My wife fired her first shot from a gun just a few weeks ago is now hooked. I took her to the gun store just to look around and try out pistols in her hand. The wise salesguy put a MP15-22 in her hand and a look came over her face and we had to take it home. It was a total impulse buy and now having second thoughts.

It is a very short barreled model, I would call a Carbine but I would guess it is considered a pistol or SRB. We already have a nice target shooting bolt action .22.

My concern is the short barrel leaves us with limited options and limited accuracy. We bought a red dot sight with it. I am considering putting a bipod and sling on it but with the short stature of the firearm not sure it is even appropriate.

Just looking for feedback on this short-barreled model. Will it be a fun little plinker or should we see if they have a rifle sized version in stock?

For one, a short barrel is no less accurate than a long one. In fact in my experience, shorter barrels tend to be more accurate because they are stiffer than a longer one. That being said, you are more accurate with a longer barrel. A longer site radius is easier to aim and a longer barrel is easier to stabilize because it has more angular inertia. There has to be a happy medium in there somewhere..

Congrats on getting her hooked. I can say I have never let someone shoot a gun for the first time and them say "I didn't like that, I never want to shoot again". Usually you get a big smile.

Rosewood

Without seeing a picture, I'm gonna guess you have the M&P 15-22 AR pistol, with the arm brace. I've got one, as well as the full size M&P 15-22 AR rifle. I wouldn't put a bipod on it, but you be you. A red dot is a fine choice for it. I've just got Magpul MBUS flip up open sights on mine, and I'm pretty happy with those. The best sling is a single point, but the attachment hole at the rear of the arm brace is a little thick. I haven't started looking for mine yet.

The key to these is how you load the magazines. The rounds should be staggered in the magazine. To get an idea about this, interlock your fingers between the first and second knuckle and keep your fingers straight. That's how the rounds should look in the magazine.

They're great firearms and lots of fun. Enjoy . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

My wife was very nervous of me even having a gun in the house and had to coaxed to the gun range, where she was just going to watch.

After I convinced her to take a shot out of the .22 rifle her first response was scary the 3rd shot became fun. Now she has a gun in her own name.

Any version of the 15-22 is a keeper. Best all around plinker in my opinion. It's not a match grade weapon. But with certain ammo you will be surprised. Bulk ammo isn't very accurate in either one of mine. I have had excellent accuracy with Federal match ammo that comes in 325 rounds in the box. At 25 yards the groups stack for me. That's with a red dot. It looks like I used a scoped bolt action rifle on the targets. Try different ammo and see which one it likes the best.

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Bishop

When I take my daughters and grandchildren shooting we fire mostly .22’s. While I have a variety of them, all these people prefer short, light, semi-auto carbine style guns. We almost always plink. I have a paper target up, but shooting paper just isn’t as much fun as targets that give. More feedback

We take some steel, spinners, clay pigeons on the ground, tennis balls, shaken cans of cheap soda pop, 2 liter plastic bottles filled with water, water balloons, a can of shaving cream, etc. This is real fun shooting, but of course it is outdoors. And we take everything away at the end, even others’ garbage, in a large black garbage bag.

Her new rifle and sight are perfect for shooting fun! No need for a bipod or even a sling, IMO.

Eggs are a lot of fun also and a bit of a challenge. The .17HMR on eggs at 100 yards is a lot of fun to watch the eggs explode. And the eggs are cheaper than the ammo.

Us gun nuts get excited when the bullet holes touch at 100 yards. Most other folks could care less about that, but seeing something explode, now that is fun to them and a sure fire way to get them hooked. Not to mention seeing the damage the bullet does to things is good education.

Rosewood