For my m&p 15-22 I use a bore snake on the barrel. One pass through with my bore solvent does the job. No extra brushes or patches needed. It gets clean as a whistle.

But for my Ruger 10-22 and Remington Speedmaster 552, I use the rod & patch kit. It just seems to work better for those.

The Smith is a dream to clean. Infact if you do not like to clean guns or think cleaning your rifle is just a hassle well the S&W 15-22 is just the rifle for you because it is soooo easy to clean.

Use CLP to clean and lube every moving part, and with a little solvent in the bore using a snake and you will be good to go. Quick easy and in my opinion the fun part is getting them dirty to clean again.