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I have had a CMMG 16" dedicated 22lr upper for quite some time and after some slight tweaking it has been very reliable and accurate. It goes to the range with me almost every trip and has thousands of rounds through it. Based on that experience I have been wanting to build a braced pistol version for a couple of years. I finally bit the bullet and ordered up some parts. I started with a NBS billet 9mm/45 slick sided upper on sale for $46. This is my first experience with this brand but I can tell you they are fantastic. The finish is great and the machine work is spot on. I also like the lines and how it matched up to a poverty pony lower I will use with it. I also ordered a MAS defense Nero 5.5" free float handguard for $55. I also have never had any experience with MAS but for a budget build it seems solid. It matches the lines of the upper well and was easy to torque down to 38 foot pounds and time to the upper. The rest of the parts are known quantities. I used a CMMG 4.5" barrel and charging handle made for a dedicated 22lr build. I stole the CMMG 22lr bolt assembly out of my other upper for now. I finished off the barrel with a kak flashcan to clear the rail and put a magpul bu rear sight and a utg flip up front sight I already had to allow me to shoot it. It will probably get a red dot in the future.

Here are all the parts before assembly. D657AC0A-311D-4972-A9BF-A1D211D2E21F.jpeg

I can tell by how hard it is to lap the front of the receiver square that the finish on the NBS upper is durable
80E1AFF0-48F0-488F-BBB3-8DE667B33DAA.jpeg

I briefly thought about leaving the handguard off for a real minimalist build but need the rail for the front sight for now. It does look pretty good without it though. EF989B58-6E70-4393-B208-72B1309DB2FD.jpeg

And the final product weighs 5# 2oz with an empty 27rd black dog mag. 8BFEB94E-BAFA-439C-85A8-2E8DED337682.jpeg

Here are a couple more pics, one with suppressor instead of flash can. 93F75F46-0AD7-442F-A56D-39A1F780AE4F.jpeg B7967EB1-F70B-40CC-84F3-D141D6347B8A.jpeg

I ran a mag of cci standard velocity through it with suppressor to check function and it did not hiccup. I will try and get some range time soon to see how accurate it is but I am happy how it turned out and encouraged by the initial function test. Will report back after some range time.
 
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I dig it!

Ive been postponing a similar thing, this is good motivation!
 
This is where a binary trigger would be fun. Looks like an awesome build.:s0116:
In process with a similar build. Venom defense slick side upper with the cmmg core. A suppressor on mine all the time. Going to brace the 4.5 incher. Literally waiting to decide on guard. Debating on a 9-10 inch guard to cover the suppressor. Have no clue what I want but have a crappy hand guard for the interim. Like the look of the Fortis night rail.
 
Yep, definitely Tromix. I have a 16.25" build with their bolt and barrel and it has proven itself to be reliable and accurate. Also Tony has been very accessible and forthcoming about his products and load suggestions for the 458.
 
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Well I put a couple hundred rounds through this build at the range and it did well with a couple caveats. The short sight radius and cheap bu sights coupled with older eyes is not a recipe for moa shooting. I did manage to keep them all in the 8" black at 50 yds but nothing to write home about. Also it did have a couple ftf due to light primer strikes in the first 50 rds. This was self induced as I had 3.5# jp spring kit in it and from past experience with my 16" cmmg 22lr upper this is no bueno. Luckily I had a mil spec trigger spring with me and I popped it in and it ran trouble free for the next 150 rds. It cycled mini mags, cci clean and cci standard velocity all without issue. From the 4.5" barrel the mini mags stayed subsonic but barely. I think on a colder day you may get a crack out of them. All others were well into the subsonic range. It seemed to group better with the mini mags and the standard velocity stuff and worse with the clean ammo. Overall I am happy with the build and got several people asking what the heck I was shooting that was so small and quiet. I think this build is capable of much better accuracy so I will mount a red dot for the next range session to help with the cause.
 
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