tips for new owners

[AK MIKE]

I agree with what your saying. This rifle should perform perfectly and they should make customers aware of what kind of ammo to cycle. I also think it's your responsiblity as a consumer to report a product, bad or good. So I agree with your statement. I think you might have just talked to the wrong person at smith or something. My personal experience with smith has been a positive one. It appears they fixed my rifle and gave me 2 free mags. Do I wish that I could load the mags faster with less care, YES! I think I have accepted the fact that this is no battle rifle. So, If I get 1 ftf in 350 rds or so I'm not gonna sweat it. If my AK had ONE ftf in 5000 rds I'd be losing my mind!!! I guess in the end, I wish you would give this another try when you get it back. This rifle is a ton of fun. Something I wouldn't want anybody to miss

I'll give it another try, sure. I never thought, when I bought the rifle, that is was going to be 100% reliable and I would never hold any firearm to that standard because it is impossible. The gun was supposed to be a Christmas present for my son, so it'll just be a bit late.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

I'll give it another try, sure. I never thought, when I bought the rifle, that is was going to be 100% reliable and I would never hold any firearm to that standard because it is impossible. The gun was supposed to be a Christmas present for my son, so it'll just be a bit late.

So you're not going to sell me the rifle and ammo now?

 

[AK MIKE]

So you're not going to sell me the rifle and ammo now?

Didn't think you were interested. You never got back to me. I sent you an email a couple of days ago. I'm still willing to sell it.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Didn't think you were interested. You never got back to me. I sent you an email a couple of days ago. I'm still willing to sell it.

Oh please... like I'm going to buy a rifle away from you and your son.... c'mon dude.... (and I was just playing anyway)

Keep the rifle and enjoy it with your son. You guys will have a blast. All the aggravation will be forgotten when you see the smile on your kids face.

 

[mag318]

The tips are well thought out and make sense. I was an early buyer of an M&P15-22, the first thing I did was read the owners manual where they cautioned about the correct way to load the magazine. Second, I cleaned and lubed the rifle before going to the range. Fired 100 rnds of CCI Mini Mags to break in then I was off to the races with Federal Bulk 550 and Federal 710s. My rifle has been flawless, and extemely accurate with the Federal 710s. I like this rifle so much I ordered a 2'nd one with the factory flash hider which I'll receive later this week. As with any new product some shooters have experienced teething problems, but S&W has top shelf customer service and they will fix any problems that arise.I think S&W really did their homework on the M&P15-22 and predict this will be one of their most highly sought products.

 

[AK MIKE]

Oh please... like I'm going to buy a rifle away from you and your son.... c'mon dude.... (and I was just playing anyway)

Keep the rifle and enjoy it with your son. You guys will have a blast. All the aggravation will be forgotten when you see the smile on your kids face.

He got a Sig522 for Christmas because of the unexpected trip to S&W for the M&P 15-22. I'm gonna keep the M&P 15-22 for both of us but if the right offer arises, the M&P will be headed out. As far as the ammo, it was donated to the ROTC shooting team. I know the instructor and he was willing to use it. He said that their pistols eat up anything.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

He got a Sig522 for Christmas because of the unexpected trip to S&W for the M&P 15-22.

Will you adopt me?

 

[AK MIKE]

I have spent alot of time away from my kids so when I'm around they get spoiled.

Sorry but I can't afford another mouth to feed. Uncle Sam doesn't pay OT.

 

[rip3000gt]

there has been an awful lot of complaints about the 15-22 and people getting upset that they have to send their gun in for service. i thought it may help to post a few helpful tips for new owners to look at before heading to the range for a possible disappointment. hopefully the more knowledgable here will add to my list.

basic tips
1. take your time loading your mags, make sure the rounds are staggered. if your mags aren't loaded correctly, you're asking for trouble and it's your own fault.
2. look at the position of your ejector relative to your bolt ( YouTube - Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22 Ejector (Extractor) Fix ) and adjust as necessary. i tweaked mine prior to firing.
3. use the right ammo. the consensus seems to be use anything other than remington.
4. clean your gun before shooting. just run a few patches (or a few pulls of a boresnake) with some basic cleaning agent to remove any excess grease/lube from the factory.

intermediate tips
5. take time to make a barrel removal tool ($6 dollars of PVC and 15 minutes) and make sure your barrel nut is tight. search forum for barrel nut tool and you get step by step instructions how.
6. take your barrel out and polish your feed ramp (i used a dremel tool with a cotton polishing point and some diamond compound to get a near mirror finish).

well, that's what i've done and with about 300 rounds through, i've had one FTF due to a poorly loaded mag. rapid fire, slow fire, it's all good.

enjoy your new toy and best of luck with it.

Great tips I just wanted to add one

CLEAN THE GUN as often and thoroughly as you possibly can!

my 15-22 is making the trip back to Smith due to an OOB and I contribute that to shooting too many rounds since cleaning. I was around 500 rounds that day and the gun was getting very dirty due to dirty ammo. Just before the OOB I had 2 FTE and then bang. The shells were getting stuck in the chamber due to dirt build up.

 

[~tc~]

How extensive a "cleaning" are you talking about?

Is running a bore snake down it every 50 or 100 rounds enough?

 

[jtrain63]

for the ejector fix video what direction is in? he said towards the top of camera when he was bending it. at the end of the video he said there should be very little clearance between the bolt and ejector. just a little confused of which way the clearance has now been decreased.

 

[Thomas_H]

Move it more towards the center-line of the bolt.

 

[rip3000gt]

How extensive a "cleaning" are you talking about?

Is running a bore snake down it every 50 or 100 rounds enough?

You probably don't need to do it that often but you could, and a bore snake only cleans the barrel, what I think needs to be cleaned most is the action, If you are running a bore snake down through i would assume you would also have the bolt out, so just rub the bolt with a few patches and clean off the excessive dirt then really clean it when you get done.

 

[Fishslayer]

Here is another way

Holy crap?!

Is that for real? I could see it, tho... photogs don't necessarily have to be gun users, but how many sets of eyes did that get by?

 

[tacticool22]

OMG. It probably loaded easier for the inexperienced photog.

 

[BELT_FED]

hey thats not funny my cuz married a guy who she wanted me to take out to teach him how to use his pistol he had just bought.. i allways thought he was a little slow but i showed him how to load the mags and what all the functions of the gun. we even stripped it and cleaned before we left the house to better inform him of its op. we walked up to the firing line and i unload a mag i turn and he is trying to force the mag in his gun... i said hold up you should neve have to force it... at a closer look he had put the mag in backwards... i guess i should have been more clear as to which end is the bullet and which end they come out of... my bad

 

[~tc~]

So heading to the range tomorrow with the new M&P15-22 and 22A. Running down the checklist to make sure it goes as well as possible!

Both guns cleaned and lubricated.

Ammo - Winchester 333 pack, CCi Minimag Roundnose, Federal Stinger

Mag loaded 1 bullet at a time and tapped to the back of the magazine.

Just want to be set up for best chance of success, any comments are welcome!

 

[mikehoncho]

good luck. give us a range report when you're done.

 

[~tc~]

Went to the range tonight with the M&P15-22 and 22A pistol.Had Winchester 333, CCi minimag, and Federal Spitfire. Over 400 rounds, no major problems.

Wasn't really counting, but had several fail to load with the Winchester. Looked like the bullet came out of the casing and jammed it up.

No issues with the others. Guns seemed pretty dirty afterwards, don't think I'll be getting the Winchester again.

Sights were significantly low and left, but a couple adjustments had them on.