Range Report on the New 15-22

Long post alert. I took the M&P 15-22 out to the range today with the intent of simply seeing what would or would not work in the rifle. I had the GSG-5 also with me performing the same "test." Both fired very well.

One potentially important point, I watched the FTE video on YouTube by JayandTon where he showed how to bend the ejector and then it's relation to the bolt when fixed. My rifle's ejector, out-of-the-box, seemed to have this bend already (SN DTU-53XX). The rifle does not have blue springs, does have a red star on the manual and has the 1st Gen magazines.

I went to the local indoor range to perform the testing (packed BTW). Each test was conducted the same - 10 rounds from the M&P 15-22 slow fire (15 seconds per mag), then reloaded the mag with 15 rounds, then fired a string of 15 rounds in under 10 seconds. I then loaded 10 rounds for the GSG-5 and performed a slow fire. Then back to the M&P 15-22 by loading 10rds, etc., etc. I used the same magazine the entire time and the same stance each and every time (using the front tactical grip for my left hand). I also loaded each time using the recommended method to ensure proper stagger.

Here are the results:

Federal Bulk Pack, 36gr Hollow Point, 1260fps: 10rd string with no issues. 15rd string with no issues.

Winchester XPert, 36gr 1280fps: 10rd string with one FTF, reloaded and rd fired, no other issues. 15rd string, 2nd rd FTF, reloaded and rd fired, no other issues. These rds were harder to load in the mag as they did not want to seat to the rear of the mag. This could have been the problem with the FTF even though I was very carefull to load the mags correctly.

Winchester 333, 36gr HP, 1280fps: 10rd string with no issues. 15rd string with no issues.

Remington Bulk Pack, 36gr HP, 1280fps: 10rd string with no issues. 15rd string 1st round failed to feed. Attempted to refeed, same issue. Suspect rd was bad, reloaded with another rd and fired all 15rds with no issues.

CCI Mini-Mag, 36gr HP, 1250fps: 10rd string with no issues. 15rd string with no issues.

Blazer, 40gr, no velocity listed: 10rd string with no issues. 15rd string with no issues.

Federal Lightning, 40gr, 1240fps: 10rd string with no issues, 15rd string with no issues.

Winchester Super-X, 37gr HP, 1330fps: 10rd string with no issues. 15rd string with no issues.

Remington Thunderbolt, 40gt, 1255fps: 10rd string with no issues. 15rd string, 6th rd FTF, refed and still FTF, discarded round. 10thrd FTF, refed and again FTF, rd discarded. No other issues. Pretty dark in the lane so I could not see if there were light primer strikes, but considering other results, I'm assuming it's an issue with the rounds.

M&P 15-22 along with it's brothers, the GSG-5 and an LMT M4orgery:

M&P 15-22, SN DTU-53XX, purchased 27 Feb 10
Gen 1 Mag, No Blue Springs, Red Star on Manual
Magpul MBUS Flip Up Front and Rear Sights
LMT SOPMOD Stock
Troy Rail Covers (side) & Magpul XTM Rail Covers (bottom)
Knight's Aramament Front Tac Grip
Tactical Innovations Inc Fake Suppressor
NCStar Reflex Sight
Hightlights courtesy of Crayola
LMT Pistol Grip Coming Soon

very nice report and good looking guns, maybe this will help build up some confidence for those of us still ont he fence about the gun

Jswiney9 said:

very nice report and good looking guns, maybe this will help build up some confidence for those of us still ont he fence about the gun

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I like mine, especially as a low cost AR tactical training platform. Even if it eventually has to go back, I think it's clear S&W is standing behind their product and providing good and quick customer support.

Jswiney9 said:

very nice report and good looking guns, maybe this will help build up some confidence for those of us still ont he fence about the gun

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If your priorities are a very light weight .22lr in an AR platform then the 15-22 is it, IMO. I've got 13.5k rounds through mine and it's never been back to S&W for anything. Most of the rifle failures you read here are from not using Fed or CCI ammo. If you can live with that then no need to get splinters sitting on the fence.

Now, if a very light weight AR platform is not your top priority in a .22lr, then the field is open. If you're after a 'black rifle' then a Ruger SR22 or Sig 522 are more competent rifles, IMO. But neither offer what the 15-22 does. Just depends on what you want.

ChattanoogaPhil said:

If your priorities are a very light weight .22lr in an AR platform then the 15-22 is it, IMO. I've got 13.5k rounds through mine and it's never been back to S&W for anything. Most of the rifle failures you read here are from not using Fed or CCI ammo. If you can live with that then no need to get splinters sitting on the fence.

Now, if a very light weight AR platform is not your top priority in a .22lr, then the field is open. If you're after a 'black rifle' then a Ruger SR22 or Sig 522 are more competent rifles, IMO. But neither offer what the 15-22 does. Just depends on what you want.

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well thats the thing, i am wanting to open myself up to the world of AR's before our lovely government bans them and wanted something to learn on before i hit the big boys on my own. the experience i have with them has come from shooting/helping my uncle clean his so i have a little background but it is best to get in there yourself. ive had the money a few times to get it and just held back. i guess im kind of waiting to see if the guns are getting any better or if any progress is made on them and apparently with the new manuals and updated ammo list S&W is aware of a problem they say doesnt exist.

Jswiney9 said:

well thats the thing, i am wanting to open myself up to the world of AR's before our lovely government bans them and wanted something to learn on before i hit the big boys on my own. the experience i have with them has come from shooting/helping my uncle clean his so i have a little background but it is best to get in there yourself. ive had the money a few times to get it and just held back. i guess im kind of waiting to see if the guns are getting any better or if any progress is made on them and apparently with the new manuals and updated ammo list S&W is aware of a problem they say doesnt exist.

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Nothing inherently wrong with starting out with a .223, IMO.

I think a lot of the folks here who say they use the 15-22 as a 'trainer' are actually among the most experienced with firearms and the AR platform. I'm not among them... I just like shooting with cheap ammo and lots of rail space for hobby entertainment.

Back to the Range Today

I took the 15-22 back to the range today to zero the MBUS flip up sights and the NcStar D4B at 25 meters. I shot another 250rds of differing types of ammo with only 3 malfunctions (knock on wood). The failures were the cheaper ammo, Remington Bulk Pack and Winchester X-Pert and limited to one failure to fire (bad round) and two failures to feed.

The rifle is sighted and I'm really enjoying it! Here's the rifle as configured for today - don't worry, by Friday I'll be trying more changes like a Magpul AFG-1, Magpul ACS and a Magpul MS2 sling.

M&P 15-22, SN DTU-53XX, purchased 27 Feb 10
Gen 1 Mag, No Blue Springs, Red Star on Manual
Magpul MBUS Flip Up Front and Rear Sights
LMT SOPMOD Stock
Troy Rail Covers (side) & Magpul XTM Rail Covers (bottom)
Knight's Aramament Front Tac Grip
NCStar D4B Reflex Sight
Hightlights courtesy of Crayola
LMT Pistol Grip

Defender3 said:

The rifle is sighted and I'm really enjoying it! Here's the rifle as configured for today - don't worry, by Friday I'll be trying more changes like a Magpul AFG-1, Magpul ACS and a Magpul MS2 sling.

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Hahahahaha... Welcome to the 15-crack head-22 club!

ChattanoogaPhil said:

Hahahahaha... Welcome to the 15-crack head-22 club!

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Nice thing is I have 2 M4s and another lower just sitting around - whatever I don't like will always have a home. As a side note, there was a ground of Federal Protective Service guys at the range today really checking out the M&P, but they were busy firing so we never got a chance to speak.

Defender3 said:

Nice thing is I have 2 M4s and another lower just sitting around - whatever I don't like will always have a home. As a side note, there was a ground of Federal Protective Service guys at the range today really checking out the M&P, but they were busy firing so we never got a chance to speak.

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In short... It's all good... ^5