AR15 .22lr conversions? Which is best?

[shooter58]

I have owned AR's since 1977 but have never tried a .22lr conversion? Whats the latest and greatest and what works well?

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[Capn Jack]

For price and quality...CMMG. Higher price, good quality DPMS

For a non-Mil Spec. S&W 15-22.

I've owned the CMMG insert and the dedicated upper. The insert is a plinker.
The dedicated upper is more accurate. I now have a DPMS Bull Barrel upper.
It's more accurate than I am. My brother has the S&W 15-22. Nice, light weight,
AR look-a-like, reasonably accurate.

Jack...

 

[shooter58]

Thanks!
There seems to be many options out there and it gets a bit confusing when you read the feedback. Just want the best chance of buying one that I can just drop in and have a reasonable chance of it operating without issue. I will be using it as a pinker mainly so I am more interested in function than match grade accuracy.

 

[Capn Jack]

I went that way to begin with. Wanted an inexpensive easy conversion.

Then I found my .223 became a concern as to leading, etc. and it was now
an even bigger mess to clean. If you think a.223 gets dirty, wait until you
add a .22 conversion unit. Then I decided, what the heck and saved my money
for a dedicated upper.

Just trying to save you that extra step I had to take.

Jack...

 

[G1GRANDEUR]

get an actual .22 upper, not a kit. .22 kit can damage your .223 barrel profile in long term.

 

[shooter58]

Getting a dedicated upper seems to be what I have also seen out there. Just thought a small conversion would be convenient to have along when ever I was out shooting but now I have concern about the abuse to my AR upper. Who would have thought that .22lr would be hard on my .223 / 5.56 ...

 

[eldbillbo]

here is my 2 cents and its worth at least that.

If you get a dedicated .22 Ar (which i would get a ruger 10/22 instead) you still might want a .22 conversion .

reason is if there is ever a time when you only can have 1 rifle the conversion is the way to go since it makes your 1 rifle into 2 which is handy if traveling where you guns are going to be left in the truck or at camp or if you hiking and you want the option of having a .223 for defense but do some plinking as well. Its good for when you run out of .223 you can just switch over .

I don't like leaving a truck full of guns but if i go in the woods fishing i want to keep my rifle with me and i don't want to have to carry 2 of them.

they do not ware out you barrel any faster than they would with regular use and .22 does very little ware to begin with.

as far as dirty yes carbon will build up in the gas block so don't shoot too many rds without putting a .223 through to blow out the crude. other than thats its as dirty as any other .22

accuracy not the greatest fine for plinking unless you run a 1/12 twist barrel i got some really good accuracy out to 75yds with a quality 1/12 but i found with a 1/9 its all over the place at 75 +

most are based off the ceiner .22 conversion the CMMG as mentioned is a good model some people have had issues but usually Cmmg resolved them. usually the case with all other conversion kits . I used to have a ceiner and was pleased with it some occasional issues but they all need to be kept clean and prefer some ammo over others.

 

[shooter58]

Thanks for your perspective. I do already own 2 Ruger 10-22's and want the option for my AR for some of the reasons you have mentioned. The issue of lead mucking up the gas port would be the only concern I guess but I would imagine that is easily remedied or avoided with regular maintenance. I'm pretty picky about the cleanliness of all my guns so that shouldn't be a concern for me.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

If you are concerned with budget just get the CMMG conversion kit. It's nice to bring one rifle and a pair of BCGs when you want to shoot both. It won't be a tack-driver but is accurate enough for plinking and small game (are dedicated 22lr uppers very accurate anyway? Never tried one). If you are worried about lead buildup at the gas block, pull the conversion, put the 5.56 bolt in and blast a few rounds through it to clear it's throat.
If you experience the bolt hanging up with the conversion (some do, some dont. Mine did) you'll want to replace the hammer with a rounded profile one rather than the common notched hammer. I hear 9mm uppers have this problem also (with the same remedy)

 

[Toxic6]

maybe not latest and greatest .....but I have only tried the cmmg kits, personally i like the stainless cmmg kits....both blued and stainless have worked excellent for me, only downside is having to fit the mags (really makes you take note of how much play is acceptable in mil specs if you own multiple rifles LOL)