I thought this was an issue that was fixed or maybe it was my ammo or I am doing something else wrong. At first I got FTE's every 5 or so rounds. Using Federal bulk ammo.. I seemed to get less issues with the Reamington Bulk hollow point but still get FTE's. Right at the end I was able to do 75 rounds without a single issue. Not sure if this thing needs some sort of break in or the ejector needs to be adjusted. I really hate to have to send it back for repair and not have it. I would almost rather fix it my self or take it to a local gunsmith. I put 650 rounds through it this weekend. Thanks for any advice!

Did you make sure that the rounds were staggered when loading the magazines? It's very important they are as it can really cause problems when firing if they're not staggered, and it's easier than you think for the rounds to not sit in the magazine properly.

Yeah, I noticed they staggered but ill pay more attention to it next time I am out. I saw a video about moving the ejector over a hair. He mentioned there is a tiny gap between the ejector and bolt near the hook portion. Mine there is no gap at all.. it is almost rubbing the bolt. I assume I should have no issues shooting cheap bulk ammo?

Had a couple FTF's but was not aware of the stagger. Will make note of that next time. I guess I may have to send this back to Smith and Wesson but didn't want to have to do that.

My new 15-22 has the blue spring, and the blue hammer spring. The rifle was shooting fine for me using Winchester Super X, or CCI. However, I found (4) cans (325 count each) of federal bulk ammo. I took the (4) cans to a buddy's house to show him how impressive the rifle was, and accurate. Out of 26 rounds each time, I would get anywhere from 4-9 FTE. I took it down, cleaned & oiled it, and tried again. Same thing. I called the wife over to bring me some of the Winchesters after being laughed away from the target area. Upon arrival with the Winchester, I asked my buddy if he would like to make a friendly a wager that I could shoot all 26 rounds with no FTE. Well, he didn't want to make it friendly. He up'd the wager and although hesitant, I accepted. I rapidly shot off 26 rounds w/no FTE at all. LOL, and best of all, the new wager covered the cost of all for cans of the Federal ammo. LOL.

For some reason, it stove pipes the Federal ammo, but using Winchester, Remmington, or CCI, I have no problems. Rifle was purchased new about 3 months ago. Try some different ammo.

"using Winchester, Remmington, or CCI, I have no problems"

I guess your rifle is telling you something!

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I am the Majority
How about u

Yep... it seems your rifle does not like federal bulk. Just keep feeding it the Winchester, Remington, and CCI, and all should be good. Keep experimenting with different types of ammo, though. You may find more that your rifle will like.

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Semper Fi

Sent mine in for FTE's to S&W on Wednesday it gets there Monday and I should have it back by late in the week or mid next week.

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!
Out of curiosity did you clean and lube lightly before shooting? Next time you have a brand new factory gun- Clean the barrel and you will be amazed at the amount of dirt/metal/crud/ that you will find in it. It does not matter who made it, it is dependent on where, and for how long it was stored. Typically I can pick up the first 3-5 patches with a magnet!! Be Safe,

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I BACK OUR BLUE

i just got mine back from smith and wesson on tuesday for the same issue. i was getting 3-7 fte's per mag...it didn't matter what brand i was using.

i shipped it out on the monday before. they received it on wednesday, and it was on it's way back by friday evening. if you do send it back to them, it won't be gone long.

they replaced the bolt, and after 110 quick rounds as a test today, it cycled perfectly...

Ok, looks like I will send it off. I cleaned the barrel and bolt right after buying it. Lots of junk in the barrel when it was new. Bolt wasn't bad. I know it doesn't seem to like the federal bulk ammo (325) for me either as that is what I was shooting. I almost forgot.. I thought I got a jam with the reamington box but I was wrong.. I had part of his ammo and part of my ammo.. his shot clean and as soon as I got down to my ammo it would FTE. I will get a box of soemthign else and see if I can get through it without a bunch of FTE's before sending back.

Tactical, good idea.
While I have shot and continue to shoot Feds and have had no troubles.
You might have picked up some low velocity rounds that will cause the troubles you are having.
I would look more into ammo before I sent it back to S&W.
Concerning staggering bullets in the magazine causing all sorts of problems?
I dont know where this started, but I hear it mentioned often when ever anyone has any troubles with their 15-22.
Im calling BS on this one.
Dont make a darn difference which way they fall in there.
I shoot usually 2 competitions per month with dozens of other 15-22 shooters.We all just jam them in the mags as fast as we can because the next stage is coming up fast.
The feed lip on the magazine will put them in the right position when its the next round to be loaded into the camber.
Hope this helps.

My new M&P15-22 likes anything Winchester or Remington. It does not like Federal American Eagle or CCI Blazer. These are the only types I have had to use. It is getting less picky the more I shoot it though.

Correct. It doesn't like Federal for what ever reason. This is why I only use CCI or Winchester now.

Yes sir! I never fire any new firearm with all of that factory gunk, grease, and oil on and in it. I used Ballistol to clean it.

The manual advises on the ammo not to use as well as recommended ammo.

That list is several years out of date and is useless. It was based on user reports when the 15-22 was having out of battery discharges. It was not based on any testing by S&W itself. Besides, the list says not recommended, not do not use.

It also does not cover 90 percent of today's .22 LR ammo.

I must just have a good rifle,or something! I've ran close to three thousand rounds through mine,all different brands,old ones new ones doesn't mater. I've had no problems with my 15-22 at all.shoots everything I feed it with no complaints. I also have a Plinker Tactical 35 round mag that works just fine. I read my manual fist thing,followed all instructions and clean my rifle after every outing. Maybe i just got lucky,don't know. But my 15-22 works like a well made weapon should work! Load it shoot it ,enjoy it.

These rifles are individuals. Just because mine doesn't like Federal bulk, I could go back to same store, and get same model, from same production line, next serial number up from the original, take it home, clean it, and run 500 rounds of Federal bulk with no FTE's or hiccups period. Just the luck of the draw. Like picking a pup from a litter, these rifles are individuals. Could take one pup home that loves Purina puppy chow, while the other barfs it up, and requires Pedigree puppy...

I haven't read through all the replies but I'm sure this has been covered - be sure to grip the gun tightly. You'll get FTE's if you limp wrist it. We had the same issue with my son's and a tighter grip helped eliminate this issue.

Mine has been flawless so far.......Have run REM GB's, Wildcats and Federal bulk. Purchased back in Dec of 12. Favorite is Fed. bulk.

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S&W Accumulator

I had two boxes of federal bulk when I was shooting.. Pretty sure the first box gave me the most issues... It was strange to shoot 75 rounds at the end of my ammo and not have a single issue. How long is the warranty on these guns and what if you have a drop in trigger? Does it void the warranty?

CCI Mini-mags

A drop-in trigger does not void the lifetime warranty, but if you send it in for repair, you'll find your drop-in will be replaced with a factory FCG. replace the original FCG before sending it in.

Don't use ghetto ammo.

My gun seems to have a few FTE issues using the Federal too. Winchester bulk/M22 and CCI are fine though. My fix... stop using Federal.

I agree. I use Lapua, SK, and Wolf only and never have those issues.

I got a box of Winchester 1280fps 500 rounds from my dad I am going to try. The Federal is everywhere.. its like the only thing I find in stock. My dad shoots a revolver 22 so he had no problem trading me. I am going to the range this week and see how it shoots.

Quoted for extra truthiness. Problem is finding them anymore

There is no reason with todays technology and mass production, that one person can have a 15-22 thats eats anything( Like mine) and that includes Federal ammo,thinks It ok that you need to limit yourself to two or three kinds of ammo and think there is nothing wrong with yer gun?
Not saying anything is wrong with the OP"s firearm, Im thinking it was that batch of ammo he had and should look into it some more before he accepts the concept of limited ammo choices.
This gun should eat anything out there, I know mine does.
If it doesn't, bad batch of ammo or a bad gun.
Sure would be interesting to see this failure in person, what It looks like and how it acts will give you the reason why its happening.

I will take a picture of the next failure. It is pretty easy to spot.. the round gets pinched between the chamber and the bolt during ejection. If I have to avoid Federal Bulk ammo it really isn't that big of a deal and if it ever becomes a big deal I can send my gun in. I have found a good number of ppl having issues with the federal bulk ammo and this gun. I guess some can shoot it just fine and some can't.

Yours will probably be able to shoot Federals after a few hundred more rounds and a couple of good cleanings.

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Cliff

And a lot of people dont like shooting the Remington golden bullets either.
I find them to work perfectly and in my 100 yard testing post, with pictures? Very accurate also.
So the round get pinched between the bolt and action?
This tells me that the extractor is working ok. Now we are dealing with the Ejector,the bolt is supposed to go back far enough to contact the ejector. This tells me that the bolt is not going back far enough.
Why?
Too tight of a recoil spring?
Maybe?
Dud round, maybe?
Think about it.

Dirty, gunked up bolt carrier rails.
Overlubricated bolt carrier rails.
Bent bolt carrier rail(s).
Gunked up bolt.

All are possibilities to be eliminated ...

Agreed. I've never been a big fan of blaming the ammo if it works fine in another identical gun.

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Save time, see it my way. LP

I'm not sure if a gunked up bolt will result in failures to eject, but it will result in failures to fire. I had that problem! A little compressed air took care of it, and I now make it a regular habit.

As for Golden Bullets, I have fired over 4,000 of them, with only a few failures of any kind (about 0.4%). They have an inconsistent sound, and are very dirty, but they did fire well.

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Semper Fi

When I got my 15-22 last year it ate CCI and Remington Golden like M&M's but turned up it's flash-hider nose at White Box. Now it seems to eat everything I can find (which isn't much!) without a hiccup. I want to think that some of it is just the parts getting used to each other like my old-school 1911's do. It doesn't seem to care if the ammo is individually hand loaded by Swiss Monks or shoveled into a pickup truck bed at the back door of Miss Henrietta's Brassiere Shop/Storm Window Supply and Ammo Factory; it shoots them all. But I have had to cut way back on running the little rascal because the stuff just isn't out there! If someone reads this who has been hoarding .22 LR thinking to screw your fellow shooters and make big-bux; I hope there is a special place in Hell just for you where all you can hear are speeches by Joe Biden and Diane Feinstein 24/7!

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Vide - Aude - Tace

OldEagleEars.. I hear what your saying. It's not easy to find ammo and having to avoid the one I keep finding kinda sux but right at the end of the box I did manage 75 rounds wihtout issues which was odd as i was getting jams every 3 or 4 rounds earlier in the day with teh same ammo.

If the bolt body is over lubricated, or covered with powder debris, the bolt can be impeded in it's rearward motion, resulting in a short stroke. In reality, in the 15-22, there is no need for any lubrication on the bolt body at all; it's a loose fit in the upper.

i bought my son one of these for x-mas and got myself one a few weeks ago.....so far mine will eat anything I put in it but my sons would only shoot the hyper speed winchester and federal blazer (go figure on the blazer) without a bunch of fte's.....I compared the placement of the ejector rod on the two and they where different....I adjusted my sons in the same place as mine and I be darned.....whalaaa..!!!!!...now it shoots all 22lr ammo

Got pics of placement? I think mine looks like its bent inward to far... no little gap between teh bolt and ejector.

if you remove the magazine and turn the rifle upside down you can see the ejector pin....my sons was farther away from the bolt toward the magazine housing...I moved it inward toward the bolt....and toward the recessed spot on the bolt....its a little hard to explain....but this fixed his....we put low grade stuff thru it with no problems.....hope this helps.

If you can get a pic or two with the adjustment circled or otherwise highlighted I think it would be a great addition to the S&W book of knowledge. (Maybe even S&W customer service is not aware of this).

If you want to shoot any brand 22LR buy a SIG 522! Pete

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NRA LIFE 1974

From what I have seen and confirmed by reading online, that is truly correct. They seem to cycle very well on most any 22.lr out there.

But this is the S&W forums so your advice on using another firearm has earned you a "time out"...Go sit in the corner and think about what you have done!