.22 Conversion for AR?

[cat_IT_guy]

I saw a .22 conversion kit for an AR in a magazine the other day. Anybody have any experience with these? Do they damage the rifle? Any reason NOT to buy one for cheap practice?

It appeared that all that needed to be changed was the bolt and the mag made for .22. Is this conversion okay for the barrel? How about shoving a rimmed .22 into a chamber made for a small bottleneck cartridge?

Anything else to consider before I buy this?

 

[highlander 5]

I have the Ciener kit and have put 500 rds thru my AR with no problems.
It's a whole unit bolt,recoil spring etc connected to a chamber insert cut to resemble a 223 case chambered for 22 rimfire. Don't expect match grade accuracy as the bore dimensions for 223 and 22RF are quite different.

 

[MRIman]

My buddy has one. The thing runs great in his OA AR.
When he puts a Bushy 24" upper on it,it chokes!!
Same can be said on my 20" Bushy. I'd love to have
one,but it looks like they don't like Bushy guns.

MRI

 

[akolleth]

Ahhh so much info you need to know, so little room to put it all in. I will try to hit some of the highlights about creating a 22lr AR-15 but you may want to check out these forums dedicated to rimfire and pistol caliber conversions. ar15.com forums Rimfire and Pistol Calibers Spend some time looking though there, you will find all the info you need and more.


There are actually two main types of AR-15 22lr conversions you can get right now, both run around the same amount ($135-150). There are some others floating about (like the VZ-22) but these are the two main ones people use.

1-- What you saw in the magazine was the Ceiner kit. Most people go this route. Pros-- Mostly good reliability, there are 30 round after-market mags available from Black Dog that have the look of a real mag for around $30 and are very reliable, available from retail sources. Cons HORRIBLE customer service from the company, pray that you don't need a replacement part, may need tweaking to get to run especially in NFA type full auto weapons, currently a long waiting list from the company (told could be as long as 2-3 months at times).

2-- M261 kit. Similar setup to the Ceiner (replaces bolt and carrier) used by some of the armed forces (Air Force and Army I believe). Pros Very reliable. Magazine inserts are easy to find. Literally just drop it in, and let some 22lr rip. Cons Not available from retail, have to find one used from someone (not really that hard to find though). No high cap magazines yet (inserts are 10 rounds), although Black Dog is promising high cap ones for them soon.

As far as accuracy these are alright. Not a tack driver, but not shooting wildly either. The big issue is that your barrel is .224 whereas the 22lr is .221 diameter.

You will get some fouling in the gas system after using the 22 conversion kit. Easy way to clean out the gas system is just drop a couple of rounds of regular 223 out the barrel after you are done shooting the 22lr--

No you won't damage your barrel with them, just get them dirty from the 22lr being such a dirty round Will just require a bit more cleaning than usual-

 

[akolleth]

One more thing, a review of the Ceiner on Youtube--

Ceiner review

 

[W.E.G.]

One more thing, a review of the Ceiner on Youtube--

Ceiner review

Wow. Is that his real voice?

 

[JTW Jr.]

Recent issue of Shot Gun News had Model1Sales showing their new dedicated 22LR upper , but cant find it at all on their website. Not a conversion kit and a bit more pricey , but a dedicated upper is the way I am gonna go.

GunKings.com has dedicated uppers on their site.

 

[ny32182]

I'm considering getting the Ceiner kit.

So far (as far as downside), I've heard that it causes bad fouling in the host upper... to the point where there is lead buildup and it is dangerous to fire .223 in that barrel again until doing a thorough cleaning. Also, that it requires cleaning the gas tube (?) which of course doesn't need to be done with .223.

Any truth to that?

 

[Lex]

I have a Ceiner kit and have run maybe 1k rounds through it. Keep it wet w/ CLP and it seems to run great. I have good accuracy out to about 100 yds. It's a great cheap alternative to shooting/plinking with .223 rem

.22LR is dirty, I'd mop the chamber out after a good shooting session. Many people also suggest a few rounds of .223rem to clean out the gas tube.

YRMV


Lex

 

[686S&W]

Like the previous poster said, .22s are dirty. Also be forewarned about DPMS .22 conversion kit, I had to sand down part of my magazine in order to get it to properly fit the rifle. It also seems a bit picky on ammo, it doesn't like to feed anything lighter than 38 gr.

All in all it is a fun and economical conversion. I scooped up an old gov't M16 upper with the triangular handguards just for that kit.

 

[kBob]

My question is a bout barrel tweist with these things. I used a MAC verion of what I beleive to have been the M261 in college ROTC many moons ago. Kept clean and properly lubed they worked just fine and in the 1-12 twist of the M-16A1 they worked well enough to a 50 subtense corse. As Cadet training officer I got the rifles and adaptors a couple of times from a local reserve outfit that claimed the adaptors were worthless, cleaned them and ran them without a hitch. This was agreat aid to my university getting the marksmanship ribbon at camp that summer for highest average score.

My concern is what happens when I try to send a .22LR bullet down the barrel of a 1-7 HBAR or some such? Will the bullet strip on entering the rifleing and lead up near the lead end of the barrel? WIll the bullets strip so badly they tip and loose any hope of accuracy?

I do not want to blow any bucks at all until I have some idea about performance in the 1-7 barrels. My understanding is that most US made .22LR rifle barrels run about 1-14 so performance with a 1-12 SHould have been OK given the ammo and adapter/rifle interface. But twice the twist?

BTW We used thetraining ammo we had on hand for use by the normal/non rifle team Cadets, WInchester Super-x Solids with the copper wash. WHen used with either the T22 or Remington Match both long lead bullets with outside lube the units did tend to get gummed up quickly (as did some other .22 auto rifles I tried with such stuff)

Let's hear it on the 1-7 twist issue, please.

-Bob Hollingsworth

 

[theNoid]

As far as accuracy these are alright. Not a tack driver, but not shooting wildly either. The big issue is that your barrel is .224 whereas the 22lr is .221 diameter.

Actually, 22lr ammo varies quite a bit from brand to brand and even product to product within brand names. Here are a few results I have gathered so far with the calipers just grabbing 5 rounds randomly from each box:

Federal Bulk 550:

.2235 .2235 .2230 .2240 .2230

Federal Lightning:

.2235 .2235 .2240 .2235 .2230

Federal Gold Medal:

.2245 .2250 .2245 .2245 .2245

CCI Subsonic:

.2230 .2235 .2235 .2235 .2240

CCI Stinger:

.2245 .2245 .2245 .2245 .2245

Aguila SE:

.2255 .2260 .2250 .2245 .2255

Winchester SuperX:

.2220 .2225 .2225 .2220 .2220

Winchester Wildcat:

.2220 .2220 .2220 .2225 .2225

PMC Match Rifle:

.2250 .2250 .2250 .2250 .2240

PMC Sidewinder:

.2240 .2240 .2240 .2240 .2235

RWS Dynamit Nobel:

.2240 .2240 .2240 .2240 .2240

Remington 22 Target:

.2250 .2245 .2250 .2250 .2245

Remington Golden Bullet:

.2240 .2245 .2240 .2235 .2240

Remington Subsonic:

.2245 .2245 .2245 .2250 .2245

Remington Yellow Jacket:

.2240 .2235 .2235 .2240 .2235

Remington Tunderbolt:

.2240 .2245 .2245 .2245 .2245

So I am thinking with the proper selection of ammo, your accuracy should be pretty darn good as far as the rifling/twist issue isn't a factor.

Noidster

 

[Andras]

I just got a Ceinar kit from Midway and tried it out Saturday. I shot 16 rounds into 1 1/4" at about 20yds with Rem Thunderbolts.

Host upper was a new Armalite 16" 1/9 twist.