AR15 in .22lr ?

[kahr404life]

I'm thinking of putting together an dedicated .22lr upper for my AR (cheap practice + varmit sniping). DPMS makes a slab side flat top upper receiver and Kuehl Precision makes a dedicated .22lr barrel which uses a modified Ceiner bolt. Do any of you forum members have something like this or a better setup (I'm open to suggestions)? I also want to free float the barrel and have a forearm rail for attachments.

 

[blackhawk2000]

The 1:12 twist in older A1 uppers is better for .22 from what I hear. You can pick up a whole surplus A1 upper at the gun show.

 

[cslinger]

I have a DPMS A2 M4gery dedicated .22 Long Rifle upper mated to a Bushmaster lower.

The DPMS unit is very accurate, has been extremely reliable with any ammo I have used from cheap bulk box stuff to higher quality more expensive ammo. It is a very well built and very nicely finished upper that still looks and works great after a whole heck of a lot of .22 ammo down the pipe.

One thing to take into consideration. My upper works 100% on any Bushmaster lower I have tried it on. Rock River lowers, however, have their mag well catch cut slightly differently which causes some issues with the cheaper (read crappier .22 ammo). When mated to a RR lower I had to used higher velocity more expensive ammo to ensure consistent functioning.

I could tell you that setting up an AR this way is great practice for the real thing and it most certainly is. It REALLY does approximate shooting the full caliber item but to be completely honest............it's just bloody, giddy as a school girl, FUN!!! Besides you can shoot your AR in an indoor pistol range. What's better than that?

I have nothing but good to say about this combo. Quite frankly it is the best gun money I have ever spent.

 

[erict]

I've got a dedicated CZ upper in .22lr. I've put a couple thousand rounds through it without much problem at all. It does not like Federal bulk but runs quite well with Remington bulk. I picked it up for $250 and it has paid for itself in ammo savings for sure.

 

[DMK]

Kuehl Precision makes a dedicated .22lr barrel which uses a modified Ceiner bolt.

I don't think you can do better than this.


I built a 22LR upper using a surplus 1/12 twist M16 barrel with a Ceiner kit. With this setup, the bullet needs to jump a couple inches of non-rifled chamber adapter, and the bore diameter is just a slight tad too large. It's adequate for my needs, but I'd never put it up against a Kuehl for accuracy.

Of course, I can pop the gas tube back in, put in a spare bolt and shoot .223/5.56 through mine if I ever wanted to. You can't do that with a Kuehl.

 

[benEzra]

cslinger, how much did that upper cost? And how much is an A1 upper plus the Ceiner kit?

DMK, if you shot .22LR through a .223 upper and then switch it back to .223, does lead fouling present a problem, either in the barrel or the gas port?

 

[DMK]

DMK, if you shot .22LR through a .223 upper and then switch it back to .223, does lead fouling present a problem, either in the barrel or the gas port?

I don't think so. However, I clean the barrel regularly and I completely remove the gas tube when shooting 22LR. Whatever lead accumulating in the gasport of the barrel (if any) appears to blow out. i'm not sure if accuracy is affected, this rifle is exclusively shot offhand standing.

 

[cslinger]

Its been so long I don't remember exactly how much it cost. I bought it at Knob Creek and want to say it was around $400ish with 2 magazines. Probably closer to $450 but I cannot for the life of me remember.

As for fouling in a standard AR gas system the thing to do is alway run a couple of rounds of .223 through when you are done. This will blow out the .22 LR crap in short order. I bought the dedicated/no gas system upper specifically because I knew I would be doing a lot of indoor shooting and not have the opportunity to do this. As a side benefit because the barrel is a true .22 LR barrel accuracy is very very good.

Hope this helps. As an aside, BenEzra you are not that terribly far from TN we could meet somewhere in the middle should you want to play with my setup before you buy. I could use a nice road trip in the vert.

Chris