AR 22LR conversion kit- which one ?

ron22250 · Sep 2, 2011

Hi all,
What's your take on the various conversion kits out there ? Likes, dislikes ? CMMG ? ATI ? Ciener ? Other brands ? Does barrel twist matter ? Thanks for your feedback !

Texagon · Sep 2, 2011

I have the CMMG. I only have about 300 rounds through it but it's rock solid so far and jammed only once when I was firing it as fast as I could. It's fairly accurate too. I use it with a Bushmaster M4 upper. I've only used it in one of my ARs so far. The barrel twist is 1/9. I'd like to try out the BHOA from CMMG.

Unfortunately, I don't have any experience with the other brands. I will say this, it's a cheap way to have fun with your AR. The .22s do get the barrel and action dirty though.

chase · Sep 2, 2011

I bought a used CMMG kit for my LMT AR. Works great and never had a single firing issue. The CMMG mags on the other hand are junk. I had to sand it down a lot to make it fit in the gun. Lots of people recommend Blackdog but havent tried them yet. The conversion kit is a great investment and a must if you want to shoot all day.

Texagon · Sep 2, 2011

Yeah I bought Brownells magazines in black and the see through smoke colors. They are actually Blackdog mags sold by Brownells with their name on them. No problems with feeding on any of them.

PDXSparky · Sep 2, 2011

From all I've read on ar15.com, CMMG is the go to brand.

DinhRose · Sep 2, 2011

Cmmg is good but you gotta make sure it fits. My buddy has one and it fits fine. My kit requires some force to install and remove. It works fine but tight fit

Old Hick · Sep 2, 2011

I have a dedicated upper from chiappa. It is sweet, and the way to go if you ask me. I would rather have a dedicated upper than a kit. Everything works as it should. The barrel twist is 1/16 I believe.

M4-22

There are other dedicated uppers as well, and I Personally would go that route, (dedicated) rather than just a bolt and magazine kit.

Black dog mags are Good magazines. I also have 3 of the chiappa magazines and they work Awesome.

Stay Safe.

Swedish K · Sep 2, 2011

Although the Ciener kits seem to work well even in full auto after dialing it in to work well with the host gun I would tend to avoid them as I don't want my money to go into his pocket. Ciener may make decent stuff but he is one of the most arrogant condescending individuals I've ever met. At the shot show a few years ago I happened to be standing there when a customer told him that he had trouble with one of his products and tried to explain what the problem was - JA Ciener, apparently not wanting to hear a complaint or admit that any of his products might be less than perfect, picked up his cell phone, dialed a guy and started talking about meeting for lunch and turned his back on the customer. He waited until he was certain the customer had left the area before ending the call.

ron22250 · Sep 3, 2011

Thanks for all the replies ! :s0155:

halmbarte · Sep 5, 2011

From what I've seen, none of them work 100%. I shoot speed steel at TCGC a lot and if there are guys with repeated problems, it's the guys running .22LR conversions, both rifles and pistol uppers.

Depending on what you're doing, a dedicated, designed for .22LR is the way to go for reliability.

H

spendolla · Sep 5, 2011

I just bought a CMMG Evolution .22lr conversion for my 1/7 upper. It's not as accurate as a dedicated upper, but I pretty much got it for plinking at closer ranges and and with the money I saved I could buy 10,000 rounds of .22 and still have money left over for extra cleaning products (which would be seriously needed). I also don't have to haul another upper around with me, which is nice. As everyone says, it does get dirty, but it's just so much damn fun to go out for a day of shooting and only spend $15. I have put 500 rounds of Federal 40gr and had 2 misfeeds with the CMMG mag. Interestingly, I bought a Black Dog mag after listening to everyone about their superiority, but it rattles around in the mag-well and constantly misfeeds--won't be buying another Black Dog. Yes, with the CMMG magazines you have to file down the tabs on the spine (a major hassle to some, perhaps), but it allows you to get a custom fit to your lower, which I appreciate. The bolt hold open actuator is nice, but not really that crucial. Never had a need for the drop-in forward assist adapter as the only problems I've have have come from magazine misfeeds. I got the stainless steel version (or is it nickel-plated? I forget) and it makes cleaning an absolute breeze. I am very happy with the kit and would recommend it to anyone who wants to go shoot a lot but doesn't have the scratch to be shelling out for .556 all day.

ron22250 · Sep 5, 2011

Thanks for the feedback !

SICARIO · Sep 6, 2011

I have a steel cmmg kit, a stainless evolution kit, and have since switched out the camber adapter for the India kit. I've been very happy with it.

It's in a 1:7 barrel, but it's a trainer not a tack driver, so function over pinpoint accuracy was most important to me. That being said, the accuracy is very respectable. I have a review written on it here:

http://northwestexpeditions.blogspot.com/2011/01/cmmg-evolution-22lr-conversion-review.html

Untamo · Sep 6, 2011

But before I give it, my motivation is all about simplicity. I hate having to monkey with stuff. I want to drop it in and run.

I debated a good while about getting a dedicated upper and essentially decided against it. It would work well for many of you out there.

I ended up with the India evolution kit found here: <broken link removed>

The reasons are many but stainless, chamber lock, boha, and the full auto trips were major factors for me as I wanted abilities as close to the weapon I had as I could. Piston compatibility is nice too.

I also shoot the 60gr subs almost exclusively for proper stability out of a 1x8 twist. The barrel I use is a stainless polygonial riffling so no scraping lead fouling out of the traditional grooves either.

For me using my standard weapon, without an upper change, was key for training. Also I like 60gr subs exclusively so a dedicated upper with a 1x16 wouldn't stabilize it right anyways. And theres the full auto function....

So the costs are similar either way you go. With a kit you don't need additional sights, but more expensive ammo. The dedicated upper is nice for the cheaper ammo and plinking fun but it's a bit different if you're wanting to train with your weapon.

coyote223 · Sep 6, 2011

Make sure to get a kit from someplace that will warranty it. My Ciener kit broke somewhere between 2K and 3K rounds, warranty, what warranty? As Swedish K said, don't buy the ciener kit,,, :s0025:

KalamaMark · Sep 6, 2011

I've got a CMMG Sierra dedicated upper, running CMMG mags I've fitted to my lower. The function is flawless running Federal Bulk Ammo. Probably 800 rounds fired.
I'm not satisfied with the level of accuracy, though. 25 yard groups are twice the size of my 10/22's, my 995, or my GSG-5.
The other thing that annoys the heck out of me is the fact that the bolt hold open (ping pong paddle) feature does not work midway through a clip.
I went with a dedicated upper with hopes of superior accuracy vs. a kit. I suspect I woulda got the same accuracy from a kit.