The Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22 Semi-automatic Rifle

This was actually one of the first rifles that I purchased when my wife finally started letting me buy guns. She really never liked them around the house prior to a shooting in the neighborhood. These things will make someone have a different opinion of that pretty quick though. I really was interested in getting an AR-15 high capacity semi-automatic rifle, but my wife was just starting to warm up to the idea of guns in the house, so she said she would feel more comfortable with this .22 cal version. She said when I can clean it and handle it well she would be ok with me buying a real AR-15 or AK-47 rifle.

The Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22 is a semi-automatic rifle chambered in .22 caliber long rifle. It has a magazine capacity of 25 rounds and comes with one magazine. The barrel is 16 inches and has a twist to it like most rifles these days. Mine has a flash hider on it, but not all of them come with those as some states do not allow flash hiders on a rifle. The fiber reinforced polymer stock is adjustable to six positions for different size shooters. This is one feature my wife really likes. It is reasonably light at 5.5 lbs. This is about a pound less than the typical AR-15. I paid more than I should when I bought mine as I did not know better. I think I paid $470 for mine. You can find this gun online at places like Bud's gun shop for as low as $360 or less depending on the sale. I find that it is fairly accurate and have shot mine with a scope 100 yards and kept a relatively tight grouping.

Smith & Wesson obviously made this rifle to appeal to someone who is interested in the real AR-15, The M&P 15-22 is several hundred dollars cheaper and costs a lot less to feed when you factor in what ammunition will cost comparing .22 and the .223 Remington that the real version will require. The feel and features are not exactly like an AR-15, but there are similarities. The feel is pretty much the same aside from the fact that the AR-15 (I am basing my opinion on the exact Smith & Wesson AR-15 version of this rifle) is a little heavier. The trigger pull is about the same. You load them the same way. The only difference in loading is that the M&P 15-22 is a single stack magazine while the AR-15 is a double stack magazine. The sights are identical as well. As far as shooting it goes the AR-15 does have kick, but it's not like a shotgun or anything. I personally barely notice it, but the M&P15-22 has no kick at all. You can go to Wal-mart and buy 555 rounds of Winchester Ammo .22 calibers for under $20, but a box of 20 Remington .223 will cost at least $8 for target loads and much more for anything you would want to use for self defense.

I think this is a really nice rifle. It has two main purposes. The first is that it cost a lot less in ammo to practice shooting at the range than having to buy .223 Remington rounds. Another is that I believe they made it with younger shooters in mind learning to shoot. I know many people who started shooting at a young age. Here we have a high capacity, semi-auto rifle that also helps you learn to handle the real thing. The Smith & Wesson M&P15-22 also is really easy to break down and clean and gives you an idea of how to clean an AR-15. This is probably the best rifle in its class.

Thank you for reading

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Sources and further reading

http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CustomContentDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=750001&catalogId=750051&content=11001

www.budsgunshop.com