Ten years ago I bought my first Smith & Wesson M&P15-22 and have been rock’n it ever since. In fact – I bought a second for my youngest. This semi-automatic, magazine-fed, AR-clone has served me extremely well. As the title of this post suggests I think it’s the best .22LR that is not the Ruger 10/22.

When thinking back to the many times I’ve shot the M&P15-22 the first thing that comes to mind is accuracy. I’ve never mounted an optic so the original factory open sights have been used exclusively. I cannot tell you my 100-yard group size, or 50 – or any other distance. I have shot this thing for fun and lots of it I have had. What I aim at I hit – or come pretty darn close. One time I was in Georgia at my brother’s place and we were shooting from approx 40 yards. The targets were a series of empty shotgun shells hanging by a string. Hitting the shells an average of 3 out of 5 shots was impressive to me especially using open sights. Most of the other shots flew by so close the shell would move. Bottom line: This gun will shoot better than I do.

Reliability has been excellent and near perfect with the lightweight carbine. I do not have an exact round count but I would estimate total rounds fired in excess of 5,000. Almost exclusively I’ve shot CCI brand ammunition from Blazers to Mini-Mags (both hollow point and solid). I have found the Mini-Mags to shoot extremely clean compared to other options – especially Remington Golden Bullets. Regardless – it’s a .22 and will get dirty quick. Failures have been extremely rare. I seem to remember 3 failures in the first few hundred rounds and then a few more approaching the 500 round mark. Since then? Maybe a couple stovepipes at over 4,000 rounds.  I actually lent the M&P15-22 to a buddy who used it in a tactical carbine class (trying to save money on ammo at the time) and he didn’t have one failure after firing around 300 rounds with no cleaning, and many rapid-fire drills.

I have quite a few factory S&W 25 round magazines and all have performed well. They are easy to load with the spring compression button on the side. I also have shot the Pro-Mag 32-round magazine and it has performed flawlessly.

Controls and ergonomics are all AR. Training with the M&P15-22 provides an affordable experience with magazine changes, bolt release, safety, working the action – and of course handling and shooting. It is a joy to shoot.

BOTTOM LINE: I highly recommend the Smith & Wesson M&P15-22 if you are in the market for a high-quality .22LR. It’s a great way to train for using the AR-family of firearms and introduce the AR to new shooters. From a survival perspective, the M&P15-22 certainly could collect small game. Couldn’t ask for much more.

“Gun control is being able to hit your target.”

Take care all – 

Rourke