22LR Conversion Kits For An AR

[wellfedirishman]

Get one!

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]

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]

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]

M4 clone with straight body 10/20 mags?

those are for the NDS gun .

[Gavin Twosome]

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]

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.