Re: Rimfire Purchase?
Hi! I think this is my first post.
I've been a 10/22 owner for years. I think I bought mine 24 years ago. Hasn't been used much, but I got back into shooting after being busy.
Picked up M&P15-22's for my kids for Christmas. The operation of the M&P is so so similar to my AR that it is a great training opportunity for younger, or even older, shooters. Stock triggers on my AR (Superior Arms) and our M&P15-22's function, feel and sound almost identically.
Compared to my 10/22?
I put Tech Sights on my 10/22 earlier this year, and it really changed what I thought about my 10/22. So much easier to be consistent. I had the narrower match post on the front of my 10/22 Tech Sights, and, as a result, I put some of those National Match Posts on both M&P's. Helped with our accuracy on the M&P's, but both of my boys and I seem to shoot better groups with the 10/22.
We experiemented by moving the front and rear OEM sights on the M&P out a little further away from each other. Rear sight hangs over the charging handle and the front sight hangs out over the front of the front hand guard. I think the three of us thought that it helped with our accuracy. Need to put some more rounds down range on that, but the distance between the M&P sights and the Tech Sights on the 10/22 is different, with the M&P being shorter.
I understand that one can change triggers on the M&P with other AR spec triggers.
I like the look and the function of the M&P. I've had great success mechanically with both. I'd like to have some of the shorter 10 round magazines that were originally available as the long 25 round mags make it a little cumbersome when shooting off a bench or prone.
My 10/22 has a Tapco stock and the Tech sights. Given the total cost of those items compared to some of the M&P and some of the other sportier plinkers, it is very hard to argue against a 10/22.
Would I buy the M&P's again? Yes. It is a nice platform with the functionality of the rails, the similar operation of a full size AR, and it's about the same cost as some AR conversions.
Only idea that I'm thinking about is removing the handguard rail mounted sight and replacing it with something like a gas tube folding front sight. Something along this line.
http://www.midwestindustriesinc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=175
