Yet another Colt M4 Ops 22lr review

[islandsnow]

Just picked up this plinker yesterday, and read that they work ok with the CCI Blazers, so picked up a few bricks for 22.xx. I shot about 250rds, all fired. At first I filled the 10rd mag to the top, right off the bat i had a FTF. so i ejected that and it still looked good so i used it and i filled my 2nd mag up to 8. And continued the rest of my shooting with 8rd filled mags. No other problems after that. All fed, ejected. I haven't adjusted the spring for high velocity, but the spring seemed to be adjusted almost for high velocity as it was pretty tight and i can tell screwed in farther then what it says in the manual. The mags fit in pretty tight and make sure you push them in all the way. Once i thought it was clicked in, but when i tried to load, i can see the bullet didn't catch LOL, so i pushed it in hard with a click and all was well. After the first few mags, i got used to pushing it in hard to make sure i clicked in. No problems feeding after that. Blast to shoot. Wasn't bad out of the box, must have been slightly high about 2" and 1" left, but groups were tight. Trigger pull felt tight and clean, not too heavy. Have to adjust the sights a little better next time. I have some winchester 333's i will try next time. But for cheap shooting, the blazers worked fine. I'll give it a clean up now. I have some CLP spray which i sprayed the gun with and wiped down before i shot today so cleaning up shouldn't be too bad. Barrel had a little residue when i swabed it this morning before i shot from the factory. So far so good though. Overall quality of the gun seems good. I have the typical tiny scratch or blemish here and there, but nothing overly obvious. The rear pin for breaking down is a bit hard, but with a rubber mallet and punch it's easy to break open. I will be picking up my SW MP 15-22 on monday, so i'll give a comparison next week. So far it's been fun. The only thing i probably don't like is the fake bolt release, i know i'll lose that sooner or later. Now to find someone to thread my mp15-22 barrel and i'm all good.

-Mark

[islandsnow]

Just got my S&W MP 15-22

Here's a pic of both my 22's. I had Randall (ar15barrels) fix up the MP today. He's a great guy, if you need any services on your rifles give him a PM. He fixed mine up and I'm really happy with the results and the speed he did it was amazing. Anyways, i'll post my review of the MP 15-22 a bit later. Just picked up some winchester 333 and super speed HP's and want to try these this weekend with both before i post the review. But I did install a JP yellow spring kit that i will report on also. Anyways, here's my pic.

[xxINKxx]

Good review. Glad these things are good. I used to see alot of poor reviews from random sites. But seems like genuine people on calguns give real feedback.

And depending on where you live, or if you wanna deal with shipping the parts out, Randall (ar15 barrels, L.A area) is the man to go to! He cut and threaded my barrel and its flawless!

[Malmon]

+1 for Randall of ar15barrels.

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?p=4051603#post4051603

[stitchnicklas]

i am going for the colt.....

[GM4spd]

i am going for the colt.....

I have a SIG 522 and it has worked flawlessly but I REALLY like the
looks of the COLT---the S&W? don't care for the looks or function
any 22 that comes with a LIST of ammo you can't use
Pete

[stitchnicklas]

found a store that sell colt m4 for 499 new!!! its in riverside,ca

[mag318]

Let us know after you shoot both if you have a preference. Owning both rifles I like the design and function of the S&W much better.

[islandsnow]

I'll let you guys know tomorrow, i should have time to get to the range and try both at the same time. I'd like to try the winchester 333 ammo as well as the winchester HP ammo, and cci blazers in the S&W as well.

Stich, check big 5's memorial day sale, if the colt is on sale, there is a 10% off coupon. If not, it's 20% off. It might be cheaper this way.


if you have problems try typing in the URL

http://images.emaildirect.com/Clients/Big5537/memDay/memorialDayCoupon.pdf

"http://images.emaildirect.com/Clients/Big5537/memDay/memorialDayCoupon.pdf"

or try the fatwallet link.

http://www.fatwallet.com/redirect/bounce.php?afsrc=1&mid=14911276&url=http://images.emaildirect.com/Clients/Big5537/memDay/memorialDayCoupon.pdf

[Shotgun Man]

Just picked up this plinker yesterday, and read that they work ok with the CCI Blazers, so picked up a few bricks for 22.xx. I shot about 250rds, all fired. At first I filled the 10rd mag to the top, right off the bat i had a FTF. so i ejected that and it still looked good so i used it and i filled my 2nd mag up to 8. And continued the rest of my shooting with 8rd filled mags. No other problems after that. All fed, ejected. I haven't adjusted the spring for high velocity, but the spring seemed to be adjusted almost for high velocity as it was pretty tight and i can tell screwed in farther then what it says in the manual. The mags fit in pretty tight and make sure you push them in all the way. Once i thought it was clicked in, but when i tried to load, i can see the bullet didn't catch LOL, so i pushed it in hard with a click and all was well. After the first few mags, i got used to pushing it in hard to make sure i clicked in. No problems feeding after that. Blast to shoot. Wasn't bad out of the box, must have been slightly high about 2" and 1" left, but groups were tight. Trigger pull felt tight and clean, not too heavy. Have to adjust the sights a little better next time. I have some winchester 333's i will try next time. But for cheap shooting, the blazers worked fine. I'll give it a clean up now. I have some CLP spray which i sprayed the gun with and wiped down before i shot today so cleaning up shouldn't be too bad. Barrel had a little residue when i swabed it this morning before i shot from the factory. So far so good though. Overall quality of the gun seems good. I have the typical tiny scratch or blemish here and there, but nothing overly obvious. The rear pin for breaking down is a bit hard, but with a rubber mallet and punch it's easy to break open. I will be picking up my SW MP 15-22 on monday, so i'll give a comparison next week. So far it's been fun. The only thing i probably don't like is the fake bolt release, i know i'll lose that sooner or later. Now to find someone to thread my mp15-22 barrel and i'm all good.

-Mark

Thanks for the review, but WTH-- please try paragraphs, i.e., breaking up your thoughtful post into blocks of texts with white space between your cogent remarks.

It makes it easier for us old guys to read it. Plus, it is simply good form.

For a second there, I thought you username must be James Joyce.

[islandsnow]

Haha, okay i have noted your request. Next review i'll break it up a little LOL.

[islandsnow]

Shot both guns today, was super fun!

Okay just went to the range. Here's what i think LOL. Agree or disagree, it's just my opinion.

First opened the box of winchester 333 ammo. Decided to use the colt M4 first as I put about 500rds in it already. Flawless, 4 clips of ammo all shot and extracted fine and filled to the 10. It's a solid gun and for some reason doesn't feel fun, i'll explain in a bit. The 10rd magazines are great though, loads super easy with the button pulled down.

Next, loaded up the S&W MP15-22. Friggin who's the idiot who decided that the 10rd clips didn't need the pulldown button on the side. You get passed bullet 6 and it's friggin hard to load and my fingers feel worn down now. Ok, just my gripe of the day. But after that it was sweetness. The JP yellow spring kit was just fantastic. It's like half the pull of my colt. And that's what i meant above about the fun factor. This S&W trigger is great with the kit installed.

So next, i proceeded to zero the sights the best i could. Groups of course are great with both guns. With the light trigger pull, you get better results with the S&W i think. And for some reason, you get more shoulder feedback as well but it's still only a 22 so it's like nothing, but that little feedback and the more mechanical feeling of the S&W makes me like this gun more.

Okay, i'm not going to bash the S&W's FTE's about 15 times out of 300rds since i'm still breaking it in, but it happened more towards the beginning. Some of these FTE's caused FTF's about 3-4 times. The weird thing is the cases that do get jammed are all in weird positions, like backwards and stuff. A couple of times i could see that an OOB could occur because of this. But with about 290 good shots with it, i'm going to let that go for now. I do have serial # DTX, so not too impressed with the extractor fix.

Went back to the colt, all mags fired again flawlessly. But at first i thought the safety was on because the trigger felt so stiff LOL. Another + for the JP kit. The colt sorely needs something equivalent. So i would say, so far reliability wise, the Colt is hands down more reliable. So far it shot CCI's and Winchesters perfectly. Only shot Winchesters through the S&W, but had FTE's. Will try the blazers in it next week if i can find something to load the mags easier.

But all in all, both guns have been a blast to shoot. Here's a pic of my targets. the colt is on the left, the S&W was on the right. The tops are first shooting the colt, then the SW on the right, while i was zeroing it. The bottom left is the colt again after i shot the S&W, and the bottom right is after i zero'd the S&W. I wasn't zero'ing the colt, only the SW so i wasn't trying as hard with the colt. But you can see still not bad at 25yds. I'm a hack shot anyway, just do this for fun.

target.jpg

-Mark

[islandsnow]

Here's a link to the yellow JP spring kit that i installed. You can do it in less then 5 minutes.. it's easy, also there are youtube videos of trigger disassembly so it's cake. Makes a ton of difference for 9.99. I installed all 3 springs.. super easy. Also comes with instructions on what to polish to make it even smoother, but i didn't bother. It's nice as it is.

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=7582/Product/AR_15_REDUCED_POWER_SPRING_KIT

[L4D]

Here's a link to the yellow JP spring kit that i installed. You can do it in less then 5 minutes.. it's easy, also there are youtube videos of trigger disassembly so it's cake. Makes a ton of difference for 9.99. I installed all 3 springs.. super easy. Also comes with instructions on what to polish to make it even smoother, but i didn't bother. It's nice as it is.

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=7...WER_SPRING_KIT

How are you installing these AR-15 springs into this?

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showpost.php?p=2968532&postcount=6

[islandsnow]

Sorry for the confusion, if you read my previous post, it's for my S&W MP 15-22. If you know someone who has done a trigger job on the Colt M4 22lr let me know. It sorely needs lightening.