Reliability

[Swab Jockey]

I purchased a new M&P 15-22 last fall with three 25 round magazines, but no 10 rounders were available locally at that time. And of course, they still aren't.

I field stripped it when I got home and wiped it off and put it back together. I have spent many sessions at the range, firing CCI Blazers, rotating the three mags so they bore an equal amount of wear. I ran 2600 rounds of Blazer before I ran out and switched to Federal Champion and ran those until I ran out. I'm now at exactly 3400 rounds and I have NEVER cleaned it. I have had three failures to fire that all went off on the second attempt. No failures to feed or eject, ever!

I never would have expected this kind of service from a semi-auto blow back .22 rf.

When ammo becomes readily available again I plan to continue this test. If I hit 5000 I'm not sure what I'll do, continue or give it a good cleaning. It sure deserves it.

This is the honest truth so help me.

 

[rwsmith]

If you do that

If you do hit 5000 I'd send a testimonial to S&W.

 

[Lorelei]

I'm well over 1000 rounds myself, and have only had it a couple of weeks. I haven't even threatened it with any cleaning. Still batting 1000 in all respects. Now I wonder why I ever got rid of the first one I had.

 

[Beuford T. Rimfire]

Your ammo failures, considering they fired on the second cycle, sound like they could be from a different lot of ammo. I've seen that be the case with bulk ammo in the past. Brand-X ammo fired fine for 2000+ rounds, then I get a box of 500 that have periodic primer failures. Your problems may have nothing to do with the gun's cleanliness. I rarely clean my rifle compared to the amount of time/rounds I spend shooting, also.

 

[Magicmonger]

I purchased a new M&P 15-22 last fall with three 25 round magazines, but no 10 rounders were available locally at that time. And of course, they still aren't.

I field stripped it when I got home and wiped it off and put it back together. I have spent many sessions at the range, firing CCI Blazers, rotating the three mags so they bore an equal amount of wear. I ran 2600 rounds of Blazer before I ran out and switched to Federal Champion and ran those until I ran out. I'm now at exactly 3400 rounds and I have NEVER cleaned it. I have had three failures to fire that all went off on the second attempt. No failures to feed or eject, ever!

I never would have expected this kind of service from a semi-auto blow back .22 rf.

When ammo becomes readily available again I plan to continue this test. If I hit 5000 I'm not sure what I'll do, continue or give it a good cleaning. It sure deserves it.

This is the honest truth so help me.

Very nice, those are the same rounds I'm firing through mine. I mostly possess the Federal Champion rounds...

 

[SpicyTunaRoll]

i bought it brand new, took it apart, cleaned it, lubed it, and took it to the range for the first time this weekend, and after about 250 rounds or so, not a single issue.
i used cci mini mags to dial in the sights, then remington golden bullets, and some junk remington that the range had to really test everything out. I LOVE THIS RIFLE. not a single hiccup. my gf shot it and too didnt experience any issues. (she loves it btw, seems to be adopting it as "hers" all of a sudden)

i must admit that i do come home and clean the **** out of all my weapons after they are fired. the army instilled that OCD into me lol

PS:
anyone else seeing newly acquired 22lr ammo that has the bullet turning/moving in its casing? i bought a bunch of remington 22's at the range and in one box - a bullet fell out of the casing competently. in another box they all spun inside their casing as i was loading them. seems like these companies are working triple over-time and not paying attention to quality. (but its understandable at this period)

 

[Rook82]

i must admit that i do come home and clean the **** out of all my weapons after they are fired. the army instilled that OCD into me lol

PS:
anyone else seeing newly acquired 22lr ammo that has the bullet turning/moving in its casing? i bought a bunch of remington 22's at the range and in one box - a bullet fell out of the casing competently. in another box they all spun inside their casing as i was loading them. seems like these companies are working triple over-time and not paying attention to quality. (but its understandable at this period)

I have seen that on some ammo too. The worst is some Winchester Xpert hv. Rounds haven't fallen out of the casings, but spin easily. But that is actually a bulk pack I have had for some time. None of the stuff I have bought recently has been any worse. But all I have found in the past few months is CCI mini mags and bulk 525 round Federals. Both work very well. I got my 15-22 about 1.5 months ago. I had a few thousand rounds of Mini mags still on hand. I have a bunch of other 22's. Bought most of it to try and get a Sig 220 (.22lr conversion) working properly (never did). Most of my other 22's I just use what i can find as I have revolvers and lever actions that will fire anything. I was saving the Mini mags for something semi auto. They do work perfect but so do the Federals for a lot less cost. The lose rounds in the casings is annoying though even if it doesn't seem to affect much of anything. Never had that on any center fires I own and am not sure if it is normal for a rim fire?