Tons of M&P22 failures - Was it the ammo, or me?

[sdnet]

Guys,

Here's the situation. Bought the M&P22 a few weeks ago. Shot it for the first time last weekend after cleaning it. Shot pretty well through a box of Federal Target Ammo...out of 315 shots, about 5 were FTEs.

I went again today after not cleaning the gun with some Federal Champions. These suckers were HORRIBLE. I mean, super bad. I'd get at least one failure every single magazine load, without exception. Failure to extracts were the most common failure.

I know that 22 ammo is very hit or miss, and different guns like different ammo, but I didn't think that a gun could resist a particular kind of ammo this bad. I mean, I could hardly get through 6 or 7 shots before it would fail again with the Federal Champions.

I then loaded some of the other Federal Target Ammo into the gun, and it shot much better.

Has anyone else had an experience like this? I will clean the gun and try the Federal Champions again to give them another shot, but today's outing with this ammo was just terrible.

 

[monkey wrench]

I was shooting some older bulk Winchester through mine and it would just absolutely not cycle them. Got some standard velocity CCI's and have had zero problems since. With the Winchester I would literally have to rack the slide every time to fire again because it wouldn't feed. Try some CCI's and see if they do any better.

 

[sdnet]

I was shooting some older bulk Winchester through mine and it would just absolutely not cycle them. Got some standard velocity CCI's and have had zero problems since. With the Winchester I would literally have to rack the slide every time to fire again because it wouldn't feed. Try some CCI's and see if they do any better.

Yeah, heard the Winchesters are pretty hit or miss too. Been trying to find some CCIs for a while now...will keep looking.

 

[monkey wrench]

I just got lucky. I know the LGS owner and it was the same place I picked up my gun so he put me a few boxes back so I could try another brand and make sure there wasn't something wrong with the gun. I would bet when you get some good ammo your problems will go away.

 

[shield]

I got a lot of FTE with Federal Champion bulk pack. Better with Blazer and Remington Golden Bullets. Winchester Dynapoint also worked well.

 

[Eyelawdoc]

Guys,

Here's the situation. Bought the M&P22 a few weeks ago. Shot it for the first time last weekend after cleaning it. Shot pretty well through a box of Federal Target Ammo...out of 315 shots, about 5 were FTEs.

I went again today after not cleaning the gun with some Federal Champions. These suckers were HORRIBLE. I mean, super bad. I'd get at least one failure every single magazine load, without exception. Failure to extracts were the most common failure.

I know that 22 ammo is very hit or miss, and different guns like different ammo, but I didn't think that a gun could resist a particular kind of ammo this bad. I mean, I could hardly get through 6 or 7 shots before it would fail again with the Federal Champions.

I then loaded some of the other Federal Target Ammo into the gun, and it shot much better.

Has anyone else had an experience like this? I will clean the gun and try the Federal Champions again to give them another shot, but today's outing with this ammo was just terrible.

There is NOTHING wrong with your M&P 22. Some ammo is so bad it's not worth loading in any gun! I have a Smith & Wesson Model 63 revolver that always goes to the range when I take my M&P 22.

On the sole occassion that I had problems with the M&P I was shooting some old (5-10 yrs) Remington Golden Bullets 36 gr HP bulk ammo that my friend had. The stuff was so bad it wouldn't shoot in the revolver either. The rounds for some reason were oversized in diameter and had problems feeding into the chamber, weak powder charges that failed to eject and cycle the slide and many outright duds. I was also shooting a Smith & Wesson 22A that day and it had the same problems as the M&P with that ammo.

Get yourself some halfway decent amunition (if you can find any these days) and start enjoying you M&P 22 at the range!

 

[sdnet]

Get yourself some halfway decent amunition (if you can find any these days) and start enjoying you M&P 22 at the range!

I found some CCIs off of Gunbroker, so I'll get to shoot some of the better stuff here shortly. I knew that some ammo doesn't work well in guns, I just didn't know it would get THAT bad. One thing I do know - no more Federal Champions in my gun.

 

[Maddmax]

Guys,

Here's the situation. Bought the M&P22 a few weeks ago. Shot it for the first time last weekend after cleaning it. Shot pretty well through a box of Federal Target Ammo...out of 315 shots, about 5 were FTEs.

I went again today after not cleaning the gun with some Federal Champions. These suckers were HORRIBLE. I mean, super bad. I'd get at least one failure every single magazine load, without exception. Failure to extracts were the most common failure.

You answered your own question. CLEAN your handgun. Almost ALL 22 ammo is dirty and your weapon is still brand new.

Mine is well broken in and eats everything I feed it. Including Federal.

 

[M&P Freak]

If you haven't already, clean the packing grease out of the gun. That stuff alone will cause all kinds of feeding problems.

 

[sdnet]

You answered your own question. CLEAN your handgun. Almost ALL 22 ammo is dirty and your weapon is still brand new.

Mine is well broken in and eats everything I feed it. Including Federal.

I cleaned my gun before I took it out the first time, just didn't clean it before I took it out the second time. I did clean it last night, though, so we'll see what kind of difference it makes the next time that I go to the range.

 

[hsm9ad]

m&p problems

Mine is back at S&W for repair fired while the bolt was open,using remmington ammo.Almost blew my eardrum out.Would not eject another round after that.

 

[JaPes]

Mine is back at S&W for repair fired while the bolt was open,using remmington ammo.Almost blew my eardrum out.Would not eject another round after that.

Your M&P 22 would fire with the slide out of battery? I'd be interested to hear to what the S&W diagnostic report attributes the problem.

Almost blew your eardrum out? You were wearing hearing protection right?

 

[hsm9ad]

m&p problems

Yes,Plugs not muffs.

 

[VMaxSplat]

Try CCI Mini Mags. If they don't run send the gun to S&W and have them tweak it for you. CCI is the gold standard of 22LR ammo.

 

[Exiled Cheesehead]

I agree with Maddmax on this one. I actually prefer to shoot the Federal bulk packs .22s in my M&P. Out of thousands of rounds fired, I have only had a very few FTF or FTE. I bought my bulk packs in the "good ole days" when you could still get them at Wally World for $0.031 per round (including tax).

 

[NucPhysics]

Try CCI Mini Mags. If they don't run send the gun to S&W and have them tweak it for you. CCI is the gold standard of 22LR ammo.

Agree with this. I have had different ammo in several guns not function properly. Switched to CCI back around 1990 and believe it or not, have never had a single failure since.

I know CCI costs a little more, but when you factor in the duds and headaches from the other ammo, the CCIs are worth it.

 

[jayiw]

I had some more Failures today shooting around 150 rounds or so. Seems like every-other time I take it to the range I have trouble. Still using Winchester M-22 rounds. Cannot try CCI or other ammo because I can't get it. Failure to eject seems to been the most common issue and it seems mostly on the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th round out of a freshly loaded mag. I also had another round explode on me although the bullet hit right on target. What happens when the round explodes is that the rear of the cartridge shell blows off and the shell stovepipes. As I mentioned the bullet does exit the barrel fine. I'll take my SR-22 to this range this week and see how it does on the same ammo.

 

[gun1]

I have about 500 rounds through my M&P22 and have had no firing related issues at all. The only problem I have run in to is some of the pins work their way loose and I have to push them back in to place (I use an allen wrench).

The first 250 or so were CCI's (copper plated round nose). After that I found some bulk Blazer lead round nose for $18/525. I thought they were going to be junk but I ran through a whole box with no problems (mixed between my M&P22 and M&P15-22). Not one problem. So I bought a whole case the next time I was at the store. I'm all set on .22's for a couple years now I think I can wait out the political storm on those.

 

[Flavorman]

I've been using the bulk blazer lead round nose from day 1 and after 700+ rounds I haven't had any issues at all. The same ammo works great in my M&P 15-22 rifle as well. I'm a rookie and bought a case of this ammo when i bought the pistol and rifle. I guess I may have gotten lucky.

 

[williaty]

As others have said, clean it.

Beyond that, remember that it's basically a Walther inside and those guns are know for being stupidly picky about ammo. My M&P22 wouldn't work reliably on any of the different brands of bulk pack ammo. The only thing it liked 100% of the time was CCI MiniMags FMJ.