip the iron sights, they don't buy you anything in terms of capability and that money could be spent on ammo. InRangeTV has a good video which explains the arguments for this.

To feel comfortable quicker, the ARO is your best optic. Setting up the ARO only requires turning two screws and firing like 10 rounds instead of levelling the scope, torquing the rings, adjusting the eye reilef, setting the diopter, and truing the BDC on the LPVO. Cheap LPVOs and scopes are better than they have ever been, but they still have some sort of compromise until you get to $300-$400 MSRP like the PA one recommended below. If you don't want to do alot of tinkering and research, I'd hold off on a scope until you start shooting matches and have a clear problem that you want the scope to solve. If you want more magnifocation, you can also put a Holosun HM 3X or Primary Arms micro magnifier behind it later.

Additionally, the ARO will be quicker and easier to learn on as non magnified reflector sights require minimal practice to shoot with versus a scope or iron sights. With as flat as 5.56 shoots, I can hit 8" plates at 200 yards easily without magnification. These T1-style sights are also extremely durable and are whole pound lighter than a scope, a huge weight saving on a 6lb carbine.

Some kind if adjustable 2 point sling is great for walking around the range or match with, a Magpul MS1 is like less than $20 on eBay

Ammo An important thing to consider that many new shooters overlook is ammo! Not all is created equal and the right ammo will double your accuracy.To keep this simple, I'll recommend PMC X-Tac 55gr 5.56 for range use as it is "good enough", usually the cheapest, and widely available. Preston Moore compares ammo on his YouTube channel in a scientific manner.

Good targets that are not just range trash If you get some target pasters from Double Alpha Academy you can make good targets out of cardboard and easily tape over your impacts, also Caldwell makes cheap steel targets for shooting at 100-500yards so you ca hear the impacts. I get a lot of use out of the aforementioned 8" plates and the 66% IPSC.

As far as medical goes, a simple IFAK with a CAT TQ and some gloves, scissors, and gauze and a Stop the Bleed class will cover a lot of bases.

Electronic earpro like the Howard Leight Impact Sport makes shooting way more enjoyable as you do not have to constantly yell and mess with your earpro. I'd also grab some earplugs as well in case you have to double up because ARs are loud.

I've had quality control issues with Smith and Wesson before, btw. I had to send a used revolver to their factory to get fixed, but to be fair, they did fix it for free and send it back in less than 60 days. The other issue was just a magazine follower installed backwards, not that big a deal. I've also seen somebody with an older model S&W M&P Sport rifle have issues but he got them worked out, idk what the issue ended up being.