Dedicated .22 AR or Conversion kit?

D

-Doug-

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
7   0   0
Been debating buying a M&P 15-22 as a training tool to my eventual purchases of an AR in .223
Was really hung up on how light and plastic feeling the 15-22 was and it turned me off from it. Still debating if I should pick one up.

Recently found out about CMMG conversion kits. They seem great since it will keep the same full size AR feel rather than the plastic .22 frame.

Trying to see the pros and cons of going dedicated .22 AR vs conversion kit.

Thoughts on:
-accuracy
-reliability
-feel of Gun and cross over training
-personal experience

Let me know what you experts think
Doug
 
Funny, I am in the exact same position, I have a spare lower I could use with a dedicated upper, but I really like the M&P 15-22 also. I watched a few YouTube vids yesterday and I'm leaning towards the M&P unless someone talks me out of it,lol.
What sold me on the M&P was the vid by TNP ( The Nuthinfancy Project), those guys shoot everything and he gives a great review on it, discussing the weight issue etc.
My buddy shot his 15-22 at a speed steel match last weekend and I was very impressed by how fast and accurate it was
 
Have never handled or fired the M&P, so no opinion on that.

For inexpensive training/gopher shooting/just plain fun, I went with a full .22 rimfire upper. My thinking was that if I'm starting with a high quality 5.56, Giessele trigger, etc., keep what I've got in the lower and buy a .22 rimfire for it. Some obvious benefits to that i.e. same trigger, buttstock all the time, and so on.

I was very pleased with that and the accuracy of the upper was within what I expected. Ultimately, because I later ended up with a Stag complete lower in a trade, I ended up putting the same Giessele trigger, buttstock, etc on that lower as well, and the .22 rimfire upper found a permanent home. Which I guess would be the same as buying a .22 rimfire AR version to begin with.

I think you can't lose either way. I'm a real believer in .22 conversions to maximize training/fun for those not rolling in money; I also have conversions for my Browning Hi Powers and my 1911.
 
Accuracy with the conversion kits isn't as good as a dedicated .22lr AR platform. That said, cost of the conversion kit is much less than a new rifle, and you get the advantage of using your existing AR.
 
ar - 22 conversion

I have one for my AR, and it woks great. The 22lr drops about 3" at 50yards (10" barrel) but otherwise the sight picture stays the same. It's easy to switch out back and forth and i do many times right on the shooting bench at range. Only draw back is its still restricted so you can't hunt with it.
 
I used to own one of the conversion kits that replaces the BCG and I don't recommend one. The one I had only worked well when it was really clean and 22LR needs a way slower twist than the standard 7-9 twist that is the norm on a 223 so your accuracy will suffer slightly.
I have a dedicated 22LR upper now and it's a much better way to go. Cost around $400 for the upper and it feels just like a regular upper (maybe a little lighter since mine has a polymer upper receiver) and has been very reliable so far.
I've been considering selling it lately so PM me if you want to try to talk me into letting it go.
The M&P looks like a good option as well and I was tempted to buy one but decided to go with a dedicated upper instead so I would have the same trigger and stock to practice with.
 
Last edited:
Accuracy degraded fast with my CMMG conversion. Leading built up in the first couple inches of rifling to such a degree that within less than 400 rounds it was key holing and had pie plate groupings at even 10m

Reliability was spotty as well.

However a CMMG 22 barrel and the appropriate collar in place of the chamber insert on the CMMG bolt and it is a much improved gun
 
I have a 15-22. Put thousands of cheap bulk ammo into it,It runs 100% , all the time. It's accurate enough, not as good as my marlin 795 but at 25-50 yards it's good enough. I believe few site sponsors have them on sale now like $469 ish. Was at the range the weekend , friend had a cmmg kit in his ar. It also ran 100% and was pretty accurate. But for like $350 and 1 mag was what it cost, it almost don't make sense to buy the conversion when the 15-22 is so cheap. I also would have an issue personally putting thousands of rounds of 22 thru my actual 5.56 colt upper, regards to barrel wear etc.
 
Mark-II said:
Accuracy degraded fast with my CMMG conversion. Leading built up in the first couple inches of rifling to such a degree that within less than 400 rounds it was key holing and had pie plate groupings at even 10m

Reliability was spotty as well.

However a CMMG 22 barrel and the appropriate collar in place of the chamber insert on the CMMG bolt and it is a much improved gun
Click to expand...

Try running copper jacketed/plated loads. The soft lead bullets will give off a lot of fouling in a tight twist barrel.
 
I've got a CMMG that I run in one of my AR's, but I keep it to one as it fouls it up a lot. Jams up the gas tube too, but fire a 5.56 and it blows it out. It's a great kit and accurate enough. It's really nice having 25 round unpinned mags ;)
 
Ar180shooter said:
Accuracy with the conversion kits isn't as good as a dedicated .22lr AR platform. That said, cost of the conversion kit is much less than a new rifle, and you get the advantage of using your existing AR.
Click to expand...

Right now a conversion kit is $369.99 and a S&W MP15-22 is $435.00. It's hard to justify a conversion kit when the difference is only 60 bucks.
 
cr5 said:
Try running copper jacketed/plated loads. The soft lead bullets will give off a lot of fouling in a tight twist barrel.
Click to expand...

I forget what I was shooting the most, but it was likely federal bulk, CCI mini mags and CCI AR stuff.

I was guessing that it was any combination of twist, ammo, bore diameter, and even the long bullet jump followed by crashing into the rifling.

In the end I had a second .223 upper that I wanted to concentrate on so it made sense to rebarrel the other for a dedicated rimfire.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom