Smith & Wesson M&P15-22 Review

[eight433]

Excellent review!

does anybody know if there are magazines available with more than a 15 round capacity? I was considering a Ruger 10/22 with an "Archangel" kit, then i found this little gem. The only problem I see is that they have a 30 round mag for the ruger.

Might have to take a ride to my favorite gun shop and see if they have one of these in stock


edit: I don't know where i got the idea they were a 15 round cap. I now realize they are 25 round.... That makes this decision a little easier still

 

[WoofersInc]

I understand that the Colt mag’s are about $40, however the M&P’s are very reasonably priced at $20, and a little less than what you would pay for a Black Dog mag.

44mag has mags in stock for 17.99 for the Smith.

http://www.44mag.com/prodinfo.asp?number=SWMP2225

 

[jimbo1096]

Just picked one up and haven't fired it yet. Fit and balance very good and the weight just right for what I expected in a 22 plinker. I'm not a black rifle fan but I do like this.
Thanks for the great write up. I enjoyed reading it and may carry some of the add-ons over to this one.

Only negative is the dealer said the extra mags are on back order. Don't know when they will be available.

 

[Dbunye]

Horrible jamming

I bought an MP15-22 .22cal rifle yesterday as a first gun purchase. I was happy to take it to the range today with a variety of .22 ammo from different companies. To my COMPLETE disappointment, the gun jammed every other shot on most occasions, once in a great while I was actually able to shoot two consecutive bullets before it failed to load.

Each time it failed, the bullet did not get chambered and it was bent or the spent casing would get stuck and not ejected properly thus jamming the next bullet. I would have to put it on safety and eject the bent bullet or spent casing manually. This happened almost every other shot!

The ammo I shot:

1) Winchester Wildcat 22 High Velocity
2) CCI Mini-Mag 22LR 40 grain, Target/Plinking ammo
3) Winchester Super X 22LR plated round nose, 40 grain high velocity
4) Peter's 22LR, High velocity, Solid point
5) Remington 22 Thunderbolt, Round nose

Again, I am thoroughly and utterly disappointed in this rifle. I understand a certain type of ammo may or may not work well with a specific gun, which is why I went to the range with 5 varities of ammo to see what worked best. To my displeasure, NONE worked so I have to assume the gun or magainze is simply poorly built.

 

[SheepNutz]

Dbunye, did you make sure that you were loading the magazine correctly? The rounds should be loaded one at a time, letting the follower assist move the top round all the way up before loading the next round. When the magazine is loaded correctly, the rounds will be staggered left right left right etc.

 

[Lloyd Smale]

i love mine its been dead nuts reliable for over a 1000 rounds now. Havent even cleaned it yet. Thanks for the heads up Woofersinc i just placed an order for 5 of them.

 

[nulfisin]

This is a great, reliable little plinker (or whatever "smaller" job you may have in store). To the reader who bought this as a first gun and had feeding problems, it is very important to clean the barrel and chamber before you shoot a 22. Most guns, including the M&P I bought, come lathered in packing oil. This will almost surely cause jams.

 

[OpelBlitz]

Dbunye, did you make sure that you were loading the magazine correctly? The rounds should be loaded one at a time, letting the follower assist move the top round all the way up before loading the next round. When the magazine is loaded correctly, the rounds will be staggered left right left right etc.

Exactly; check the manual as they have a good illustration on how this is to be done. I've mostly shot .22 Federal hollow point, never had a FTF yet.

I would recommend this to anyone.

 

[mig7410]

first gun buy of 2010 for me, love it. Only got about 200 rounds thought it, perfect.
Just ordered some more mags from S&W today.
It should of come with a front sling mount though.

 

[OpelBlitz]

It should of come with a front sling mount though.

Couldn't agree more, I ended up getting a Troy QD when I placed an order for my Aimpoint CompM4s at LaRue... it works great. But that was a minor annoyance; I think S&W made the assumption that anyone who actually wants a sling would have done what I did.

 

[Dbunye]

I think it is my ejector. I saw some threads on it and when I opened my gun, the ejector was almost flat against the chamber wall when it should acutally be on an angle. I bent it slightly as the fix suggested, so I will take it to the range in a day or so. Hopefully that is all that it takes to fix this, and from the threads I have seen it seems to be a relatively common, but simple to fix, problem.

 

[Shear_stress]

Hopefully that is all that it takes to fix this, and from the threads I have seen it seems to be a relatively common, but simple to fix, problem.

There's no need to cowboy engineer this thing. Just give S&W a call and they will fix it for free. The extractor problem is a known issue.

 

[Walkalong]

My sons father in law bought one. It is a great little plinker, but it is much to light & differently balanced etc to be used as a good training tool for your AR. IMHO.

 

[Dbunye]

The simple fix did the trick. I got to the range just before closing and fired off a full clip as fast as I could without a glitch. Considering I had a 50% failure rate before, I am quite happy.

And no waiting 3 weeks to get the gun back.

 

[OpelBlitz]

There's no need to cowboy engineer this thing. Just give S&W a call and they will fix it for free. The extractor problem is a known issue.

A friend of mine who had her extractor break (She said she did from dry firing..) sent hers in and got it back in two weeks. And, they threw in 2 spare mags for free.

 

[Guns and more]

When I pulled the trigger on the M&P15-22 the first few times it was an odd feeling. I felt somewhat bewildered and disappointed. If you own or have ever shot an AR15 you’ll understand what I mean. With the real deal you have the expectation and satisfaction of some healthy pushback and recoil. That’s not the case with the M&P15-22; there is minimal pushback, recoil and report.

I had the same feeling when I shot my GSG-5. POP! No recoil to speak of. But it is fun to see how fast you can pull the trigger. Lead flying downrange.
I have settled on CCI Mini Mags. Not the cheapest, but always reliable.
I learned from the GSG web site to avoid Remington. Dirty and lots of misfires.
If I had to do it over, I may have gone for the Colt or M&P, just from a looks standpoint.
Some of the hardware on the GSG-5 is just kind of cheap looking. (works fine).
Enjoy!

 

[Rollis R. Karvellis]

Bought the Smith yesterday, the first few mags there were many jams. I down loaded it with only 20 rounds it would function fine. After the first 150 rounds the gun smothed out. No failers of any kind. After putting a reddot on it and another 200 rounds, it was to dark to keep shooting. Today was a wash out so I might not get to shoot again for a couple of week's.

 

[whcnumberone]

To eaj What ammo did the S&W MP 15-22 like best? Thanks,Bill

 

[SheepNutz]

I'm not EAJ, but according to most people on the S&W forum, Federal bulk packs (the 550 round packs, not the 350) and pretty much any CCI round works just fine. Everyone also recommends that you stay away from the Remington bulk packs. S&W even sent out a letter to 15-22 owners letting them know which ammo worked best. I believe that letter is stickied in the S&W 15-22 forum.

 

[dakotasin]

well, the federal bulk packs turn mine into a jammomatic.

also, the gun fired out of battery yesterday. an interesting, if not super-annoying, event. until the out of battery event, i had sent about 200 rounds downrange, and was never able to run an entire mag without at least 4 stoppages, sometimes as many as 10.

talked to smith today - they want the gun back.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Great review; thanks.


Conversion kit better than one of these rifles, or even a dedicated upper for that matter, as far as I am concerned, due to a more desirable bbl twist rate (1 in 9 or better), allowing use of Aguila SSS 60 gr. And of course, not only duplicating weight/balance, but leaving all the same doodads on the rifle - it's the same rifle.

I think one of the main points of rifles like the M&P22, if not the main point, is to have something uber-light and therefore super fun to plink with, not to duplicate the 'real thing' for training. Best thing for that is to set up two identical actual AR15 rifles - one with a .22 conversion kit, and one with a real BCG. Then, if the S were to ever H the F, then drop in your 2nd BCG, and you've got an identical backup rifle if your first one goes TU.