1st ever gun (M&P 15-22) and it won't feed bullets through

[PewPew99]

So I recently purchased a MP15-22 along with some 'Remington Range 22LR' bullets. I wanted something to simply target shoot etc.

This is my first ever gun and i'm very new to guns so I hope I am doing something simple wrong. The problem I have is that once I fire the gun, the next round doesn't want to feed in, and I get a 'dead trigger'.

I googled the topic and saw the videos of people feeding the magazines carefully and making sure they are staggered. I am positive I am doing that correctly.

Next I read that maybe the Remington ammo wasn't suitable, something to do with speed?? I went out and bought some CCI Mini Mags and exactly the same issues happened.

It's weird, when I first shot the gun I swear it fired twice, and when I switched to the CCI it did the same, but it both resulted in me having to load another round by pulling back on the rail.

Any suggestions, it literally is a brand new gun from a gun store. They had a bushcraft that was 100 bucks cheaper but I remember reading that SW had a good name so I went with that.

I'm open to any advice as to what to try, before I take it back.

 

[gunnails]

I'm no expert but.
I would lather it up quite liberally with lube throughout the action, these guns hate being run dry.

 

[bamashooter]

Welcome to the forum. You made a good choice in purchasing the 15-22. Yep, soon it will come naturally to you however you do need to make sure the rounds are staggered. I lean my magazine toward the rear a bit and load each round. Could be the recoil spring, firing pin spring, extractor, ???

I'd clean well and lightly lube, load 2-3 rounds and test. And I'd stick w/ jacketed ammo.

 

[Bullet Bob]

Welcome.

I wouldn't take the common internet advice to overlube, for reasons too lengthy to go into here.

You sound like a reasonable person, who read the instructions about fully seating the magazine - twice.

This statement of yours concerns me:

"It's weird, when I first shot the gun I swear it fired twice, and when I switched to the CCI it did the same, but it both resulted in me having to load another round by pulling back on the rail."

If you mean the gun fires two times with one pull of the trigger, it's time to call S&W for some of their excellent customer service.

If not, I'd try to find somebody local that's familiar with these, and have them try it out.

 

[PewPew99]

Welcome.

I wouldn't take the common internet advice to overlube, for reasons too lengthy to go into here.

You sound like a reasonable person, who read the instructions about fully seating the magazine - twice.

If not, I'd try to find somebody local that's familiar with these, and have them try it out.

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

I don't know anyother way to make sure the magazine is seated beyond simply loading it in there.

I had a friend come over and he has more experience than me (not difficult!), he didn't know and had the same issues I had with it.

I didn't lube anything at all when I got it honestly, could it be as simple as that?

I think i'll contact the gunstore and see what they say. It's not a huge amount of money, but more the fact I really wanted to shoot it this weekend.

 

[murphydog]

Welcome and sorry for your troubles.

The feeding/cycling problem you describe could be due to several different issues. The failure to feed from the magazine may very well be a lubrication issue; if you are comfortable with doing this (or taking it apart fully and doing it) that would be a good place to start.

I would also bring your more experienced friend with you for your next range session to see if he thinks the gun is “doubling”. I seem to recall this was an issue with a few older 15-22s but these should have all been caught and repaired under warranty. If this occurs contact S & W customer service directly; they will send you a return mailing label back to them for repair. Good luck and let us know how things turn out.

 

[Biggfoot44]

* In General * Brand New firearms should be cleaned . and then lubricated before firing .

CCI Mini Mag 40gr Round Nose is the gold standard for reliable functioning of .22lr firearms .

Magazines can frequently be a source of problems ( generally ). If yours came with multiple magazines , try all of them . If possible borrow a 15-22 magazine know to be reliable .


And , at that point, if still any issues , send it in under Warranty ( or take to Factory Authorized Warranty Center , if you is near you .)

 

[Blackstuff]

From the symptoms described my immediate thought would under-powered ammo but if you've tried CCI mini-mag that would rule that out.

Could you post a picture of either side of the lower receiver (the part the grip attaches to). If either the hammer or trigger pins are misaligned or even missing, that could cause problems with the hammer not resetting properly.

I can only presume you're in the US and using this gun on your own on your own property, if you take it to a gun range i'm sure it could be diagnosed straight away.

 

[Electraclyde]

If you did not clean and lube before first range trip, that would be the issue. ALL new guns should be cleaned and lubed before firing. Manufacturers coat the internal parts with a preservative which is NOT a lubricant. If the gun does fire two or more rounds with only one trigger pull, call S&W and make arrangements to return for repairs.

 

[Kp321]

The instruction book for my first 15-22 specifically says not to use Remington ammo. But if you also tried Mini-Mags, rules that out.
All of the 15-22's I have dealt with have been reliable out of the box, some requiring a tweak of the ejector to be 100%.

 

[PewPew99]

So after having a friend come over check it, he lubed it all and it was still doing the same thing.

I didn't have another magazine to check so maybe it was that, but after messing with it and no luck I took it back to the gunstore. They are sending it back to SW and said 2/4 weeks, hopefully they will fix the issue and let us know what the problem was.

A little disappointed honestly, I joined a local gun range and was looking forward to using it. Oh well, I may have just been unlucky with it.

 

[PewPew99]

I can only presume you're in the US and using this gun on your own on your own property, if you take it to a gun range i'm sure it could be diagnosed straight away.

I am in the US, and have around 10 acres as a backyard

I am sure it's something trivial honestly but seeing as this was my 1st gun and brand new I was expecting it to work without any issues honestly.

 

[HJBM&P22Custom]

I have an S&W .22 compact and it will not fire Federal reliably with lots of rounds stuck in the chamber and I have to push them out with a cleaning rod. That said, it shoots Remington Golden Bullet very well but that is disgustingly dirty ammo. Right now I'm shooting Blazer 40 grain and it is doing well with that. Maybe one fail to feed for fail to eject out of 50 rounds but it does not stick in the chamber. I did go through some CCI mini mag and it went through about a thousand rounds of that flawlessly, but it's more expensive than the Blazer.

If your .22 won't go through mini mags without any problems, you did exactly the right thing sending the gun back.

Let us know how it works out. Have you taken any basic firearms or shooting classes ? Sounds like you could maybe use a little bit of help or find a shooting buddy that has experience shooting.

Good luck !

 

[mmb617]

I just bought a 15-22 yesterday and took it to the range where I ran 500 rounds of really cheap ammo through it. I'm talking about the Armscor that retails here for $16/500 rounds. Out of all those rounds I had 3-4 failure to feeds, so I'd say it isn't all that picky about ammo. I could probably run CCI with never a failure but it's more than twice the price. You can't take a chance with a carry gun, but for a plinker an occasional failure isn't a big deal.

From what the OP describes there must be a problem with his gun. I sympathize as it sucks to get anything new and have a problem right away.

 

[PewPew99]

Just a quick update on this.... I got my gun back and now I don't have any issues. I ran though 100/150 rounds of CCI and not a single issue.

They listed what they fixed but for the life of me I can't remember what it all was, it was more than one thing. It took around 6 weeks to get it back.

My wife and I did join the local gun range, so its nice to have a place to goto and try our different guns out.

I think next one list is possibly a 22 pistol just for plinking and maybe a shot gun.

 

[bamashooter]

As you have read, the anomaly you experienced is just that; something extraordinarily unusual for this firearm out of the box. Sorry you were "the one" but glad to see they got you squared away.