https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/foru...g-22-range-day
This is an ammo test I did a few years ago, it was at an actual range so the distances were accurate.
"Victory favours the prepared"
^is that predicated on the notion that a 22LR version would need to be 1:1, scale rifle and/or share all major components/processes? Strikes me as an opportunity to make a scaled-down, simpler blow-back version with some nods to the original aesthetic. (or the new one)
Why though? The WK is a terrible platform in its factory state, let alone trying to force it to feed a rim fire cartridge with a drop in kit. I’ve never held a WK that wasn’t a pile, mine was a pile, it just isn’t a well built unit.
Let alone the feeding/jamming issues.
Conversion kits don't operate on gas and are complete with their own bolt and springs.
I find it hard to swallow that you have tried every possible configuration of dedicated .22 semi's AND conversion kits and the results are...
1) you don't know how they work
2) you believe that semi-auto plinking guns 'don't get much better' past the 300$ mark
Consider a pre-OIC 4000$ AR race-gun made incredibly light, perfectly balanced, with custom furniture and a top-dollar trigger. For the price of a 300$ conversion a shooter can run that investment for rimfire prices, with the exact same belt or chest rig as competition, instead of an out of the box Canadian Tire Savage 64 or similar with a plastic trigger with a reset a half-mile long, clumsy mag release, etc.
I doubt you can put together a WK180 to match an AR platform gun but what you can do..is use your preferred gun that you have customized instead of leaving it in the safe due to high ammo prices. It's not entirely about the shot for shot savings, its about getting use and value out of the investment you made into your favorite 5.56 gun..