Does anyone have any experience with the 22lr conversion kit for the Raven? how reliable is it in comparison with other semi auto .22s. also is there anywhere to buy .22lr ar15 barrels in canada to make it a sbr while keeping it non restricted?
Lockhart Raven 22lr Conversion
- Thread starter bluedexter
- Start date
Ya I figured no one who ordered it got it yet with the company's history with late orders. Was just hoping someone who was "testing" the kit prior to release was lurking on the forum. Would love to have a 556 Raven with a dedicated SBR 22lr build but with the price of them I want to make sure it can reliably cycle 22lr.
Sort of related, but I ended up building out my own 22LR kit for the Raven with the help of some others.
Looking at the LHT kit, you cannot legally use a shorter barrel with it. The reason being is that their kit uses a chamber insert, so you can technically still chamber a centre fire calibre.
In order to go to a shorter barrel it would have to be a dedicated one.
I ended up using a CMMG kit, remade some parts and then bought of one their barrel collars. I paired that with an Apogee barrel from BoreBuddy, which was honestly a dream to work with even though our laws changing mid purchase caused some issues.
Right now the Raven with the dedicated upper sits at a little over 28”. The barrel is 16”, but because it sits inside the receiver a fair bit it looks more like a 14.5”.
I did realize later I could have actually gone shorter. For some reason I though the minimum OAL for a NR rimfire was 28”, turns out it’s actually a minimum overall length of 26” to stay NR.
What all did you have to make yourself? Did the CMMG kit fit right into the raven with no issues? How well does it cycle, do you have much FTF OR FTE?
Pics. we need pics dammit!
There was a fair bit needed to actually get it up and running. My self and a buddy found one way, but a third person we started talking to did it a slightly different way.
How my upper is done:
I bought the CMMG kit (~$400), then had to stretch the rail the bolt rides on by about 3/4”, I don’t remember the exact measurements.
Once that was done, I machined out the design on my little desktop CNC. We 3D printed a new back cap (red piece), then I just screwed it on.
We needed a way to make the firing pin (FP) 3/4” longer as well as have the bolt actually reset the hammer. After multiple tries it was found out, through the 3rd person, that we can use an AR 15 firing pin cut down. Once you put some chamfers on it, the pin works fine. I used a round file to make an indent for the firing pin retaining pin to sit. Because the FP is longer, we needed to make an adapter to not only support it, but also one that’d reset the hammer.
Again after some trial and error with 3D printing, we made a functional one. We ended up getting it metal 3D printed too since the plastic ones didn’t last all that long. Eventually I want to do the same for the end cap too.
I’ve also got an Apogee barrel, so I’m using the CMMG collar. The entire set up takes the regular CMMG magazines, which is nice.
I’m pretty sure I did a video on the Raven FB group. I’ll try and find that and add it here.
Attachments
Here’s the FB video.
I’m in the middle of a move at the moment so don’t have access to my computer and zero idea how to download it from FB.
Edit #1:
Video of build in Raven FB group.
Edit #2:
Still trying to get the longer more detailed video, but here’s a video of the gun shooting…just so y’all know I’m not screwing with you.
Edit #3:
Okay, so here’s the video from the FB group.
Side note, if anyone know how to get it so the video just drop into here instead of needing to link to TY, let a man know. Lol
I’m in the middle of a move at the moment so don’t have access to my computer and zero idea how to download it from FB.
Edit #1:
Video of build in Raven FB group.
Edit #2:
Still trying to get the longer more detailed video, but here’s a video of the gun shooting…just so y’all know I’m not screwing with you.
Edit #3:
Okay, so here’s the video from the FB group.
Side note, if anyone know how to get it so the video just drop into here instead of needing to link to TY, let a man know. Lol
Last edited:
Well damn, I'm glad someone was able to figure out the proper way to get the video over here. lol
If you happen to get stuck somewhere along the way, fee free to ask. I'd be more than happy to help get some more of these up and running.
If you do get one running, absolutely let us know. It'd be interesting to see how other people get these built up.
