Day 2 at the Range: Report with Fed Bulk.

[Brett248Vista]

So I went to the range today like I do on most Sundays. I spent an hour there with the Beretta and the 15-22. I shot half a box of Fed Bulk 550 + 75 Rounds of CCI MiniMag 40GR.

I had ONE Mag Snag and it was on the original "22LR" magazine and man it was a bugger to get it unsnagged. Sure enough it got hung up in the injection molding divots at the front of the mag lips, just like everyone else said. I was rapid firing heavily when I had the Mag Snag and I was about 14 rounds into the mag when it hung up. I blame it on a combination of the original design mag plus I may not have had that round seated right.

Aside from that, once again this rifle performed FLAWLESSLY! The ammo cycled the bolt with authority, ejection worked fantastic and the rounds fed great.

Once again I got tons of compliments on how great the 15-22 looked, everyone is interested in this rifle (grown men). I met another 15-22 owner there and he could not get through 5 rounds without a Failure To Eject. So I stopped shooting and talked to him for 10 or so minutes and explained the procedure to send the rifle back to S&W and said "you really should do this, they will take care of the issue".

To say that I am very pleased would be an understatement. If I had problem after problem I would have a different opinion. But S&W took care of the issues, made them right and this thing so far is a pleasure!

 

[mikehoncho]

brett,

you may have metioned this already and my poor memory is lapsing but do the new .22lr 25round mags have the same dimples.

those dimples are the only issue i've had with mine so far. doesn't happen often but like you said, it's a pain to remove the round when it's wedged in that damn dimple.

has anyone tried to sand down the polymer around the dimple to "smooth" the dimple out?

glad to hear your rifle is fuctioning so well. i have no fear of failure with mine because if it needs to go back, i know i'll get a better rifle in return.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

So I went to the range today like I do on most Sundays. I spent an hour there with the Beretta and the 15-22. I shot half a box of Fed Bulk 550 + 75 Rounds of CCI MiniMag 40GR.

I had ONE Mag Snag and it was on the original "22LR" magazine and man it was a bugger to get it unsnagged. Sure enough it got hung up in the injection molding divots at the front of the mag lips, just like everyone else said. I was rapid firing heavily when I had the Mag Snag and I was about 14 rounds into the mag when it hung up. I blame it on a combination of the original design mag plus I may not have had that round seated right.

Aside from that, once again this rifle performed FLAWLESSLY! The ammo cycled the bolt with authority, ejection worked fantastic and the rounds fed great.

Once again I got tons of compliments on how great the 15-22 looked, everyone is interested in this rifle (grown men). I met another 15-22 owner there and he could not get through 5 rounds without a Failure To Eject. So I stopped shooting and talked to him for 10 or so minutes and explained the procedure to send the rifle back to S&W and said "you really should do this, they will take care of the issue".

To say that I am very pleased would be an understatement. If I had problem after problem I would have a different opinion. But S&W took care of the issues, made them right and this thing so far is a pleasure!

Glad to hear you're enjoying the rifle. Did you get the 'blue' update?

I'd like to hear from folks having the 'blue' update if their rifles will cycle Rem GB and other known problematic ammo. Not suggesting they do use such ammo... but if they do I'd like to know how the rifle performs.

 

[Brett248Vista]

Phil,

I was the first one to report on the "blue" update and posted photos to go along with the report. I've not had an issue since the blue update other than the mag snag.

I may try running some golden bombs through just to see if the blue man group resolved the issues.

Mike,

I see the dimples on the new mags but they look "different" it's hard to see exactly what's different since they are on the backside, but it looks to me like they are more smooth on the new mags and that would certainly make sense.

 

[~tc~]

Those marks are from the ejector pins in the mold, and will vary over the molding run due to mold wear, molding parameters, etc. Generally, there is a raised edge around the circumference, then the actual area of the ejector pin may be either higher or lower than the rest of the material. The raised "circle" of flash around the circumference should be pretty thin and easy to remove with a file, sandpaper, or Xacto knife. If the mark is low, I would try to fill it with some JB Weld. If it's high, you would have to file it down, and that would be a PITA.

 

[Roadster Guy]

I've noticed that most of the posters that use Fed bulk have great success with the Federal Bulk packs. Every gun seems to have a general "go to" ammo, as per the S&W model 41 likes CCI-SV (if I could find it locally, I would use it in everything). I looked at the instruction manual from the S&W web site and they have added a page on recommended ammo that is not in my instruction manual on recommended ammo.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Phil,

I was the first one to report on the "blue" update and posted photos to go along with the report. I've not had an issue since the blue update other than the mag snag.

I may try running some golden bombs through just to see if the blue man group resolved the issues.

Okay... let me know. I have a new .22 play toy... so if the 'blue update' is proved then maybe it'll be time for my 15-22 to ride the FedEx truck.

 

[Brett248Vista]

I will pick up a box and temp fate for you Phil! Worst case scenario I give them to my bud to run in his Mod60

 

[chuck s]

I've put 500 rounds of Winchester 333 down range since S&W did their "update to latest spec." A full box of 'em two days ago with no issues other than 2 failures to feed out of the first magazine.

I don't have the blue springs.

I did the "AR15 15 Minute Trigger Job" on the rifle before the last trip and the rifle performed flawlessly with positive primer strikes. Don't be afraid to do it. Yeah, I carried a spare set of springs with me, but the modified springs worked very well and the trigger is much nicer.

-- Chuck

 

[Brett248Vista]

My trigger is fine as is.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

I will pick up a box and temp fate for you Phil! Worst case scenario I give them to my bud to run in his Mod60

Geeeesh... now I feel bad. In case there might be an OOB with Rem GB, be sure to close your eyes prior to squeezing the trigger

 

[Brett248Vista]

LOL Phil

I am going to put a gumband around my bolt "in case"

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

I've put 500 rounds of Winchester 333 down range since S&W did their "update to latest spec." A full box of 'em two days ago with no issues other than 2 failures to feed out of the first magazine.

I don't have the blue springs.

I did the "AR15 15 Minute Trigger Job" on the rifle before the last trip and the rifle performed flawlessly with positive primer strikes. Don't be afraid to do it. Yeah, I carried a spare set of springs with me, but the modified springs worked very well and the trigger is much nicer.

-- Chuck

I don't know what the 15min deal is, but am I reading between the lines correctly that the bolt speed has changed with different springs which has resulted in better cycling with Win 333?

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

LOL Phil

I am going to put a gumband around my bolt "in case"

I feel better now. Thanks

 

[cal1]

I've put 500 rounds of Winchester 333 down range since S&W did their "update to latest spec." A full box of 'em two days ago with no issues other than 2 failures to feed out of the first magazine.

I don't have the blue springs.


-- Chuck

Is this the same as the Winchester Wildcat 40 grain rounds?

 

[chuck s]

It's not labeled Wildcat and is 36g hollow points. Super-X case headstamp, but they may all have that. I find the 40g bullets can cause feeding problems if the magazines are loaded indifferently as they're a little longer.

I'd be surprised if any of the inexpensive bulk Winchester ammo was any different other than being HP or not, just packed in different boxes.

-- Chuck