22LR Conversion Kits For An AR

[jimmiya]

What are the reviews of these conversion kits? Thinking of purchasing one.how acurate are they with a 223 upper? Do you have to purchase a new barrel? Are they legal with a lower marked 556/223?

[SkyMag68]

I got Atchisson conversion kit.It work great on my Stag 1/9 upper. Groupin is around 1"-2" at 50yd.

[luchador768]

Originally Posted by SkyMag68

I got Atchisson conversion kit.It work great on my Stag 1/9 upper. Groupin is around 1"-2" at 50yd.

That is really good! Mine is nowhere near as accurate. 3-4 inches at 25 yards, but it could just be me. My 10/22 is much more accurate.

[rulas41]

Originally Posted by SkyMag68

I got Atchisson conversion kit.It work great on my Stag 1/9 upper. Groupin is around 1"-2" at 50yd.

in my ar 15 with a drop in bolt from ccmg, in two hours my shooting improved from 4" - 5" groups to 1"-2" in groups shooting 22lr, best too hundred bucks i spent yet and i have my sights set for 223 and it shoots low about 2 inches out to 25 yards this weekend i an going out to lytle creek to see how it and i will d at 100 yards, this from a guy who could hardly hit the side of a barn at 50 yards and practiced with loads of ammo in 223 i had trouble with repeating my sight picture and now its almost second nature in about 2 hours of range time but thats me i did it to same money first getting to be a better shot is just icing on the cake

[D53]

Originally Posted by rulas41

in my ar 15 with a drop in bolt from ccmg, in two hours my shooting improved from 4" - 5" groups to 1"-2" in groups shooting 22lr, best too hundred bucks i spent yet and i have my sights set for 223 and it shoots low about 2 inches out to 25 yards this weekend i an going out to lytle creek to see how it and i will d at 100 yards, this from a guy who could hardly hit the side of a barn at 50 yards and practiced with loads of ammo in 223 i had trouble with repeating my sight picture and now its almost second nature in about 2 hours of range time but thats me i did it to same money first getting to be a better shot is just icing on the cake

x2, i picked up my CMMG bolt conversion from
http://www.sacramentoblackrifle.com/...p?Redirected=Y

or rmasold on here. And I love it. Straight drop in and fire set up. I have yet to have any problems with double feeds, stove pipes, failure to fire, failure to extract, etc. I am happy I spent the money on the conversin bolt and mags as to buying a dedicated upper that cost anywhere from 2-3 times the amount.

[railroader]

I have a ciener conversion which works great. I have the carry handle sights dialed for 223 and I have a millet red dot mounted on top of the carry handled dialed for 22lr. Makes it easy to switch back and forth. Mark

[Chunky_lover]

Spikes kit, pic from first days of owning it.

100 yards 9x scope rapid fire

[offrdmania]

The military M261 works good too.

[JTFPEST]

I have a CMMG unit that runs great though my weapon. It shot great with no tuneing I also have a dedicated .22 that is a blast My.02 get one of each.

[Grumpyoldretiredcop]

I have a Ciener adapter. To make it work correctly, I had to shave down my bolt stop and the bottom rear of the Ciener bolt, and cut a notch in the rear of the Ciener rail assembly to eliminate interference from my buffer retainer. I'd get the CMMG or Spike's next time.

The good news is that using a DPMS 16" 1X9 twist upper, I get about 2" groups at 50 yards and 4-5" groups at 100 yards with Remington Golden Bullet bulk ammo if the wind doesn't blow too hard at Circle-S.

AFAIK, it's not what the lower says that matters - it's what the weapon can chamber that matters.

[Apollo]

I was looking on midway and someone mentioned using Aguila SSS Sniper Subsonic Ammunition in an ar with a conversion kit. They said it worked great with the 1 in 9 twist rate of the AR barrel. Might be worth looking into.

[kphamx]

for .22 conversion, I see that the kits don't come with a .22 barrel. would you need one for a conversion or does it run on the .223 barrel. (sorry if this is an extremely noobish question)

[rulas41]

Originally Posted by kphamx

for .22 conversion, I see that the kits don't come with a .22 barrel. would you need one for a conversion or does it run on the .223 barrel. (sorry if this is an extremely noobish question)

.22 and .223 virtually the same both use .224 bullet

[Chunky_lover]

Thats one of the nice things about this kit, no barrel, no 10 day wait for a new rifle, just swap out the bolts and thats it. Now you can use your same rifle your used to, to practice on.

[kphamx]

thanks Rulas and Chunky.

I didn't even notice that .22 was that similar to the .223. I can't believe i didn't notice that before. lol

[wellfedirishman]

The 22 conversion kits are great. I recommend the Spikes Tactical kit, costs $200 and comes with a Black Dog Machine mag (the best). The Ciener kit is good too, but Spikes is better.

It is cheap to shoot, decently accurate in a 1/9 twist barrel, and great for introducing noobies to an AR-15.

And yes, the Aguila SSS 60 grain bullets work great in this kit. I have tried them and they group decently at 1/9 twist. Plus they are subsonic so very quiet out of the AR barrel.

[pbrand]

Make sure you have a 1:9 twist on your barrel if you want to drop in a conversion kit. From what I have read a 1:7 twist will not work well. I have the Spikes dedicated upper and it comes with a 1:16 twist.

+1 to Spikes. Super easy to clean. I would take it over any other conversion.

[1022rimfire]

How do 1:12 twist bbls perform with a 22lr conversion bolt such as the CMMG unit? As it it is closer to 1:16, does this mean it will be a better choice than, say, 1:9?

[ttboy]

I am thinking of getting a cmmg 22 conversion for my Stag who has them in stock? most that are for sale have a 27 rd. mag which is verboten in Kalifornia, also I have read that some users have had problems with broken fire pins is this true?

[Gavin Twosome]

Which conversion unit will take the Inserts (10 round) that fit into the USGI straight 20 mag body ?

[Hopi]

Originally Posted by Gavin Twosome

Which conversion unit will take the Inserts (10 round) that fit into the USGI straight 20 mag body ?

Did you decide on which retro lower you're going to go with?

[Gavin Twosome]

Originally Posted by Hopi

Did you decide on which retro lower you're going to go with?

M4 dude .

[Hopi]

M4 clone with straight body 10/20 mags?

[Gavin Twosome]

Originally Posted by Hopi

M4 clone with straight body 10/20 mags?

those are for the NDS gun .

[Gavin Twosome]

Originally Posted by Chunky_lover

Thats one of the nice things about this kit, no barrel, no 10 day wait for a new rifle, just swap out the bolts and thats it. Now you can use your same rifle your used to, to practice on.

You can even collect conversion units .

[ilbob]

I bought a Ciener kit. The mag that came with it did not work very well.

A black dog mag worked quite well.

Loads of fun. Only put about 200 rounds through it. No failures with the BD mag. Did not really shoot for groups.

[brassburnz]

Originally Posted by Gavin Twosome

Which conversion unit will take the Inserts (10 round) that fit into the USGI straight 20 mag body ?

M261 conversion inserts.

[Suvorov]

I have an older Colt .22LR conversion kit. It is a good training aid but probably one of the worse designs out there. They haven't been made for years but you might come across them. The unit functions well enough but magazines are extremely hard to find and the bolt will not lock back. I can get 2 inch groups at 50 yards with it through my 20 inch Colt upper and about the same through my 16 inch Smith upper. It seems more finicky about ammo but as long as I'm using MiniMags, I haven't had any issues.

One thing that I do not like about upper conversion kits is that it fouls the hell out of my lower receiver getting carbon and crap all into the fire control group. For this reason I'm seriously thinking about purchasing a dedicated upper at running it on an old junky first generation DPMS lower that I have laying around.

As far as I understand the law, you can drop magazines when you are using a conversion kit, but many I have talked to are very wary about doing it as long as the upper is still a CF upper. For that reason, it might give you better piece of mind to go with a dedicated upper as well. Also, dedicated uppers should get better accuracy as they have true .22 inch barrels.

My advice would be to definitely look into a conversion kit. As I understand it, the CMMG allows you to lock the bolt back and magazines are widely available. I have used the Army conversion kit as well and it works well but also will not lock the bolt back. If you have the money, consider a dedicated upper and if you really have the money, consider a dedicated rifle.

One thing is for sure, with the ammo prices today as well as Kalifornia law, .22LR is reafirming its place as king.