Smith & Wesson Issues Safety Alert and Inspection Procedure for M&P15-22 Firearms

Update: Get your free inspection gauge here. H/T Suburban Guy.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. –  -(AmmoLand.com)- Smith & Wesson Corp. announced today that the Company has identified two M&P15-22 firearms from recent production on which the breech face counter bore depth was not within manufacturing specification. In those firearms, the lack of depth may allow the bolt, upon closing, to crush the rim of the case, causing the round to fire, cycling the bolt, and potentially resulting in multiple discharges without depressing the trigger.

This issue can occur in the following two scenarios:

  • 1) With a loaded magazine in the firearm and the bolt locked to the rear, depressing the bolt release to allow the bolt to drop freely may ignite the round as the bolt closes without engaging the trigger and with the safety selector in either the safe or the fire position, and may also result in multiple discharges.
  • 2) With a loaded magazine in the firearm, bolt in the closed position and a round in the chamber and the safety selector in the fire position, depressing the trigger will cause the round to fire normally, however as the bolt cycles, the next round may be ignited by the bolt crushing the rim of the case as it closes, causing multiple discharges.

This Safety Alert applies to all M&P15-22 firearms manufactured before February 1, 2019. We believe these are isolated incidents, however, any unintended discharge of a firearm has the potential to cause injury. Therefore, out of an abundance of caution, we are asking all consumers of all M&P15-22 firearms manufactured before February 1, 2019 to immediately inspect their firearms for this condition.

Any unintended discharge of a firearm has the potential to cause injury, and we ask that you STOP USING YOUR FIREARM IMMEDIATELY UNTIL IT HAS BEEN INSPECTED AND, IF THE CONDITION IS FOUND, THE BOLT REPLACED.

To determine whether your firearm was manufactured before February 1, 2019, and to receive video instructions for inspection, please go to MP15-22SafetyAlert.com. Every rifle must be inspected to determine whether it exhibits the condition identified in this notice.

If after inspection it is determined that the condition outlined in this safety alert exists, the bolt must be sent to Smith & Wesson for replacement. Your bolt will be inspected, and if necessary, replaced at no cost to you. All shipping and replacement costs will be covered by Smith & Wesson.

If you are uncomfortable conducting the inspection outlined above, or are unsure whether the condition described in this notice applies to your firearm, please send your bolt to Smith & Wesson for inspection.

Please contact Smith & Wesson at 800-713-0356, or at MP15-22SafetyAlert.com to arrange for the replacement, if necessary, of your M&P15-22 bolt.

 

Smith & Wesson M&P15-22 Safety Alert Instructions by AmmoLand Shooting Sports News on Scribd


Smith & WessonAbout Smith & Wesson®

Smith & Wesson Corp. is a provider of quality firearms for personal protection, target shooting and hunting in the global consumer and professional markets. Smith & Wesson is world famous for its handguns and long guns sold under the Smith & Wesson®, Performance Center®, M&P®, Thompson/Center Arms™, and Gemtech® brands. Through its Manufacturing Services Division, Smith & Wesson Corp. also provides forging, machining, and precision plastic injection molding services to a wide variety of consumer goods companies. For more information on Smith & Wesson, call (800) 331-0852 or log on to www.smith-wesson.com.

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Demetri

How long did it take you guys to receive a shipping label in the mail to send your bolt back? My rifle is totally messed up. It’s unintentionally a burst file weapon with this bolt issue.

Tom

I have been waiting 8 weeks for a gauge and sent 3 applications

James Brigham (Bigg) Bunyon

Got mine last Thursday and my gun is within spec. Took about two weeks to get it after placing the order on the S&W website. I never got a confirmation email, but the little thing got here and that’s all that matters.

Unbeknownst to me, my wife ordered one for the same gun; she considers it hers even though I was the actual buyer. She got a confirming email a couple of days before my gauge arrived. Guess it still doesn’t matter.

Charlie

I could not get the person from Smith-Wesson to give me a positive answer to receiving from them a prepaid shipping label. I asked that they e-mail me one so I could print it out. Haven’t heard back it’s been several days now. I hope that this problem can be resolved quickly as I have enjoyed their products. Mostly the older ones where the quailty is most evident.

Suburban Guy

Hey everyone you can get the gauge for free: https://store.smith-wesson.com/m-p-15-22-bolt-inspection-gauge

Gary Hall

Been waiting over 2 months for my free gage.

Ron Riley

Apparently, Smith & Wesson has become THE JUNK FIREARMS PRODUCER of this decade. Just bought a S&W 380 EZ Pistol 3 days ago. Loaded 8 rounds into a mag, and TRIED to fire them. 3 fired OK. The next 5, failed to feed, failed to fire, failed to eject, and stove piped (jammed in the exit port) BOTH live & spend rounds. These were problems that S&W CLAIMED they FIXED several YEARS AGO. Went to their website, filed a complaint and asked for suggestion to fix. Haven’t heard back yet (2 weekend days). I have 3 S&W that are more… Read more »

Charles Moore

I will not trust my life to any of the recent/current S&W pistols. They are too cheao to make a simple mill cut on the face of the barrel recoil lug to retain the recoil spring. As a result, the spring is free to move about and tie the gun up by either attaining too steep of an angle or sliding off of the recoil lug. Both of these conditions LOCK THE PISTOL UP! The pistol is then TOTALLY useless. Disassembly then becomes VERY difficult! It has happened on my S&W pistol in .40 S&W twice and ALMOST twice more… Read more »

Rock

Just checked the rim thickness on a Rem .22 long rifle shell, rim comes out to .04 thick, so the gauge has to be very close to that. Any less than .04 could result in a “slamfire” type situation. Possible full auto……. Hmmm,

Jim

I don’t need the gauge. Just the thickness it needs to be.
I have equipment to measure this more accurately than S&W!!!
SO please just tell us what the number is supposed to be.
I promise you will get the bolt back to repair.

Greg K

Slightly more than the rim thickness of a 22lr. Probably .002″ish
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.22_Long_Rifle

Ron

Is the recall 0n the m&p 9?]

Ronald Proto

Is the recall on the m&p 9

Adam Bevins

How thick is this gauge?

feebee

How do we obtain the guage?

James Brigham (Bigg) bunyon

You’ll note if you read all the fine print, S&W is not offering a shipping label. Well, they might if you insist, but being this is a known safety issue involving their processes, they should announce in big bold lettering how to get a prepaid shipping label. Maybe I just missed it.

M&P 15-22 Owner

Sadly these issues have been known (among others) for years. 2016 – https://www.google.com/amp/s/bearingarms.com/bob-o/2016/09/15/breaking-mp-1522s-banned-appleseed-events-battery-run-away-discharges/amp/
What has taken S&W so long?

Wild Bill

@M&P 15, So these go unintentionally “full auto”?

Jim Macklin

Will S&W serve your jail time for having an unregistered machine gun?

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https://www.bullseyepistol.com/malfunction.htm

You can use an accurate vernier micrometer

Skinnedknuckles

Is this related to the incidents that caused the Appleseed group to disallow the use of the M&P 15-22 in Appleseed classes a couple of years back?

James Brigham (Bigg) Bunyon

That was firing out of battery because of pins walking out I recall. I think this is a totally different problem with the bolt attempting to correctly go into battery but crushing the case rim causing a slam fire.

Edward

Where do you get the depth gauge to check it? Or is there a actually measurement on top to bottom to verify you are at the correct depth?

Dave in Fairfax

What? You don’t want a fully semi-automatic M&P 15-22? Where’s the fun in that?

Witold Pilecki

Having a firearm that malfunctions into full auto when you press the trigger while pointing down range IS KINDA FUN….I know, I have one that will do it due to a faulty sear, that allows the hammer to follow the bolt on the firing pin (no spring) so it slam fires until empty, or I release the trigger. I will not say what manufacturer or model it is, except that it is a .22 pistol and has been out of production for decades. It sits in my safe never to see the light of day again. I might sell it… Read more »

Heed the Call-up

Dave in Fairfax, well their safety issue at least doesn’t make the firearm an NFA device, since the 1968 GCA was to prevent firearms from being “easily converted to full-auto”. Since this one doesn’t need to be converted, being occasionally full-auto, or would that be “burst-fire”, should meet with BATFE approval. 🙂