CMMG-AR 22LR Conversion A man and his son set out to provide an ill-informed review.

[Triathloncoach]

Overall - moderately disappointing

Today my son and I tried out our CMMG AR 22LR conversion kit at Bullseye in Cumming. The guys who worked there could not have been nicer. I bought the kit new a few months back from Cherokee Gun & Pawn for I believe $169.99. (?) FYI - I immediately scratch off price tags and throw away all gun related receipts due to being married to a Gun Hating CPA. Welcome to my world. I had hoped this purchase would alleviate the need to buy a S&W M&P 15 22. Well, it kinda sorta maybe did. But methinks not.

My 10 year old son and I used our 1983 Colt AR, it fit perfectly, - after I spent several frustrating minutes not realizing that the bolt end had a plastic cover over it - it doesn't fit with it on. See photo. Doh! I am quite the gun dummy. We tested 3 types of 22 ammo.

CCI - Mini Mag 22 LR HP, 36 grain, 1260fps - I had high hopes for these bad boys

Remington Thunderbolt High Velocity 22LR Round nose - I was cautiously optimistic - but I now realize I may have bought these 5 years ago. Does that matter?

Federal 22 LR Bird Shot 25 grain No. 12 Lead Shot - no way I thought - but I'm a risk taker by nature.

Well -

The CCI had a single FTF with some of the magazines - I fired about 90 shots, so I guess that was ok

The Remington was not so good. A FTFeed, FTFire or FTeject with many rounds. Maybe attempted 50 rounds.

The Federal was FTeject on every round, but after I removed the round and chambered the next they all fired. So - they were no good either.

So the verdict? Is there a higher performing 22LR out there than the CCI Mini-mag, 36 grain, 1260fps?

Why do so many people have Tacti-cools for $500 when you can just by a conversion kit? Did the above answer my own question? Or is it just an excuse to buy another gun? I'm curious what you have to say.

Bottom line - I could keep the kit and search for better 22LR bullets than the mini-mag. Someday 22LR will be readily available again. I would sell it for $150. I would trade it towards a wood stock bolt action 22LR or a 22LR revolver.

I give it a 7.5. Which is usually my bottom line only when I'm drunk. Ya know?

 

[SMLEshooter]

Lube it really good and give it another whack with some bulk Federals from Wal-Mart (the 525 round boxes you can't find anymore...)!

It took a couple hundred rounds of the bulk stuff to work itself out of jams, FTF, etc..., but mine runs really, really well now.

 

[sts04c]

My mp15-22 eats everything, no ftf, fte as of yet. I've put about 4 bricks through it. wwb, federal hp, cci mini mag, Remington golden bullet hp, blazer round nose lead tip. Fwiw.

 

[b.a.customkydex]

They are a couple of tricks..... pollish the piss out of the rails...you got one of the phosphated kits and not the stainless ones.

Winchester 333 pack ran in the one I had

 

[JDG.]

I have heard those grey mags are not of the best quality. did you try others?

 

[JDG.]

read
http://www.ar15.com/mobile/topic.html?b=2&f=145&t=224118

 

[Triathloncoach]

read
http://www.ar15.com/mobile/topic.html?b=2&f=145&t=224118

Thanks, luckily I'm not the type to "shoot the messenger" - figuratively. Some good ideas there, some beyond my understanding and some saying it's a lost cause. I will fiddle with it some if I don't sell it.

 

[firebolt12r]

Get rid of the factory mag-Buy Black Dog Machine mags.They are the best AR-22 mags out there.I bought the CMMG upper and had FTF,FTE,and stovepipes like crazy.Was going to get rid of it,but decided to do some research first.Found out that the factory mags have bad feed lips-the 10 round mag for some reason seems to be the worst of them.Since going to Black Dog mags i have had only one FTF in over 2000 rounds and that was with a VERY dirty rifle.After cleaning she ran fine.I use CCI mini mags only in mine.Squirrels really hate this thing and it's by far the most fun i've had with a .22! Also,the reason why people buy the whole rifle(or the upper)instead of just the conversion,is all about rifling.A conversion will allow you to shoot a 22lr thru a 5.56/.223 barrel that has a 1:9,1:8,or1:7 twist.The dedicated upper has the correct rifling for a .22lr (1:16 twist mostly)for much better accuracy.Mine will group around 3/4" at 50yds just about all day long.

 

[user 71]

I bought one used which was the ticket. Previous owner had already broken it in for me.

My buddy bought a new one and, well, it took several trips to the range and about four hundred rounds before it started running smooth. It now runs with all mags including the one that came with it so don't throw that guy away yet. Also now runs with the drum which is very BA.

This thing likes CCI minimags and American eagles. Other brands are hit and miss. Remington yellow jackets or stingers (can't remember which) were a no go.

 

[vinhtvu2]

Get some BlackDogMachine mags, lube the mag and the conversion kit up well, and it'll shoot like a champ. I use mostly Federal bulk target ammo, or Remington Gold pack. Both of those have shown great results.

I use to have this bolt conversion kit, work pretty much flawless. But it takes longer to switch bolt than switching the complete upper, and it gets my 5.56 barrel so dirty. I went ahead and got the CMMG dedicated upper instead.

Why didn't I purchase the M&P15-22 instead you ask? Well, I like the trigger pull and my M&P15MOE lower. I'll eventually add a new adjustable trigger to it, so I like to use the same lower and the same trigger pull when I shoot everything.