I’ve spent the last couple of months toying around with Smith & Wesson's odd little folding 22 caliber carbine - the FPC 22. While I’m still a die-hard 10/22 fan, and my 11/22 Takedown is still probably my favorite 22LR plinker, the FPC 22 has started to grow on me over the thousand-plus rounds I’ve been putting through it. Today, roughly two or three boxes of bulk Federal 22LR ammunition down the pipe, we’ll talk about everything I’ve learned about the FPC 22 and why I think it makes for a compelling addition to any rimfire junkie’s collection.
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The Rimfire Report: Smith & Wesson FPC 22 – 1,000 Rounds Later
For this review, I wound up shooting virtually all one type of ammo through the FPC 22 - Federal Champion. While I did try a handful of other types of common ammo, Federal Champion is what I had the most of on hand at the moment, so I sequestered three 325-round boxes of 36-grain loads for the review in addition to a smattering of CCI, Winchester, Remington, and Aguila loads to see what would run through it. Most of the other ammo cycled just fine out of the FPC 22, but Aguila Super Extra bricked the gun and fouled it in less than 50 rounds. Virtually anything on the shelf at your local sporting goods store should be fine to run through the FPC 22 without issue, and part of that has to do with the unique design.
Inside the FPC 22's receiver, you’ll notice a genuine feed ramp that helps guide rounds out of the magazine and into the chamber. I find this pretty interesting, mostly because this is in stark opposition to how Ruger has done things with the feed ramp basically being baked into the magazine body and relying on that lining up with the flat breech face. Smith & Wesson's method might be slightly more reliable, since the feed ramp is rather wide, and should, in theory, always line up the same way with the still flat breech face of the FPC's folding barrel. In any case, both systems are very reliable, and I’ve not had a single failure to feed out of the FPC 22 during any of my testing thus far.
While it would be easy to dismiss the FPC 22 as just another clamshell gun that uses the same basic blowback design as other 22LR rifles out there, the inside of the FPC's injection-molded chassis is actually far more interesting than meets the eye.
Almost Tooless Field Stripping
One of the drawbacks of the OEM 10/22 is that in order to field strip the gun, you’d need at the very least a 5/32 hex on hand to remove the stock to get to the guts. Some designs, like the FRW OpenTop 11/22 and the TANDEMKROSS ADX, have tried to fix this by introducing 10/22-esque receivers that are easier to disassemble. Smith & Wesson has managed to bake in a virtually toolless disassembly process and also conceal a neat, watertight storage compartment in the void where a centerfire FPC's other guts would go. This little storage tube is big enough to fit a couple of batteries, tinder, matches, lube, or even some tools if you want. It’s a neat little extra feature that further differentiates the FPC 22 from other “packable” rimfire guns.
The same spring and lever system that is used to retain the two magazines in the stock can be pulled on to remove the stock entirely. While attaching the stock in this method has removed the ability for the stock to be potentially collapsed or extended, it does provide you with a convenient way to gain access to the concealed storage tube housed inside the hollow stock tube. Once the storage tube is removed, a small silver retaining pin needs to be pushed out, and it is likely the only thing you’ll need any sort of tool for to get done without much frustration. I’ve tried removing it with my bare hands, and it is possible, but any tool, like a spent casing, can be used make this fast and easy. Once the pin is removed, the charging handle can be removed, and the bolt assembly can then freely slide back and out of the rear end of the stock tube. This is the extent of what you’d need to do to quickly field strip and clean the gun.
Clever Bolt Design
The bolt design is pretty neat, and somewhat resembles AR-15 bolts, similar to how CMMG Bravo conversion kits do. Instead of using a super-heavy mass and a lighter recoil spring, Smith & Wesson has gone with dual recoil springs, but has also included dual bearings to help soften up the recoil enough to make up for the lack of bolt mass. After a thousand or so rounds down the tube, the bolt is actually in fairly clean condition. The only other time I have cleaned this gun is after its 50-round run-in with the Aguila Super Extra. The bolt itself seems to be holding up well so far with no visible signs of abnormal wear. I cleaned it off and slapped everything back together, with the most difficult part being aligning up the bolt assembly perfectly so it’ll drop all the way forward for reassembly - it can be hard to line up sometimes.
Overall Impressions
After 1,000+ rounds, the FPC 22 has started to convince me that it's more than just a range oddity. It's a rather reliable, durable, packable plinker and trainer that punches above its $499 street price. Reliability stayed rock-solid with a dirt-cheap bulk ammo (zero failures across three bricks), CCI Mini-Mags, Winchester Super-X, and Remington Golden Bullet. That one Aguila Super Extra meltdown aside, I’d say that in many respects the FPC 22 outshines some finicky 10/22s I've tested, let alone every other Turkish rimfire plinker I’ve shot.
Accuracy holds up for more practical applications. I was getting 1.5-inch groups at 25 yards (1.5 MOA) off of a fence post with Federal, tightening to headshots on steel with a Holosun 507C red dot. At 50 yards, it stretches to 2.5-3 MOA—fine for torso plinking or small game with the proper optic, but my tuned 10/22 still edges it for precision with match loads and has an easier time adopting a higher magnification optic. I’ve even landed on using a rather crude Meprolight M22 that has a gigantic triangular reticle powered by the sun, and that still gives me enough accuracy to hit smaller objects at 35-plus yards.
As a truck or backpack gun, the total folded length slips into a daypack if you don’t mind leaving the suppressor behind for smaller backpacks. With a shorter suppressor like the Faxon Twenty Toucan in its short configuration, the FPC 22 is overall much shorter than a 10/22 takedown. Stock mag storage keeps two 20-rounders secure and ready with a total of 60 rounds on board, versus the max of 40 that you can fit in the Magpul/Ruger combo. M-LOK is also on the gun, meaning you’ll have a much easier time putting lights, lasers, and other accessories on the gun to adapt it for your specific use case - out of the box its simply a far more adaptable package, without the need to dip into aftermarket furniture.
The FPC 22 won't dethrone the 10/22 as the rimfire king; it's definitely more expensive, but it's a great second .22 for pack/truck duty, gun for the kids, or just another gun to plink with. If your safe's full of traditional rifles and you want something foldable and modern, I’d go ahead and say to grab one, as it’s a fun departure from the norm, and at the very least, it's reliable enough to not frustrate you when you’re shooting it.
Smith & Wesson M&P FPC 22LR Rifle
As always, your thoughts are welcome, and thank you for stopping by to read The Rimfire Report. We’ll see you again next week!
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