.22 WMR Archives

My nieces were coming to visit from the Philippines, and it dawned on me that they wanted to go shooting but I didn’t have a 22 caliber pistol anymore. It just so happened that Smith & Wesson had released their M&P 22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire (WMR) pistol to the market and my good friend and FFL, Scott Igert, had one at his shop – Michigan Gun Exchange – so I headed over and picked it up.

I had a few reasons for moving fast. #1, I was to take the girls shooting in two days. #2, my nieces were 10 and 12 years old and I was worried about the recoil of any of my 9mms #3, I like the S&W M&P series and it gave me an excuse to try one of their new .22 WMR pistols that held 30 rounds!

Believe it or not – that really was the order of things. I he didn’t have the M&P, I would have gone with a Ruger Mark IV, Browning Buckmark or whatever he had in that I could make work. My original idea was to get a pistol chambered in .22 long rifle because I wasn’t in a rush to add another caliber.

Folks, I don’t know about you but for me, adding nother caliber is expensive. I can’t just buy a rifle or pistol in a new chambering and get a few rounds of ammo – I need at least a thousand rounds to feel comfortable that I am not going to run out. I am certain a lot of anti-gun people simply do not understand that you can have family fun at a range and go through hundreds of rounds easily in one day. They must have a mental image of a bag of musket balls or something.

Bought a Holosun HE507K-GR X2

I wanted the girls to have fun and the only green dot scope Scott had in was a battery powered Holosun HE507K-GR. On my bigger pistols and carbines, I prefer the dual powered Holosuns that have solar panels also but this was going to be a range gun primarily and the battery life of these optics is phenomenal plus they automatically turn off and on based on movement.

By the way, I have had very good luck with Holosun Optics. None have failed on me so far.

One Small Speed Bump

Scott knew I was in a rush so he asked me if I wanted him to mount and sight in the optic while I worked on some rifle he had in. I said sure and oddly enough, none of the screws that came with the Holosun HE507K-GR X2 green dot optic would fit the M&P slide nor were the screws that held the protectve cover on the slide long enough. Hmmm….. The manual didn’t specify the screws to use… great. Ok, so I took it home with a quick stop my Ace Hardware with just the slide in hand to not freak anybody out.

If you are going to mount an optic on a M&P 22WMR pistol. you need to get two #6-32×1/2″ alloy hex head screws. Also, if you don’t already have it, get some blue medium strength thread locker. I am turned off any of the fine screws used for optics that already have the threadlocker attached. I have an M&P 10mm that will likely take an act of God for me to get the screws out if I ever need to.

Ace hardware to the rescue – two #6-32×1/2″ screws were needed.

Read the Manual & Be Safe

I have read so many forum posts over the years where people got themselves in a bind because they didn’t read the manual. Read the manual. Watch a video or two if you want but don’t just dive into trying to disassemble a weapon you know nothing about.

The M&P .22 WMR is relatively unique and the manual does a good job covering ammo, known issues (such as challenges with extraction if it gets too hot), how to disassemble, clean, lubricate and re-assemble the pistol. Of course, you have red lawyer-approved comments all over the place but you do need to read it and all and all, it is a decent manual.

Last but not least, be safe. Make sure your pistol is unloaded before you do anything.

Mounting the Holosun Optic

With the pistol and parts in hand, I set up the kitchen counter to install the optic. I like a nice wide open table to work on small parts and put down a green fiber mat. Folks, those matts are for more than looks – the small fibers absorb the energy of a small dropped part and reduce the odds of a small screw or whatever flying across the room. Out in my shop, I even have a magnetic mat under the green mat but in a rush in the kitchen, I set up shop using just a small parts mat.

The M&P .22WMR comes apart very easily. Here, I have removed the slide, barrel and optics cover – well, technically, Scott removed the cover. You can see the firing pin where the cover was at and the two screws holes that will be used to secure the optic on the slide.

By the way, if you are thinking “why did he take it apart just to add an optic?” First, Scott and I pulled the slide and removed the barrel so I could walk into Ace Hardware with it and not scare anyone. Second, I would have taken it apart to clean and lubricate it before the first range trip. Folks, always, always, always do this before you take a semi-auto pistol, rifle or shotgun to the range or you will likely get frustrated fast by malfunctions.

Here’s a closer look at the RMR-footprint cut out the slide has. Any red dot that shares the same footprint as a Trijicon RMR will go right on the scope. Holosuns, for example, have a RMR footprint. I always find it indicative of the degree of overall quality when you see really clean machining done on surfaces most people will never see. The machining on my M&P .22WMR was really well done.

Installing the optic is easy – set the optic in the cut out, put medium strength thread locker on each screw and then screws them in with a hex driver.. I go for snug and then use a torque screw driver to take each down to 15 inch-pounds – not that is inch-pounds and not foot-pounds. That torque recommendation comes from Holosun. Other optics makers have different specs – for example, SIG recommends 9 inch-pounds and others say 12 inch-ounds. Bottom line, bring it down to whatever spec you are comfortable with and let the threadlocker do its job.

To save time and ammo, I boresighted the optic in using my SiteLite Mag laser boresighter unit. SiteLites are expensive but they are also the most accurate bore sighter that I have used. The unit centers in the barrel using O-rings and seems to result in the closest initial scope alignments that I have found and I have used a ton of different brands and models over the years.

Moving on to Cleaning and Lubrication

Again, read the manual for details. With the M&P apart, I ran cleaning patches through the barrel, wiped down all of the parts and then lubricated where indicated.

When I first get a pistol, I do use grease on the slide rails and barrel to help with break in. Grease tends to accumulate gun powder and dirt faster than oil but my goal is to have things slide smoother during the initial break in knowing that I will need to clean and oil it later.

Also, I would highly recommend you cycle the slide 200 times by hand. Some guys, typically new guys, look at me skeptically when I tell them this but think about it. When we talk about wear-in or break-in periods, what are we talking about? Almost any firearm needs the parts to move a certain number of times to get rid of burrs, smooth down finishes, etc. By hand cycling 200 times you are jump starting the process. Given how nicely done the machining looked and how the pistol’s action felt after lubrication, minimial break in was probably needed but I cycled it 200 times anyways.

A lot of jams and frustration can be skipped entirely by doing the above. Guess what? My nieces and I did not have any problems of any kind and I attribute that to the above and proper ammo.

Use Approved Ammo

I really wasn’t looking forward to adding another type of ammo. .22WMR is basically a stretched .22 long rifle (LR) rimfire case with twice the charge. .22WMR ballistics are roughly double that of it’s smaller .22LR cousin for that reason.

When I took my nieces to the range, I started them on a .22LR single shot Savage Cub rifle and then we moved up to the M&P pistol. At any rate, I snapped this photo of the longer .22WMR brass right next the .22LR case so you can see what I mean – the case of the .22WMR is twice as long.

When it comes to ammo, the M&P .22WMR does have ammo that works well with it. I’d strongly recommend you click here, go to the Smith & Wesson product page, scroll down the page and on the left will be a link to tested ammo.

Because of the TEMPO gas system, they recommend the use of jacketed rounds only and not ammo that is bare lead, copper washed, copper plated, etc. If the jacket isn’t present, the TEMPO gas system will foul faster and stop working reliably.

Scott had CCI Game Points (which is a jacketed soft point round) and CCI Maxi Mags that are jacketed hollow points. Both are on the approved ammo list and I must mention that I’ve always had great luck with .22 rimfire ammo of all types from CCI.

Range Time

My wife and I, my two nieces and sister-in-law piled in my truck and headed to the range. A few days before I had printed out a 10 commandments of firearm safety that we had talked about and even practiced with the rifle and pistol we would use. During the drive we want over them again – they were nervous but I wanted them to know that a fun time at the range always has safety at the center.

We arrived at the Berrien County Sportsman’s Club on a pleasant day and were able to secure my favorite shooting lane. They all helped me take targets, guns and ammo down to the 25 yard line.

They started with one of our old Savage Cub rifles. We bought two – one for each of our girls when they were maybe 8 and 10 years old – about 15 years ago. I dug one of them out and cleaned it before we went. It’s not been out of the case in years and years so I was very pleased to see it was still sighted in and worked great.

The girls did great with the Savage Cub and were very excited to see their scores on the target. They had to learn the importance of a consistent cheek weld, trigger control, breathing, etc. I like starting kids on a single shot .22 because there is no recoil and I can make sure everything is safe at all times.

Once they were feeling good with the rifle, it was time to move up to the M&P .22 WMR pistol and I fired it first just to make sure everything was good to go. I loaded a magazine with one round and shot it – no odd sounds, barrel was clear, etc. I then loaded up three and shot them slow fire – no problems.

The pistol is very soft shooting. Yeah, it barked a bit louder than the .22LR Savage Cub rifle but I was sure the girls would have no problem controlling it.

We spent a lot of time talking about stances, grips and keeping their trigger fingers off the trigger until ready to shoot.

This is my 12 year old niece and she might weigh 100 pounds. She had no problem controlling the M&P. We were shooting from about 15-20 feet away. Even in the Philippines there are liberal moms who would question why we took them shooting so I am not showing their faces even though I am very proud of them!

This is my 10 year old niece and I’d be surprised if she is 80 pounds. She did a great job by her! This photo was staged by the way – I made sure the pistol was clear and carried it down to the target. She only held it long enough for this photo – what you don’t see is a huge grin going ear to ear.

Here’s the pistol from another angle so you can see she had no problem holding it.

We only put about 30 rounds of the MaxiMag hollow points through the pistol – I forgot about the Soft Points. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and had to pack up to get home in time for dinner at their Lola’s house – Lola means grandmother in Tagalog by the way.

Summary

I really didn’t plan to buy a M&P .22WMR. Now that I have one I am thinking about keeping it. The action cycles smooth, it’s reliable, the trigger is good enough and it holds 30 rounds!! It’s very manageable – even the girls had no problem holding and controlling the pistol.

The range trip was a big success and we all had fun. The reliability and accuracy of the M&P helped make it possible. I have no reservations recommending one and plan on taking it to the range again.

Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.

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