M&P 15-22 upgrades

[icentropy]

Yeah i know it's not designed for accuracy, if i wanted accurate i should get a 10/22 and spend $500 on upgrades...yada yada. Lets not make this about whether i purchased the right rifle, lets make it about how good can we make this rifle (for all of us who bought one and don't have a dedicated tack driver 10/22 sitting in their safe)

I just did the PPT for it today, so i'm just passing the next 10 days looking at what goodies i can buy for it while I wait.

Has anyone done a free-floating barrel conversion on their M&P using this handguard converter? I want to use the rifle for appleseeds and i hear that the plastic handguards can flex a lot and drastically affect the POI.

Seems like from what i've read, the three most important things to change to make it more accurate would be the barrel, trigger and maybe to free float the barrel? This sound true? Looks like the handguard adapter is available, the trigger can be swapped out for a better AR trigger and we just have to wait for someone to make a good bull barrel for it?

I'm also looking for a good (cheap - but good enough for rimfire) optic to mount on it. Thinking about something in the realm of Primary Arms. What have you guys used?

Use for the rifle......appleseeds, squirrels, bench shooting for fun, plinking.

[triggs75]

Primary arms is a great option for this gun. I have one on mine and it holds just fine. You should look at the S&W forum as the people on that site are the ones that have a lot of reviews on those converters and special parts for the 15-22

Chad

[damon1272]

The barrel is free floated from the factory. You can easily remove the cover at the end as it just snaps in. As for a heavy barrel, I would not want more wieght hanging off of the plastic reciever. USe of a different type handguard would be nice but I have a hard time choking down the price for a new free float tube and the adapter for a plastic .22 rifle. Do not get me wrong I really like mine but at some point you have to say when. A better grip is a nice addition. I tried a RRA match two stage trigger and t did not work on my rifle. Sounds like the single stage match triggers work though.

[DTS]

As for your optics, i was told 22s has less kicks than some of the paint ball or airsoft
so any optics, red dots...etc would work just fine.

I am on my 10days wait too... but for a GSG522
LOL

Good luck with yours

[doc1buc]

I got the Vortex strikefire red dot for mine. I think I got it for 150.

[BANG BANG]

I have a primary arms M4 red dot on mine. Holds zero for 25 yards no problem. I plan on taking a rimfire carbine class next April mine

[saber]

I shot my M&P 15-22 at an Appleseed and did pretty well with it. I didn't qualify as a rifleman but got pretty close. If you want to shoot an Appleseed with it, I would suggest the following:

1.) Red dots aren't the best for precise shooting. I would suggest getting a scope with some magnification since some of the targets are pretty small even at 25 yards.

2.) If you do shoot an Appleseed, get some of the smaller magazines since you do a lot of prone shooting and the larger magazines will get in the way.

3.) Get a good sling which helps with the shooting, especially prone.

The problem I ran into on my Appleseed wasn't the rifle's accuracy, it was the timing. There was one stage where I couldn't get all my shots off in the time alloted.

If you want a rifle that you will rebuild, then I would suggest getting a 10/22. For what it does, the 15-22 is fine as it is. It will never be a bench rest 22 and never will be. But it is fine exactly as it is.

[tomd1584]

how accurate do you want to be? Im a pretty good shooter, and my S&W shoots better than me.

The gun is plenty accurate right out the box. especially if you're going to add a red dot, it will be MORE than accurate.

[icentropy]

If you do shoot an Appleseed, get some of the smaller magazines since you do a lot of prone shooting and the larger magazines will get in the way.

Are you not allowed to use the long mags as a tripod with your elbows when in prone. I learned that at a 3-gun class and it worked very well for us.

[icentropy]

how accurate do you want to be? Im a pretty good shooter, and my S&W shoots better than me.

The gun is plenty accurate right out the box. especially if you're going to add a red dot, it will be MORE than accurate.

Yeah for anything other than bench shooting, i'm sure the rifle is more accurate than i am, but since this is my only dedicated .22LR, i thought it'd be cool to see how good of a bench gun it could become as well. I know it won't become a "tack driver" I know there are much better guns for that, but wouldn't it be neat to see how accurate it could get?

[scootle]

What distance are you thinking of shooting with your 15-22? I'm a pretty new shooter and the day I sighted in the optic (primary arms M4 clone) at 25 yards (indoor), I was able to keep the 5-shot groups at 1" or under w/o much effort with the rifle sitting on the GripPod that I added. I've been shooting only CCI mini-mag 40gr through it so far.

Some people have put up photos on the S&W 15-22 forum that I frequent showing sub-1" groups at 25 yards easily while testing out different ammo. I do not believe I have ever seen someone park the rifle on a full rest and bench test it for mechanical accuracy though.

I haven't tried the 15-22 out at 50yds just yet... spent today with my new Savage Mk II TR on the 50yd range instead.

I would suspect, as usual in most cases, shooter technique will be more a driver with the rifle than any flexing people might assume happens with the barrel -> polymer connection. I'm hoping to try my hand at an Appleseed with the 15-22 at some point... although it is so very tempting to just build a LTR from a Marlin 795 next time they go on sale...

[wsmc27]

We have run our 15-22 several different ways. Stock irons, a bolt on carry-handle style rear sight, a cheapo (Barska from Amazon) 3x9 scope and a cheapo (NC Star) red dot.

It's worked great in all configs...for the several tactical courses my step-son has run with it we kept the bolt-on carry handle style irons. He pings the 100 meter steel easily from prone.

We added the JP spring kit (from Midway at http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct...tnumber=579878 ) to stock trigger, a nice easy to do low cost upgrade that any 15-22 shooter will appreciate. We learned of it from Calgunner "Islandsnow" who had posted up a lot of great info on several different .22's a while back.

We haven't had any flex issues, but are not shooting bench too much, tho we have run it at 100 and 200yds down at Dulzura a few times with the scope.

Great little rifle, OP you are sure to enjoy it. Congrats.

[icentropy]

We added the JP spring kit (from Midway at http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct...tnumber=579878 ) to stock trigger, a nice easy to do low cost upgrade that any 15-22 shooter will appreciate.

Oh, that looks like a good idea. It's on backorder now so i guess i'll put my order in now and see when they ship.

I also just ordered a Sightmark Sure Shot Reflex Sight SM13003B from Optics planet for $48. got decent reviews so we'll see how it holds up. I went with the exposed type of Red Dot cause i also want to try it out on my G21 and see if it'll hold up to the 10MM recoil on a mako mount.

Has anyone used 60gr Aquila SSS in the 15-22? do they keyhole or fly straight? I like that round for the CMMG .22LR conversion kits in my ARs. it'd be nice if it worked in the 15-22 as well.

[saber]

Regarding shooting prone, you can certainly use the longer mags at Appleseeds.

The way they teach you to shoot prone is get a little lower than most people do and use a sling. It was difficult for me to shoot with the rifle slung while in prone with the longer magazines.

You might not have any problems at all but I found it easier to use the shorter magazines in the various shooting positions.

[MrPlink]

Jp yellow springs are probably the best thing you can do for this gun. Really just sharpens the trigger.

After that id say dump the A2 pistol grip but I feel that way on all AR patterns.

You could run an airsoft-replica optic with your 22 just fine, unless you have a complete POS, it should hold zero. I had one on mine (eotech 512 style) , but I got rid of it since I found it a bit too washed out in very bright light, and being that I almost always shoot out doors, I didn't want an optic that I couldn't use during the summer months.

I've got a real eotech on mine now, but I already had one sitting arround, save for a precision bolt rifle, I'm not fond of optics that cost nearly as much as the gun its going on.

If I had to purchase a new optic for it, I would probably get a vortex sparc, if not primary arms.