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.22lr Rimfire AR Uppers and Reliability


jkrispies

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I'm considering lots of options for a new iron-sighted rimfire rifle build for Steel matches.  As part of my research, is there anybody who has experience with a .22lr rifle upper that can be swapped onto an existing AR-15 lower and that runs with 100% reliability? 

 

To be clear, I'm far more concerned with a gun that goes bang for 200 consecutive shots than one which is super accurate or cool looking.  Having said that, if the upper can accept AR handguards (ie, a BCM KMR, etc) to match my .223's ergonomics and balance point, that would be a nice bonus.  

 

IMPORTANT:  With all due respect, please don't side-track this into a "just get an M&P-22" or "I like 10/22's" thread-- that's not my question.  I already know that those guns are reliable.  I'm looking specifically for info on conversion uppers that are reliable enough for competition use.

 

Thanks, 

J

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I think the reliability of a .22LR AR upper is not so much the upper as it is the ammo you feed it.

 

My .22LR upper is home built with a Taccom barrel and CMMG conversion kit.   With the right ammo, it is very reliable.  I can't say it will go bang 200 times in a row but that is more an ammo problem rather than an upper problem.

 

Back when .22LR ammo was hard to find, if it was on the shelves I would buy it.  Now I have lots of somewhat crappy ammo.   I have a Ruger Mk II pistol that shoots almost anything.  Due the the crappy ammo, it will still not fire every time.  It does feed and extract, it just don't always fire.  The shell will have a nice dent where the firing pin hit. It just don't go bang. The cheaper bulk grades of Remington and Winchester are the worst.  The AR upper is much more ammo sensitive than that Ruger pistol.

 

On the non-crappy side, Federal bulk ammo (with the copper plated bullets, not the bare lead bullets) function well in my upper.  The full line of CCI ,22LR ammo (except the soft shooting sub-sonic stuff) runs the best.  That will include both the CCI standard speed and the Mini-Max rounds.

 

I've also found that the harder the hammer hits, the better the chance it will go bang.  Lowers with mil-spec triggers do well.  An upper with a CMC trigger which has less hammer energy does not do very well.  The best lower has a Hiperfire 24c with the springs for the lightest trigger pull (and yields the highest hammer hit).

 

Bill

 

 

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26 minutes ago, jkrispies said:

I'm considering lots of options for a new iron-sighted rimfire rifle build for Steel matches.  As part of my research, is there anybody who has experience with a .22lr rifle upper that can be swapped onto an existing AR-15 lower and that runs with 100% reliability? 

 

To be clear, I'm far more concerned with a gun that goes bang for 200 consecutive shots than one which is super accurate or cool looking.  Having said that, if the upper can accept AR handguards (ie, a BCM KMR, etc) to match my .223's ergonomics and balance point, that would be a nice bonus.  

 

IMPORTANT:  With all due respect, please don't side-track this into a "just get an M&P-22" or "I like 10/22's" thread-- that's not my question.  I already know that those guns are reliable.  I'm looking specifically for info on conversion uppers that are reliable enough for competition use.

 

Thanks, 

J

i have several .22's ruger take downs  and ar uppers by tac solution

i have a t/sol 6" bbl upper made as a proto-type around for yrs.. as accurate as any gun i have ever seen.

good on target's to 200 yds  10" plates. have a 16" lt wt t/sol runs 100% also  REMEMBER .22"s are not as reliable as ar's. u will have to just live with it,  we all do.  drowned in mil-tec helps.   with the 16" and a 3x9 w/red dot last year i hit same 10"ers at 300 5x5 laying on the grounds. at a match.  i cant do any better.

 

i seen a ton of hi $ uppers gag.

chet (t/s/owner) knows his stuff.

use black dog mags

customer service is as good as it gets in this business. (i am in the business)

quick turnaround

use good glass

READ CAREFULLY:  i have never seen another upper i would trade mine for.     if shtf ever comes i will take the 6" upper stuffed in my o.t.d. rig, gemtec seahunter can, 1000 rds of cci  standard v. same glass.

like my chance's.   of course an ar is my primary and always will be.

good luck

jjw

 

u will be glad u did

Edited by jjw
spelling sucks
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I put together an AR upper with CMMG conversion bolt and CMMG 16" .22 barrel. With the new Black Dog steel lipped mags very reliable with CCI 22 AR and Mini-Mags (had one failure to fire in more than 500 rounds) and moderately reliable with Fed bulk pack copper plated (like a couple of failures every 50 rounds). However, it does not like to be monopodded. Tends to shave bullets if I do and I get a buildup on the feed ramp of the bolt collar (I think that's what it's called).

After the first 300 rounds of use, It broke the hammer of the Rock River 2stage I had in the lower. Switched to a Geissele SSA-E and no problem since.

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I had the Chiappa 22 upper, which some people have had issues with, but worked fine for me. I've been using the M&P 15-22 mags (they're loose, but do fit in a regular AR lower, and are more reliable than any other mag I've used). I did crack one of the front lugs on the plastic upper trying to torque on a free float handguard, but was able to replace it with a mil-spec aluminum upper and it's been running great since.

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Last Friday I posted "I can't say it will go bang 200 times in a row but that is more an ammo problem rather than an upper problem".

 

After a thorough cleaning, I took the gun to the range this morning.  By the time I was done, I had shot 325 rds of Federal .22 LR ammo without a single problem.  No misfires, no jams, no failure to feed or extract.  This was Federal bulk pack ammo with the copper plated bullets (not the bare lead ones).

 

A clean gun with good ammo can be reliable.

 

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