How does the M&P 15/22 stack up against the Sig 522?

[6pack]

I realize I'm on a S&W forum with much love for S&W. Fully understand.

I'm crazy over their wheelguns and pretty much am exclusive. That being said I went with Sig and Glock for my last two bottom feeder buys.

So...before I pull the trigger on one of these for my son and one for me....I think it's only fair that I look at all options.

One thing I can say about the 522 is that I'm not crazy about the folding stock.

What about the reliability?

Accuracy?

 

[DownRange&Upwind]

I realize I'm on a S&W forum with much love for S&W. Fully understand.

I'm crazy over their wheelguns and pretty much am exclusive. That being said I went with Sig and Glock for my last two bottom feeder buys.

So...before I pull the trigger on one of these for my son and one for me....I think it's only fair that I look at all options.

One thing I can say about the 522 is that I'm not crazy about the folding stock.

What about the reliability?

Accuracy?

I am also a new 15 22 owner and I also considered the Sig .22. One of my main reasons I went with the 15 22 is what you listed, was the folding stock. As my wife is not a tall person, thus shorter arms. The sig stock is longer than the 15 22, thus making the 15 22 easier for her to hold & fire. Yes the tactical look to the 15 22 also played a role in my purchase for the gun, but ultimately the expansion capabilities for factory "out of the box" that the 15 22 offers surpasses the Sig.

Both are very good guns. As far as accuracy, that depends on how well you shoot the weapon, but in general the 15 22 is dead on in farily tight groups, depending on the ammo your rifle likes. Now the older 15 22 models did have issues, but were part of a un official "silent" recall so to speak for lack of a better term, and all weapons were fixed free of charge and provided spare mags for the trouble.

My new 15 22 is a DUU serial numbered model with a threaded barrell. It has a mfg. date of 6-28-10 and has all the "up to date" specs from S&W as well as the Blue bolt and trigger springs. I can say that from personal experiences that my 15 22has fired about 350-400 rounds only so far during its "break in period" and I have had some FTF's and FTE's BUT those were ALL the non recomended Remington Golden grenades.. err golden bullets lol. While using Federal bulk packs it runs PERFECTLY smooth! My trigger on my 15 22 is not nearly as stiff as a friend of mine that has a older DTX serial numbered 15 22 that has, as of yet had no isses that require a return to S&W.

It all boils down to presonal preference, but while handling both model weapons at my local gun shop while figuring out what was the proper model to buy, the M&P 15 22 just felt like a better fit in both mine and my wifes hands. Where as im 6 foot 1, she is 5 foot 4, and the six position stock fits us both great. Hope this helps in at lest some way.

 

[whoppo]

I know very happy owners of both the 522 and the 15-22.
Both guns have had their problems:

15-22: some early guns suffered FTF/FTE issues which appear to have been resolved with updated springs, extractor components and magazines.

522: recoil spring guide e-clips failing repeatedly, causing damaged springs. I've heard that while some owners have come up with their own fixes, Sig tech support just has as supply of replacement springs and e-clips.

These issues aside, both guns will consume copious amounts of rimfire ammo and tear large ragged holes in targets of all kinds, while making their owners grin from ear-to-ear.

My personal preference is the 15-22, but that's just me

 

[Jones424]

the S&W is cheaper and when holding the two side by side the smith is a better built gun in my opinion.

the smith is also cheaper but 50$ every where i went

 

[Rustpot]

I was going to buy the Sig 522, but certain things were a turn-off for me. The SWAT version of the Sig is considerably more to get a railed fore end, and it doesn't come with any sights. In the last month or two there's been a new iron sight set for the 522, but I think it was pretty stupid not to supply the rifle with any sights at all and forcing the buyer to spend more up front.

I liked the feel of the 522 more, but I doubt I'll own a Sig 556 before an AR-15, so for control familiarity and training I went with the 15-22 MOE.

Both are great guns, but I think the 522 cons outweigh the pros when compared to the 15-22. If the SWAT version of the 522 was just over $500 I might be singing a different tune, however.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

I have a Sig522 SWAT and 15-22.

You can read all about the 15-22 on this Forum so I'll just talk about the Sig in relation to the 15-22.

Sig522 SWAT on par is more accurate and reliable with a wide array of ammo. Trigger out of the box is quite good. The Sig weighs a ton. It's a full pound heavier (without any sights) than the 15-22. The Sig stock is lower so you can use red dots and such without having to jack them up on risers. The Sig has a front sling attachment and a single point sling attachment. The Sig allows for the use of .22lr conversion mags Black Dog and CMMG... but other than that you are stuck with the configuration of the rifle. There's near zero aftermarket goodies for the Sig other than rail attachments. The Sig has a gorgeous metal quad rail but it will mark up easy compared to the bullet proof 15-22 polymer finish. The Sig has less than 3 inches of barrel protruding beyond the quad rail which gives it a great look, imo, for hanging a can off the end (hey Belt_Fed where's my can? ). Overall, the Sig522 is a more refined rifle. I posted a pick of my Sig522 SWAT here a few months ago. Most folks said they thought it was an ugly rifle.

The two rifles are very much different. In general, if you want a lightweight AR platform the 15-22 is THE pick, period. If you just want a .22 black rifle to play with there are other suitable choices, including the Ruger. I would stay away from Colt.

Here's a pic of my Sig522 SWAT right out of the box.

 

[6pack]

I really appreciate the insight.

I was leaning heavily in the direction of the S&W product, but I wanted to be sure. I saw green 522 over on Bud's Gun Shop that looked pretty cool, but that stock and "missing" sights....hmmm.

There is no joking that the 15/22 has an awesome look about it.


A buddy advised me to get a pair of the 15/22 guns and get my son well aclimated to that style and sights......then pick up a .308 Win version of an AR styled rifle and let my son transition to that for his first deer and hog hunts. A collapsable stock on a .308Win would make the gun easy for either of us to shoot, too. Food for thought.



Two last questions:


1) The threaded model looks like what I want. Are the sights fixed on these compatible with red dot sights mounted on as well? How would you incorporate a variable power scope as well?


2) Location....Jetguns.com was recomended...anywhere else that you've actually purchased from that you can recomend?



Thanks for your assistance. I'm AR-ignorant but hoping not make any blunders as I learn.

My son is hooked on the Call of Duty/Modern Warfare games and we have the Black Ops game preordered. He's gonna freak over getting a tactical looking gun.

I've been picking up the spinning steel target sets from Academy every time I go by there. They are very handy and fold out for set up in two seconds. I'll have these to put out on the range at various distances and we can transition from the different targets and have a ball.


I've got to start shopping around for a pair of gun bags, magazines, red dots and etc. I'll try to stay in the "decent quality but lower budget range" as these are not gonna be hunting guns....just plinkers that'll provide high grin-factor.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

I really appreciate the insight.

I was leaning heavily in the direction of the S&W product, but I wanted to be sure. I saw green 522 over on Bud's Gun Shop that looked pretty cool, but that stock and "missing" sights....hmmm.

Just a note.... If you look at the Pic Thread here you'll notice a great many 15-22 no longer wear factory sights. The front and rear are often replaced with MBUS, or the rear is replaced with a carry handle. I would guess that the majority of folks primarily use red dot or magnified optics. MBUS work on the Sig too. By the way, what is your concern about the Sig folding stock?

 

[horn-tail]

the only reason i didnt get the sig was because i t was gone when i went to buy it, he had a smith tho and i didnt feel like waiting for another one to come in

 

[BritchieLCK]

I also looked at the 522 at Cabela's when I was comparison shopping. Granted I've never fired a 522 but it looked like when the stock was folded it partially blocked the ejection port and I like the look, weight and feel of the M&P better. 6pack I picked up a BSA Red Blue Green Dot optic at Bass Pro Shops for $29.94

 

[6pack]

Thanks for the tip about the BSA.


I guess my thing about the folding stock is it's either folded or deployed, no length adjustment (I could be way wrong here, though). For a smaller shooter like my son the collapseable seems the way to go.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Thanks for the tip about the BSA.


I guess my thing about the folding stock is it's either folded or deployed, no length adjustment (I could be way wrong here, though). For a smaller shooter like my son the collapseable seems the way to go.

Sig stock is three position adjustable. When collapsed, the reach from butt to hand grip it's about one inch shorter on the 15-22 compared to the Sig.

 

[Scuds03]

I didnt go with the Sig mainly because I don't like the look and I wanted the lighter gun. If they had a Sig Commando version I'd bite.

 

[27 Beck]

Buy one of each. Sell the one you don't like after a few outings, and get another of the one you do like.

 

[TKaz]

Before I bought mine I called several gun shops and stopped in to several more and asked a ton of questions and every single person o spoke with all said the same thing "Get the M&P 15-22 and you will be very happy". That along with all the research I did was enough for me.

 

[CBR240]

We have both the S&W M&P 15-22 and the Sig 522 (green). Each boy picked one. ChattanoogaPhil pretty well summed up most of my feelings.

Additional single data point of our experience: Our 15-22 had the Out Of Chamber detonation experience and was totally replaced. The 2nd one has been perfect for over 2000 rounds. The 522 was perfect out of the box, has about 3000 rounds now and feeds and fires everything and anything.

I have used S&W customer support 3 times (we have several of their products, and only the 15-22 OOC was the guns fault), and had 3 excellent experiences. I have to say that their support was so good, I really leaned towards S&W when looking for a .223/5.56 AR15. I have not needed Sig support.

The Sig hits one pet issue of mine, no bolt hold back on last round. So it's out for me.

Each boys likes his the best. I like the 15-22 so much, that when CDNN had the S&W M&P15 OR ("optics read" .223 AR15) for $599, I bought one. Which by the way does not come with sights, which I approve of because I can get it cheaper and buy whatever I want, not arguing, just saying that's me.

But really I think most would enjoy either, they are both fun, cheap shooting.

 

[Jswiney9]

I am also a new 15 22 owner and I also considered the Sig .22. One of my main reasons I went with the 15 22 is what you listed, was the folding stock. As my wife is not a tall person, thus shorter arms. The sig stock is longer than the 15 22, thus making the 15 22 easier for her to hold & fire. Yes the tactical look to the 15 22 also played a role in my purchase for the gun, but ultimately the expansion capabilities for factory "out of the box" that the 15 22 offers surpasses the Sig.

Both are very good guns. As far as accuracy, that depends on how well you shoot the weapon, but in general the 15 22 is dead on in farily tight groups, depending on the ammo your rifle likes. Now the older 15 22 models did have issues, but were part of a un official "silent" recall so to speak for lack of a better term, and all weapons were fixed free of charge and provided spare mags for the trouble.

My new 15 22 is a DUU serial numbered model with a threaded barrell. It has a mfg. date of 6-28-10 and has all the "up to date" specs from S&W as well as the Blue bolt and trigger springs. I can say that from personal experiences that my 15 22has fired about 350-400 rounds only so far during its "break in period" and I have had some FTF's and FTE's BUT those were ALL the non recomended Remington Golden grenades.. err golden bullets lol. While using Federal bulk packs it runs PERFECTLY smooth! My trigger on my 15 22 is not nearly as stiff as a friend of mine that has a older DTX serial numbered 15 22 that has, as of yet had no isses that require a return to S&W.

It all boils down to presonal preference, but while handling both model weapons at my local gun shop while figuring out what was the proper model to buy, the M&P 15 22 just felt like a better fit in both mine and my wifes hands. Where as im 6 foot 1, she is 5 foot 4, and the six position stock fits us both great. Hope this helps in at lest some way.

? I must be crazy, i was under the impression that the sig is about 1" shorter than the 15-22. Anyway, I went with the sig, for me and what im wanting to do its the only way to go. More reliable than the S&W and i dont care about the AR look. If i want an AR ill spend 275 more dollars and buy a bushmaster. I dont see how one can say that the 15-22 feels like its better built, it feels like an air rifle compared to the sig. Ive shot both and for the limited use ive had with both, the accuracy was about the same but i had 2 jams in 200 rounds with the 15-22 and had zero with the sig.

 

[Smithhound]

I looked at the S&W and Sig and was totally unimpresed with the Smith product. Add to that all the FTF and FOOB issues I went with the Sig, a Standard model. I wanted this just as a black rifle shooter, I have 5 'real' AR's to play with all in different configs, so if I want a .22lr 'AR' I can get a CMMG adaptor.
I've put close to 600 rounds thru the Sig, not one hiccup. Granted it did not come with iron sights and that was a turn off (especially @ $200 for the set), but at my age, an EOTech immediatly went on it.
This is by far the most popular .22lr gun at shooting sessions, others just love the thing, many Wives that are otherwise a little leary of the black rifles just take right to it, even mine!
In short, I've no complaint with the Sig.
RD