Rundown of all the .22LR getups for ARs

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Eightball

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Alright, there's been about 5 .22LR setup-related threads in the last couple of days, so I thought I might help everyone out and start a thread with the basic question:

Who makes .22LR thingys for ARs? Whose are those drop-in kits, whose are dedicated .22LR uppers? And what are the pros/cons of each setup? Each company? How's each companies' CS, and do they have websites?

And, one of the things I've read about running .22LR through your .223 barrel is that .223 barrels are wider than is good for .22LR, resulting in fouling and poor performance from the drop-in setups--truth to this?

In short--is there a way we could make this thread include a plethora of information regarding these setups?
 
Ciener: Drop in bolt. Costs between 150 and 200 when you can find them. Has a stand alone magazine, BDM makes 27rd full body mags that cost about 35 bucks. http://www.22lrconversions.com/ No phone number or email adress on his site. Decent product, decent price, customer service ranges from "Get lost" to "**** off." No kidding. His CS is legendary. I hate the fact that I own one of his pruducts and have another on the way.

Olympic: Drop in bolt, copy of the Army's M261, Oly calls is the RFA (RimFire Adapter). Cost around 130. The ten round mags replace the follower in a standard 20 or 30 round mag, BDM makes full body mags simular to his ciener mags, unkown price. I dont know about customer service, but I do know it exists, unlike JAC they have a phone number and email address on their website. www.olyarms.com

Compass Lake: Dedicated upper. High dollar stuff, match grade. Dont know a lot about it since its the most expensive option. http://www.compasslake.com/

Model 1 Sales: Dedicated upper using a modified Ciener bolt. I've heard good and bad about customer service. Most of the good is for something that needed fixed, most of the bad was from folks waiting on something they ordered. www.model1sales.com

Spike's Tactical: Pretty much the same as the M1S upper, however M1s has more options, spike's did it first though. http://www.spikestactical.com/catalog/home.php Heard great things about their CS.

Kurt's Kustom Firearms: Basicly a .22lr bbl (correct bore and 1:16 twist) reamed out to a .223 or 5.56 chamber. His site says he can supply a Ciener, dont know if he has any. Since his bbl has a .223 chamber, you can use it with either the M261 or Ciener conversion. KKF is also not cheap, I was quoted $295 for a GI profile 16" dissy bbl. http://www.kurtskustomfirearms.citymax.com/page/page/8932.htm Heard good things about him too.

All I can think of at the moment.
 
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I should also note that several manufacturers are rumored to come out with conversions, though being rumors, details are scetchy at best.
 
Bushmaster has a dedicated upper. I'm impressed with the accuracy, but the reliability is so-so.

Mike
 
Forgot about BM. BDM said his M261 mags work in them though. Well, the mags he tried worked in the upper he tried, dont know if he's done any more testing ot not.

I should also note that I've heard good things about BDM's customer service.
 
I like Spikes stuff. However, if I'm reading it right $550 seems a lot to pay for an .22 upper. I know more work goes into it to make it work, but jeez, that's the price of another very nice rifle.
 
I like Spikes stuff. However, if I'm reading it right $550 seems a lot to pay for an .22 upper. I know more work goes into it to make it work, but jeez, that's the price of another very nice rifle.
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If it's the one that works the best, $550 isn't too much more than your "standard" upper price; heckuva bargain if shooting .22LR doesn't anger you at the lack of quality in the product, if you ask me.

So, Bushmaster and CZ supposedly make dedicated .22LR uppers? Any other companies?
 
I should also note that several manufacturers are rumored to come out with conversions, though being rumors, details are scetchy at best.
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I've contacted two of the rumored companies to get info straight from the horses mouth. Tactical solutions is doing an upper but no conversion kit. Spikes is doing a conversion kit (bcg) and told me 4-6 weeks a couple weeks ago.
 
Forgot about BM. BDM said his M261 mags work in them though. Well, the mags he tried worked in the upper he tried, dont know if he's done any more testing ot not.
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whoah. Tell me more about this, please. I have two magazines for my Bushmaster upper. One works reasonably well (good enough for range work, wouldn't want to shoot a timed match with it). The other is a paperweight, and jams at least 3 times in a 10-round magazine.

Mike
 
whoah. Tell me more about this, please. I have two magazines for my Bushmaster upper. One works reasonably well (good enough for range work, wouldn't want to shoot a timed match with it). The other is a paperweight, and jams at least 3 times in a 10-round magazine.

Mike
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I couldn't find the thread he started about it, I'm not a paying member at arfcom so my search is limited.

I dont know if you post there but I started a thread for ya. Kevin will probably chime in when he sees it. http://ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=15&t=367568&page=1

I dont know who is selling the M261 mags, since olympic's RFA is based on the M261, they may have some. The Compass Lake uppers are based on the M261, so they may have some as well. I think you can get them direct from kevin as well.

I've been holding off on getting any mags since I didnt know who was going to gets kits out there first. Midway had cieners in stock for a few hours a few days ago, so I got one of them. Thankfully (for me) the Ciener mags are listed on several websites. Havent seen M261 mags listed anywhere, but havent looked either.
 
I've got two DPMS dedicated uppers- the AP4 and the BA-22L.

Pros: Both have never jammed on me. Both are pretty accurate; I've only taken them out to 50 yards a couple of times and they shot well. Both look great and just like their centerfire big brothers. Paid about $400 each.

Cons: Been discontinued for a couple of years I think. Mags are nearly impossible to find. No standard capacity offerings; 10 rounds only.

ETA: It's also a drop on conversion; No buffers or hammers need to be swapped.
 
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Thanks for the leads. It would be nice if that system worked with the Bushmaster .22 upper, for several reasons.

Thanks,

Mike
 
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