Advantage Arms Glock .22 conversion kit Review.

[bulamike]

Ok, so I shoot a Glock 34/22 in IDPA/IPSC and decided since the price of ammo is stupid out of control I would get a nice conversion kit.

I paid $280 out the door. and mounted it on my G34 slide. I noticed it felt kind of cheap, but I guess cheap to me felt light and the slide feels like a toy compared to my stock glock slide.

Installation is a breeze, pull off the stock slide, put on the .22 conversion.

My kit came with a cleaning kit, which included gun oil for oiling the slide and barrel. A bore brush and patches, and a rod....

It also included a 10 round magazine.

I first noticed on installation that the slide was kind of gritty puttin on, there was a little jiggling that had to be employed to make it work, but it eventually went on.

Without reading the reccomended instructions for ammo, I went out a purchased 4 types of ammo to compare.

I noticed the first thing it reccomended was 36-40 gr. .22 and high Velocity.

I stopped at the local Gander Mountain, and purchased 4 types of Ammo.

1-box of Federal Spitfire 50 rounds. 31 gr. $3.99 plus tax

1-box Federal Champion 50 rounds 40 gr. $1.99 plus tax

1-box Remington Golden Bullet 40gr. $3.99 plus tax

1-box of Winchester 100 rounds 36gr. $5.99 plus tax.

I loaded up the Federal Spitfire, first round...failure to extract, second failure to extract, I noticed the cartridge was deeply seated in the chamber and that the extractor was unable to grasp the cartridge, there was a deep gash in the brass on the edge of the rim but it still did not extract. I had to actually rod through the front of the barrel to take out the cartridge. This was repeated 10 times.

Next I loaded Fed. Champion. 40 gr. same issues, failure to extract, after the brass failed to extract, I would drop the mag, let the slide go forward, and then pull the slide to the rear and it would extract maunually, but not during normal cycle. This was repeated ten time

With hope fading fast I loaded up Winchester....Same issues times ten rounds of frustration.

Then I loaded Remington Golden Bullets, 40 gr.

First round...boom...extraction...second round....boom extraction again...smooth, flawless. repeated ten times.

I reloaded ten more, to ensure this wasnt a fluke. Again, ten rounds perfect...

I loaded ten more, turned the gun on its side, held it limp....ten rounds. perfect.

I loaded ten more. Rapid fire, ten rounds, not isues...flawless. I couldnt induce a malfunction.

Loaded ten more rounds, upside down. Nothing, ran like a gem, perfect.

Then I was out. $3.99 down the drain and I wanted more, but I was out. I had forgotten how fun .22 was.

The bottom line:

This kits ammo issues are apparant and written in its manual. It reccomends the golden bullet, and so do I.

It ran flawless through this kit, and just when I was on the verge of giving up, this kit with the golden bullet, make it the perfect conversion.

I definetly reccomend this kit for all who want to have fun and save some money at the same time.

Mike

[coframer]

I bought one off my dad back in Jan. for my G19 Is a little different at first but then it grows on you. Lot of fun to shoot and pretty accurate. I use the Remington ammo seems to work good and clean out the barrel every couple of hundred rounds. A great buy!!

[dohboy]

I love mine! The only "downside" is that 10 round mags get empty really quick!

[zipper046]

Glad to hear it worked out. I've heard of similar issues...all traced back to the ammo used. Others I know confirmed the Remington Golden bullets work fine. I haven't tried one myself yet because I shoot a Ruger Mk III instead. But, now may consider the AA conversion.

Thanks.

[bulamike]

Post up, Ammo finds and the price if you can.

I found the golden bullet, cheapest I found was Gander Mountain at $3.99

Not to bad, but not cheap.

[TonyT]

I have used both the Remington Golden Bullet and CCI MiniMags. The CCI MiniMags have functioned flawlessly. The remington GB's have occasional FTF's. A felow shooetr was using CCI Standard Velocity packaged in paer 50 round boxes with excellent functioning but I have not tried that ammo.

[kevin c]

I love mine! The only "downside" is that 10 round mags get empty really quick!

I have five mags, and use them all. A word to the wise - don't drop them on a hard surface and don't try reloading drills with them - they're all plastic and aren't built for the abuse.

I have used both the Remington Golden Bullet and CCI MiniMags. The CCI MiniMags have functioned flawlessly. The remington GB's have occasional FTF's...

I've had the same experience.

The 40 gr Rem GB's work a bit more consistently, but the CCI MM's are much better, though a bit more pricey. Bulk pack Remmie's are a good deal price wise, if you can put up with the occasional dud or failure to extract.

[ParaGunner]

I have one for my G19 and have also found it works best with Remington Golden bullets. Then with federal or Winchester it fails to extract.

[Matt Griffin]

Walmart sells a 550 round box for 17$ or so.

H.

[hal1955]

Mine ran flawlessly on Winchester Wildcats. Can't get them in Canada any more though.

[bulamike]

Walmart sells a 550 round box for 17$ or so.

H.

I go to walmart every day, and can never get that deal.

Best Ive seen in stock, is $3.99 for a box of 50 at Gander Mountain.

[J.Schmitt]

gander also has a 525 pack for 24 dollars. cabelas has the same on sale now for 16.99(on backorder) these are the 36 grain hollow point golden bullet. I like walmarts price best if you can find any.

Those AA mags are made for CA 10 round mag restriction. I hav'nt tampered wit one yet bot I think I can shave down the bottom of the follower and possibly get another two round in. (has anyone else tried this)

jay

[J.Schmitt]

Oh yeh, I shot a few 50 round boxes of the Peters from gander 1.99 a box. they worked fine. I think Peters is a Remington product.

[bbates]

i started having a hard time finding ammo and componets on a regular basis , so i found a kit for sale on another forum. i get to the range today load up rem goldens. and its firing 2 shot bursts with every trigger pull.

any ideas why?

not trying to hijack the thread just looking for help

[jg-rider]

I loaded up the Federal Spitfire, first round...failure to extract, second failure to extract, I noticed the cartridge was deeply seated in the chamber and that the extractor was unable to grasp the cartridge, there was a deep gash in the brass on the edge of the rim but it still did not extract. I had to actually rod through the front of the barrel to take out the cartridge. This was repeated 10 times.

Next I loaded Fed. Champion. 40 gr. same issues, failure to extract, after the brass failed to extract, I would drop the mag, let the slide go forward, and then pull the slide to the rear and it would extract maunually, but not during normal cycle. This was repeated ten time

With hope fading fast I loaded up Winchester....Same issues times ten rounds of frustration.

I've been a long time lurker and I think this is my first post here. It's a copy of something I posted elsewhere

I had the problem of the fired brass staying in the chamber and another live round sandwiched in between the the chambered brass and the slide. This happened always with Fed & Win ammo and sometimes with Rem. GB and CCI.

I found the problem was the newer mags, because what was happening was that as the fired brass was coming out of the chamber it would hit the right forward raised ear of the mag causing the extractor to slip off the rim. The slide would continue to travel back and strip another rnd out of the mag. I think that the Rem & CCI stuff was powerfull enough to allow the brass to travel back most of the time even after hitting the raised ears of my mags, but the Fed stuff wasn't.

My fix was to file down the mag ears level to the ledge of the barrel just behind the chamber. My unit still doesn't like Fed stuff, the brass will now extract out of the chamber all the time, but I now have stove pipes with it. I don't think the Fed stuff is powerfull enough to over come the recoil spring tension.

John

I now have 100% ejection & feeding with Rem GB, CCI, & Win 333 bulk ammo. Even with my modified 13 rnd. mags

I loaded up the Federal Spitfire, first round...failure to extract, second failure to extract, I noticed the cartridge was deeply seated in the chamber and that the extractor was unable to grasp the cartridge, there was a deep gash in the brass on the edge of the rim but it still did not extract. I had to actually rod through the front of the barrel to take out the cartridge. This was repeated 10 times.

The other problem I had after fixing the mag problem was getting getting the extractor to grab a fully chambered round so that I didn't have to use a dowel to push out the brass. I had to recontour the extractor for that one

I have no pics but what I did was remove the striker for safety reasons and the recoil spring.

Mounted the slide on the frame.

Put a round into the breach face held in place by the extractor. The nose of the bullet could just be in the chamber if the rnd won't stay in place.

Close the slide slowly. I noticed that as the bullet chambered and the extractor contacted the ramped cut out, the ramp caused the extractor to pull away from the bullet rim.

This shouldn't be an issue if the rnd fires because the fired brass should start to push out of the chamber and the extactor comes off the ramped cut out.

But if I had a misfire or the fired rnd failed to extract, like before I fixed my mags the extractor couldn't grab enough of the rim to pull it out and I'd have to use a brass rod.

What I did was to use a needle file and remove metal from in front of the hook never taking any metal from the hook tip until the extractor didn't pull away when the slide was in battery with rnd under the extractor. For more extractor tension, I also cut off the head of a paneling nail and inserted into the the hole that the extractor spring goes into.

What I have now is 100% hook extraction. In fact now if I chamber a rnd first and then slowly lower the slide I hear a distinct click as the exractor wraps around the bullet rim. I also stretched the extractor spring a little. Also what I did, since the rnd that was against the breach face wouldn't stay in place while held by the extractor, I noticed that the walls of the breach face where they met the breach face were a little rounded so I used a jewelers screwdriver to scribe them square. Now when I extract a fired brass slowly I have the case held straight until it hits the ejector. In fact if I pull the brass completely out of the chamber but before hitting the ejector and then push the slide forward, the brass goes right back into the chamber.

John

Edited April 21, 2009 by jg-rider

[kevin c]

Very nice first post...Thanks for your fixes!

[jg-rider]

Those AA mags are made for CA 10 round mag restriction. I hav'nt tampered wit one yet bot I think I can shave down the bottom of the follower and possibly get another two round in. (has anyone else tried this

Let me start with a little history. I have a G17. My friend lent me his G26 with his AA conversion on it. I wondered how did they get 10 rnds. into the G26/22mag. What is done is that they use a modified follower and a very short sping plunger that holds the base plate in place. I tried the G26/22 plunger in my G17/22 mag and came up with a 13 round capacity. I couldn't get the G26 follower to fit into my mag but I could see how I could possibly modify my follower. With the follower modified I calculated that I could have a 15 round capacity. That's the max limit because the spring is fully compressed

After all that I called A.A. and asked to purchase 5 G26/22 mag plungers & followers. They wanted to know why. I explained about the higher mag capacity. That was a big mistake. The refused to sell the parts to me because they were afraid they were breaking some kalifornia law even though I'm not a kalifornia citizen

So I wasn't about to possibly wreck my followers so I settled on a 13 rnd capacity. I don't know what the capacity would be for other models, but I guess it can be found out by trying a G26 plunger

My almost lathe....variable speed drill in a vise & a dremel tool with a cut off wheel for shaping & cutting. I had the drill turninig at a medium speed. It takes me about 10 minutes to make one now that I know what I'm doing

Factory & a modified plunger made from a 3/8" or 10mm bolt with a max length of .365" from the base ot the stud to the end. This is the length I need so that the leg of the follower hits the plunger when the mag is fully loaded

Cost effective method made from a wooden dowel. It really works

My big concern was that the mag spring wasn't now under enough tension to bring up the last round fast enough to cause a timing problem but it didn't. I've fired thousands of rounds witrh this mag mod. with no problems.

John

Edited April 21, 2009 by jg-rider

[Caspian_45]

Bring this back to the top for now.

Thanks for the tips and tricks.

Have you tried any othe makes of mags with the AA conversion????

[astephenson]

I shot a friend's AA kit on my 34 lower this weekend and it was a blast! I've GOT to get one of these...

[Aviator98]

I can't tell from the pics I find online.

Does this have a standard glock dovetail rear sight that could be replace with any other glock rear sight?

Just wondering if I could outfit it to match my 17's sights for consistent sight picture?

[iainmcphersn]

I can't tell from the pics I find online.

Does this have a standard glock dovetail rear sight that could be replace with any other glock rear sight?

Just wondering if I could outfit it to match my 17's sights for consistent sight picture?

Yes, I put TruGlo Brite Sites on mine.