First time shooting mine today- 30 ftf's

[WarpedWheel]

I got mine finally on Tuesday and came over to my brother's house today to try it out. The only ammo I could find locally was Federal Champion high velocity. I can't remember if that is on the list of bad ammo, but I had 30 failure to fires out of 100 rounds. Gun was cleaned and oiled prior to shooting. To make sure my terminology is right, I would shoot a few rounds, then try to pull the trigger and there was no pull on it. There was a one in the chamber ready to go though. I just went out to verify again and I had 5 ftfs in 10 rounds. I'm going to go find some CCIs if can.
Any ideas? Am I just an idiot?

 

[swood0580]

Did you happen to look at the rounds that didnt go off to see if the rime of the shell was it or if the gun didnt cycle all at?

 

[Dragon88]

Have you made any modifications to the gun?

 

[wolverine]

Afternoon WarpedWheel

It sounds like your gun is short stroking a bit & not moving the hammer back far enough to be caught by the sear disconnecter.

That could be due to the ammo you are shooting or due to a tight chamber, or something in the bolt or bolt guides.

Try some different ammo first & see if you can get it cycling correctly, if so it will probably break in & get better the more rounds you put through it.

If it doesn't break in & work correctly then call S&W for their advise.

I won't recommend anything outside of lubrication & shooting as that is the job of S&W.

If it were my (personal) gun I would first try putting about 500 high velocity rounds through it. If that didn't help I would try buzzing the chamber with a brass cleaning brush on a short cleaning rod in a cordless drill. Then next thing I would is try lightening the hammer spring a bit so the hammer re-sets easier. (this isn't a recommendation just what I would try if it were mine)

 

[10mm Shooter]

I got mine finally on Tuesday and came over to my brother's house today to try it out. The only ammo I could find locally was Federal Champion high velocity. I can't remember if that is on the list of bad ammo, but I had 30 failure to fires out of 100 rounds. Gun was cleaned and oiled prior to shooting. To make sure my terminology is right, I would shoot a few rounds, then try to pull the trigger and there was no pull on it. There was a one in the chamber ready to go though. I just went out to verify again and I had 5 ftfs in 10 rounds. I'm going to go find some CCIs if can.
Any ideas? Am I just an idiot?

Your choice of ammo was not the best in the world - as a suggestion, I would run a 100 rounds of CCI High Velocity through it before making any decisions on your part...

 

[Majorlk]

Your choice of ammo was not the best in the world - as a suggestion, I would run a 100 rounds of CCI High Velocity through it before making any decisions on your part...

I seriously doubt it's an ammo problem, especially with Federal Champion. There's probably more of that run through 15-22s than any other brand. I've had exactly one FTF in the last 2,000 rounds through mine and one in the last 3,000 in other firearms. That makes two in 5,000 rounds.

I'm betting on a firearm malfunction, with an overlubed BCG as the first suspect- most likely greased rails and bolt body. Sure sounds like short-stroking as someone else mentioned.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

You might take a look at this link for cleaning and loading tips. It is really quite informative for folks who have recently purchased a 15-22.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-wesson-m-p-15-22/125703-m-p-15-22-instructional-video-series.html

 

[lild9ve]

this is the federal ammo i bought from wal mart and went through it all between thursday and friday no ftf or fte

 

[jb1968]

I have been running the same federals through mine without any FTF's at all.
Get some CCI's and see how it does just to break it in......If the CCI's fail then it looks like you need to contact S&W.

 

[WarpedWheel]

Thanks for the info guys! I found some CCI's that I'll try and check out that link. I'll update next time I can go shooting.

 

[WarpedWheel]

Have you made any modifications to the gun?

Just a little bit of grinding here and there to make it full auto.
Just kidding, its brand new. No mods planned besides a Hogue grip and extra magazines.

 

[jb1968]

+1 on the extra mags!

 

[PapaChop]

That's the same Federal I shoot. Out of 3 boxes of 550, I've had probably 5 or 6 FTFs. One double-feed, rest were just FTFs that shot fine when reloaded (probably were a bit canted in the magazine or soemthing).

 

[WarpedWheel]

Did you happen to look at the rounds that didnt go off to see if the rime of the shell was it or if the gun didnt cycle all at?

The shells came out perfectly untouched. In one magazine I had 13 that I had ejected. I inspected them, loaded them in the magazine and cycled through. The ftf ratio was the same as with fresh ones out of the box so I would think it wouldn't be the ammos fault. I won't rule anything out though until I try the CCI mini mags.

 

[butcher1]

Well, you say the trigger has no pull, is the trigger not resetting, do you have to push the trigger to reset it, or the trigger pulls but won't fire? Since the round is ejectimg and the next one is chambering, I wouldn't think short stroking. If the trigger is not resetting, I would think return spring, burrs, cleaning.
Just my thoughts.

Lee

 

[Brahzilla]

I would look for some Blazer ammo made by CCI. Its cheap and I ahve had 0 problems with that in my 22.

 

[dannybot]

Sometimes I have had an issue with trigger nor resetting but I oiled the pivot and return spring, and seems to have helped. Also my gun loves Blazer ammo, but hates Winchester 333/555, accidentally got some of the Winchester mixed I'm, and each time the 333's came up, they would jam.

 

[wolverine]

Afternoon Lee

Actually the 15-22 is very capable of short stroking just enough to eject the spent round & chamber a new round but stopping short of re-setting the hammer.

Mine will do this pretty regularly when shooting Remington sub sonics.

 

[butcher1]

Afternoon Lee

Actually the 15-22 is very capable of short stroking just enough to eject the spent round & chamber a new round but stopping short of re-setting the hammer.

Mine will do this pretty regularly when shooting Remington sub sonics.

I'll agree with that, I was just thinking of what the op said about the trigger having no pull, and in that case, it could very well be short stroking, among other things.

Lee

 

[WarpedWheel]

Afternoon Lee

Actually the 15-22 is very capable of short stroking just enough to eject the spent round & chamber a new round but stopping short of re-setting the hammer.

Mine will do this pretty regularly when shooting Remington sub sonics.

This is what it sounds like it is doing. It is chambering the next round, but not resetting the hammer so you can't pull the trigger.

 

[dannybot]

This is what it sounds like it is doing. It is chambering the next round, but not resetting the hammer so you can't pull the trigger.

But when this has happened to me, if I manually returned the trigger, it would the fire. I am absolutely certain that the issue is with the trigger not resetting. Since coming upon this conclusion, I oiled the trigger spring and pin, and it seems to work freely now. I intend to run a brick or so through it this weekend, so I should have a better idea.

 

[googanelli]

I took mine out today with the winchester and it hated it. I had ftf with the round getting stuck in the magazine and had to work to get the round out of the magazine to get it running again. I figure it is most likely ammo being the culprit. When it was running, no issues at all. It was hitting low so I adjust my front sight post. I got it home and lubed it pretty well too. I just took it straight to the range to tinker with.

Joe

 

[WarpedWheel]

I called S&W today just to see if they had any ideas before I make it shooting next time. They said it is probably because it is new and tight and didn't like the Federal ammo. He said to try the CCI mini mags for at least 100 rounds and see if it loosens it up a bit. He figured the Federals just didn't have enough beans to reset the hammer (which is what the problem seemed to be). He also said to lube the BCG really well. He said put about 6 drops on the bolt. That seems like a lot, but I'm no expert.

 

[corpulent]

That does seem like a lot. A wipedown with a slightly oiled rag should suffice. Perhaps slightly more on the rails.

Too much oil attracts grit, in my opinion.

 

[Majorlk]

I called S&W today just to see if they had any ideas before I make it shooting next time. They said it is probably because it is new and tight and didn't like the Federal ammo. He said to try the CCI mini mags for at least 100 rounds and see if it loosens it up a bit. He figured the Federals just didn't have enough beans to reset the hammer (which is what the problem seemed to be). He also said to lube the BCG really well. He said put about 6 drops on the bolt. That seems like a lot, but I'm no expert.

I really doubt this. Federal is among the "recommended" ammo listed in the manual. The velocity of the Federals is 1,200+ fps, essentially the same as the MiniMags.

 

[WarpedWheel]

I agree. I'm not sure why I'd spend money on a gun that shoots one brand of ammo. I will do as they recommended and try it out though. I sure hope it starts working because I'm pretty bummed that it was worthless when I drove 2 hours to go shooting with my brother. It'll be even more irritating if I have to send it back to them.

 

[crracer_712]

That bulk federal 550 is about all I shot through mine until I got some CCI Blazers for a little cheaper, never had any trouble out of the federal in my 15-22. Hope you get yours worked out.

 

[Majorlk]

I agree. I'm not sure why I'd spend money on a gun that shoots one brand of ammo. I will do as they recommended and try it out though. I sure hope it starts working because I'm pretty bummed that it was worthless when I drove 2 hours to go shooting with my brother. It'll be even more irritating if I have to send it back to them.

I know how you feel, but that is what I would do. I feel there is something wrong with either the bolt carrier group or the fire control group, or both, and S&W is the best place to deal with it.

 

[tracksol]

I agree. I'm not sure why I'd spend money on a gun that shoots one brand of ammo.

The problem isn't that the 15-22 shoots one brand of ammo, the problem is that 22LR ammunition varies widely when compared to centerfire ammunition. Every .22 caliber firearm owner I know has gone through the process of figuring out which ammunition their firearm shoots best and then they stick with that particular ammunition. The S&W 15-22 manual has a list of ammunition that is tested and recommended by S&W. I would at least start with that list.

Additionally, the heel of any magazine fed weapon is the magazine itself. The casing dimensions of the 22LR round make feeding from a magazine a tricky situation. If you use the load assist button, make sure you're only pulling down enough to load one more round in all the while keeping spring tension on the rounds already loaded.

 

[WarpedWheel]

The problem isn't that the 15-22 shoots one brand of ammo, the problem is that 22LR ammunition varies widely when compared to centerfire ammunition. Every .22 caliber firearm owner I know has gone through the process of figuring out which ammunition their firearm shoots best and then they stick with that particular ammunition. The S&W 15-22 manual has a list of ammunition that is tested and recommended by S&W. I would at least start with that list.

Additionally, the heel of any magazine fed weapon is the magazine itself. The casing dimensions of the 22LR round make feeding from a magazine a tricky situation. If you use the load assist button, make sure you're only pulling down enough to load one more round in all the while keeping spring tension on the rounds already loaded.

I loaded the magazine without the load assist since I've read that it can give some issues. I did try the load assist on a partial magazine to see if it would do anything different, but it didn't. I was willing to try anything. Unfortunately, I didn't have a choice on the ammo. Maybe I can get out soon and try the CCI's. I miss living at my brother's where we could shoot out the back door!