I don’t want to drop a lot of money into firing .22 LR out of my 5.56 / .223 chromoly barreled AR-15. My father in law said they used to just swap out the bolts in the Army, but a younger civilian started saying “you can’t do that, the calibers aren’t close enough”.
It’s an indoor shooting range, so I don’t plan on having to make distant shots with it. Accuracy is not a huge issue. My biggest concerns are durability and reliability. I don’t want to cause anything to break, wear and tear, etc. anymore than .223 would.
If I don’t have to replace anything in the gun for it to reliably leave the magazine and hit the target, I don’t want to replace anything. I don’t want it to wear down anything unnecessarily though.
Get a CMMG .22 Conversion kit.
They are 159 from cheaper than dirt. Comes with a 10 round mag but you can buy 25-27 round mags for around 20 bucks from spikes tactical.
Also they make a 50 round drum for it for around 70 bucks.
It the best thing i have bought for my gun sense i just go and shoot with buddy’s. Im not really into the self defense stuff like others on here but if you just want it to save money and still be able to shoot then i def. recommend it.
You can switch from .223 to .22 in like 30 seconds. Just switch the bolts and clip then your good to go.
I realize this is probably a dumb question but how hard are these on your rifle? Are there any reports of them damaging the chamber, or other parts of the rifle???
I’ve probably had well over 10,000 rds and counting of 22 LR through my current AR. The only failure with that AR was the hammer pin - I suspect this was due to the high round count and not the conversion kit. Also around the 10k mark, the firing pin on the conversion kit gave, I assume it was from all the dry firing on an empty chamber at the end of a mag dump - with a magazine that did not have one of those new BDM bolt lock to the back followers. Accuracy wise, I haven’t noticed any considerable drop when switching back to .223, but then again with this AR I don’t normally bench shoot it.
Thanks. I think the biggest thing I would worry about is blowing my barrel by plinking the hell out of the gun with .22L. Has anyone else noticed an accuracy loss from high round counts of .22L?
I was thinking about getting the SW MP .22 but my fiance would not be happy about buying the same gun in a different caliber. She keeps me pretty well grounded in my gun purchases, and since I at one point said that a .270 bolt action was my next in line, she wont let me stray for a plinker that costs 400 bones.
This sounds like a very nice way for me to train better with the AR, but I don’t want to blow my barrel shooting .22L and then not have it be able to function when needed as a HD weapon in a time of need. Are there any thoughts out there from those of you that do this for a living?
I was also thinking about getting a .22 conversion and was wondering about barrel life. I know with .22 being so much cheaper I’d be putting a LOT more rounds through it compared to 5.56. Then again if I did eventually wear it out I would have a great excuse to buy another upper .
Nope, it was from all the pressure placed on the hammer pin by the .22 conversion’s blowback design. Broken hammer pins are not uncommon using .22 conversions.
Believe it or not, The 223 caliber is actually a 224. It is the exact same at a 22 Caliber. It requires no major changes to you carbine with the exception of a bolt replacement. You can get a 22 cal conversion kit from CMMG for anywhere from 90.00 to 100.00. Step 1, All you do is pop the front pin out and shotgun the weapon. Step 2, pull the 223/5.56 bolt out of your weapon. Step 3. take the 22 cal conversion bolt and slide it into your upper receiver. Step 4, put your upper back on your lower and secure it with the rear pin.
Whe you buy this conversion kit it should come with one or two mags. They are the exact same as the m16 mag in the girth but are for the M4/AR15.
Here is the link. https://www.m4carbine.net/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=625925
I would tell you to shop around before you buy. There are better deals out there than this link has.
Please write back or what ever if you have questions. I have one for my carbine and it is fun!
If you save a little more, you could avoid a conversion and just get an M&P15-22.
It’s double what a conversion would run you but its another rifle. They run great, are a dedicated .22LR and the bolt hold open functions.
Don’t have a .22 conversion kit yet, but starting to consider one. I’m thinking, in a bug out situation, .22 would be handy for small game hunting and a second bolt is less to carry than a complete rifle.
Since we’re necro-posting may as well add more relevant info:
Black Dog has a good going, buying from them directly - availability price and quality.
It’s a bit harder these days to get .22 ammo though, and most of these conversion kits are somewhat fickle in what they eat, would be good to find out first.
(Black Dog prefers Federal and won’t cycle much else reliably)
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