15-22 Failure to Feed Problems

[Brad in So Utah]

Upon receipt of my 15-22 I found it to work flawlessly with the single magazine supplied. (I ran approximately 200 rounds through it) I ordered 4 additional magazines which ended up on back order, upon receipt and a trip to the range I disappointedly found some of my new magazines seemed to cause jams with the round ending up smashed in the vertical position. This happened even though being careful to make sure each round was staggered in the magazine. I labeled all of my magazines and was able to identify the offending magazines. Contacting Smith & Wesson customer service put me in contact with Paul Gazda. Paul was excellent to work with providing me with replacement magazines that appear to have corrected the problem. I just wanted to mention here how much I appreciated the service he gave me.

For those having FTF's I'd recommend labeling your mag's to identify any culprit magazines, this seemed to work for me. Also for what's its worth, I found CCI 40 gr. round nose give a much better group then Federal Value Pack 525 36 gr. HP Rounds.

Happy plinking- Brad in So Utah

 

[500 Magnum Nut]

+1 Brad

Magazines in any firearm are quite important. A bad magazine will hurt a good running gun like no other part!

Always try another mag first if having FTF issues!

 

[xx1trackxx]

thx for the heads up. i ordered 2 more mags so i will make sure and keep an eye out.

 

[mothman331]

Also read "failure to feed" thread there is a interesting thing about the injection mold that may explain some FTL problems with the mags.

 

[xx1trackxx]

man..i went to shoot mine for the first time today and the extractor spring came out. i got about %15 to %20 percent fail to load and few fail to ejects on about 75 rounds of ammo. i sent an email into s&w. hopefully i will hear something soon. needless to say im pretty disappointed.

 

[cal1]

So Brad how do I tell if I have good or bad mags? Were there just simple differences in the S&W lables or could you see actual outer differences between good and bad mags?

 

[DasFriek]

Out of i think 1500 rounds now i only had 1 fail to feed once i learned to load the mags correctly, It too jambed like i didn't load the mag right. Its possible i didn't, But i don't discount that.

My first mag ever was a disaster of misfeeds and mangled Velociraptors. I know no less than 6 were mangled beyond trying to refire them. You learn how to load these mags correctly fast tho.

Ill be picking up a another spare mag next week and hope its a good one, But i wont be out much if not since ill send it back to S&W.

Also for the price of CCI at $7-$10 for 100 ill stick with the Federal Bulk 550's for $16 for plinking. But anytime im gonna take a rodent ill be useing a better round for the better accuracy.
Ive not had enough time to compare accuracy with differant rounds, Ive been more concerned more about what rounds feed the best and so far out of 5 differant brands ALL fed 99.8% perfect.
Thats a guess at that percentage since it was 1 round in 1500. I hate math.

 

[ops144]

i had this happen 3 times yesterday out of 400rnds approx...

here is what i found.

each it it happened it was in mags i didn't load.

on the first one one of my buddy's loaded it wrong and on inspection
each one was the same rounds not staggered right.

when i loaded the mags i never had a problem...

i may be wrong but really think you have to be sure the mags are loaded properly

 

[Brad in So Utah]

So Brad how do I tell if I have good or bad mags? Were there just simple differences in the S&W lables or could you see actual outer differences between good and bad mags?

Cal1,
Labeling the mags 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 was the only way I was able to identify the offending mags. I could count on the identified mags to fail to feed. I've held a loaded failing mag next to a mag with no issues and the bullet take off angle seemed to be the same. I even took a failing mag and repeated racked the action to see if I could get one to FTF but could not. My suspicions are the mag that origionally comes with the rifle is ok (mine works flawlessly) but the mags in a subsequent production might have some problems, i.e. the mags that ended up on being back ordered.

I asked S&W Customer Service if they knew of any issues with the mags and they said no. I would like to see some informed S&W folks post to the issues presented on the forum.

Like poster DasFriek indicates he makes sure the rounds stagger in the Mags, this is something I made sure to do.

We've received about 4 inches of snow over the weekend; I love the rife and am looking forward to some more range time with my son and kill some pepper poppers.

 

[brads308]

I have 3 mags that all have 22lr stamped on them. Not the 22lr 25rd. Out of 700 rounds I have had 5 rounds get caught and stand straight up in the mag. Which mag is the newer version?

 

[27 Beck]

I have 3 mags that all have 22lr stamped on them. Not the 22lr 25rd. Out of 700 rounds I have had 5 rounds get caught and stand straight up in the mag. Which mag is the newer version?

The ones you don't have.

 

[chuck s]

I buzz-engraved numbers on my six 15-22 magazines (all are marked .22LR only).

Last range trip I started marking misfeeds on them in pencil. Easier than trying to keep a notebook, just mark the misfeeds on the mag.

Only one magazine had any the last time out. Full box of Winchester 333 and only two (2) failures to feed. All with the same magazine, and all on the first time thru the rotation.

My rifle has been to S&W and back to replace the missing/blown out extractor and has been nearly flawless since then. Only a few misfeeds.

-- Chuck

 

[melloyello]

Put a 500 pack of mixed ammo through mine today. Variety of Remington Gold, Federal Bulk and some Winchester out of a 333 pack. Using 3 different mags I had one fail to fire and one fail to feed. The fail to feed was a Remington Gold that turned tip up and wedged in the mag and the fail to fire was a Remington Gold that obviously was a dud. It had a very deep imprint from the firing pin. Either I am getting better at loading the mags or the gun is breaking in.