Today we are going to take a look at two great training guns for preppers, both made by Smith & Wesson and chambered in .22LR.
This is part one of what will be a two-part series.
Training guns? What’s Salty’s definition?
There may be other uses for the phrase “training guns,” but the way I am using the term is a firearm that simulates a primary self-defense weapon but that costs less to purchase and operate.
I wrote an article last week about lower-cost ammunition and prepper gun training, and both of the guns I am going to talk about today fall right into the type of weapon that previous article talks about.
There are many types and brands of guns that can fall into the training guns grouping, the two I am talking about today are not necessarily the “best choices ever” but rather two weapons that I personally own and shoot. I know then, I use them, so I can recommend them and use them as an example.
A full review of each of these training guns is on my “to do” list for another day, but let me introduce you to the concept and then the two firearms.
Training guns
To me, the best type of training guns available have to posses the following attributes:
- They must be the same size (in dimension, not caliber) as the defense firearm they are substituting for
- The guns need to be of at least decent quality (i.e. they can’t jam every other round)
- They must have a “manual of arms” similar to the main weapon, operating basically the same way as the other gun
- They must “feel” right
- A gun you are going to train with must be as easy to clean as possible.
- Additionally, as stated before, they must also be inexpensive to own and to shoot.
Let’s take a look at today’s two guns
Gun number one is the Smith & Wesson AR-15 22.
The S&W AR-15 22 isn’t just a lot like an AR-15, it actually IS an AR-15 variant chambered in .22LR. The version seen here is the one currently in production wearing Magpul M-Lok furniture.
The gun features a 25-round factory magazine in states where these are legal.
The current model of the S&W AR-15 22 ships with Magpul M-Bus flip-up sights as standard equipment. The charging handle operates in the same exact way that a .223/5.56 AR works, it just has a much shorter pull length.
The gun is opened like you would any other AR-15. In case you were wondering, however, the lower receiver is not compatible with other uppers, by design. The holes don’t line up.
This firearm disassembled for packing into a backpack. Works exactly like an AR-15 because, again, it IS an AR-15.
The bolt and charging handle is very similar to the one used in the CMMG .22LR AR-15 conversion kit. That kit is another option to use in training guns, and I will be doing a full review of it in the future.
The AR-15 22 pairs up perfectly with the next gun on the list, also from the S&W M&P .22LR lineup.
The Smith & Wesson M&P 22
This is one of our training guns that falls under “the best we could come up with”… not because we don’t like the gun… we very much do… but rather because we shoot Glocks and there’s really no good training options.
There is the horrible (at least the one I tried was anyway) ISSC M-22 that felt a lot like a Glock, but shot like… well, honestly, it jammed so often I don’t even know how to describe what it felt like to shoot it.
After a lot of searching, we finally found the S&W M&P 22 that is “close enough” to Spice’s Glock 19 for her to be happy with. The manual of arms is somewhat different (for example, the M&P has a safety) but the feel is quite similar to her hand.
Both are polymer guns with steel slides, they are about the same size and width and the sights are similar enough.
Obviously, if you are a Smith & Wesson M&P defensive firearms shooter this gun will come a lot closer to fitting than it does to our Glocks, but sometimes you have to make lemonade out of your lemons. What makes it easy is that this S&W M&P 22 is a joy to shoot, it’s well behaved and as reliable as the ammo you put in it.
Honesty compels me to ding S&W just a little bit on this gun because they are too cheap to put in two magazines, and the factory mags for this handgun are EXPENSIVE for what they are.
Tear down is different from what you would do with a Glock, but it is exceedingly easy to field strip and clean, so that’s a win!
Many other options I will be examining in the future
In part two of this article, I’m going to examine the CMMG .22LR conversion kit and take a look at the challenge of training with shotguns.
Look for that feature soon!
https://beansbulletsbandagesandyou.com/bullets/2019/04/20/taurus-tx22-inexpensive-prepper-training-handgun/
https://beansbulletsbandagesandyou.com/bullets/2019/03/30/cheap-shoot-guns-keep-preppers-trained/
https://beansbulletsbandagesandyou.com/bullets/2019/04/03/rimfire-22lr-not-wise-defense-choice/