PHXSHOOTER
Member
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2011
- Messages
- 128
- Reaction score
- 106
I have had my 15-22 for a few months, but only had it out once for a quick shoot. Not enough time to zero it that evening, I just had to fire it. Today I went out to the desert alone and patiently worked with the rifle.
First the rifle: It is everything I hoped it was. A fine firearm that takes plinking to a whole new level. I bought it to be my “fun gun” and what a blast it is. I got heavily into pistol shooting the last couple of years and my rifles have been mostly quiet for about five years. This new acquisition has rekindled the enthusiasm I have had for rifle shooting all of my life.
Five hundred rounds and just one misfire. It was a FTF based on a light primer strike. I suspect it may have not been 100% into battery because that bullet had scrape marks on it from the feeding process. Tonight I will load and eject a bunch of rounds and inspect them to be sure they are chambering cleanly. I was shooting CCI Blazers. Everything else was flawless.
I chose 50 yards for my sight in distance. Primarily because that works for me but it works especially well for my two early teenage boys. After reading countless posts and articles on sighting in techniques I simply went out and did what I have always done, shoot groups and dialed it in. No big deal, no fancy tricks, just old fashioned holes in paper until the two inch groups were on the center of the target. I say two inch, I’m rusty, they weren’t all there, I need practice. Needles to say, the gun is more accurate than I am. I can’t ask for more than that.
Now the lesson learned. I have read the countless comments here about China mart vs. quality products. Fortunately I kept my mouth shut because before today I would have said:
This is a .22 caliber fun gun. All of my self defense weapons are equipped with high quality accessories. I intend to save money and have fun putting cool stuff on this rifle because I don’t want to break the bank when it doesn’t matter because I will never reach for a 15-22 for self defense. I’m just having fun. I was wrong. I will never reach for the 15-22 for self defense, but I did buy some junk.
One, I put a no name China mart optic on it. I will spare you the “story” of the great deal I got, yea right. But the bottom line is it performed reasonably well today but I will never trust it. I wish I would have waited and bought the good scope I will probably still get in the future anyway. So the great deal was wasted cash in the end.
Two, I later bought a green laser from the same gun show dealer (where the scope came from) that specializes in China AR accessories. And yes he barters if you’re smart enough or dumb enough to play the game. The price keeps going down until you walk away paying 50% percent less than the guy in front of you. That part is not a scam. I don’t work at gun shows, but I did work a booth one weekend almost next to this China dealer while I was helping a friend sell an estate collection. I saw countless guys walking away with stuff for his full asking price not knowing he starts high and goes low because he could almost give the stuff away with his mark up! Anyway, this green laser was amazing. It is so bright there is no way it is the 5 Mw as the spec states. It looks good, it is the brightest laser I have ever seen for sale legally. Wow, I have him down 50%. It has four good set screws to hold zero, right? The pressure switch even feels good, right? And after all, it’s only going on a low recoil .22 caliber fun gun, right? Why pay big bucks, I can’t lose, right? It’s a green laser and it kicks brass, right?
So, today, I get the china scope down to those two inch groups, all good so far. It’s time to bolt on that really cool laser. Before firing a shot I tweak and torque, I dial it in, I’m patient, and finally, I’m on center. Dead in the crosshairs, let’s roll. My china scope is set to 9x, and oh my, that green dot is so bright in the mid day dessert sun I know it would light up the space shuttle in broad daylight if I knew where it was. I can’t miss anything with this killer combination. Those two inch groups with the occasional strays are about to become history! So I start firing and I see the bright green laser I so patiently zeroed turn into a light show. Every time I pull the trigger it moves to a different place on the paper, or off of it! I may as well been using a disco ball to sight with! So yes, I tweak it, I tighten it, I torque on it. But no matter what I try, it is a P.O. S. that was not worth the 50% discount I paid for it!
So what I learned today was to change my mind. Yes the 15-22 is my fun gun, it is also a quality firearm. I will have to resist the urge to buy “coo stuff” to bolt all over it just because I want to. COOL has never been good enough for me if it did not perform to at least a reasonable level. The S&W 15-22 deserves better than the cheap stuff I degraded it with. My shopping list just went up tremendously. But now that I have trigger time with it, number one on that list is magazines, lots more, I only have two.
First the rifle: It is everything I hoped it was. A fine firearm that takes plinking to a whole new level. I bought it to be my “fun gun” and what a blast it is. I got heavily into pistol shooting the last couple of years and my rifles have been mostly quiet for about five years. This new acquisition has rekindled the enthusiasm I have had for rifle shooting all of my life.
Five hundred rounds and just one misfire. It was a FTF based on a light primer strike. I suspect it may have not been 100% into battery because that bullet had scrape marks on it from the feeding process. Tonight I will load and eject a bunch of rounds and inspect them to be sure they are chambering cleanly. I was shooting CCI Blazers. Everything else was flawless.
I chose 50 yards for my sight in distance. Primarily because that works for me but it works especially well for my two early teenage boys. After reading countless posts and articles on sighting in techniques I simply went out and did what I have always done, shoot groups and dialed it in. No big deal, no fancy tricks, just old fashioned holes in paper until the two inch groups were on the center of the target. I say two inch, I’m rusty, they weren’t all there, I need practice. Needles to say, the gun is more accurate than I am. I can’t ask for more than that.
Now the lesson learned. I have read the countless comments here about China mart vs. quality products. Fortunately I kept my mouth shut because before today I would have said:
This is a .22 caliber fun gun. All of my self defense weapons are equipped with high quality accessories. I intend to save money and have fun putting cool stuff on this rifle because I don’t want to break the bank when it doesn’t matter because I will never reach for a 15-22 for self defense. I’m just having fun. I was wrong. I will never reach for the 15-22 for self defense, but I did buy some junk.
One, I put a no name China mart optic on it. I will spare you the “story” of the great deal I got, yea right. But the bottom line is it performed reasonably well today but I will never trust it. I wish I would have waited and bought the good scope I will probably still get in the future anyway. So the great deal was wasted cash in the end.
Two, I later bought a green laser from the same gun show dealer (where the scope came from) that specializes in China AR accessories. And yes he barters if you’re smart enough or dumb enough to play the game. The price keeps going down until you walk away paying 50% percent less than the guy in front of you. That part is not a scam. I don’t work at gun shows, but I did work a booth one weekend almost next to this China dealer while I was helping a friend sell an estate collection. I saw countless guys walking away with stuff for his full asking price not knowing he starts high and goes low because he could almost give the stuff away with his mark up! Anyway, this green laser was amazing. It is so bright there is no way it is the 5 Mw as the spec states. It looks good, it is the brightest laser I have ever seen for sale legally. Wow, I have him down 50%. It has four good set screws to hold zero, right? The pressure switch even feels good, right? And after all, it’s only going on a low recoil .22 caliber fun gun, right? Why pay big bucks, I can’t lose, right? It’s a green laser and it kicks brass, right?
So, today, I get the china scope down to those two inch groups, all good so far. It’s time to bolt on that really cool laser. Before firing a shot I tweak and torque, I dial it in, I’m patient, and finally, I’m on center. Dead in the crosshairs, let’s roll. My china scope is set to 9x, and oh my, that green dot is so bright in the mid day dessert sun I know it would light up the space shuttle in broad daylight if I knew where it was. I can’t miss anything with this killer combination. Those two inch groups with the occasional strays are about to become history! So I start firing and I see the bright green laser I so patiently zeroed turn into a light show. Every time I pull the trigger it moves to a different place on the paper, or off of it! I may as well been using a disco ball to sight with! So yes, I tweak it, I tighten it, I torque on it. But no matter what I try, it is a P.O. S. that was not worth the 50% discount I paid for it!
So what I learned today was to change my mind. Yes the 15-22 is my fun gun, it is also a quality firearm. I will have to resist the urge to buy “coo stuff” to bolt all over it just because I want to. COOL has never been good enough for me if it did not perform to at least a reasonable level. The S&W 15-22 deserves better than the cheap stuff I degraded it with. My shopping list just went up tremendously. But now that I have trigger time with it, number one on that list is magazines, lots more, I only have two.
but I think if you take your time you can find some good deals on some decent quality stuff.
