Review: S&W M&P22
 

I purchased the above pistol just before Christmas and finally got around to shooting it a bit today. But before I do that I want to let you know how I feel about the pistol. Having a M&P40 I was pleasantly surprised that the .22LR version has the same feel including "heft" empty. Loaded naturally the .40 S&W is heavier. The .22 only comes with the ambidextrous thumb safety which IMO is unnecessary. Also, although it works fine, it feels like a POS. There doesn't seem to be a positive click to engage or disengage. Being left handed I like the ambidextrous controls which includes the above mentioned safety and also the slide release. The magazine release button can be changed over to go on the right side for a lefty but I prefer it on the left as I can easily press it with my index finger. I did have a bit of a problem right off the bat. The first magazine went off without a hitch but everything was high left. I lowered the rear sight but when I tried to loosen the set screw to change the windage, the supplied allen wrench stripped. Fortunately I was just over the hill from the gun shop and the owner loosened the screw with his better quality tools and also gave me a replacement for the supplied one.
Once back at the range and sighted in, I fired one box each of American Eagle High Velocity and Eley Target. Target was set at 20 yards. Through this session both brands shot very well with the Eley grouping slightly better. Next time out I will be trying Winchester and CCI ammo.
A couple magazines were fired off hand at the 10 yards and the pistol was grouping the bullets into one ragged hole. IMO the good accuracy with this pistol is due to the barrel being fixed to the frame. Major components of the pistol include the frame/barrel, recoil spring and guide rod, and slide. Take down and reassembly for cleaning is easy and no tools needed.
During the session I had one failure to eject and one failure to fire both with the American Eagle. The failure to fire was not the pistol's fault as it left a nice dent in the cartridge's rim. The failure to eject was the second magazine so I'm thinking that it was due to a bit of stiffness.
Overall rating I would give it 4.5 stars. Upgrade the thumb safety and supply a higher quality wrench and it would get a 5.

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