Hello everyone, After lots of looking at YouTube videos I decided to get one of these rifles for my first rifle. I went to the local gun store Saturday and picked it up. I also took there advise and bought a box of Remington golden bullet brass-plated hollow point.[36 grain]. I took it to shoot today Sunday. I put 100 rounds through it and had at least 10 shell casings that did not eject and got stuck in the gun. My question, is this ammo the problem or is sometime wrong with the gun? This was the first time it was shot. Also i am new to 22 caliber guns. Thanks for the help.

Never seen a 15-22 but they look like a lot of fun. FWIW that's really cheap ammo that won't run in many auto loaders. My Ruger MKII won't run it. Try some CCI std. velocity and see if it likes that. I like it so much I bought a case (5K).

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Sorry... Have to ask.... If you've never seen a 15-22 then how can it look like a lot of fun? JK LOL

You are correct Golden bullet is really cheap Ammo.

Muddytim:
The owners manual says the following:

Smith & Wesson suggests that you fire several boxes of a quality brand of ammunition through your M&P®15-22 before you put it into regular use to determine reliability of ignition and performance of your ammunition. If “failure to fire” or other issues should occur,try different brands and types until a reliable load is found.

In addition to the above older manuals had the following, now omitted from newer manuals.

Through our testing, Smith & Wesson has also found that there are several brands and types of .22LR ammunition that do not perform consistently or reliably. Consequently, Smith & Wesson DOES NOT RECOMMEND that the following brands or types of .22LR ammunition be used in your M&P15-22 rifle:
• Remington Golden Bullet • Remington Thunderbolt • Remington Target 22 • Winchester Wildcat
• Any and all sub-sonic brands and types

With that said... I've put a ton of Golden Bullet through without issue except for the occasional dud. Did you clean the rifle thoroughly before shooting it? Also 100 rounds isn't that many so I would give it a good cleaning and put several hundred rounds through and see how it works.

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Run CCI Blazer 40 grain. It has a bit more oomph than standard velocity and is more accurate than most.

Scrub the chamber, even if you don't clean anything else.

Put a drop of oil where the extractor goes into the bolt.

I run whatever .22 ammo is cheapest in my 15-22 without many problems. I do get the occasional dud or failure to eject but not often and I find that acceptable in a plinker. However I would find 10 rounds in 100 to be unacceptable and would try different ammo if I had that high a failure rate.

I'll also ask if you cleaned it before it's first firing as that's important.

Thanks guys, I'll clean it and then try some other ammo.

Keep us posted as to what you find.
G-kids haven't shot their 15-22 all that much but haven't noticed any issues using various ammo (Fed, CCI, Rem, Win, Aguila, etc.) in both standard and high velocity versions. Dont recall trying any target grade. Typically, bulk and whatever is cheapest. Most is aged as trying to cycle through some old stash, ie; 550 pack of Federal tagged from wmart for < $9.

I have noted that a lot of the semiautomatic .22LR manuals recommend shooting only High Velocity or faster ammunition in them the ensure the action operates properly.


I've used both Remington Golden Bullet and Thunderbolt ammunition with no problems but they were the 40 grain variety and not the 36 grain. The bullet weight may be the difference.


I've even used standard velocity ammunition with no problems but again, 40 grain bullets. This is out of 22LR pistols and rifles with semiautomatic actions. Granted, I am a limited example and every firearm is different but out of at least 4 different makes of firearms, it may be enough to make a leading correlation.

The issue is likely the ejector, we have seen this as a common problem. It the ejector is tuned it will run almost anything without issues. Often it need to be bent slightly upwards towards the bolt, there should only be the tinest gap, about 1/32 of an inch. Look it up on you tube. 5 minute fix. When the ejector sits low it doesn't hit the center of the rim but barely hits the bottom third preventing a strong ejection. Also in some case the ejector is not bent in far enough to the bolt rail, in that case bend it inwards so it lightly touches.

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After giving my gun a good cleaning, and purchasing 3 other types of ammo. I also noticed they extractor did not look lined up correctly. I watched a YouTube video on how to adjust it and tweeked it a little. I finally got to take my 15-22 out again. I shot 100 rounds through it and didn't have any FTE. It even worked with the ammo that didn't work before. I had 1 failure to fire. Otherwise the gun ran perfectly. I am happy now.

Well there you go. Now you can have fun shooting that great little .22. You can thank Sol-Invictus for the helpful advice on properly tuning the ejector. And now you know the difference between Failure to EXTRACT and Failure to EJECT. :-)

I wonder if S&W has anyone checking for proper alignment in these rifles before they go out the door, it seems to me that should be done during assembly so as to insure proper function of the rifle and less returns.

I've found it's easy to hit the ejector with a cleaning rod if you aren't careful. That may or may not be the issue for some instead of a manufacturer defect. As a result, I started cleaning from the muzzle instead of from the chamber to avoid damaging or bending it.