All AR 22 owners with dedicated uppers: Please step inside

[jttoves]

Make: Colt/Walther M4 .22
Round count: 2000+
Malfunctions: FTF,will eat any ammo but Remington.
Broken Parts: None
Notes: Accurate & fun but for some reason after i shoot about 200-300 rounds the pin that holds the gun together starts to push its way out nearly taking apart itself, so i have to hit the pin back into place don't really know why but its a great gun and its my first and i love it!

[Gregchico]

I have 2
Make: Spikes Tact SD 22LR (both) one 4 months old, one 14 months old
Round count: 1) 3500, 2) 17000-ish
Malfunctions: 1) FTE every now and then, no big deal, I would call it 97% 2) Darn near 100% reliable even after 800 rounds per session (when dirty).
Broken Parts: None on the upper. I did break a hammer pin (JP locking pin), since switch to KNS with no issues..
Diet: 98% Fed Bulk (same as Wally World stuff 550 pack), 2% CCI Stinger
Other: I'm running the "ebay" one piece guide rod in the new upper. I had to crimp the end of the spring on the one peice rod to keep it from jumping the hump.

[chucksolo69]

JTTOVES, you may need to tighten the flash suppressor as it puts tension on the the take down pin. Yours could be a little loose.

[leelaw]

Make: Spike's Tactical (nickel) M4
Round Count: 3,000
Malfunctions: few failure to ignite. Good strikes, probably dud rounds
Broken Parts: None
Other: Federal 550 bulk pack, CCI Mini-Mag

[aileron]

MAKE: Spikes Tactical ST-22, Nickle Bolt.
ROUND COUNT: 1600 ish
AMMO: Federal Bulk, Winchester Super X, American Eagle (I think this is still federal ammo, has a little F on rimmed base of case), Remington
MALFUNCTIONS: Federal and American Eagle run flawlessly. Everything else I have tried will FTF 3 times for every 10 round magazine. Sometimes round catches in upper bolt while feeding next round if not using Federal ammo.
BROKEN PARTS: Firing Pin after about 1200 rounds.
NOTES: I am in the process of removing the barrel to polish the chamber, and feed ramp. I have lapped the bolt to bolt carrier slide to prevent it from sticking/dragging. Polished the new replacement firing bin as it was slightly bent from Manufacturer (so it doesn't bind against firing pin well of bolt.) Will probably cut a few coils from the recoil spring if it continues to fail after polishing. Is pretty accurate, I shoot clays at 100 yards on the berm with iron sights all day with few misses and its my favorite .22 even though its given me a lot of headaches.

[bplvr]

For those of you looking for JP spring sets, Midway has them in 4.5 & 3.5 lb kits. About $8.00 a kit. Spikes recommends using the round {9mm pistol hammer}

[vega]

'finally get to shoot my dedicated 22LR


Make: TacSol M4

Round count: @ 400 rds Federal Bulk Pack

Malfunctions: This is where I need help. Probably at around 250 rds it does not have enough power to reset the trigger but it would feed the next round. So a reduced JP power spring is needed, hopefully that would fix it. But at around 350 rds I started getting 2 burst auto-fire but it would not reset the trigger on the 3rd round. It was fun at first but I don't want to get in trouble so I removed the bolt and pack up.

When I cleaned the bolt there was no gunk to bind the firing pin, we'll see what happens next session.

Broken Parts: No visible broken parts.

Notes: Set on Roggio Arsenal lower which is too tight. You have to use a dowel to remove the pins. Del-ton lower parts kit with rounded hammer. No problem with 3 Black Dog mags.

ETA - After I sighted it in it was nice to hear those ping - ping - ping - prinnggg - ping....at 100 yds.

[BamBam-31]

Need to update (as far as I can remember):

Make: TS M4

Round Count: <500 rds. Federal Bulk

Malfs:

[Stag lower] At first, about 1 failure to fire every other mag or so, using a notched hammer from my RRA match trigger group. Then switched to TacSol's rounded hammer and a regular trigger group, but got similar failures. So I tried to install a RRA match trigger group w/ rounded hammer, and it wouldn't install right in the Stag lower. Aha! Out of spec lower.

[Superior Arms lower] Switched out parts to a Superior Arms lower, and the RRA trigger group dropped in nicely. Upper fit better as well (was tight on the Stag). Awesome. At the range....one shot, failure to reset trigger. First shot would fire, empty ejected, next round fed, but bolt didn't go back far enough to reset trigger. When hand-cycled, the last 1" or so of travel was a bit heavy and rough. Okay, time for lightened JP trigger springs (hammer, trigger, disconnect) and a good cleaning. Result? Smooth cycling all the way through, and a nice trigger pull. Will test at range this Sunday. Keeping fingers crossed....

Broken parts: None.

Notes: Installed TacSol rounded hammer and lightened JP trigger springs (trigger, hammer, disconnect).




UPDATE: With the lightened springs, the rifle cycled beautifully....when it fired. I got light strikes about 10% of the time. Will see if there's a hammer spring in between the JP lightened spring and the regular RRA match hammer spring. That should pretty much fix things.

[jkchan83]

Make: Velocity Firearms
Round count: <550 rds. Mixed Ammo
Malfunctions: 1 FTF using Winchester Xpert HV. Poor accuracy, too. Switched to Remington Golden Bullet and CCI Mini-Mag with no problems.
Broken Parts: None. Knock on wood.
Notes: Velocity Firearms upper is a polymer composite. Combined with a Cav Arms polymer lower, the complete rifle is extremely light. I haven't weighed it, but it is about the same my fiancee's 10/22 Stainless.

[vega]

UPDATE:

Make: TacSol M4

Round count: @ 200 rds Federal Bulk Pack and 200 rds Armscor 36 gn High velocity.

Malfunctions: Replaced the springs with JP power reduced springs and no more malfunction with the trigger. I do get misfires from the Federal from time to time and the strikes are just as deep as the good ones. I loaded the misfires again and some would go off on the second try and some on the third try. No misfires on the Armscor but some rounds would not push the bolt far enough to load the next round. I was told that Armscor ammo are not loaded consistently.

On my last 100 rounds of Armscor ammo everything went smoothly.

Broken Parts: No visible broken parts.

Notes: Set on Roggio Arsenal lower which is too tight. You have to use a dowel to remove the pins. Del-ton lower parts kit with rounded hammer and JP reduced power spring. No problem with 3 Black Dog mags.

[lbdrummer3]

I'm looking for a dedicated upper like this Model 1 Sales 20" Varmint upper half. http://www.model1sales.com/item-deta...TOKEN=55117162

Most everything I've seen in this thread is either Spikes or TacSol variations of really cool looking M4s or A2s, which is great but I already have those in 223.

I have a concern about the fit of the Model 1 upper to my Sabre lower as I have heard that Model 1 uppers have a rep for being loose fitting on some receivers. That problems also seems to be hit and miss. I don't want anything that is half *****.

Do any of you know of a company that makes dedicated 22 flat top uppers with a bull barrel, free floating tube and no front site like the M1S upper in the link?

Thanks
Fred

[aileron]

That looks like you need to change out the hammer. From one that has the notch in it like this...



To one without the notch like this...



I had a problem with my ST-22 failing to cycle because of the notch in the hammer.

[NorCalDustin]

Anyone have anything else to add to this thread?

[Malmon]

Any experience/comments on Chiappa Firearms & ATI M4-22 dedicated .22lr complete upper assembly?

[usmcchet9296]

Make: Spikes Tactical ST-22 w/ nickel bolt
Round count: not sure but around 2K easy
Malfunctions: Early breakin but once that was done I rarely had problems but note I keep the gun real clean and do so after every outting with it ...it is a 22 after all
Broken Parts: None.
Notes: This was a Spikes complete rifle
Ammo used: Mostly HV Federal and Winchester 36 to 40 grain but so far it eats most anything I feed it
Final Comments: I love .22 guns. Im outta work right now and the only way I get to the range is because .22s are cheap. I have a Ruger 10/22 tacticool rifle, Savage TR, Kimber Rimfire, Mossberg M44 and my Spikes that go to the range most of the time but my Spikes goes with me all the time and I just cant say enough good things about it. I know people have had problems with thiers but so far I have had very little.

My .22 trio