Training & Teaching
By a .22 training rifle, I mean a gun chambered in .22 Long Rifle suitable for your personal practice. It needs to be reliable and geared toward the type of shooting that you normally do. If you are a hunter who shoots a centerfire bolt action, then your .22 trainer should be similar, just chambered in .22 Long Rifle so you can get practice without the cost of shooting your hunting rig.
Related Review: KelTec SU-22 – Versatile Folding Tactical Trainer
As the most popular rifle in America, it's likely you have an AR-15. But do you shoot it enough to maintain proficiency? Shooting .223 is expensive. Having a rifle that has all the characteristics of your self-defense gun but costs a fraction to shoot, is a very useful thing. Nothing beats time behind the gun. If you can get good by only shooting .22 LR, why not?
In addition, you’ll have a rifle set up to introduce new shooters to the wonderful world of firearms. The .22 LR round is a time-honored way of initiating newbies. I think it is every firearms enthusiast’s duty to help spread the word.
Several companies offer .22 LR ARs, but this Smith & Wesson is the most popular. That’s probably because the 15-22 is affordable, reliable, accurate, and lightweight.
Test Rifle
This one comes from the Guns.com certified used inventory. It arrived with an EoTech holographic sight, and I added a Holosun magnifier for shooting at distance.
This slightly older model sports a polymer 10-inch quad Picatinny rail. I don’t think Smith & Wesson still offers this handguard, as its current guns have mostly M-LOK rails. There are several different models with varying barrel lengths and accessories, but all basically work and are built the same.
The upper and lower are polymer, making for a light package. This 16-inch barreled model is only 4 pounds, 5 ounces.
Some might say for a true .22 trainer, you want everything identical to your fighting rifle. There are .22 trainers with aluminum receivers that more closely match the weight and transition characteristics of a true AR-15, but I think that’s splitting hairs. I mean, you still are only shooting .22 Long Rifle. The 15-22 is a close clone, and spending more money for a more exact clone is unnecessary. Don’t sweat the details too much – just go out and train.
Features
On the Smith & Wesson, even the buffer tube is polymer, and interestingly, completely solid. There is no need for a buffer spring since the action is your basic direct blowback design that’s totally contained in the bolt.
The barrel has a lightweight profile and is nitrided. It is not free-floated on this model, although I can’t speak for later iterations. It’s also threaded and comes with an A1 flash hider. I’ve installed my personal Tac65 suppressor, because nothing is better than shooting .22 Long Rifle suppressed.
The controls are traditional AR-15 controls. The grip is a traditional A2, and the stock is your traditional six-position mil-spec. The internals are also standard. I suspect all the parts can be interchanged with AR-15 parts, even the trigger. The factory trigger is a good mil-spec-feeling, single-stage trigger with a 4-pound break. There is some creep, but the break and reset are better than average.
The proprietary magazines come in 25-rounders and 10-rounders. They work very well. There is a last round bolt hold-open and loading tabs to help when reloading the magazine. The side cutout allows you to always see your ammo count.
Disassembly is exactly like a normal AR-15, except the bolt is different and the charging handle is shorter.
Shooting Impressions
Performance-wise, I don’t think you could ask for more. Consistent with its reputation, the 15-22 was dead reliable. I didn’t have any malfunctions despite using a few different brands of ammo and shooting with a suppressor, but I did only use quality ammunition.
Because .22s have almost no recoil and the gun is so light, shooting fast is a breeze. Taking this to a steel challenge-type match would be a hoot.
Accuracy was fantastic. All the ammo shot well. I was able to get around 1-inch groups at 50 yards, good enough for this to be a nice varmint or small game gun. You could also use it for pest control. Honestly, it wouldn’t be terrible as a defensive rifle, either. You don’t get stopping power, but I was easily hitting a 66% IPSC target at 100 yards offhand.
Conclusion
Right now, in the fall of 2024, Guns.com has the M&P15-22 for around $500 new and $400 used. I think that makes it a no-brainer. This is something you should have in the back of the safe, so go see if Guns.com has one waiting for you.
