Horrible M&P 15-22 experience

[desert gator]

I had a horrible experience today with an M&P 15-22. I have been shopping around for my first .22 and I settled on the M&P 15-22. I picked one up today at sportsmans and a box of remington bulk shells and headed to the range. I got all set up at the range and it was complete garbage. With in the first 20 rounds I had 3 FTF's and about 7 FTE's then at the 20th round I pulled the trigger and boom! It popped, the flash came out of the ejection port and so did allot of components from with in the gun. Now I know that I was not using the most expensive ammo, and that also from what I hear .22s can be a little picky about what you feed them, but this really put a bad taste in my mouth. I took the gun back to sportsmans and they where kind enough to refund my money, but now Im supper nervous to purchase something else. If I did though I would probably get the ruger sr22, or my grandpa has an old 10/22 that has a broken stock and I saw that you can build up your own using the nordic package. I think that the build up sounds fun because I can try to build it up with high quality parts.

 

[Diggers]

Parts of the gun came out of the ejection port?? In a .22? Thats crazy! I know nothing about that M&P but thats not good!

Go get that 10/22. Now THAT is a proven rifle that will work well for you.

Also there is A TON of after market stuff for 10/22s to play around with. You can do all sorts of things with that gun.

Oh BTW I don't know what your gun background is so I'll just tell you. Yeah .22s are funny with their ammo, like you said, they shoot badly or FTF or FTE or all sorts of weird things. You do need to find the kind YOUR gun likes.

I would of thought it was just an ammo issue with the M&P but for the parts falling off. That really is nuts.

 

[taliv]

wow! sportsmans refunded your money on a used gun??

 

[desert gator]

Yeah I walked in expecting a fight but they refunded it. I showed them the parts that came out and they tried to convince me to just switch it out. I asked to just let me have my money and they did

 

[David E]

came out of the ejection port and so did allot of components

What kind of components? Were they all brass colored ?

 

[ArmedBear]

If you want a .22LR AR, order a real one, as in a .22 upper to fit a standard AR lower. I have never heard anyone who didn't love theirs, and everyone who tries mine, wants to run out and buy one.

If you have access to an older 10/22 (better than the newer ones) that's already broken, go for it. I don't think a 10/22 is worth buying new, then pouring money into in order to make it an acceptable rifle. HOWEVER, if you can get it for free, you can have one hell of a GREAT rifle for a few hundred bucks in aftermarket parts (I wouldn't be too gung-ho for the Nordic, but that's up to you).

That said, it will never be a gun with AR controls that you can use to practice AR mag swaps. Depends what you want.

 

[desert gator]

The 10/22 that I can get for free is about 25+/- years old. I dont want to spend more than $500 (not including scope or sights). How much would an AR with a .22 upper run? The reason the Nordic is appealing is that all I do is plink so I would want something as close to a real AR as possible but much $cheaper to shoot

 

[emerson]

I'm not sure, but I'm betting a full AR setup with a 22 upper would be more than $500...

 

[desert gator]

yeah doing some searching it looks like it. Im not keen on prices because I have never gotten into rifles before

 

[SheepNutz]

This has been happening to quite a few 15-22s. Check the S&W forums and you'll see lots of threads similar to yours. Most of those people just sent their guns in to S&W to be repaired. Upon return, they function perfectly. Also, 15-22s hate Remington bulk ammo. The best bulk ammo to use with them is Federal.

 

[browningguy]

Did you bother to clean the oil and grease out of the gun before shooting. I've even seen mini-14's jam if they were not properly cleaned out of the box.

 

[Dookie]

The first thing I thought of was the Remington ammo. I have to many experiences like yours in my rifles, including bolt action. All shooting Rem ammo. Never a problem with Feds, CCI.

 

[Girodin]

The 10/22 that I can get for free is about 25+/- years old. I dont want to spend more than $500 (not including scope or sights). How much would an AR with a .22 upper run? The reason the Nordic is appealing is that all I do is plink so I would want something as close to a real AR as possible but much $cheaper to shoot

More than $500 unless you find some killer deals. The spikes upper is over $600. A complete lower will run around $200 give or take depending on what and where you buy.

The last SW MP15-22 I saw was $399 NIB. I agree with Armed Bear that an upper like the spikes is much better but they are roughly twice the price so I understand why so many people have been swayed the other way.

It sucks to hear that these are having problems. The colt was sure getting disappointing reviews I was interested in getting a whole separate .22 trainer. Perhaps a dedicated lower is still the best route.

Also, 15-22s hate Remington bulk ammo. The best bulk ammo to use with them is Federal.

So do my 10/22s as well as my GSG-5. I think it is not great ammo. The parts falling out is disconcerting though.

 

[ifit]

wow gator sorry to hear, at least your ok. would you beleive same thing happened to me couple weeks back decided to try some armscor precision hv/hp rounds, some ff/fte, then boom *** found out that there was a round stuck midway in the barrel. pushed it out out towards the receiver and thought the colt would be toast but the colt still shoots fine and still accurate. do not use armscor rounds, even my bolt action has a hard time feeding them.

 

[paintballdude902]

id get a gsg

 

[Shear_stress]

Couple of things. Bad ammo and a known defect with the early 15-22 extractor. S&W would have been happy to upgrade the latter for you at their expense.

 

[KingTiger]

Trying not to hijack, but the topic has already strayed, so ...

This is some verbage borrowed from Thompson Machine about their new AR upper, I want one bad. Price is right too.



Other manufacturers offer .22lr AR uppers, but no-one makes one like ours. The culmination of countless hours of testing, tuning and R&D, the Thompson Machine Clandestine is the finest Drop-On .22lr AR upper in the industry. At the heart of every Clandestine is our Proprietary Thompson Machine billet receiver which is CNC machined in-house to full 5.56 nato spec. We then hand fit and build the Clandestine with our match 4130 chromoloy .22lr barrels that are turned and chambered by us to ensure the most exacting specs and reliability.

The Clandestine is fitted with our Thompson Machine user-serviceable mono-baffle .22 suppressor for unrivaled suppressed performance and ease of maintenance. We have designed the Clandestine to keep inexpensive bulk pack high-velocity ammunition subsonic, and it works well with many types of ammo, but is tuned for CCI Minimag for optimum performance. The Clandestine is available either in a pinned 16.5” one-stamp version or an 11” version for SBR and Machine Gun owners. Each clandestine includes one Black Dog 26 round magazine and a suppressor take-down tool at no extra charge. Just drop a Clandestine on your lower, buy a brick of .22lr, and see how quiet and fun your AR can be!

Specifications:
Caliber………………………...22lr
Overall Length……………......22”
Barrel Length………………....16.5”
Weight………………………....3lb 6oz
Barrel/Tube Material…………4130 Steel
Baffle Material………………...6061 T6
Suppressor Design…………….Mono-Baffle, Take-apart Tool Included
Finish………………………......Matte Parkerized/Anodized
MSRP……………………….....$679 $595 Christmas Special Thru Dec. 31st!!!

 

[ArmedBear]

My .22 upper cost me $475 complete from Model 1 Sales. Whatever you think of Model 1, this upper is perfect and I got it quickly.

Spikes is a tad overpriced, but nobody complains about them. They work well.

A complete .22LR AR will cost more than $500. HOWEVER, the lower half will work with any other upper, as well, so you can leverage it into a centerfire rifle when you want to move up from the .22. You can use it for both, and it takes about 2 seconds to swap uppers on a lower. 3 if you're slow. So $750 isn't exactly the whole story. You can pick up a new .223 upper for $400 complete (and up, of course) and stick it on the same lower when you want to shoot a standard AR.

 

[dom1104]

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=491407

my experiance has been the opposite with the conversion kits.

 

[Historian]

I just got an SR 22 and I own two other 10/22s. There are really two ways to go. A .22 upper is a good choice but pricey. If you can get your grand dad's 10/22 for free, I would suggest a Butler Creek (or better) stock, with a good bull barrel and a reasonably priced scope and perhaps a decent bipod. Those things together will cost you less than $500 and you will have a "tack driver" that's a lot of fun and can be modified all kinds of ways. BTW my SR 22 with a Burris scope shot five out of five into a 1" Shoot 'N See at 50 yds right out of the box using CCI Mini Mags. However you go, best of luck.

Historian

 

[desidog]

OP - some people think that the older 10/22's are much better than the newer ones. I'd definitely ask your granddad... stocks can be had for 60 bucks and up ... and if the barrel is going or gone, you can find great replacements from a variety of companies. You can rebuild it with aftermarket parts to the point where the only original element will be the receiver.

I've noticed on THR that the majority of reports on the S&W MP15-22 and the Colt competitor are negative. They both seem to be riding the AR-craze - at the end of the day, I'd rather have a purpose-built .22lr; not something that is a knock-off of something else....like a GSG....time, use, and engineering will tell on these new gun models. Go with something proven like the 10/22.

 

[ArmedBear]

some people think that the older 10/22's are much better than the newer one

They can't be worse.

Seriously, I have a hunting buddy with a couple of very old 10/22s and the things are rock solid reliable. They aren't match-grade accurate, and they do get dirty and stop feeding due to fouling a lot sooner than a .22LR AR does, but they're generally good little rifles.

I bought a 10/22 myself a few years ago. I wouldn't call it a "good little rifle." I sold it again in disgust, and replaced it with a new Marlin 60 that has been a wonderful gun to shoot despite its bargain price (and I can be a gun snob).

I wouldn't buy a new 10/22, but I'd love to get a hold of an old one like that, especially for free, to modify. That would make for a great rifle. Whether or not you go "tacticool" with it, I'd make a project of grandpa's broken rifle if I were you -- as others have said, get a heavy barrel/stock kit for it, maybe replace the trigger, and you can have a near match-grade rifle for a few hundred bucks, tops. You'll be glad you did.

 

[nulfisin]

Sorry for your bad experience. Any 22 semi-auto should have its packing grease and muck thoroughly removed from the barrel, action, and bolt assembly before it is fired. And you will need, in my experience, to use higher velocity and slightly more expensive ammo. With those important caveats, my S&W shoots like a dream.

 

[chineseboxer]

Anything but Remington, I have heard horror stories about their .22lr ammo. Try another brand and I bet you you will have a much better experience. Mine has been GREAT!

 

[wally]

+1 to Spike's and the Federal bulk pack.

After a few thousand rounds you forget how much more you spent for it and are very happy with the low cost shooting.

That Remington Golden Bullet bulk pack is problematic in too many of my guns, so I quit buying it. Remington "Thunderbolt" is the absolute worst I've ever had the misfortune to use causing horrible leading after a few hundred rounds

--wally.