Recommended ammo to break in 15-22?

[PowderMeasure]

I just order one, should be here in a week or two. I was wondering what brands and flavor of ammo would be recommended to break in?

With my Ruger Mark IV, I used CCI mini-mags to break in, but they are hard to find right now (and expensive).

Should it be a standard velocity or high velocity round?

I have:

• Federal Automatch 40gr 1200 fps lead,
• Aguila Super Extra High Velocity 40 gr 1255 copper plated,
• Winchester HP 36gr 1280 fps copper plated (which I have not tried at all yet),
• and a lot of Federal Range Pack 40gr 1200 fps lead (only used a bit in Mark IV and had a few failures).

Thanks!

 

[18robert]

i have a couple, i just load it up with whatever is ling around, shoots great. my newist is about two weeks old, shoot everything ,no problem. have fun...........

 

[Rclark28]

I chose to start out with Mini-Mags but found mine will eat anything.
I have had mine for several weeks now. I have shot Mini-Mags, Aguila, Blazer without any issue at first to break it in. I even shot some bulk Federal Target and Golden Bullets with zero issues. So far this thing eats anything. I love my S&W 15-22 and very happy with it. Good luck with yours.

 

[Rclark28]

CCI's and Blazer are my rimfire of choice for testing and I order monthly when they are in stock.
Shop products in Rimfire today | CCI Ammunition

 

[Eric300]

Clean it, lube it, shoot it. If it's operating like it's supposed too it should eat everything you feed it. SV/HV/HP/RN, etc. Mine does. Even SS ammo will function mine properly.

 

[dmthomp32]

Mine runs everything standard velocity and up. No break in required! Personally I prefer to shoot CCI standard or CCI Blazers, however I got some Remington Thunderbolts that are running very well in my .22’s (not something I’ve always been able to say).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[smoothshooter]

Whatever you can get the cheapest.
Working the action thousands
Of times while you are watching TV or somethjngnis chesp break-in.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

ANY......22LR.

 

[PowderMeasure]

Thanks everyone! I was concerned that it would be picky, like some 22 pistols are.

 

[PowderMeasure]

Wow! It came in today! I took it apart a bit at the store. The bolt was clean, but seemed pretty dry. I didn't see any lubrication or protectant on it.

I'll read the book (yeah, I'm anal), give a quick cleaning and lube (gun shop suggested just wipe down with oil and then wipe off any excess), and start sighting it in and playing with it this weekend.

Open to any tips on cleaning after range time, though. Plan is to use bore brush with CLP for barrel, and then clean bolt area with nylon toothbrush and CLP.

I can't wait to try it out!

 

[Eric300]

No need to scrub the bejesus out of the bore. A patch or two or a bore snake will do it. Use a .243 brass bore brush in the chamber to keep any carbon ring from building up. Just keep the bolt and all corresponding contact points clean and lubed. You can use a small brush and/or compressed air to clean out the trigger group if/when needed. Just be careful not to bend the extractor when cleaning.

 

[PowderMeasure]

I do have a bore snake for .22 that I can use to clean the barrel (Bore Boss, I think).

Interesting idea with compressed air. Never thought of doing that. Thanks!

 

[PowderMeasure]

I went to the range Saturday to break in a bit and try to setup the iron sights.

There was concern with the trigger on reset. With my friends M&P, there is a distinct click and feel, when the trigger resets. On mine, as I release the trigger, in a short distance, there is a small click and feel of the trigger, but it is not reset. Continuing the release, there is a louder and distinct click on the trigger and it is then reset. Seems rather odd to both of us.

Also, I didn't have some of the "good" ammo with me, but had some Federal Range Pack (I have some CCI SV on order, to use for break-in).

It worked fairly well, but out of 200 rounds there were probably three cases where the round didn't feed. Removing the magazine, the top round was not at the top of the feed lips, and was down a bit. No way the bolt could chamber it. This was in the middle of the mag, for a fully loaded mag. Not sure if it is the ammo, or just the new magazine.

Any insights on these? I was going to take the rifle to the gun store to see what they thought, before contacting S&W.

 

[Eric300]

I went to the range Saturday to break in a bit and try to setup the iron sights.

There was concern with the trigger on reset. With my friends M&P, there is a distinct click and feel, when the trigger resets. On mine, as I release the trigger, in a short distance, there is a small click and feel of the trigger, but it is not reset. Continuing the release, there is a louder and distinct click on the trigger and it is then reset. Seems rather odd to both of us.

Also, I didn't have some of the "good" ammo with me, but had some Federal Range Pack (I have some CCI SV on order, to use for break-in).

It worked fairly well, but out of 200 rounds there were probably three cases where the round didn't feed. Removing the magazine, the top round was not at the top of the feed lips, and was down a bit. No way the bolt could chamber it. This was in the middle of the mag, for a fully loaded mag. Not sure if it is the ammo, or just the new magazine.

Any insights on these? I was going to take the rifle to the gun store to see what they thought, before contacting S&W.

Geeez, don't be so picky/panicky!! No need to take it back, call S&W, or anything else. Regardless what semi-auto rimfire you have, how expensive it is, and/or what ammo you feed it, you are going to encounter some type of malfunction eventually. Just as long as it's not happening all the time, like every other shot or something. Give it some time to break-in and make sure you're loading the mags properly. If you drop a round in the 15-22 mag crooked it will not feed properly.

 

[PowderMeasure]

I’m not too concerned about the feeding, and it could very well be that I didn’t load them well (I’m more used to loading pistol mags). But, I am concerned about the trigger feel. It is considerably different than the two other M&P 15-22s that I have shot (from friends, with in modified triggers).

It was for that reason that I want to inquire at the gun store (which has a gunsmith)…to see if worth pursuing with S&W, or whether it needs time to break in. My friend, who is very experienced with rifles and with this M&P also thought the trigger was unusual.

 

[Eric300]

I’m not too concerned about the feeding, and it could very well be that I didn’t load them well (I’m more used to loading pistol mags). But, I am concerned about the trigger feel. It is considerably different than the two other M&P 15-22s that I have shot (from friends, with in modified triggers).

It was for that reason that I want to inquire at the gun store (which has a gunsmith)…to see if worth pursuing with S&W, or whether it needs time to break in. My friend, who is very experienced with rifles and with this M&P also thought the trigger was unusual.

You pull the trigger and the gun fires. The action cycles. You release the trigger and it re-sets. Pull the trigger again and it fires, again. It's working. It's a basic stock AR trigger group. Knock out the 2 pins, drop the parts out (trigger & Spring, hammer & spring, & disconnector and look them over if you want. Put it back together and see if it's any better. Sounds to me like it's doing what it's supposed to do, though.

 

[Univibe]

One thing about 15-22, you should keep it clean. I do a thorough cleaning about every other trip to the range. Otherwise, you'll get feeding and ejection problems. It's not a Ruger 10.22 that you can shoot and forget.

But if it is clean, it runs on any high velocity ammo I've fed it.

 

[VaTom]

Geeez, don't be so picky/panicky!! No need to take it back, call S&W, or anything else. Regardless what semi-auto rimfire you have, how expensive it is, and/or what ammo you feed it, you are going to encounter some type of malfunction eventually. Just as long as it's not happening all the time, like every other shot or something. Give it some time to break-in and make sure you're loading the mags properly. If you drop a round in the 15-22 mag crooked it will not feed properly.

Good advice on loading 15-22 magazines. A number of posts in the past have addressed this. Don't hold the button all the way down and drop them in. Pull down on the button and load one at a time. The bullets will look "crooked" in the magazine but that is how it is supposed to be. Took mine to the range today. After 7 years it runs flawlessly!

 

[bamashooter]

Breaking in an OTC .22 is the equivalent of breaking in a Yugo or non-powered push mower..

 

[PowderMeasure]

Took it to the gun store, and one of the gunsmiths to a quick look and said that the reset is definitely odd. They want too take a closer look and will let me know whether I just need to keep breaking it in, if there is something they can do, or if it should go to S&W.