AR15 in .22

[Dynasty]

Is the Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22 the obvious choice when it comes to the category of .22LR AR15 rifles?

I know conversion uppers are available and can use one on my Colt, but I like the idea of having two separate rifles in two separate calibers.

Anyone regret purchasing the M&P 15-22?

 

[Bopleo]

The CMMG's are very reliable and have features such as forward assist and bolt lock.

Take a look at them

 

[Trueno]

The M&P15-22 consistently outsells the Colt by at least a 4-1 or 5-1 margin when we have them on the gunshow tables. Asked customers long ago for the reason and their immediate response was research at the newstand and on the web.

I understand I'm not offering you any concrete reasons/qualities but that's the sales experience I have with the M&P15-22. Also, the M&P is always priced just a little higher...say, (nostalgia here) 485 compared to the Colt at 465 but price didn't have anything to do with consumer taste...they walked into the show wanting a S&W.

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[RFMan]

From my reading, the CMMG bolt hold-open is a little hit-or-miss (requires a part to be installed, which may not always work - please relate good experiences with it if you have any; more data are always good! ). After my research I decided to go with the M&P 15-22, since the ergonomics were a close match to a "real" AR, despite the nonstandard lower/upper. I only have a few hundred rounds through mine so far, but they were a mix of Remington Thunderbolts (the acid test), Remington Golden Bullets, and a few American Eagle. NO issues whatsoever. Accurate, even with these ammo, shooting offhand. Really nice. I may one day build up an AR upper in 22LR from scratch, but I'm very much liking the M&P right now. Try not to pay a panic price for it, and you will love it.

 

[Dr.Rob]

SW or Colt dedicated 22 rifles are usually a LOT cheaper than a good 22 upper for a real AR

 

[CharlieDeltaJuliet]

I bought the M&P15-22 and soon sold it. To me it felt too much like a toy. The plastic was too much after I got to shooting it. Don't get me wrong, they thing was dead nuts accurate and never coughed or failed a single time.

I ended up with a CMMG Quebec-A. It is a dedicated .22upper on a CMMG Standard AR lower. It has the weight and feel of my 5.56 AR's and was a perfect fit for me. This was just over a year ago and I paid $450 (Sparta Guns and Ammo) for the rifle. The sad part was the S&W cost more than that, $525 iirc.

The CMMG is noticing at all about ammo and eats anything I feed it. I do however only use Black Dog Magazines with the metal feed lip. I made the mistake of ordering a ProMag and it was the biggest POS I ever bought. You can catch the Black Dogs on sale at Palmetto State Armory for around $10 each every few months...

 

[zoom6zoom]

My favorite 22 autoloader is my SIG522. Not only will it digest any brand of .22LR I throw at it (you know many semi 22 rifles are very picky about ammo), it uses the same mags that work with my CMMG conversion kit for my AR.

Oh, and it's not plastic.

And as noted, the Black Dog mags can often be found at excellent prices. I have twenty of them.

 

[mf-dif]

They sure are reliable and accurate by all accounts. But every single touch point on it is plastic. If I was going to do a .22 AR, it would be Chiappa .22lr upper (250) or the Umarex HK416 .22lr. The Umarex .22 clones shoot well and are quality with metal in the right places. (Except the Colt M4 clone...those I hear can be picky).

 

[gotigers]

The 15-22 is one of the best gun purcheses ive made. My daughter loves it. I use it in 22 3 gu and steel challenge. Great rifle.

Ive tried conv kits, but didnt like them.

 

[arizona98tj]

I bought the M&P 15-22 shortly after they were introduced and haven't regretted it. I wanted a rifle that was a close to an actual AR as possible but something my grandsons would be comfortable with. The manual of arms is the same, except that their is no forward assist. Heck, you can even put an AR-15 trigger in the 15-22 if you so desire. Yes, it is light weight....but then again, my grandsons can appreciate that. Another reason was that I could shoot with them, using my M&P 15 while they used the 15-22. It's difficult to share a lower in that kind of scenario. I'm completely satisfied with it and have zero regrets getting it.

 

[RFMan]

"...you can even put an AR-15 trigger in the 15-22 if you so desire."

I do love my 15-22, but...you will so desire I have an ALG QMS trigger on order for mine; I have one in one of my other ARs, and they are a noticeable improvement over a crappy trigger for a good price ($45). Probably the best and only thing you need to immediately do to a 15-22. The next thing would be optic or sling. An old Truglo RDS I have lying around will help bring the weight up

 

[basicblur]

From someone that has bought both (within a week) the 15-22 and Colt:
1. "Everybody" said the 15-22 was the one to have, so I bought.
2. Asked the guys at the gun shop what they recommend (never ask a question you don't already know the answer to), and they replied "15-22".
3. When I got it home, the more I studied it, the more I wondered?
4. Next time @ shop, I asked 'em why they recommended the 15-22 - they said "well that's what everybody asks for". :banghead:
5. I brought the Colt (Walther) home with me.

Now that I've had time to play with them both:
1. The Colt ate everything we fed it - the 15-22 chokes about 5% of the time on the Winchester 555s (a friend's 15-22 does also). The 555 round is the flattest profile hollow point I have (of around 10 styles), which seems to be causing the problem. Hopefully it will improve with use?
2. My friend piggybacked on my research and got the 15-22, but the "excessive" plastic is a double edged sword - some folks prefer metal, but for his use (wife and kids), the lighter weight plastic is preferred.
3. Most importantly (and it was for him) - the 15-22 is the closest to a true AR-15 in operation that I know of - the bolt release on the Colt is cosmetic ONLY. I suggested he go with the 15-22 as he wants to ease the wife and kids into the bigger guns, and operating EXACTLY like a true AR was a BIG bonus.
4. May not make a difference in the long run, but the 15-22 trigger assembly is as found on a true AR (folks are putting AR target triggers in them) - the guts of the Colt is a completely different ballgame, totally different from a true AR.
5. You can swap hand guards on the Colt just like a regular AR - the 15-22 is another ball game (requires special wrench, barrel removal, etc). I have seen where some folks have modified their 15-22s to a conventional hand guard assembly.
6. I got the MOE version of the 15-22. First AR I've had with a folding front sight - the MOE version offers a lot of little goodies over the regular AR for not a lot of extra $$$, the most important to me being the included QD mount built into the receiver (not included on the regular 15-22, and I have a Magpul Dual QD MS4 sling on it).
7. I have my 15-22 set up as a poor man's 3-gun rig - Nikon P22 scope on Bobro Engineering mount, with a Bushnell TRS-25 HiRise on a Weaver Offset Rail adapter behind the Nikon.
8. I have a Trijicon SRS on the Colt (don't ask :banghead. FWIW, the kids seemed to prefer shooting the Colt - I'm assuming because of the impressive (gaudy?) looking SRS? I also swapped out the regular round hand guards with a Midwest Industries Gen2 MCTAR-17.
9. The 15-22 buffer tube is mil-spec diameter, the Colt is proprietary Walther! :banghead:

So there ya have it from someone that owns both, and isn't that really the best way to learn about 'em?

The 15-22 is a bit of a test mule - too much junk hung off it, but used as a testing platform for stuff I may want on my big ARs down the road?
I also have the Magpul MOE RVG Grip and AFG Angled Fore Grip, both of which were cheaper at my local gun shop!

While the P22 is a nice little scope, it was my first variable powered scope (have ACOGs, EOTechs on the big ARs), and I've had to go to school on first focal plane vs. second focal plane scopes. The P22 is a second focal plane scope, and to me, that really sucks (I hate the BDC reticle changing values depending on power level).

For giggles and grins, I have a Bushnell Throw Down PCL on backorder. I was seriously thinking about a Leupold VX-R Patrol, but the Bushnell is the only reasonably priced first focal plane illuminated reticle I could find. Not too sure 'bout the folding lever, and the scope does seem to be a little heavy, but it's an experiment.
MSRP is $419, Walmart $299, SWFA $237 + shipping. I have since found for $222, and signed up for their e-mail alerts.

I've handled 'em in Walmart, have on backorder from SWFA Outdoors, who has not received their first batch yet.

BTW-my friend's wife has taken ownership of "his" 15-22 with the Bushnell TRS-HiRise. She's heading out to the farm pond every evening to cull the muskrat infestation he has working on his pond dam!
He told me she asked him to clean the dinner dishes one night, and said as he was washing the dishes, he saw her headed out the pond with the 15-22.

This is getting a bit wordy, but HTH?

 

[basicblur]

Except the Colt M4 clone...those I hear can be picky

Folks tell me the early Colts were a bit finicky AFA ammo, and also say they didn't have the tuning screw for ammo (which I haven't touched).

'Course, these days it seems accurate 'Net info is increasingly difficult to come by (the signal to noise ration has suffered over the years).

As stated in an earlier post - the Colt ate everything we threw at it - the 15-22 choked 5% of the time on the Winchester 555s.

 

[gotigers]

Basicblur: my 15-22 has never had a malfunction of any kind. It has shot everything I feed it and accurately to. I do not buy remington 22 ammo. I put a weaver 1-3x on it so I can use it to practice 3 gun. It is a good set up for that. Bonus is that is is a great squirrel set up.

Edit. I have several friends with 15-22s. None have had any issues, except one guy did a home trigger job and he had issue because of the bad trigger work.

 

[basicblur]

my 15-22 has never had a malfunction of any kind. It has shot everything I feed it and accurately to.

Have you fed it Winchester 555s?

Same malfunction in both mine and my friend's - while at Walmart the other morning waiting for the 7am ammo rollout, I overheard someone in line telling another customer about the 555s - he also stated they work well in bolt action 22s, but it sounds like he was experiencing the same problems as both my friend and I, but I don't know what kind of semi-auto he was telling the customer about having FTF problems with.

I have since started noticing bullet shapes - everything else I have is a much more rounded bullet profile than the Winchester 555.
That includes: Winchester M*22, Remington Golden / Thunderbolts (although Remingtons do suck - too many duds), Federal AutoMatch / 550, and a lot of specialty 22 ammo like about 6 flavors of Mini-Mags and Winchester X.

BTW - my favorite BULK ammo AFA dependability are:
1. Federal
2. Winchester
3. Remington

Having trouble getting my hands on CCI Tactical (bulk) and Blazer.
All my Mini-Mag flavors of ammo work fine, but all have rounded nose profiles (even the hollow points), and Mini-Mags are a bit pricier!

 

[Fishbed77]

All I can say is I love my CMMG Sierra dedicated .22LR upper. It has been extremely reliable and is surprisingly accurate. I'd take a real forged aluminum and steel AR-15 chambered in .22LR over a plastic (M&P15-22) or potmetal (Umarex Colt M4-22 or Umarex HK416 .22) .22LR AR replica any day.

Here is a link to a mini-review I did a while back on the CMMG:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=668410&highlight=cmmg+sierra

 

[RFMan]

All I can say is I love my CMMG Sierra dedicated .22LR upper. It has been extremely reliable and is surprisingly accurate. I'd take a real forged aluminum and steel AR-15 chambered in .22LR over a plastic (M&P15-22) or potmetal (Umarex Colt M4-22 or Umarex HK416 .22) .22LR AR replica any day.

Here is a link to a mini-review I did a while back on the CMMG:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=668410&highlight=cmmg+sierra

I WANTED to love the CMMG Only two things kept me from it: possible (probable?) lack of the bolt staying open when dropping an empty mag, and they cost as much as an entire 15-22, depending on your shopping patience. The former was an absolute deal-breaker for me all by itself, and specific info was sparse. Depends on your use case. I would also say that the 15-22 is the ONLY polymer AR I would care to run, so I can meet you halfway in that regard I really did agonize for some time before going with the M&P - but no regrets.

 

[RFMan]

Folks tell me the early Colts were a bit finicky AFA ammo, and also say they didn't have the tuning screw for ammo (which I haven't touched).

'Course, these days it seems accurate 'Net info is increasingly difficult to come by (the signal to noise ration has suffered over the years).

As stated in an earlier post - the Colt ate everything we threw at it - the 15-22 choked 5% of the time on the Winchester 555s.

I try not to run Winchester 555 or 333. Nowadays, that's fairly easy to accomplish - can't find it But I had a box of 333 where about 80% of the bullets were LOOSE in the casings. I had to TWIST each one (like screwing in a bolt) while pushing, and I tightened them up enough to fire, though I had a few percent of duds also. The M-22 stuff is great.

 

[ejfalvo]

Sig 522, I echo the earlier post. Shoots anything I put thru it. Not a single problem after 100s rounds of various 22 ammo.

 

[HeavyDuty]

Several years ago I built a dedicated AR in .22LR using a normal lower and a pieced together upper. LRBHO is important to me, so I used the CMMG device with limited success.

A few months ago I finally dumped that and went with the Redi-Mag "Better-Mag" magwell insert that allows me to use S&W 15-22 mags with CMMG, Spikes and other bolts. LRBHO is now 100% as is feeding and the manual of arms is identical to my other ARs.

 

[loose noose]

Recently purchased a new S&W M&P 15-22, primarily for my grandkids, I've fired a little over 500 rounds of mixed ammo thru it. Every thing from CCI mini mags, and CCI standard velocity, to Remington Golden Bullets, Winchester Wildcats, Remington Standard velocity, Bulk Federal .22LR, as well as the Federal Premium Target. Have yet to have a problem with any of the ammo mentioned, and note; the owners manual specifically states not to shoot the Remington Golden Bullet thru it, as well as the Winchester Wildcat.

In fact I've noticed that the Remington Golden Bullet seemed to be the most consistently accurate thru that rifle, closely followed by the CCI Mini Mags.

 

[Jackal]

All the big, bulky, heavy AR-22 options and they are all still trumped by the efficiently designed, much less expensive basic 10/22.

 

[Fishbed77]

All the big, bulky, heavy AR-22 options and they are all still trumped by the efficiently designed, much less expensive basic 10/22.

Maybe. Maybe not.

Though it certainly cost more, I can say for a fact that my CMMG dedicated upper has been more reliable than my stock 10/22 and is MUCH more accurate.

 

[CharlieDeltaJuliet]

No offense to Ruger, the 10/22 is just not for me. The only 10/22 I would own is a volquartsen 10/22. Now they are some of he most accurate semi-auto .22's made. I think the OP's best choice is the M&P15-22. While it wasn't the right file for me, they are one of the best made AR .22's made...

 

[slickone]

Well I bought an M&P 15-22 about three yrs ago. Love this gun and last month someone in the area offered an almost new one for $325.00 and it now sits beside my older one. For me it's all that I want. I shot a Ruger 10/22 but I still prefer the S&W. I put a 4x32 scope on it and that's it. Maybe a trigger later on.