Official S&W MP-15 22 thread

**djegators** · 04-27-11, 21:14

I have put several thousand rounds through my 15-22 now, with a variety of ammo, and it still functions great. It seems to prefer CCI Stingers, but they are a bit pricey. I have a few bulk boxes of Winchester Xpert HV, and those shoot almost as well.

Oh, and I had a great experience at a steel plate shoot a few weeks ago. Never done one of these before, but the S&W performed quite well, with the exception of a few new mags that I failed to vet before the shoot. I have a AFG on the rail, and I borrowed a H1 from another of my ARs, and I ended up with a very fast steel shooter.

**DYI01** · 04-28-11, 19:06

I got my 15-22 about 3 weeks ago and I am pretty much done with it now. I had most of the furniture previously that I had from another AR build. I had an MOE stock that felt too light to me IMO so I added the ACS for some extra weight. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked the cheek weld, it's definitely a keeper. It has 2 bricks of Federal 550 bulk and 1 brick of Winchester 555 bulk through it already. I love this little rifle, it brings a smile to my face every time I shoot it

With it's big brothers.

**usmcvet** · 04-28-11, 19:19

Nicely set up. I want your chair!

**why1504** · 04-30-11, 11:08

I am a devoted fan of the Ruger 10-22. I got my S&W 15-22 a week ago and got to the range 5 days ago. My current 10-22 is a custom job I built up. It is an absolute tack driver (10 shots inside a nickel @ 50 yards regardless of ammo).

The S&W is not as accurate as my 10-22 (no surprise) but it is a bit more accurate than a base 10-22.

It is very light and extremely fun to shoot. Normally I am not real accurate with iron sights but with the iron I could put 20 rounds in a double fist at 50 yards. For me, that qualifies as excellent. I plan to install a cheap halo sight on the gun soon. I had no failures in 400 rounds of Federal ammo. I am very happy with this gun.

For me, this gun fulfills a different role than a 10-22. My 10-22 is more of a "serious" weapon where the 15-22 is more of a "fun gun". If I was to compare new base model 10-22 I would choose the S&W every day. I feel replacing the barrel on the current production 10-22 is often required for accuracy reasons. My 15-22 is as accurate as a 10-22 from 20 years ago.

**Dienekes** · 05-01-11, 12:59

After stalling around all winter I sprung for a 15-22 the other day. My claimed "need" for it is that it will be a practical subcaliber understudy for the AR and cut my ammo expenses (even though I handload 5.56). Have been doing that with a Colt Conversion unit and M18 S&W for 30+ years so it's nothing new.

No ACOG for this one ($) but a Bushnell TRS-25 RDS looks like it will suffice for what I need. Reduced 100 yd. targets at 50 yards and under have worked nicely for drills and I don't anticipate shooting .22LR at longer distances for now. We'll see. The trigger is usable but will probably get upgraded.

Have had it out twice now and even with the irons it is in a category all its own.

I think this "tactical .22" business is only going to grow; a forum category for 15-22s only would be a good thing IMHO.

**dan1775** · 05-01-11, 20:04

Originally Posted by An Undocumented Worker

Does anyone make a front site tower/gasblock sight that will clamp onto the barrel of the 15-22?

I ask this because I would like to improve the acuracy of mine while using Iron sights and a sling. For some reason, at least in my mind having the front sight on a plastic rail is less than optimal for consistent accuracy.

I have firsthand experience with this problem. I decided the 15-22 was to be my Appleseed rifle and started practicing with a shooting sling. I'm not a world-class shooter, but even by my standards my shooting was horrendous. My 15-22 will put 10 rounds of Wolf Match into 1" at 25 yards off a rest, and slinged from prone I was shooting 4-5" - 16-20 MOA! From the prone! Also my groups (such as they were) were low and left.

My conclusion was same as yours; the rifle is shooting poorly due to the sling pressure either causing misalignment between the rail-mounted sights and the barrel, or changing the POI. Probably a combination of both along with the sling pressure vectors varying from shot to shot.

I decided to get the front sight off the rail, but the problem is that the 15-22 barrel is a non-standard diameter - something on the order of 0.700" or thereabouts, vs 0.750" for the standard profile AR. I simply used bushings made of DOM tubing. I forget the exact measurement but once the bushings were on the barrel the diameter was very close to 0.750".

I mounted a YHM railed gas block to the barrel with a riser and a Troy fixed BUIS front sight.

Of course, after all this work and expense, I decided to use a 10-22 for Appleseed. Let me know if you want a more detailed explanation of the procedure.

**An Undocumented Worker** · 05-11-11, 19:19

Originally Posted by dan1775

I have firsthand experience with this problem. I decided the 15-22 was to be my Appleseed rifle and started practicing with a shooting sling. I'm not a world-class shooter, but even by my standards my shooting was horrendous. My 15-22 will put 10 rounds of Wolf Match into 1" at 25 yards off a rest, and slinged from prone I was shooting 4-5" - 16-20 MOA! From the prone! Also my groups (such as they were) were low and left.

My conclusion was same as yours; the rifle is shooting poorly due to the sling pressure either causing misalignment between the rail-mounted sights and the barrel, or changing the POI. Probably a combination of both along with the sling pressure vectors varying from shot to shot.

I decided to get the front sight off the rail, but the problem is that the 15-22 barrel is a non-standard diameter - something on the order of 0.700" or thereabouts, vs 0.750" for the standard profile AR. I simply used bushings made of DOM tubing. I forget the exact measurement but once the bushings were on the barrel the diameter was very close to 0.750".

I mounted a YHM railed gas block to the barrel with a riser and a Troy fixed BUIS front sight.

Of course, after all this work and expense, I decided to use a 10-22 for Appleseed. Let me know if you want a more detailed explanation of the procedure.

First off what is DOM tubing. And appleseed shoots are exactly why I want to move the front sight to the barrel. Though I may end up going with a CZ 512

**dan1775** · 05-11-11, 23:31

DOM = Drawn Over Mandrel. It's mild steel tubing made by, I guess, drawing sheet steel over a mandrel. I used 0.750" OD with a wall thickness of 0.035". Cost me $4 for a foot.

It was a pretty easy modification, really.

Cut the bushings to the length of the clamps on the gas block.

Cut a slit in the bushing so it will spread.

File the end of the bushing and hit it with some touch-up black.

Insert bushing in gas block and field-expedient some sort of spreader for the clamp (I used a flat-blade screwdriver in each clamp).

Remove the flash hider, slide the gas block on, scratch the hell out of your barrel, realize you should have spread the clamps more. Apply more touch-up black.

Remove spreaders, align the block with the rail and tighten - Voila!

Undocumented, look for a PM from me.