Dedicated .22lr Uppers

AR/M4 AR General Discussion
1

My interest has been peeked in acquiring a Rimfire AR with the recent import of the licensed Colt M4 .22lr by Walther. But in my research I have found that it does not follow the AR’s manuel of arms to the proverbial “T”. So I started looking at the different conversion kits that are available and concluded that the best option for me would be to get a dedicated .22lr upper.

For those in the know I would like your input on the various rimfire uppers available. So far I have seen the ones available from CMMG and Model “1” Sales and I’m leaning towards the Model “1” as it is about $100 less than the CMMG.

2

OK !! here is my experience and OPINIONS:
i have a Colt M4 .22LR, and you are correct, it has no similarities to an actual Colt M4, other than appearance…, from 10 feet away, :smiley: to open the carbine as you would a REAL AR, you must loosen the flash hider two full turns, then use a brass punch to “HAMMER” out the take down pin, then there is no user removable parts in the upper, just an Allen adjustment screw to adjust for high power ammo or the cheapo stuff, from “flush” to 9 full turns in for the high power ammo, the barrel is a steel liner inside a polymer barrel, also the “Full Metal Body - Upper and lower receiver made of high quality aluminum” is in my OPINION a bit misleading this is the one i bought, it is a free float barrel, which i consider a big PLUS +

she is a good shooter and very accurate with the high power ammo, the low power setting is very finicky, with many “stove pipes” and light firing pin strikes, with a 30 round mag full of bulk ammo i had 3 or 4 stove pipes and 6 or 7 light firing pin strikes, rapid fire was impossible !!

i have a TacSol dedicated upper and this one is far better than the Colt she looks real and uses a standard flat top upper aluminum receiver and an all steel barrel, here it is:

uses a mag that is compatible with the Ciener mags, i prefer the TacSol Black Dog mags…, they look like real mags.

i also have the Ciener conversions, they shoot fairly well in my Colt SP-1, i can consistently hit a steel gong 6"X12", 30 of 30 rnds. nuff said !

i hope i have given you some useful info, if you have any further questions please ask, OK ?

3

There is a reason for that, my friend. Model 1 Sales’ QC is not all it could be. I would go with the CMMG, Spikes, or, as ONG indicated above, a TacSol.

I have both a Spikes and a CMMG conversion unit and both are quite acceptable for my purposes. I would not hesitate to get either company’s upper.

4

Thank you gentlemen, I’ve never heard of the Tactical Solutions dedicated upper before now. I have seen a few of their Ruger slides and complete pistols at a local gun shop however. I like what I see so far…

5

Personally I would go with Spike’s. If you have an issue, their gunsmith Tom posts on arf and will help you out with whatever you need.

6

Go with either the Spikes or Tactical Solutions upper. I love my Spikes uppers and they are currently having a sale on them right now ($550 w/ 2 mags). Here’s more info on people’s experiences with dedicated uppers:

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=32954

7

Thank you very much for the head’s up on the sale and the link. That is exactly the kind of information I was looking for but the search function has not worked for me in the past several days…keeps telling me I have to wait 29 seconds for another search when I only had performed one search lol!

8

No problem. Just remember that the sale ends at the end of the month so if you want one I’d order it quickly. They also have the .22 black dog mags on sale for $22.

http://www.spikestactical.com/z/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=106&zenid=rifmp9stvsmtr5tcg7v8bdc032

9

I know you are looking for info on uppers, but did you see S&W’s .new 22lr AR?

http://m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=34384

10

Thank you and yes I did. I don’t like it or the Colt as they do not follow as close to a real AR as a dedicated upper would on my lower.

11

I am planning on just getting the S&W .22LR AR since it’s roughly the same price as a dedicated upper. I won’t have to be swappng out lowers etc. and the design looks to be quite unique and miles ahead of the Colt stamped .22LR AR made by Umerex or Walther? Anyway, it’s not made by colt and the S&W is actually made by them… It just makes more sense to purchase the whole gun (S&W) for the price of a Spikes dedicated upper, even though they make a good product. I will probably do a build on one of their lowers anyway… That’s my opinion for what it’s worth… Rock…

12

That is a very valid point, I’ve tossed it around for days now but keep going back to the principle that when I shoot .22lr I still want to have the same controls and feel of my “go to” long arm. The word’s of my old football coach come to mind, “practice like you play boys”.

In the end we all have to go with what works best for us. :wink:

13

If you’re looking to save money why not just get the conversion kit?

14

I looked into them as well and concluded that I didn’t want to foul my Colt’s gas system with the dirty burning .22lr bulk ammo and shoot them down my 1/7 pipe. I want the 1/16 for the .22lr.

15

the cmmg and the spikes kit are solid kits with some upgrades to the ceiner design. i like the ability to shoot 556 through my upper also so a kit is what i would go with

16

I would go with a dedicated upper that I could use it on my work rifle lower. I plan on picking one up soon, but haven’t decided on which one yet. It will either be the Spikes or TacSol. Heck, It will be for my sons to shoot also, so I might even just pick up another lower to put it on, so I can get them a 5.56 upper when they are ready.