Earlier this year I bought 3 new M&P15 rifles. They are all CT compliant and have consecutive serial numbers. Yesterday I took them to the range for the first time. I tried all varieties of ammo, both .223 and 5.56. , and Federal XM193, WWB, PMC Bronze,  etc. Also used lots of different mags - USGI Vietnam era, PMAG, C Products, Colt.

Two of the rifles ate everything up with out a hitch. I was really impressed that no matter what ammo or mag I threw at them, they went bang every time.

However, the third rifle will not feed a round. It seems that the nose of the bullet gets hung up on the teeth near the feed ramp. Here are a couple pics:

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a54/ptedone/mp15.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a54/ptedone/mp15a.jpg

If I pull back on the bolt, sometimes the round will drop out and sometimes I have to free it by hand. The mag seems to be seating just fine.

I will probably bring it back to Smith for them to evaluate, but any idea on whats going on here??

Hey man I bought the MP15 and I am having the same problem. I called S&W about it and they asked what ammo I was using and what mags. After I told them I tried C mags, bushy mags and Brownells they zeroed in on my ammo choice. I told them I was using PMC, Ultra Max, Remington, Hornady, S&B and a bunch of others. Than I made the mistake of saying I used Wolf Ammo, immediately I wa told that the serial # of my weapon was recorded and an expressed Warranty was now void! The dude was rude as hell in his Boston accent and hung up on me! So my problem was never fixed until I switched out my stock bolt! I thought the extractor was too tight and maybe it was because I have never had the problem again. I run the Fail Zero and I have never been happier!

I don't believe you. For one, S&W makes the M&P-15R, which shoots the 5.45x39mm Soviet cartridge. Nearly all of the available ammunition in this caliber is steel-cased (like Wolf), so I'm sure they take that into consideration. Beyond that, I just read through my M&P-15 owner's manual, and nowhere does it specifically mention not to use Wolf or steel-case ammo––not in the Ammunition section, not in the Firing section, and not in the Warranty. Furthermore, last year I had to return my previous M&P-15T to S&W to fix a short-stroking issue. In the letter I included with my rifle, I specifically mentioned using Wolf and Brown Bear. They fixed the rifle under warranty and returned it to me in less than three weeks.




OP, I would tighten your mag catch a turn or two. Push the mag release button in as far as it will go, and then rotate the mag catch (on the left side of the lower receiver) clockwise one or two turns.

If that doesn't fix it, then your rifle may be short-stroking. Out of curiosity, which model M&P-15 is it?

The model is: M&P15OR
The SKU is: 811013 (in case that's helpful).
Tried to tighten the mag catch as suggested, but it did not help. Here are a couple more pics:

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a54/ptedone/ar15rounds001.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a54/ptedone/ar15rounds002.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a54/ptedone/ar15rounds003.jpg

Well shucks!

Does this happen on every round? On a certain round? (I.e., last round of mag, first round in mag?)

Does it malfunction with the factory mag?

I guess a call to S&W may be in order. Don't be discouraged by their rude employees. Get them to send you a shipping label, and send it back to them, along with a letter (and pics if you can) of what's happening. Maybe the lower is out of spec.

I've experienced this problem myself with a Smith M&P15PC (black) rifle.  I had it examined by S&W and after playing the magazine game they put a reduced power action spring in saying it was short stroking due to my using .223 low power loads.  They returned the gun along with the original spring, with the new spring installed.  After 1500 rounds it started showing signs of buffer wear, I put the original spring back in, and all is right with the world.  Gun runs all ammo right up to 77gr 5.56 NATO.  Seems it just needed to break-in.

I have a second 15PC (camo) which Adams Arms converted to piston.  It short stroked on the original S&W A2 lower, but ran fine on their carbine lower and heavy duty buffer.  Did the spring thing, and because it is used for AR bench rest competition, I also installed a low mass buffer.  Gun runs incredibly well with just about any quality ammo.  After a season of competition the buffer of the camo gun also showed some signs of premature wear.  Put the original spring back in, and like the companion I returned to Smith, it now runs great.  In the case of my two 15PC's it was just a matter of break-in.  Smith builds very tight tolerance guns.

This could be your problem, then again it may not.  BTW, Smith never gave me any crap, in fact, they went out of their way to be nice, as did Adams Arms. Go figure

Happens on every round, all ammo types. Will be calling S&W tomorrow.

Excellent analysis Dano523! Thanks. Will be discussing this with S&W later this week.

Delivered the rifle to S&W today. Will keep you informed.

You dont believe me? Call S&W and tell them you are using Wolf and see what happens! Wolf voids almost every Manufacturers warranty there is! Call CMMG and tell them you use Wolf LOL So before you do NOT trust someone try it yourself!

I don't believe you either, before i bought an M&P i called SW and asked, and they told me that NO type of ammo would risk my warranty.  i specifically asked about what you said in your post.  They said that I'm good to shoot and they would cover it under warranty without question.

I bought my S&W a few years ago when they 1st released their M&P line. back when people were talking that Stag was doing their design. It did happen, why would I lie? That particular rifle of mine sat for weeks doing nothing but collecting dust until I got her fixed.  I called S&W the 2nd week I had the rifle, in fact the store I bought it called them for me while I was standing there and they were told too that wolf voided my warranty. I am a 36 year old ex soldier why the hell wold I lie about something so peddy about this? I have seen other people say the same thing. S&W told me that they do NOT have to honor their warranty if they feel that a owners choice in ammo caused the problem. That is wasn't a design flaw and it was a user caused problem. He went on to say that steel cased ammo is not advised. I read him my owners manual verbatim and I explained that no where in it did it say that you couldn't cause certain ammo brands.He didn't care and nothing was going to change his mind. Maybe they changed their beliefs now or something but back then they hated wolf ammo. You have no idea what I went through to try to resolve that with S&W. And it is funny now that they make products that use wolf when they voided me for using it.

I don't know why you would say you don't believe me and I don't care but you sound like fools. I have probably handled more weapons and know 1oo times more about combat than the majority of you! So please no rude  remarks from kids that try to be little soldier boys or the weekend shooter that thinks they know something. I was a huge S&W fan, I was one of the only people that backed them when everyone and their mother said their AR15 was over priced and wasn't worth buying. When I bought mine all I heard was how bad of a decision it was, I should have bought a Bushy, or RR. Everyone said it was only 1 up on the low end DPMS and no where near a colt. Funny because it performed the same or better than them all. No one would pay the $1400 price tag when they 1st released it and called them over priced junk. Everyone was flaming them and now the same people own one of their products, that is funny. I made believers out of many shooters at my range that I know made S&W their next purchase. So you see I have no vendetta against them, that happened a few years ago and I am over it and moved on. I have since bought their products again and have had no issues.

And to boot I was just trying to help the original poster by telling him I thought it was hammer drag or the trigger group. I was trying to advise him not to tell S&W if he was using Wolf because of what I went through. I don't need my morality questioned for doing that! So do you guys naturally disbelieve everyone or have you not grown up and still have the little boy ego and the tendency to argue about everything?

Tell ya what I will call S&W Monday because they rifle hasn't feed a rounds in a while It just collects dust. We will see what they do about it and I will post it as it happens.I will bring up the fact they make products that use wolf. I registered my rifle a few years ago and Don't know if it is still covered as far as I know it was only 3 years. If they fix it great if not it make a great curtain rod. And I wasn't lieing I gave up on it because it was too frustrating. I had my 1st daughter at the time and I had enough headaches to deal with and enough stress to fight about that. I did NOT have time for the telephone tag they were playing with me. my wife was very unhappy that I decided to give up on it so soon and thought S&W should honor their Warranty. It is something that still bugs me, I always think I should have gone over that guys head.

First, i would like to apologize to you.  i also can understand where you you would be frustrated with S&W and those that didn't believe you.  I would like to say, however, that when I am told by an employee of S&W one thing, and i hear another on  a forum that has no way of weeding out the people with child like attitudes that you seem to think i exhibit, i don't believe that i am at fault for putting more stock in what i was told officially.  i was always taught not to use steel cased ammo in an AR.  and , like you said, it may be a good idea not to tell them all the specifics of the ammo you used in a rifle, i was told that there would be no penalty.  once again, i do apologize, but in the future, don't jump to the conclusion that someone else hasn't done their homework either, like i said, i saw your post and  called S&W directly, because I believed it to be good enough info to check on.  Also, you could be right about a change in policy over time.  i just bought mine in March of 2010.  

I also would like to thank you for your service to our nation, because without people like you, it would be impossible for me to join a site like this for such an awesome hobby.  When i say hobby, i am sure you could figure out that i have no military experience, but I am no new hand to firearms either.

Not all Wolf ammo is steel cased, they do make brass cased 223/5.56 so just saying you used wolf should not result in voiding your warrenty.

I'm reminded of a saying Clare Boothe Luce was fond of; "no good deed goes unpunished."

Lots of people gather here with various motives, and being the very nature of this and many forums, we do so with anonymity.  A child left unguided, armed with a computer and the internet, can wreck havoc across countless forums, pretending to be someone or something he is not.  Armchair experts of every stripe abound in the ethernet, never having done anything more than read, and who delight in lecturing those who've actually done real things.  Likewise, people with an ax to grind, or that are simply inclined to make trouble, will always step forward to build a fire from a tiny spark.  These are the consequences of our modern times, and we become sensitized, become wary, when we read words that are contrary to our experiences, and sometimes act without giving much thought beyond what we feel is sufficient for the moment.

This started with a request for help, then grew to include different experiences (mine included), and I doubt if it was anyone's (certainly not mine) intention to impugn the honor of one man.  Thankfully, cooler heads prevail, and do what real men do; admit when things have gone wrong and offer appologies. That is what separates us from the unguided child, the frauds, and the troublemakers.

"Arsenal," while I have not experienced the problems with S&W that you have, I do take you at your word and recognize your service to this forum and to our nation.  Thank you for stepping up to offer help.

I hope the OP keeps us informed, the ball is in S&W's court now, and all eyes are focused where they should have been from the very beginning. What say you S&W?  We are all ears.

why do you have the mag release screwed in so far in the last pic.

holy cow

we need a better pic of the bolt further back,so we can see how the round is being stripped.it does look like it's shortstroking though.

Thanks! And I apologize for being abrupt and abrasive. I get touchy when my Honor is in question. I left 22% of my body on foreign soil and I lost 80% of my right armpit. 6 surgeries on both arms and hands and 65 staples in my torso later I am still recovering and it has been years. Active duty in The Army was kinder to some soldiers I guess. I think I earned the right to want respect and I try to give it to everyone I meet because you never know what keeps them up at night.


But on a brighter note I called S&W today like I said i would and I told them the story. They guy on the phone couldn't  believe that I was told my Warranty was so called voided and asked me with whom I spoke with. I told him that it was a few years ago and the folder I kept all the records with was in a bin in storage because I didn't think I would get that far with another phone call.  This guy was real cool and he was real apologetic to me. I couldn't believe it, he was totally different to the last dude. he said he would have a prepaid shipping box with instructions on its way to me. I am now glad you guys didn't believe me because maybe now I will get this thing fixed right! Holy Chit maybe my wife won't refer to this AR as the money pit anymore! Hooah! Hot Damn that was the best phone call I have had in a long time!

Good news about the phone call, and very sad about the injuries.  I thank my lucky stars I made it through my dirty little war without a scratch.  Thanks again for ALL of your efforts.

I am happy for you man, thats good news about the rifle.  Mine works fine, and it is still a money pit.  Damn man, I have put more money than i had into that thing since i got it.  Lots of $$$ in ammo.

I'm confused.  Has it been sitting around collecting dust or has it been running just fine???

good eye.  seems fishy to me

eta:  and where would that gouge in the case come from if its never making it past the ramps and the bolt isnt overriding the round?

UPDATE: On June 11 I drove this rifle up to Smith & Wesson in Springfield, MA and left it for their techncians to look at. YESTERDAY, June 16, I received the rifle shipped back to me FIXED! That's 6 days! If that is not good service, I don't know what it.

By the way, the solution was a simple polishing of the feed ramp. Today I took the gun to the range to verify the fix. Worked just fine! It took all types of ammo and several different types of mags, just like my other two M&P15s. And not a single failure.

My hat is off to S&W personnel. Everything was handled just right. Thanks.

Pete

DUH

DUH[/quote]

Yah. I know. I was a little surprised myself that the solution was so simple. But I did put 200 rounds through it since getting it back and have no complaints. Another 200 or so this weekend should give me complete confidence. Will keep you updated.

Here is my update, I just got my rifle back via Fed ex. Smith and Wesson got it on Monday and got it back to me today. That is quick turn around time! They did find a problem and sent me a letter of apology! After all this time It was my gas tube, they replaced it and gave me a free tune up. Replaced the gas rings and adjusted the gas ports and  polished the ramp of BBL. I want to thank you all for getting me to call them again because I got my rifle back in new condition. I finally have a smile on my face! Next stop the shooting range!  I TAKE BACK any and all negative things I said about S&W! They kept their word and that is good enough for me! THANKS AGAIN!  

P.S can not believe I didn't think of the gas tube myself!

I have the same issue as the original poster.  Called S&W yesterday.  Guy on phone was real cool about it.  They are sending me a label to ship it to them no questions asked.  WIll keep you all updated.

Well, several thousand rounds later, all is well. The gun shoots great and has not had a single hicup.

You identified the problem in your initial post. The nose of the bullet getting caught in the lug opening in the barrel extention. This area seemed pretty sharpe.