.22 Cal AR uppers.

Long Range Canuck

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Im thinking of getting a .22 upper for one of my AR's. I'm Just looking for no B.S. opinions from those who have them or used them, on which brand has given them the best hassle free performance and best mags. Round counts will be in the thousands. Looking for quality not budget. If there are functional problems with them and not worth the effort let me know.
 
i just built mine. 11.5" .22LR barrel with chamber collar, DPMS 'slick side' upper, old-ish Ciener kit with chamber adapter removed, free float rail, and accessories to finish it off. i have fired about 200 rounds out of it with no problems. putting it together was surprisingly easy.

i'm using the Ciener 30 round mags and BDM 26 rounders. both feed reliably as long as you do NOT hold the magazine/magazine well while shooting. keep the action lubed up too.

this was a project that i started 12 years ago... just got around to finishing it. should have done it earlier!!!

i hear good things about the Spike's .22LR conversion uppers.
 
I built my own, top to bottom. I use a Colt conversion (used) for the bolt. I have it rifled for .22 LR (DLASK). It eats anything I feed it. I have less than $750 into the whole thing. With basic AR knowledge and asssembly skills, you can go from a box of parts to putting rounds down range in an hour.
 
Tactical Solutions upper, Black Dog mags and federal bulk pack ammo, a great combination.

Same here.

The TS upper doesn't like the full round nose 40grs stuff too much like Golden bullet's profile but will feed TCHP stuff like the bulk Federal stuff just fine.
 
I have a Tactical Sollutions upper that I'm using with a Stag lower.

The good:

Yes, it's fun and very accurate. The stock trigger on the lower is about the only thing holding back it's accuracy.

It's very light, points well, and with the flat top you can put pretty much anything on it (I have the varmint version).

The bad:

Using a match trigger has been known to cause problems with these uppers.

I often get fail to fires. Especially with the 27 round mags. The 10 round mags are the way to go for reliability. Also I couldn't load 27 anyways since the springw were too tight.

Sometimes the brass gets caught while the action is cycling and pinches upwards into the ejector. This can be a real pain. Although this seems to be becoming less frequent as the upper gets worked in. As of now, most stoppages are a phase one and can be cleared with the tap rack method. I believe these are caused when the head of the round bends during feeding.

Which brings up another point. Use the copper plated ammo. The lead is too soft and gets damaged when being fed.

I had a rubber ring fall out of mine within the first 100 shots. I'm not sure if this was a buffer or what.

If you fire these uppers in a quick but controlled fashion then you won't have many problems. But... when you start firing too quickly the problems start up.

The mags:

They look good but are plastic. I've had two (that I know of) explosions/ruptured .22LR rounds in the breach of my upper. You get a jam and a small puff of smoke from the ejection port. No damage to the receiver/bolt etc. However the front feed lips of the mags were damaged. Often the damage causes the mag not to function. I have two mags with this now. One 10 rounder won't work anymore. The 27 rounder still works but has a nice chip in the front. If these were aluminum they would rock. I'm not a big fan right now of the plastic.

Summary:

A fun toy, I like it but like most semi auto rimfires you run into problems when going for high round capacity and or a high rate of fire.
 
I just found another .22 upper I realy like from a company called AR15products.net They have a nice 71/2" upper in an A3 and A4 configuration. Any of you guys know about this company or these uppers, Starting to think I may need 2 uppers now, a 20" and a 7.5", just have to tell the wifey I bought one for her!!:evil:
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My TS upper works great with my Timney drop in trigger and any high velocity ammo. I've probably put 1000 rnds through it and I can't say mini mags have ever jammed it. Maybe, but I don't remember.
 
Reliability wise which is a better option a bolt converion or a dedicated upper?

I haven't had any malfunctions with my dedicated upper. When I used the original chamber adapter in my AR15s, I would have an occasional failure to feed or fire. The nice thing about the dedicated upper is it is WAY EASIER to clean. The chamber adapter gets filthy and is a pain to clean.
 
I've put over 2000 rounds through mine. Generally the problems start up after around 150 rounds. When I'm done the action is covered in filth.

The ammo I use is American Eagle 38 grain solids. CCI may work better but is also more expensive and frankly a waste if just plinking or shooting metal on the pistol range (Which is mainly what I bought mine for).
 
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