Nabby
Member
TL;DR version: It's awesome!
First, a little background:
I'm very new to shooting. I got hooked a couple of months ago when I went to the range with a co-worker and shot his AK-47, 9mm and .40.
I ended up buying the 9mm from him (S&W SD9VE). I've always liked the more tactical look of the AR platform vs. the AK so I started looking at AR options.
I had another coworker shoot a Ruger SR22 pistol for her CWP class and commented how much she liked that. When I was investigating, I stumbled across the Ruger SR22 rifle, which has the tactical look I like. That led me to the M&P 15-22 and next thing you know, I decided to buy one. (After convincing the wife it was a good idea!)
While I was waiting to buy it/pick it up, I started buying some accessories discussed on this forum, as well as getting a head start on buy ammo.
I purchased the Midway USA Heavy Duty Tactical Rifle Case (36"). This seems to be perfect for me. I'm sure as time goes on and I add attachments and accessories, I may need a bigger one, but I think this will last some time for me.
I also got the McFadden Quick Loader This seems to be an item designed to make you go broke on ammunition! It loads the magazines almost as quickly as you can empty them. It works great, and when range time is by the hour, it sure helps getting more shots down range.
My last 15-22 related purchase was 2 extra 25-round magazines from GunMag Warehouse These are the standard OEM replacements.
After field stripping it several times, to understand how everything worked, today I was finally able to get to the range with it.
I shot 500 rounds. 175 CCI mini-mag 36 grain CPHP (the Troy Landry special edition) and 325 Federal Auto Match Target Grade Performance (loose, in a white box).
I'm super pleased to say that I really didn't have any issues to speak of. The gun was even more than I'd hoped it would be.
I shot 1 magazine before adjusting the sights. The first magazine went a little low, but left/right seemed pretty good. A minor adjustment and it was aiming very well for a beginner like me.
I'm a lefty, but didn't have any issues with the controls at all. My natural motion for swapping magazines was to grab the magazine with my right hand and use my thumb to release it. The safety was a little awkward, but not a big deal at all. If I get really crazy one day I may take a shot at switching it to make it lefty friendly.
I did have one instance where the last shell failed to eject. But it wasn't the FTE that I've seen people talk about here. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but the last shell didn't eject out the chamber, but wasn't stuck in it either. It's almost like it ejected, and then bounced back into the chamber and was rolling around loose inside it. All I did was tilt the gun over and it rolled right out.
My other issue was related to using the charging handle. For most of the magazines, I left the bolt open, swapped out magazines and then pushed the bolt catch button and started shooting again. However, a couple of times I accidentally pushed the bolt catch instead of the magazine release. Twice, when I used the charging handle to bring up the next round, it would not feed correctly/all the way. Cycling the charging handle resolved that without issue, and I never had a cycling problem where it failed to load after firing the previous round, only on the initial round using the charging handle. Not sure what caused that, but it seeded minor compared to how well everything else went.
My major problem seems to be one that someone warned me about previously: Finding the money to support this habit! I can't wait to find some time to try it out again!
Thanks!
Nabby
First, a little background:
I'm very new to shooting. I got hooked a couple of months ago when I went to the range with a co-worker and shot his AK-47, 9mm and .40.
I ended up buying the 9mm from him (S&W SD9VE). I've always liked the more tactical look of the AR platform vs. the AK so I started looking at AR options.
I had another coworker shoot a Ruger SR22 pistol for her CWP class and commented how much she liked that. When I was investigating, I stumbled across the Ruger SR22 rifle, which has the tactical look I like. That led me to the M&P 15-22 and next thing you know, I decided to buy one. (After convincing the wife it was a good idea!)
While I was waiting to buy it/pick it up, I started buying some accessories discussed on this forum, as well as getting a head start on buy ammo.
I purchased the Midway USA Heavy Duty Tactical Rifle Case (36"). This seems to be perfect for me. I'm sure as time goes on and I add attachments and accessories, I may need a bigger one, but I think this will last some time for me.
I also got the McFadden Quick Loader This seems to be an item designed to make you go broke on ammunition! It loads the magazines almost as quickly as you can empty them. It works great, and when range time is by the hour, it sure helps getting more shots down range.
My last 15-22 related purchase was 2 extra 25-round magazines from GunMag Warehouse These are the standard OEM replacements.
After field stripping it several times, to understand how everything worked, today I was finally able to get to the range with it.
I shot 500 rounds. 175 CCI mini-mag 36 grain CPHP (the Troy Landry special edition) and 325 Federal Auto Match Target Grade Performance (loose, in a white box).
I'm super pleased to say that I really didn't have any issues to speak of. The gun was even more than I'd hoped it would be.
I shot 1 magazine before adjusting the sights. The first magazine went a little low, but left/right seemed pretty good. A minor adjustment and it was aiming very well for a beginner like me.
I'm a lefty, but didn't have any issues with the controls at all. My natural motion for swapping magazines was to grab the magazine with my right hand and use my thumb to release it. The safety was a little awkward, but not a big deal at all. If I get really crazy one day I may take a shot at switching it to make it lefty friendly.
I did have one instance where the last shell failed to eject. But it wasn't the FTE that I've seen people talk about here. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but the last shell didn't eject out the chamber, but wasn't stuck in it either. It's almost like it ejected, and then bounced back into the chamber and was rolling around loose inside it. All I did was tilt the gun over and it rolled right out.
My other issue was related to using the charging handle. For most of the magazines, I left the bolt open, swapped out magazines and then pushed the bolt catch button and started shooting again. However, a couple of times I accidentally pushed the bolt catch instead of the magazine release. Twice, when I used the charging handle to bring up the next round, it would not feed correctly/all the way. Cycling the charging handle resolved that without issue, and I never had a cycling problem where it failed to load after firing the previous round, only on the initial round using the charging handle. Not sure what caused that, but it seeded minor compared to how well everything else went.
My major problem seems to be one that someone warned me about previously: Finding the money to support this habit! I can't wait to find some time to try it out again!
Thanks!
Nabby
It's crazy out here... 
