Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22 quick review.

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Roadking Larry

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Sunday I had taken my youngest grandson down to the range for his late but 1st shooting lesson. He's 10 but small for his size. I have a Crickett .22 that I got when the oldest grandson was small enough for it but I've never been happy with the sights on the darn thing and currently finding a scope and mounts for it is a no-go. Youngest wasn't having much luck with the Crickett, mostly due I believe to the poor quality sights. I put him on my scoped Henry .22 and he managed to ring the 8" plate 10/10 from the bench at 25 yards off a sandbag. The Henry is just too long for him to properly manage though.
Looked for a Scope and mount for the Crickett I could find a mount but no soup on a scope I would put on it.
Got to get the tykes shooting.
Adapt. Improvise. Overcome!

Picked up up a new Smith and Wesson M&P 15-22 with a S&W red dot yesterday.

https://www.smith-wesson.com/product/mp-15-22?sku=12722
I had seen several of these on the rack at my favorite gun store a couple of weeks ago but only paid them a passing thought. I had watched a handful of youtube video reviews on them and they were all pretty positive.
I've got a M&P 15 Sport II that I really like and have had zero issues with so based on that and my irrational fondness for S&W stuff I decided the grandkids needed a new training tool.

My range is wet and muddy today so I only ran 100 rounds of mixed ammo through it, top shelf stuff to bargain bin stuff and it didn't miss a beat. The S&W branded sight was easy to zero, managed it in about 6 rounds off the sand bag. This was my first time using a red dot sight and I'm pretty solidly hooked on the concept.

It came with 1 25 round magazine and I picked up a 2nd because you can't have just one. The magazines are a little pricey at $24 a copy and are proprietary. I'll likely pick up at least a couple more just to have them.

This model also did not come with "iron" sights so I will be adding a set of Magpul flip up sights to it in the next week or so.
The forearm is Magpul Mlock compatible. I picked up a front sling mount for it and may add a forward grip.

All controls are fully AR platform compatible, safety, charging handle, bolt release and magazine release, so I think it should be a pretty good AR training platform at a much lower cost per round.

It was just plain fun to shoot. Light, easy to handle and the red dot sight made for quick target acquisition when switching targets.

 

beardking

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It came with 1 25 round magazine and I picked up a 2nd because you can't have just one. The magazines are a little pricey at $24 a copy and are proprietary. I'll likely pick up at least a couple more just to have them.
One thing I'll definitely advise is to stick with the S&W magazines when you buy extras. Plinker Tactical makes one for the 15-22 and I had a couple of those and they were the absolute worst magazines I've ever used. Jammed all the time and they were a pain to load because they don't have the side button that the S&W mags have.
 

James Abram

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When I first got mine I was a little concerned about the plastic receiver, but no issues after thousands of rounds. Put a Sparrow on it and you’ll have a backyard varmint shooter as quiet as a pellet gun. The one gun that makes everyone giggle.
 

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Ready_fire_aim

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Cool! You will continue to like it. I’d encourage anybody who is interested in the M&P 15-22 to go ahead and get one.

I’ve had mine for a couple years now. I love it! Very very reliable. Much more reliable than my old marlin model 60 with much less care and cleaning. I only run the S&W mags, they are great. It can be ammo picky.. mine doesn’t like federal 40gr solid. But it runs fine with 90% of what I feed it

I set mine up simple with a sling, cheap red-dot, and a compact pistol light mounted. It is my favorite night time varmint buster! (Rural area) Chicken coop invaders don’t stand a chance.
 

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