Constant FTF problems with S&W 22 compact

[HJB]

Finally I gave up and shipped my Smith and Wesson M&P 22 compact back to S&W for them to look at. I have had constant problems with "failure to extract" with several different brands of ammunition and have to use a wooden rod to dislodge the casing from the chamber after I fire a shot. I usually estimated this at a 20% to 30% rate.

The gun is a little over a year old, purchased in September 2019, and I estimate about 1500 rounds have been fired. I kept thinking after using it some, it would eventually "break-in" and not have so many failures. I actually think it seems to get worse and not better.

So yesterday, after thoroughly cleaning the gun, and oiling it like a Thanksgiving turkey, I went to the range with Federal, 36 grain, hollow point, brass coated, 1260 FPS bulk ammo that you can buy almost anywhere.

I kept detailed records and finally gave up after 60 rounds because I got tired of screwing with it. In those 60 rounds I had 30 "failure to extract" failures and an additional 8 "fail to feed" failures. Too damn much !

So, I took it home, cleaned it up again and boxed it up and took it to FEDEX to ship it back. I had contacted S&W and they did send me a label to use that charged the shipping costs to FEDEX. They estimate 4 to 6 weeks in the e-mail they sent me.

So, I hope they can fix it because my wife won't hardly shoot it anymore because she gets tired of having to stop and go through the disruption of removing the fired casing.

But, if they don't make it a whole lot reliable and make it extract and feed close to 100% of the time, I'm going to go buy a Glock 44....which I kind of want anyway because it is a good practice gun for my Glock 19. Early reports on the Glock 44 are that is shoots everything !

My wife can handle my Glock 19 so she could easily shoot the Glock 44, but she does kind of like the weight and the smaller size of the S&W.

Anyone else had problems with a M&P 22 compact and extraction and feeding problems ?

[kwb377]

I've had the exact same issue with my Compact. I bought it new approx. 6 months ago and have put maybe 200 rounds through it.

The problem didn't really manifest until my last range trip...it was cleaned and oiled beforehand and wouldn't fire more than about 3 rounds before malfunctioning.

I haven't contacted S&W yet...I kinda threw it back in the safe and forgot about it after last time.

Thanks for the reminder...I'll go ahead and start the return process on mine.

[HJB]

I guess if I had your experience I might try again before I sent it back.

What ammo are you using, and how many different ammos have you tried with it ?

If you do decide to send it back, send them an e-mail and they will want a description of the problem to give you "authority to return" and then they will send you a FEDEX shipping label that charges them for the shipping. Box it up and put that shipping label on it and FEDEX will ship it.

Good luck !

[Doc_Glock]

I had a different issue with out of battery ignitions with an M&P compact .22. S&W took it back and completely fixed the issue and it runs like a top now. Hopefully your experience will be similar.

[Navin Johnson]

Got mine in a couple years ago... Probably only a thousand or so rounds through it.... Cleaned it once..... Feeds and extracts everything I put in it.... Very accurate with higher speed CCI and Winchester stuff.

[HCM]

Finally I gave up and shipped my Smith and Wesson M&P 22 compact back to S&W for them to look at. I have had constant problems with "failure to extract" with several different brands of ammunition and have to use a wooden rod to dislodge the casing from the chamber after I fire a shot. I usually estimated this at a 20% to 30% rate.

The gun is a little over a year old, purchased in September 2019, and I estimate about 1500 rounds have been fired. I kept thinking after using it some, it would eventually "break-in" and not have so many failures. I actually think it seems to get worse and not better.

So yesterday, after thoroughly cleaning the gun, and oiling it like a Thanksgiving turkey, I went to the range with Federal, 36 grain, hollow point, brass coated, 1260 FPS bulk ammo that you can buy almost anywhere.

I kept detailed records and finally gave up after 60 rounds because I got tired of screwing with it. In those 60 rounds I had 30 "failure to extract" failures and an additional 8 "fail to feed" failures. Too damn much !

So, I took it home, cleaned it up again and boxed it up and took it to FEDEX to ship it back. I had contacted S&W and they did send me a label to use that charged the shipping costs to FEDEX. They estimate 4 to 6 weeks in the e-mail they sent me.

So, I hope they can fix it because my wife won't hardly shoot it anymore because she gets tired of having to stop and go through the disruption of removing the fired casing.

But, if they don't make it a whole lot reliable and make it extract and feed close to 100% of the time, I'm going to go buy a Glock 44....which I kind of want anyway because it is a good practice gun for my Glock 19. Early reports on the Glock 44 are that is shoots everything !

My wife can handle my Glock 19 so she could easily shoot the Glock 44, but she does kind of like the weight and the smaller size of the S&W.

Anyone else had problems with a M&P 22 compact and extraction and feeding problems ?

Have an M&P 22 Compact from 2014 with no issues and thousands of rounds through it.

All .22 Ammo is not created equal. Bulk pack ammo can have minor imperfections from knocking around in the bulk pack which affect reliability.

My first step in an .22 diagnostic is to clean and lube as you did followed by trying CCI mini mags. I would try the .40 grain copper wash solids. If the gun won’t run with that it won’t run with anything.

These are cheap mass produced guns and they offer the warranty for a reason. Wait till you get it back and shoot it before getting spun up.

[HJB]

Got mine in a couple years ago... Probably only a thousand or so rounds through it.... Cleaned it once..... Feeds and extracts everything I put in it.... Very accurate with higher speed CCI and Winchester stuff.

That is why I bought it in the first place because it seems everything I saw about it is that it will eat anything. I kind of wonder if the diameter of the chamber is not just a little bit undersized because when these things fail to extract, they are stuck really good in there. I can't rack the slide a 100 times and even get them to move. Have to push it out from the end of the barrel and it takes a pretty good little push to even get it out then. I love the gun and once I got it sighted in it is very accurate. Hope they can do something to make it a useable range gun.

[HJB]

Have an M&P 22 Compact from 2014 with no issues and thousands of rounds through it.

All .22 Ammo is not created equal. Bulk pack ammo can have minor imperfections from knocking around in the bulk pack which affect reliability.

My first step in an .22 diagnostic is to clean and lube as you did followed by trying CCI mini mags. I would try the .40 grain copper wash solids. If the gun won’t run with that it won’t run with anything.

I have run some CCI mini mags and it does shoot those better for sure. But, I didn't buy it because I thought it would shoot the most expensive 22 ammo I could buy. I got it to shoot range ammo and the mini mag is the only think it shoots reliably. It is more than double the cost of range bulk ammo.

[HCM]

I have run some CCI mini mags and it does shoot those better for sure. But, I didn't buy it because I thought it would shoot the most expensive 22 ammo I could buy. I got it to shoot range ammo and the mini mag is the only think it shoots reliably. It is more than double the cost of range bulk ammo.

The point is it’s part of the process in determining if it is the gun or the ammo.

As I said all .22 LR is not created equal. No just premium vs bulk but between bulk brands and product lines. If it runs with mini mags but not your specific Federal bulk ammo, then it is an Ammo issue and you would want to try a variety of other ammo (bulk or other wise) to see what works. It may be as simple as running with 40 grain ammo. But not 36 grain.

There is reason many ammo companies have semi auto specific .22lr ammo, often branded as “tactical” in between the cheapest bulk stuff and the premium stuff. I have never, in 40 years of shooting, seen a semi auto .22 that ran with EVERY type of .22 Lr. Some run with most .22lr but none run with everything.

Re federal - the federal “Black Friday” bulk pack ammo both rimfire and centerfire has been particularly bad in my experience.

[HJB]

The point is it’s part of the process in determining if it is the gun or the ammo.

As I said all .22 LR is not created equal. No just premium vs bulk but between bulk brands and product lines. If it runs with mini mags but not your specific Federal bulk ammo, then it is an Ammo issue and you would want to try a variety of other ammo (bulk or other wise) to see what works. It may be as simple as running with 40 grain ammo. But not 36 grain.

There is reason many ammo companies have semi auto specific .22lr ammo, often branded as “tactical” in between the cheapest bulk stuff and the premium stuff. I have never, in 40 years of shooting, seen a semi auto .22 that ran with EVERY type of .22 Lr. Some run with most .22lr but none run with everything.

Re federal - the federal “Black Friday” bulk pack ammo both rimfire and centerfire has been particularly bad in my experience.

I have fired about 10 different types of ammo and had problems with all of it except had very few problems with mini mags. Every other ammo had problems ranging from, I'll estimate, 10%-15% fail to extract, up to Federal Auto Match which had an absolute 100% failure rate and I tried it because they advertised "specifically made for semi-automatics" That ammo was pure garbage and looked like it and I Federal took it back, paid for shipping and returned all of my money after I e-mailed them with the problems I'm having.

So, if this thing comes back and will shoot Federal Bulk, Bravo Brass, or other lower cost range ammo, then fine. If not, I'll be heading out to my gun dealer to buy a Glock 44, and this thing will be up for sale !

[HCM]

I have fired about 10 different types of ammo and had problems with all of it except had very few problems with mini mags. Every other ammo had problems ranging from, I'll estimate, 10%-15% fail to extract, up to Federal Auto Match which had an absolute 100% failure rate and I tried it because they advertised "specifically made for semi-automatics" That ammo was pure garbage and looked like it and I Federal took it back, paid for shipping and returned all of my money after I e-mailed them with the problems I'm having.

So, if this thing comes back and will shoot Federal Bulk, Bravo Brass, or other lower cost range ammo, then fine. If not, I'll be heading out to my gun dealer to buy a Glock 44, and this thing will be up for sale !

If it malfunctions with the mini mags it is definitely a gun issue.

I’ve found the Aguila super extra, a mini mag knock off, works in 99% of all mini mag only guns and is just over 1/2 the cost.

[HJB]

If it malfunctions with the mini mags it is definitely a gun issue.

I’ve found the Aguila super extra, a mini mag knock off, works in 99% of all mini mag only guns and is just over 1/2 the cost.

I does not malfunction with CCI mini mag but it does with other CCI such as stinger and standard velocity.

[kwb377]

I guess if I had your experience I might try again before I sent it back.

What ammo are you using, and how many different ammos have you tried with it ?

If you do decide to send it back, send them an e-mail and they will want a description of the problem to give you "authority to return" and then they will send you a FEDEX shipping label that charges them for the shipping. Box it up and put that shipping label on it and FEDEX will ship it.

Good luck !


I was using several different rounds...Remington bulk-pack, Federal HV (not bulk...50 rnd. boxes), and CCI (possibly Mini-Mag...can't remember which). The Remington is what I ran through it when I first bought it, and had no issues then.

[kwb377]

I shipped mine to S&W on Jan. 28th and received it back last night. Worksheet indicates they polished the barrel, replaced the extractor and test fired.

Took it to the range this afternoon...fired the first magazine (10 rounds) flawlessly, I was stoked!

On the second (and third and fourth) magazine, it immediately became a single-shot pistol with each round sticking in the chamber...the extractor would not engage the cartridge rim.

Ammo used was Federal Champion 40gr., as that's all I had on hand...but it's worked flawlessly in every other gun I've tried.

I've fired off another email to S&W...I guess it'll be heading back, then sold. :mad:

[HCM]

I shipped mine to S&W on Jan. 28th and received it back last night. Worksheet indicates they polished the barrel, replaced the extractor and test fired.

Took it to the range this afternoon...fired the first magazine (10 rounds) flawlessly, I was stoked!

On the second (and third and fourth) magazine, it immediately became a single-shot pistol with each round sticking in the chamber...the extractor would not engage the cartridge rim.

Ammo used was Federal Champion 40gr., as that's all I had on hand...but it's worked flawlessly in every other gun I've tried.

I've fired off another email to S&W...I guess it'll be heading back, then sold. :mad:

FYI federal champion and American Eagle .22 have been problematic isn some Glock 44s as well. I’ve had much better results with federal auto match.

Honestly semi auto .22 pistols and conversion kits are made to run with higher velocity ammo. Standard velocity. Working is, in my experience the exception, not the rule.

[whomever]

I've never as much as handled an M&P 22, but FWIW some random thoughts from messing with various bullseye 22 guns over the years:

0)Nothing wrong with making S&W fix a new gun.
1)In general, 22's, especially with SV ammo, just don't have a lot of extra energy floating around - even tiny problems can subtract enough energy they stop working. For example, I had a Model 41 that had worked flawlessly for maybe 30K rounds, then fairly abruptly got flaky. After a lot of work, I noticed that a thin spot towards the rear of the frame rails was ever so slightly peened - you needed a magnifier to see it - and the slight drag on the slide caused various kinds of FTF. Stoning the burr off fixed things right up.
2)Extractors can work or not work based on really small geometry changes. I note that Volquartsen et al are making M&P 22 extractors. That was sometimes an easy fix for Ruger MKII's.
3)I've seen something - lead maybe - gradually build up in the chambers, even though they looked like bright steel. A good chore-boy scrub never hurts.
4)Is it a dry fire safe design? A little chamber peening can slow things down and cause problems. Do the cartridges plunk in and out of the barrel w/o drag?
5)Any excessive interference between the bottom of the slide and the top cartridge? Drag there (magazine too high? mag lips letting cartridge set too high?) can slow things down.
6)More a problem for FTF than FTE, but sharp edges on the chamber etc can cause problems. The tiiiiiniest bit of edge breaking w/ a fine cratex bob can help.
7)Many of the bullseye types would put a drop of CLP on the top round in each mag, just to prevent any dry powder fouling during the course of a match.

ETA: we were almost all running SV ammo, which probably contributed to the general finickiness of things.

[kwb377]

Didn't realize that Federal made two different versions of the blue box 40gr Champion. Apparently there's a 1080fps SV and a 1250fps HV...I'm using the HV version.

[railroader]

Federal blue box 40 grain champion ammo is pretty crappy ammo. I gave away a brick and a half with disclosure because of all the problems I had with it. Some of the rounds were under powered while others didn't fire at all. This was in all my 22s. If you want to get good bulk ammo that runs try 40 grain cci blazer. It is basicly mini mags that aren't copper plated. It's reasonably priced and goes bang consistently. No under powered rounds either. I shoot steel challenge with these. Remington thunderbolts are pretty reliable too but the are dirtier. Good luck with your M&P.

[HJB]

I shipped mine to S&W on Jan. 28th and received it back last night. Worksheet indicates they polished the barrel, replaced the extractor and test fired.

Took it to the range this afternoon...fired the first magazine (10 rounds) flawlessly, I was stoked!

On the second (and third and fourth) magazine, it immediately became a single-shot pistol with each round sticking in the chamber...the extractor would not engage the cartridge rim.

Ammo used was Federal Champion 40gr., as that's all I had on hand...but it's worked flawlessly in every other gun I've tried.

I've fired off another email to S&W...I guess it'll be heading back, then sold. :mad:

OK, I got my gun back from S&W after a little over 3 weeks time. They said they "repaired the barrel" and test fired 3 mags.

So, next day I took it to the range and fired 120 rounds with zero "fail to extract" problems that I had been having before I returned it. Hurray !!!

I fired 40 rounds of the same garbage Federal 40 grain ammo that I used before I sent it to S&W and had a 50% fail to extract rate that required me to poke the spent casing out with a stick in the barrel. First mag I had one "fail to fee" but the round fired and ejected.

Then I fired 40 rounds of Aguila 40 grain super extra and had absolutely ZERO failures or problems of any kind.

Then I fired 40 more of the Federal 40 grain and in one magazine I had two instances of "fail to fee" but the gun did fire and eject the casing. Just re-rack and go again.

So, I am totally satisfied with the results and the service received from S&W. I will reserve final judgement until I get the chance to shoot it for about 500 more rounds, but so far I am very optimistic. I can't really tell exactly what the did to the barrel, but they did polish the feed ramp and that is obvious. I was not having feed problems so not sure why they did that but I'm OK with it.

So, send yours back with some details of numbers of rounds and number and type of problems with the Federal. Hopefully they will be able to get it repaired and make you happy.

Good luck !

[kwb377]

The red mist has dissipated somewhat...I'm going to pick up some different rounds and make another trip to the range before I send it back.

Another (self-induced) issue I discovered that occurred...in my frustration to extract the empty cases from the chamber, I was tapping (at the end of the session, it was more like beating) the rear of the locked-back slide on the shooting bench. I noticed when I got home that I ultimately bent the slide lock tab on the last beating, which would not allow the slide to go forward. {Doh!}

I've tapped it back down close to flat...looks like I'll have to remove it to get it back totally flat.

[HJB]

The red mist has dissipated somewhat...I'm going to pick up some different rounds and make another trip to the range before I send it back.

Another (self-induced) issue I discovered that occurred...in my frustration to extract the empty cases from the chamber, I was tapping (at the end of the session, it was more like beating) the rear of the locked-back slide on the shooting bench. I noticed when I got home that I ultimately bent the slide lock tab on the last beating, which would not allow the slide to go forward. {Doh!}

I've tapped it back down close to flat...looks like I'll have to remove it to get it back totally flat.

Oh my, I bet you can remove it and bend it with some pliers or tap it back into position. Or, even replace it maybe.

I think I told you, I went to Home depot and bought a 3/16 wooden dowel rod and cut it in about 8 inch long pieces to use to remove the stuck cases. Worked great but a real PITA !

I then kept records of each magazine and the failures by type and sent that along with my gun.

So, good luck and stay after them.