More M&P15-22 and Magpul mash-up advice

Another question popped up on ARFCOM in regards to Magpul components on the little .22

The MIAD and MOE series grips are pretty sweet, I like the simplicity and fuller size of the MOE, and since my full size carbine has one, I needed to put one on the Smith.

On the 15-22 the rear take-down retaining pin spring is held in place by the pistol grip since there is no traditional buffer tube or rear plate. No biggy with the standard A2 grip, but the MOE and MIAD grips have some gaps in that area and don't support the spring like the A2 grip. If you're running the MIAD with the large backstrap, all you need to do is get the AR-10 gapper from Magpul, and not only will it fix the retaining spring issue, but it'll fill the gap between the grip and the receiver.

If you're running the MOE, from everything I can find, the gapper isn't compatible. So you need to add a block to the inside of the MOE grip to support the spring. I grabbed some plastic sprue chunks from a Games Workshop kit (hey, it was handy) and glued it in and trimmed it to match up with the top of the grip.



You can't see it from the outside, so I didn't bother coloring the block. I still have the gap between the receiver and the flared top of the grip, but it's purely a cosmetic problem, so I'm not in a hurry to fill that yet, or put much thought into how I'm going to do it, but someday I'll get to it.