Review of the CMMG AR15 22LR Bravo Rifle Conversion Kit

[Ironbar]

I purchased this conversion kit hopefully be able to plink .22 LR with my AR with reasonable accuracy. Alas, this has not turned out to be the case.

The conversion kit from CMMG slips into the space normally occupied by the bolt of the AR platform rifle. It uses proprietary magazines to feed the ammo into the conversion kit. I will say this: the kit OPERATES flawlessly. I tried it with five different types of ammo with varying FPS velocity. I ran CCI, Winchester, Federal, Remington and Aguila. Every round fed and extracted perfectly.


Where this kit failed was accuracy. I tried it out on both my carbine and rifle length AR's, and the results were the same. While it operated perfectly, I could never get better than a three inch grouping. I had my scope sights set dead nuts on the bullseye, on a bench, and the rounds went left, right, up, and down. In fact I don't think I had even one round actually hit the bullseye! There was never a consistent group. One ammo I did not try was the CCI Velocitor. In this video, 22Plinkster demonstrates very similar results to that what I got with the kit.

One thing I didn't try was the CCI Velocitor ammo. He seemed to get very good results with this one, so I may try it in the future.

BUT, I'm disappointed to say the least, and had I known this beforehand I never would have bought it. As such, it will remain merely a curiosity that sits unused in my safe. I might bring it out for kicks & giggles to hit big targets from time to time, but compared to even a bone stock Ruger 10/22, this can't hold up. I hope this will prevent someone from making the same mistake I did!

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[Muggs919]

Bummer it doesn't group well. Thanks for sharing and saving us some money.

 

[JuglansRegia]

Thanks for the write up, I am not totally surprised, CMMG puts a 1:16 twist in their .22LR upper, any .223-5.56 barrel these days is going to be 1:9 to 1:7, quite a bit of difference. Some varmint uppers have slower twists if you have one of those, maybe try your conversion kit on that.

 

[Gbirk]

Your mistake is not installing a binary trigger with the kit in a pistol. The giant smile stops you from worrying about accuracy.

 

[Ironbar]

Your mistake is not installing a binary trigger with the kit in a pistol. The giant smile stops you from worrying about accuracy.
View attachment 615446

No, I pretty much prefer accuracy all the time.

 

[Gbirk]

No, I pretty much prefer accuracy all the time.

There is a time and place for everything and sometimes all a gun has to be is "accurate enough". This is by far the gun new shooters prefer when I take them out. It is relatively quiet with no recoil, light and easy to hold and looks kind of cool to new shooters. Also, ammo is dirt cheap so after letting them shoot for a while in single mode, I will switch it to binary and their smile gets huge.

I originally built it just because I wanted a pistol and the 7.5" upper was really cheap form a good manufacturer. With 223/5.56 it is a stupid loud gun with horrible accuracy. With the CMMG .22 conversion it is one of the most fun guns I have to shoot and accurate enough to hit 8" steel at 50 yards. Good enough for a fun day at the range.

If you need accuracy all of the time, you should not be putting .22 down a 223 barrel. You should be building a dedicated .22 upper. CMMG sells them. 22lr | Product categories | CMMG Inc.

 

[Gbirk]

Also, if you are going to shoot the CMMG conversion much you will want a loader as the mags are a pain to load by hand. This one works great. Lightnin' Grip Loader

 

[American123]

.22 is not .223, twist rate is not optimized for .22 and putting a slightly smaller bullet down the barrel than it is designed for isn't the best way to get accuracy either.

They aren't advertised as being the absolutely most accurate .22lr shooter you could ever have. They are advertised as a device that allows you to configure an AR to shoot .22lr so as to allow cheap practice with weapon manipulation, or as a tool to teach with significantly less recoil than .223. It also allows someone who might desire to, to pack a brick of .22lr a couple mags and a conversion BCG and have significantly more ammo (even if it is .22lr) than for the same weight of .223

Hence, if you use it for what it was intended for, it works fantastic. The complaint in the OP is akin to using a hammer as a screwdriver and complaining it was not a great screwdriver.

You sir are absolutely correct!

This is the part where I say I am bias, I have used one each time I have taught someone how to shoot an AR15, I have found that the significantly reduced recoil helps them enjoy the experience and learn what I want them to learn, which is to not fear the gun and that it's not as "assaulty" as the media makes them out to be. This is how you bring people to the good side.

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

Ive always wondered about these kits, but I heard the accuracy is very bad. Thanks for all the info.. I think ill stick with my dedicated .22's.

If firearms and even AR uppers were heavily regulated: (even with the poor accuracy) This would be an interesting, viable option.

 

[Certaindeaf]

My buddy has one, and that mag loader too. I've shot it a few times and it seems reliable and accurate enough for a fun day of plinking.

 

[Knebel]

I would not consider it "horrible". I put an ar pistol together with this for my wife. Its a 10.5" barrel with a 1:7 twist. While i wouldn't consider it the most accurate on the planet, it is no problem hitting a 3" steel target at 25yards. We tried some longer (80yrds) plinking that is relatively consistently accurate shooting clay targets. My inaccuracies come from me shaking but rested I hit consistent.

I had a few problems with it not resetting the hammer which caused some malfunctioning... to say kindly lol. It needed 2 coils clipped off the spring and a lighter hammer spring to not cause slamfires on certain ammo. Now this thing just runs any ammo pretty reliable and it TONS of fun.

I also noticed, more oil= more malfunction. We still sometimes have one stovepipe or one light primer strike in about 200rounds. Have close to 1500rds through it already and my wife and I both love this thing!

Indeed, the magazines are a pain to load.

 

[bmw2]

Try the Aguila SSS 60gr rounds. They recommend a 1/8 twist barrel. Still a smaller diameter but worth a try.

 

[eldbillbo]

I have had really really good accuracy from a .22 kit in a 20" 1/12 twist Ar15 barrel. fair accuracy out of a 16" 1/9 twist and so so out of a 16" 1/7 twist. Naturally using an actual .22 barrel with say a 1/16 twist like the CMMG or spikes or other dedicated .22 maker should be better than all of them. but it nice to have something you thing throw in the range bag to switch from shooting .223 to .22

 

[Member 5605]

These kits have and always will be training aid kits. To familiarize you with the firearm and you can practice cheaper. Nothing more.

Accuracy with .22 comes somewhere else in a designated .22LR rifle.

I have had two kits, one still in my possession for a dedicated upper. I'll retain it. Good enough for rabbits.

 

[PDXSparky]

Also, if you are going to shoot the CMMG conversion much you will want a loader as the mags are a pain to load by hand. This one works great. Lightnin' Grip Loader

I have 2 of those loaders and a bunch of the adaptors for different mags. I initially got it to load 40 round black dog M11 magazines, which are a pain in the fingers to load. Makes loading them almost as fun as unloading them.

 

[Legion489]

.22 is not .223, twist rate is not optimized for .22 and putting a slightly smaller bullet down the barrel than it is designed for isn't the best way to get accuracy either.

They aren't advertised as being the absolutely most accurate .22lr shooter you could ever have. They are advertised as a device that allows you to configure an AR to shoot .22lr so as to allow cheap practice with weapon manipulation, or as a tool to teach with significantly less recoil than .223. It also allows someone who might desire to, to pack a brick of .22lr a couple mags and a conversion BCG and have significantly more ammo (even if it is .22lr) than for the same weight of .223

Hence, if you use it for what it was intended for, it works fantastic. The complaint in the OP is akin to using a hammer as a screwdriver and complaining it was not a great screwdriver.

You sir are absolutely correct!

This is the part where I say I am bias, I have used one each time I have taught someone how to shoot an AR15, I have found that the significantly reduced recoil helps them enjoy the experience and learn what I want them to learn, which is to not fear the gun and that it's not as "assaulty" as the media makes them out to be. This is how you bring people to the good side.

Pretty much what I was going to say. Wrong barrel twist, wrong bore diameter, exactly what did you expect? Do you think a different con kit will cure the twist/ diameter problem in your AR barrel? They are what they are. However I do have a cartridge adapter (not con kit) that will put the .22 RF bullets dead on at 50 years with the Mini-14 sighed in for 100 yards.

 

[biggie24420]

I installed mine in my AR15 pistol (Aero lower and redXarms 7.5 inch .223 wylde upper) and took it to the range a few days ago.

First let me say, the mags kinda suck. Can't load it all the way to 25. By the 20thround or so, the rounds jam up and I lose tension and rounds can just fall out if I hold the mag upside down.

So I shot CCI and a few different Federal rounds. I had several jams. The spent casing would get stuck in the "gas key" area.... or where the charging handle fits into the upper.... I should have took pics. I also had some double feeds.

Maybe I'll buy some black dog mags and see how those work. I can't say I'm totally pleased but I'll shoot it more and see if things improve. I think the mag springs are cheap and weak. If there are spring upgrades please let me know.

As far as accuracy goes, I had pretty good groupings. For me, it's just a range toy. I would never trust the conversion kit with my life... obviously.

If I knew what I know now, I'd probably not bother buying the kit but I will run the CMMG kit in my Spikes M4LE and see how that goes. IMO I think a dedicated .22LR upper is the way to go.

Years ago I had a CMMG conversion kit and I had issues with that too.

 

[biggie24420]

Recently I used my M4 with a 16" 1:7 barrel and the CMMG .22LR kit ran much better. The only issues I had was ejection. I'd say probably 4 to 6 times it stovepiped the brass. The mags appeared to be more reliable. I had ordered some BlackDog LLC mags and those worked good, lighter weight too. Also it shot better with copper jacketed ammo.

 

[PiratePast40]

I bought one a few months ago and didn't have any malfunctions. Accuracy at 50 yards with Federal Auto Match was OK. Opened up pretty bad a 100 yards. It didn't do any worse with CCI Stingers. Might give it a try at the next steel challenge. For the price, should have bought the M&P 15-22.

 

[Unka-Boo]

Gotta remember .22 is a smaller bore size also...I went down this road 15 years ago, minute of pie plate at 50 was a out the best it would do. Sold it and just bought more mags for my 10/22
Now, if you were to build an upper with a dedicated .22 barrel, it would be a different story.