Disappointing M&P 15-22 Report

[lackejd]

I have been reading a lot about the 15-22 on this forum. After reading all the positive posts on this forum, as well as other reviews, I have been looking high and low for one to buy locally. The only negative that I have read was about one person on this forum that had to send it back to S&W and was still waiting on its return. Well, I finally found one at Gander Mountain. It was a little more than I wanted to pay, but I went ahead and bought it anyway. As I was paying for the gun and having my info called in, the gunsmith at Gander asked if he could shoot it (they had just gotten two of them in and he had not shot one yet). I told him to knock himself out. Before shooting it, he did the inital cleaning on it for me. He went back to their range, and I would hear one shot, then silence, and next the gunsmith manually opening and then closing the bolt. This went on for about two minutes. I was not allowed to go back there (company policy). He was shooting some bulk ammo they had and thought it was the problem. He then went out on the rack and got some CCI ammo. He went back to the range, and I heard the same type of jamming going on. They went to their other 15-22 and took out the clip and tried a different clip. Same jamming results. They offered to send it back to S&W "FOR ME". I politely told them that I prefer to get my money back and let them send it back to S&W "FOR Gander Mountain". They agreed, and I thankfully got my money back. I knew about loading the magazine one round at a time as some people on here had said that could cause problems if not loaded correctly. I watched them load both magazines one round at a time. Not sure what the problem was. I probably own around twenty S&W revolvers/semi-autos and have never had an issue with any of them. This was certainly a huge let down with a lot of nervousness involved until I finally got my money back in hand.

 

[TxShooter2k9]

yep, im the one that sent theres back to S&W and waiting for its return, hopefully next week sometime. And i had the same problem Gander Mountain had with the one you where going to get. Jamming, jamming, jamming. It was like...bam click, pull the bolt, bend a bullet, click, bam bam bam, click, same o, so i sent it back. Hopefully when i get it back, im sure they'll have figured out the issue, and i'll have one like ive heard and seen on youtube, that go BAM BAM BAM threw the whole magazine. No issues again.

 

[TxShooter2k9]

btw, thats cool that your Gander Mountain has a range, ours has a gunsmith, but im not aware of them having a range inside it. I got mine from Academy for 450. I wish they could have tested mine before i bought it, i only had mine 4 days before i let Academy send it back. Thats the only thing they would do for me, wouldnt exchange or refund me..sucked.

 

[mag318]

Wow lackejd, sorry to hear about your problem, something was definately wrong with it, but at least you got your money back.
When I bought my M&P 15-22 it was one of three that my dealer got in.
I couldn't get mine to jam even mixmatching ammo in the magazine. I felt so good about this rifle I even put up a U tube video when I was trying to get it to jam. I have spoken to the other two gentlemen who purchased the other M&Ps that my dealer had to see if they had any problems. Their experience was the same as mine, no matter what they shot thru them functioning was perfect. Even though I'm sure S&W would have made it right, I can appreciate how you must have felt. You should not have to send a brand new gun back to the manufacturer to get it to work.

 

[TxShooter2k9]

well said mag318. It sems ive seen more good reports than bad. I did see a vid on youtube yesterday of a 15-22, showing how it kept jamming. Odd problem some have i guess.

 

[460v LAC du FLAMBEAU]

Received an update from my brother-in-law last night on his new M&P15-22. He has 3,400 rounds through it (using CCI) and zero problems. He stated it gets "smoother" the more rounds he shoots.

Have patience...once you get these rifles "grooved in" they are great!

 

[bustamove]

I have been reading a lot about the 15-22 on this forum. After reading all the positive posts on this forum, as well as other reviews, I have been looking high and low for one to buy locally. The only negative that I have read was about one person on this forum that had to send it back to S&W and was still waiting on its return. Well, I finally found one at Gander Mountain. It was a little more than I wanted to pay, but I went ahead and bought it anyway. As I was paying for the gun and having my info called in, the gunsmith at Gander asked if he could shoot it (they had just gotten two of them in and he had not shot one yet). I told him to knock himself out. Before shooting it, he did the inital cleaning on it for me. He went back to their range, and I would hear one shot, then silence, and next the gunsmith manually opening and then closing the bolt. This went on for about two minutes. I was not allowed to go back there (company policy). He was shooting some bulk ammo they had and thought it was the problem. He then went out on the rack and got some CCI ammo. He went back to the range, and I heard the same type of jamming going on. They went to their other 15-22 and took out the clip and tried a different clip. Same jamming results. They offered to send it back to S&W "FOR ME". I politely told them that I prefer to get my money back and let them send it back to S&W "FOR Gander Mountain". They agreed, and I thankfully got my money back. I knew about loading the magazine one round at a time as some people on here had said that could cause problems if not loaded correctly. I watched them load both magazines one round at a time. Not sure what the problem was. I probably own around twenty S&W revolvers/semi-autos and have never had an issue with any of them. This was certainly a huge let down with a lot of nervousness involved until I finally got my money back in hand.

You are lucky that you weren't one of these buyers who was so into buying this rifle that you couldn't see not keeping it because of a few mis-fires. Honestly you did the right thing. Let them take responsibility for having the rifle repaired. But that may work to your advantage? Go back after the rifle is repaired and see if they cut the price down because it's now a used rifle? You said you paid more for it than you wanted to?

You never know? One exception though. Make sure they take it out back and hear it fire without any problems before you buy it.

 

[tjpopkin]

Sw ar22

I love mine, and it is extremely accurate....
What I found on the initial cleaning was a rough bore...
I scrubbed it with JB's until no metal showed on the patch, and then with shooters choice, until clean.
Shot like a seasoned rifle....accuracy was remarkable.
Terry

 

[27 Beck]

I have been reading a lot about the 15-22 on this forum. After reading all the positive posts on this forum, as well as other reviews, I have been looking high and low for one to buy locally. The only negative that I have read was about one person on this forum that had to send it back to S&W and was still waiting on its return. Well, I finally found one at Gander Mountain. It was a little more than I wanted to pay, but I went ahead and bought it anyway. As I was paying for the gun and having my info called in, the gunsmith at Gander asked if he could shoot it (they had just gotten two of them in and he had not shot one yet). I told him to knock himself out. Before shooting it, he did the inital cleaning on it for me. He went back to their range, and I would hear one shot, then silence, and next the gunsmith manually opening and then closing the bolt. This went on for about two minutes. I was not allowed to go back there (company policy). He was shooting some bulk ammo they had and thought it was the problem. He then went out on the rack and got some CCI ammo. He went back to the range, and I heard the same type of jamming going on. They went to their other 15-22 and took out the clip and tried a different clip. Same jamming results. They offered to send it back to S&W "FOR ME". I politely told them that I prefer to get my money back and let them send it back to S&W "FOR Gander Mountain". They agreed, and I thankfully got my money back. I knew about loading the magazine one round at a time as some people on here had said that could cause problems if not loaded correctly. I watched them load both magazines one round at a time. Not sure what the problem was. I probably own around twenty S&W revolvers/semi-autos and have never had an issue with any of them. This was certainly a huge let down with a lot of nervousness involved until I finally got my money back in hand.

Why didn't you have them shoot the second gun? Could have been an isolated problem with the first 15-22. Wouldn't they offer to try the second gun to satisfy you as a customer (and make sure they didn't have a bad batch)?

 

[lackejd]

I asked them to fire the second gun. The gunsmith thought the magazines were the problem, and he didn't want to shoot the second gun. The only two options that they gave to me was either give my money back or send my new gun (that had never been outside of Gander Mountain) back to S&W for repair. I did not want to push my luck, so I just grabbed my money.

 

[smokinstiedge]

I am the most recent vic of the m & p bend a bullet 15-22 hope they fix it. hate to have to eat it.. how long does it take pollamer to get tender enough to eat??? after about 35 rounds i had enough...

 

[27 Beck]

I am the most recent vic of the m & p bend a bullet 15-22 hope they fix it. hate to have to eat it.. how long does it take pollamer to get tender enough to eat??? after about 35 rounds i had enough...

What broke, the extractor?

I have heard that pollamer is best cooked in a crock pot.

 

[smokinstiedge]

nothing broke just would not feed!! it was bending the round as it went into battery. would shave off the bottom part of the round as it was chambered (IF). I sent it back and a week later i have it back the ONLY thing they (S&W) did was replace the mag.....still had several failures using two differant types of ammo.. only put bout 200 threw it soon as i get a chance i will blow 1000 threw it in an hr ot two and we will see if its any better... crock pot huh???? any special sauce...

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Nothing broke during the first 35 rounds? You must have one of the new "Updated to latest spec." rifles.

 

[smokinstiedge]

Yep !!! thats what the paperwork that i got back said... i was so glad that they put so much time in on it... they must have opened the box, read the complaint, threw in a new mag, taped the box back up and shipped it back out... in 2 min or less.....