New S&W M&P 15-22

[Big Dog]

S&W M&P15-22: A .22 LR Tactical Rifle (http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2009/01/20/sw-mp15-22-a-22-lr-tactical-rifle/)

Looks like fun .............. scheduled out in July and will have an MSRP of $499.99. Comes with a 25 round magazine.!

“In designing the new M&P15-22, our engineers pulled out all of the stops to develop the ultimate .22LR platform,” said Tom Kelly, Vice President of Marketing for Smith & Wesson. “The rifle’s operating features, functionality and durability are exactly what you would expect from any of Smith & Wesson’s tactical rifles. By remaining true to the standard AR-15 design while offering all of the preferred features found on the M&P Rifle Series, the M&P15-22 is well suited for a variety of recreational shooting applications while also being an extremely viable training firearm for law enforcement and military personnel. Shooters will find the M&P15-22 to be a great firearm for multiple uses with the reduced recoil and economical .22LR caliber ammunition.”

The rifle features:
* A3 style flat top upper receiver
* A2 front post sight
* A2 rear sight
* M4 style collapsible stock
* Quad rail handguard
Specs:
Barrel length: 16″
Magazine capacity: 25 rounds
Barrel twist: 1:15
Upper Receiver: A3
Weight: 5 lbs (unloaded)
Length: 31″ (stock collapsed)

(http://www.gunnuts-tng.com/2009/01/smith-wesson-mp-15-22-lr.html)
GunNuts (http://www.gunnuts-tng.com/2009/01/smith-wesson-mp-15-22-lr.html)

[Melensdad]

Oh No. An evil black plinker! That is so politically incorrect.

I just don't know what this world is coming to.

[Erik]

well, if it's built on a standard lower and takes regular AR mags, that's not a bad price considering the price of a .22lr conversion upper...

[Melensdad]

Personally I would not buy a 22lr AR15 without at least a bayonet lug so I could mount up a fighting knife. Now if it has a bayonet lug and a grenade launcher then I'd be jumping all over that thing. That would actually be tactically worthwhile, or at least as politically incorrect as I can figure out how to get!!!

I did notice the magazine it a totally new design for the 22lr conversions. It is neither the Ceiner style, nor the Olympic/Military style. But a new design with an exposed spring . . . I wonder if that can be retracted by hand to make loading the mag easier?

As it only weighs 5 pounds, I wonder if the whole gun, upper and lower, is plastic/polymer?

[Big Dog]

Personally I would not buy a 22lr AR15 without at least a bayonet lug so I could mount up a fighting knife. Now if it has a bayonet lug and a grenade launcher then I'd be jumping all over that thing. That would actually be tactically worthwhile, or at least as politically incorrect as I can figure out how to get!!!

I did notice the magazine it a totally new design for the 22lr conversions. It is neither the Ceiner style, nor the Olympic/Military style. But a new design with an exposed spring . . . I wonder if that can be retracted by hand to make loading the mag easier?

As it only weighs 5 pounds, I wonder if the whole gun, upper and lower, is plastic/polymer?

If you read the blog it does indicate some polymer!

[Melensdad]

If you read the blog it does indicate some polymer!

I'm going out on a limb and betting it is almost all tupperware. Upon close examination, the lower is not an interchangeable mil-spec lower. The buffer tube area is obviously different in shape, the trigger guard is molded into the lower, there are plenty of small subtle differences. I'd be half willing to bet that the free float rail system is also plastic.

NOW I AM NOT SAYING THIS IS BAD. I'm just pointing it out. I strongly suspect this is specifically made to LOOK like an AR15 but also NOT TO SHARE some critical parts making the gun non-interchangeable. That would allow them to use lower cost polymer injection molding and may make the gun immune to a future AWB?

[bczoom]

Bump.

Bought one awhile back and finally took it out last night.

I was getting several FTF's and FTE's but was living through it hoping a good cleaning would help this.

My son was shooting it and BOOM. It didn't sound like a .22 going off... more like a .45. He said "I don't know but it blew smoke out everywhere and hurt my finger". It was his off-hand finger which was on the side of the rifle. Blowback came out between the upper and lower and burned his finger.

I took it off his hands for inspection.

It was an out-of-breech firing. The round wasn't fully in the chamber yet it fired it anyway blowing the brass apart. The extractor blew apart and parts are missing.

Time to call S&W to get a return label...

BTW. I'd not heard of this but a google search for "M&P 15-22 explodes" or "M&P 15-22 OOB" shows this not an isolated event.

EDIT TO ADD: Called S&W. They're mailing me shipping labels so they can get it back to fix.

[PBinWA]

Heh, I saw this thread and thought that maybe S&W had improved the design since it had such a bad reputation. Turns out that BC was just affirming the bad reputation.

;)

[Melensdad]

Its my understanding that the Smith & Wesson and the Colts are the same gun. I know the Colt has a crappy reputation.

Personally I would prefer a dedicated 22lr upper instead of a dedicated 22lr gun. The price is more to do a mil-spec lower with a 22lr upper versus a dedicated 22lr gun, but I think its overall a better gun, better long term deal, and better for practice for when you shoot full power rounds.

[bczoom]

Everything I've heard is that when you send it off to S&W, it comes back significantly better than when purchased off the shelf. Not only do they fix whatever issue it was sent in for, they do whatever tweaking is needed to fix any historical issues they've had since they first came out with it.