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RWVA says S&W M&P 15/22 is firing out of battery?


mreed911

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Just got this ahead of an Appleseed I was planning to attend (I'm having to move to another weekend).  Anyone else hear of this problem since the "blue spring" fix back in 2010/2011?

Quote

A Message from RWVA:

Dear Waco Appleseed Participants,

Safety is the top priority for Project Appleseed.  With that in mind, you need to be aware of the following:

Recently, a number of problems have come to light regarding the Smith & Wesson M&P 15/22 rifle.  We have observed a problem with the M&P 15/22 rifle firing out of battery.  In one instance, a participant received an injury requiring medical attention.  (The participant will be fine.)

We take this very seriously and are in contact with Smith & Wesson.  We anticipate S& amp;W to investigate and determine the appropriate corrective actions for their rifles.  Until this issue is resolved, our leadership has determined to suspend the use of the M&P 15/22 at Project Appleseed clinics.  

If you planned to attend the event with a M&P 15/22, please reply back so that we can provide a loaner rifle for you.   If you have any questions, you can also feel free to reply back to this message or contact me directly at TX@appleseedinfo.org.

Sincerely,

Mary Kaufman
Project Appleseed
Texas State Coordinator

Also found this referencing the same email: http://bearingarms.com/bob-o/2016/09/15/breaking-mp-1522s-banned-appleseed-events-battery-run-away-discharges/

Edited by mreed911
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Man, I have a high unkown amount of rounds through my MP15-22. When .22 was plentiful it wouldn't surprised me if I went through 20,000 to 30,000 a year for practice and Steel Challenge shoots. The only thing that ever broke was a extractor, and Ive never had a issue of firing out of battery, and I have put in a S3G trigger in mine.

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S&W says Through our testing, Smith & Wesson has also found that there are several brands and types of .22LR ammunition that do not perform consistently or reliably. Consequently, Smith & Wesson DOES NOT RECOMMEND that the following brands or types of .22LR ammunition be used in your M&P15-22 rifle: • Remington Golden Bullet • Remington Thunderbolt • Remington Target 22 • Winchester Wildcat • Any and all sub-sonic brands and types Please call Smith & Wesson Customer Service at 1-800-331- 0852 ext. 2905 if you have any questions regarding the recommended ammunition and maintenance of your M&P15-22 rifle.

straight from the manual , i wonder if these instances have a common denominator.  

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  • 3 weeks later...

The ammo recommendations aren't in the newer manuals. FWIW, I've fed my 15-22 just about every brand of ammo out there during steel matches, plinking at the range, etc, without any issues.

OOB, etc happen with every type of rimfire weapon out there at one time or another. It seems like, in this case, they decide to pick on the 15-22 because someone got hurt.

There's a huge thread on this over on the Smith & Wesson forums.

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On 9/16/2016 at 4:12 PM, Makdaddy said:

S&W says Through our testing, Smith & Wesson has also found that there are several brands and types of .22LR ammunition that do not perform consistently or reliably. Consequently, Smith & Wesson DOES NOT RECOMMEND that the following brands or types of .22LR ammunition be used in your M&P15-22 rifle: • Remington Golden Bullet • Remington Thunderbolt • Remington Target 22 • Winchester Wildcat • Any and all sub-sonic brands and types Please call Smith & Wesson Customer Service at 1-800-331- 0852 ext. 2905 if you have any questions regarding the recommended ammunition and maintenance of your M&P15-22 rifle.

straight from the manual , i wonder if these instances have a common denominator.  

I've had a total of 1 out of battery detonation with a 15-22, over at least 4 years of Steel Challenge shooting.  Ironically, it was a few rounds after I thought to myself "this is silly using hearing protection for a .22"  Well, I got the answer quickly.

It was probably because the chamber was a bit dirty.  But the take away is that the 15-22 can fire OOB.  Don't know that it's any more likely with this rifle than another .22, but it can happen.  Likely?  No, I doubt it.

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On ‎10‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 11:29 AM, STIboy said:

I've had a total of 1 out of battery detonation with a 15-22, over at least 4 years of Steel Challenge shooting.  Ironically, it was a few rounds after I thought to myself "this is silly using hearing protection for a .22"  Well, I got the answer quickly.

It was probably because the chamber was a bit dirty.  But the take away is that the 15-22 can fire OOB.  Don't know that it's any more likely with this rifle than another .22, but it can happen.  Likely?  No, I doubt it.

Any rimfire can fire OOB - heck, we had a brand new Beretta Neos .22 fire OOB Sunday at our Steel Challenge match...

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On 10/10/2016 at 11:29 AM, STIboy said:

I've had a total of 1 out of battery detonation with a 15-22, over at least 4 years of Steel Challenge shooting.  Ironically, it was a few rounds after I thought to myself "this is silly using hearing protection for a .22"  Well, I got the answer quickly.

It was probably because the chamber was a bit dirty.  But the take away is that the 15-22 can fire OOB.  Don't know that it's any more likely with this rifle than another .22, but it can happen.  Likely?  No, I doubt it.

I also use my S&W 15/22 in steel challenge and cycle through 8-10 different mags, mixing shorts and long mags and have never had an issue of any kind. I use Mini-Mags for matches , i'd be curious to know what your ammo was when the OOB occurred as well as what was used at the Appleseed match. I would ask Appleseed directly, but don't want to receive a 3 page letter of disdain from fudder-nation.

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1 hour ago, Makdaddy said:

I also use my S&W 15/22 in steel challenge and cycle through 8-10 different mags, mixing shorts and long mags and have never had an issue of any kind. I use Mini-Mags for matches , i'd be curious to know what your ammo was when the OOB occurred as well as what was used at the Appleseed match. I would ask Appleseed directly, but don't want to receive a 3 page letter of disdain from fudder-nation.

FWIW, I've ran Federal Auto Match, Federal HV Match, Aguila HV, American Eagle, CCI Mini-Mag, and CCI AR Tactical (and multiple combinations thereof) through my 15-22 at steel challenge and had zero issues with it.

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3 hours ago, Makdaddy said:

I also use my S&W 15/22 in steel challenge and cycle through 8-10 different mags, mixing shorts and long mags and have never had an issue of any kind. I use Mini-Mags for matches , i'd be curious to know what your ammo was when the OOB occurred as well as what was used at the Appleseed match. I would ask Appleseed directly, but don't want to receive a 3 page letter of disdain from fudder-nation.

I got the OOB at the range, not during a match, so I have no idea what I was using at the time.  More likely something not known to be especially reliable.  At Steel Challenge I tend to use Eley Club and CCI standard velocity.  Neither have given me any issue at all.

Given how dirty .22LR ammo generally is, I wonder how much of the issue is just poor maintenance...

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2 hours ago, STIboy said:

I got the OOB at the range, not during a match, so I have no idea what I was using at the time.  More likely something not known to be especially reliable.  At Steel Challenge I tend to use Eley Club and CCI standard velocity.  Neither have given me any issue at all.

Given how dirty .22LR ammo generally is, I wonder how much of the issue is just poor maintenance...

I'd say you're probably right on about maintenance.

I've read a lot of reports of Remington Thunderbolt causing OOBs and blowing out extractors in the 15-22, also.

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  • 3 months later...

Never had an out of battery issue in mine, but did have extremely heavy leading with Remington Thunderbolts. I think after a few quick strings of fire it melts the bullets that you leave chambered for any length of time. Haven't really tested my theory, but that's about all I can figure to explain the amount of leading I've had with those.

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