New M&P 22 Compact with a lot of failures to feed

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JoeZ28

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So I just picked up a 22 Compact this weekend and I am on the fence right now on whether I like it. I have had a at least 20 failure to feeds or failures to eject in just 350 rounds.

I'm sure everyone has used Federal AutoMatch Target 40 Grain Lead Round Nose (Box of 325) and I have about 6 boxes of the stuff. The Ruger 10/22s and Marlin 22 love this ammo but this M&P is struggling with it. At first it was failure to eject. After 3 of these, I cleaned the gun again (yes, cleaned it when new out of the box). Since then, I have had no ejection problems, now its feeding problems. It seems like the slide is not coming back far enough to grab the next round. I can manually load the next round and it will fire. The problem happens with either magazine.

Other ammo used:
50 rounds CCI mini mag 36 grain - no issues. I would love to shoot this exclusively, but I don't have much.
40 rounds of Blazer bulk ammo - no issues.

So is it just the Federal AutoMatch giving me problems or is this gun picky?
 
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Federal AutoMatch Target 40 Grain Lead Round Nose (Box of 325) has feed and cycling problems in my FS M&P 22 plus it groups worse then any ammo I have tried. My Ruger Charger doesn't like to eat it either. I am just shooting it in my Single Six now till it is gone. Remington Thunderbolts cycle 100% and group well.
 
Joe, I believe you are going to have to stick with the high velocity ammo for that pistol and the copper jacketed rounds will also feed better IMO.

Pete
 
Welcome to the forum. I took my 22C straight out of the box no cleaning and shot 300 rounds of armscor 36g without 1 single issue. I read this forum and a lot of reviews and as with most 22's results vary, some folks had problems with certain ammo some had problems until they put a couple hundred rounds through them. I'm no expert but to me it sounds like it's more the ammo because it fires fine with some, maybe just a bad batch of that certain brand. Good luck, John
 
I suspect there have been changes in the Federal AutoMatch. I have some that dates back a couple of years that runs great. I bought a box a few weeks ago, and it failed as you describe 7 of 10 rounds in a mag. I called Federal, and they had it picked up for tests.

Federal .22 in general (50 round boxes) does not work in my .22 compact. It is the only ammo it chokes on consistently. But it runs great with CCI standard velocity, Blazer, Rem golden bullet.
 
hoc9sw said:
I suspect there have been changes in the Federal AutoMatch. I have some that dates back a couple of years that runs great. I bought a box a few weeks ago, and it failed as you describe 7 of 10 rounds in a mag. I called Federal, and they had it picked up for tests.

Federal .22 in general (50 round boxes) does not work in my .22 compact. It is the only ammo it chokes on consistently. But it runs great with CCI standard velocity, Blazer, Rem golden bullet.
Click to expand...

I hoping that is my problem! I'm going to look at the date codes on the box (if they are present) and see if I can find an earlier box.
Good to hear about Blazer, I have 600 rounds of that and the Rem Golden bullet bucket of 1,400 is unopened.

Pete,
I would love to stick with CCI mini Mags, but its so hard to find at a reasonable price!

If this Federal Automatch is a no-go for the M&P, my son will be happy. More ammo for his Savage Rascal...

Thanks guys,
Joe
 
I only know the lot numbers / dates on what I have because the Federal CS guy looked them up while we were on the phone. There is not an actual date on the box.
 
I just ordered a 22c and watched a bunch of You Tube reviews before I did. There was one review where they guy was trying all kinds of different ammo and had no issues at all. That is until he tried the Federal AutoMatch. As he was loading mags he commented that he has another .22 that absolutely will not run the AutoMatch and sure enough it failed about 75% of the time in his 22c. All other reviews I watched/read were pretty good. Can't wait to get mine. I currently have a Ruger SR22 and it is an awesome gun. But that safety/decocker that operates backwards for my carry guns worries me. I like to keep everything functionally similar. Sure hope the 22c runs as well and is as accurate as that Ruger tho...
 
JoeZ28, I think you answered your own question, it's definately the Federal ammo. When I bought my first 22c I put 450 rounds of various ammo through it, and had a couple of failures to feed (expected during break-in), with some really old Mohawk, and also with Federal. All the rest functioned perfectly, and have since. I've been using mostly Remington, Aguila, and Blazer, and have had zero issues with over six K rounds through it. And I haven't lost my rear sight blade (yet?)!! And as a side note, i've owned other 22 pistols, and by comparison, the 22c isn't picky at all compared to the others, all of which have long since been sold (Beretta, Ruger) due to their finicky ammo diets.
 
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Mine does ok with automatch, but still has an occasional ftl. Federal 550 bulk packs won't feed reliably at all though. On the other hand, golden bullets and thunderbolts run fine. Anything from CCI does as well. In my experience, federal rimfire ammo has been terrible as of late. Fortunately, my sig 522 rifle will eat anything, so I can use what I have stashed.
 
Just an encouragement

I love it when something will just jump over tall buildings with a single bound and never break a sweat but rarely does anything just work absolutely better than anything else in all circumstances.

My wife and I have fallen in love with this pistol, shot only about 350 rounds of CCi minimag and the Smith and Wesson stuff that came with the gun as a bonus. Also traded some ammo with a guy at the range for a couple of different brands, one he got at Walmart, I forget what it was, anyway not a single malfunction.

I admit it would be frustrating if the gun got finicky but if it turns out that it mainly likes certain ammo then that is what we will use. We like the gun. It makes me better on the bigger guns at a price I can afford for getting better. Shopping for a silencer so we can teach grandkids and all with out worrying too much about ear protection except for the shooter.

I am an engineer and I marvel that with the dynamics of all the parts in these guns that they are as reliable as they are. A lot of stuff has to happen with inertia, where parts have to get moving fast enough but not too fast all balanced out by springs and friction.

That all goes to say if yours isn't working it is just because something need a tweak. These guns work.
 
JoeZ28 said:
I'm sure everyone has used Federal AutoMatch Target 40 Grain Lead Round Nose (Box of 325) and I have about 6 boxes of the stuff.

So is it just the Federal AutoMatch giving me problems or is this gun picky?
Click to expand...

Yes and AutoMatch is garbage in pistols. Ive been tracking different brands in my Compact, Automatch is the only one that causes the pistol to puke. Shoots OK in all my rifles.

Tested:
Thunderbolts, Cyclones, Aguila, Remington Goldens - all good to go

Ive got a few more random boxes of 22LR sitting around that I need to try.
 
Also be aware of your proper grip when shooting. Especially where your thumbs are resting. Many times FTF/FTE/slide issues are caused by shooters themselves. My m&p22c is able to cycle standard velocity ammo with ease.
 
You're not alone. I did a new pistol clean on my shiny, new 22C and took it to the range. Ran about 100 rounds of Fed Champion HP's. Ran great until I started having a string of failure to feeds. Lasted about three mags worth and then started acting better again. The last 100 or so rounds were flawless. It was a Fresh-Fire pack of 325 rounds so I probably had 20-25 rounds that failed to feed. I'm going to run 300 CCI Minimags next trip and see how they do. I understand your feelings. I went from thrilled, to pissed off, to fairly happy all in about an hour. I traded my old S&W 422 pistol for the M&P22C. It ran like a machine. I hope the new generation ends up running as smoothly as the old.
 
Took my new M & P 22 compact to the range today for it's first range trip. The only thing I did when I got it was put some oil on the lubrication points noted in the manuel. The gun was completely dry when I took it apart straight from the factory. I ran 60 Mini Mags and 300 AR tactical rounds through it with only 1 FTF. Otherwise it shot perfectly and the sights were right on the money. With the FTF it was with the AR tactical. I had brought my Model 63 with me and it also wouldn't fire when I tried it in the 63. So it was the ammo not with the gun. I'm really happy with this gun and I'm hoping it continues to function like this trip. :) I do have some Automatch and I'm going to try them on my next outing.
 
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I have 500 rounds thru mine now and it has been flawless. It has eaten Federal Bulk, CCI Minimags and the dreaded Thunderbolts without a hitch. I am vey happy with the pistol!
 
UPDATE

I was finally able to go out and shoot again. (Coaching baseball for my son and coaching softball for my daughter sure does keep a person busy!) I put 60 rounds of the bulk Golden Bullets through with out a single problem.

So.....I'll just use the Federa Automatch in the 10/22s...
 
I've been thinking about getting the new S&W .22 compact and reading this thread has been helpful. My only .22 now is an older Model 18 that naturally shoots anything and is great fun at the range.
 
I have the Accurate Arms .22RF conversion unit for the Glock 19. This will only reliably cycle with Remington HV ammo or CCI HV ammo as per Accurate Arm's instructions.

.22 RFs are far more sensitive to ammunition than centerfire ammo. Best to stick with high velocity ammo. Also, as rimfires have exposed lead bullets with a high coefficient of friction, you may need to judiciously polish the feed ramp for better feeding. The high velocity ammo should take care of ejection problems.
 
I ran 150 rounds through mine yesterday - first time shooting the 22c. It was a mix of CCI copper nose and standard velocity lead nose. Not one failure.
 
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