CMMG .22lr AR-15 conversion kit input?

[Mn Fats]

Does anyone here have experience with the CMMG 22lr conversion kits for your AR? I've searched around for reviews but have only found a couple. Mostly saying its good to go but like I said, that was just a couple and they were testing for their magazine or website.

Any consensus on this product? Reliability? Does it crud up the gas tube and/or lower? I imagine it cruds up the chamber pretty quick being the 22lr has to make quite the jump to the lands.

I'm seeing the BCG kit and 3 mags for $165. Doesn't seem bad. I'd be trying it in an LMT 16" chrome lined 1:7 upper. I know the accuracy won't be great. More curious about personal experiences with quality and reliability. Thanks!

 

[Armored farmer]

I cant remember what brand mine is, I bought it used...no box or pprs. I think its cmmg, but also am thinking colt? Anyway, the only thing I ever had it in is my 10.5" AR pistol. The thing functions reliably, though not 100%....more like 98% iirc.

As to accuracy, it's pretty good. I've done a good deal of plinking, and a little hunting with my conversion kit.
I took these three guys one day.


I do have to tweak my reflex sight to shoot poa between 5.56mm and .22lr.
You have to weigh the option of a dedicated .22 upper with it's own optics or sights vs. the conversion kit that easily fits in a gun case pocket

 

[troy fairweather]

I've been thinking of getting the kit, would be nice for cheap plinking and getting more familiar with the gun. I've never Hurd anything bad, just guys would say just buy a cheap rifle.

 

[12Bravo20]

The CMMG conversion kits are good. The main downside to using a conversion kit is that the 5.56 twist rate is too fast for 22lr which effects accuracy. Other than that, CMMG conversion kits work.

I prefer dedicated 22 uppers since the barrels have the correct twist rate. I used conversion kits a few times while in the Army and didn’t care for the lack of accuracy.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

I have the CMMG conversation kit and it works great. I’ve used it in a few of my ARs with no problems.
The BCG has a chamber insert on it and that keeps the chamber from getting dirty.
I let a friend use it and he had a blast, he put over 1000 rounds through it.
Who has them on sale? I might buy another.
Here it is in one of my ARs along with my Glock 22 conversation on a Polymer80 frame.

 

[rabid wombat]

I read a good review of the Kriss rifle in the American Rifleman. I would like to see on in the flesh...

https://kriss-usa.com/item/dmk22c/

 

[Mn Fats]

You have to weigh the option of a dedicated .22 upper with it's own optics or sights

Good point. I'd be just plinking at 50 yards and under with standard A2 sights. If I had to adjust the A2's too much then I'd just buy a Bushnell Tsr-25 with a riser and dial it in for the 22lr conversion. Pop it off when I went back to 5.56 and use the irons.

I have the CMMG conversation kit and it works great. I’ve used it in a few of my ARs with no problems.
The BCG has a chamber insert on it and that keeps the chamber from getting dirty.
I let a friend use it and he had a blast, he put over 1000 rounds through it.
Who has them on sale? I might buy another.

Ammoland has them on sale for $164.99 down from $270.00. The link over there sends you to Brownells though. Which has them with the 3 mag option for $179.99.

I'm going to try it out for that price.

 

[792mauser]

I've got one (cmmg) in a 20 inch a4 clone.
She has maybe 2k rounds through her. It gets the inside of the receiver dirty and it'll balk with some cheap standard vel bulk.
I usually try to fire a few 5.56 rounds to clear the tube occasionally.

I haven't had any real problems with it since purchase. Just keep it wet and it'll keep ticking along.

 

[1KPerDay]

I have the stainless CMMG conversion kit and it is 100% as long as the round goes off. Mine was made before they modified the ramp cut for the extractor and it won’t eject live/dummy/dud rounds.

IIRC when I looked into it they said I could send it back for modification or do it myself. Didn’t care enough to do it yet.
Fun as heck.

some say you can’t run them in ARs with milspec type hooked hammers or something.
I have tried it in my SP-1 with no issues.
I generally leave it in my 14.5/pinned bushmaster M4gery. Great for new shooters.

 

[MCFLYFYTER]

I'm not impressed with mine. I had to sand and polish all over, and I never could get through a mag without some sort of malfunction. All of that I could deal with. The real problem is occasionally the rim of the case will blow out. I've probably had mine for 5 or six years, so not sure if they've made any changes. Oh, and I had to change to a rounded hammer and polish that up too.

 

[12Bravo20]

I haven’t used a CMMG conversion bolt, all of mine are set up for use with a dedicated barrel. The nice thing is if you decide to get a dedicated barrel all you have to do is swap the chamber adapter for a barrel collar.

It’s been so long since I’ve used the military conversion bolts that I couldn’t tell you the difference between them and the CMMG bolt. I know the ones we used in the military worked fine with the stock GI hammer.

 

[Insignificant bill]

I.love my cmmg conversion kit.

 

[TonyAngel]

I loved the conversion so much, I wound up building two dedicated AR22s...the one on the right is my AR22...https://photos.app.goo.gl/kuMuAnjfNdXGCqtb7

I can't say that building a dedicated upper was dirt cheap, but it sure was worth it.

You can get a "kit" which consists of a bolt group, barrel and three mags from Right to Bear Arms for around $260. I got my slick side upper from MAS Defense for $40. The handguard was another $40 from AR15handguard.com

I am not kidding you. Since I built these AR22s, the Corona boredom has been put at bay. I have a good 10K rounds through mine already.

Whether you go with the conversion or go dedicated, if you shoot it a lot, you're gonna need to do maintenance. I get all of my stuff from BoreBuddy.com

Pressure plugs to keep the bolt carrier where it's supposed to be. 500% extractor springs are a must. Never again have a failure to extract. Spare firing pin springs.

 

[Dunross]

Once I remembered to lubricate mine as the directions specify my CMMG has run flawlessly in my ARs (not "Ears", Autocorrupt!).

So far it has fed, fired, and extracted everything I've put in it.

 

[doubleh]

I purchased the conversion kit recently and have only managed to get it to the range once on a decent day meaning the wind wasn't blowing over 15 mph except for some gusts. Love those gusts. I had four rifles to get sighted in so I didn't spend a great deal of time with it but did get it sighted in and shot a few groups at 25 yards. Standard velocity ammo is a no-go in it. I used CCI hp 36 gr. copper washed ammo and it ran flawlessly for 60 rounds and it's accuracy was as good or better then any stock 10/22 or Marlin model 60 I've ever shot. It wasn't much of a test but I'm quite happy with it's performance at this point and will do more ammo testing as soon as our winds settle down some. It's going to be a fun gun, not a precision bench gun. A coke can killer and a gong swinger.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

I'm not impressed with mine. I had to sand and polish all over, and I never could get through a mag without some sort of malfunction. All of that I could deal with. The real problem is occasionally the rim of the case will blow out. I've probably had mine for 5 or six years, so not sure if they've made any changes. Oh, and I had to change to a rounded hammer and polish that up too.

Why do people do this? The CMMG conversation comes with a warranty. You just box it up and send it back with a note telling them the problems you are having. They will fix it or replace it.

 

[Chuck R.]

I've got a Spikes Tactical and it works as advertised, pretty reliable once "tuned" per their instructions.

For running drills etc. it's accurate "enough" and the POI is close "enough". Even with a 1:7 twist I wouldn't hesitate to use it on small game at 25-30 yds. After a couple years of use though I switched to a combination of 9mm PCC and a dedicated M&P15-22 and now my conversion kit sits in a drawer "just in case".

 

[Janos Dracwlya]

I have one. Accuracy is at least decent - I haven't shot it at long distances, just 25 yards or so. Reliability has been on par with most of the other .22 autoloaders I own, a few malfunctions and it has preferences for better quality ammunition. I am completely satisfied with it.

 

[MCFLYFYTER]

Why do people do this? The CMMG conversation comes with a warranty. You just box it up and send it back with a note telling them the problems you are having. They will fix it or replace it.

Same reason people buy the cheapest 1911 they can find, then freak out because it doesn't work. What'd you expect? Forums were full of "tuning" advice for these back then. I was just answering the OPs question

 

[GunnyUSMC]

Same reason people buy the cheapest 1911 they can find, then freak out because it doesn't work. What'd you expect? Forums were full of "tuning" advice for these back then. I was just answering the OPs question

What did I expect? I guess you missed my point. But we’re talking about the CMMG conversation, not the cheapest conversation.
But there are a lot of people that buy products that have good warranties, but will never use the warranty.
I can understand trying to fix something that doesn’t have a warranty, but when all you have to do is send it in to have it fixed, why not? But many will void their warranty, by working on their item themselves and then talk bad about the item.
Every now and then a lemon will slip out of the factory.

 

[MCFLYFYTER]

I loved the conversion so much, I wound up building two dedicated AR22s...the one on the right is my AR22...https://photos.app.goo.gl/kuMuAnjfNdXGCqtb7

I can't say that building a dedicated upper was dirt cheap, but it sure was worth it.

You can get a "kit" which consists of a bolt group, barrel and three mags from Right to Bear Arms for around $260. I got my slick side upper from MAS Defense for $40. The handguard was another $40 from AR15handguard.com

I am not kidding you. Since I built these AR22s, the Corona boredom has been put at bay. I have a good 10K rounds through mine already.

Whether you go with the conversion or go dedicated, if you shoot it a lot, you're gonna need to do maintenance. I get all of my stuff from BoreBuddy.com

Pressure plugs to keep the bolt carrier where it's supposed to be. 500% extractor springs are a must. Never again have a failure to extract. Spare firing pin springs.

Did you notice a significant improvement in accuracy when you switched to a 22 barrel? Changing conversions to dedicated barrels wasn't a thing when I purchased mine, but if its possible to do with old models, it might be worth messing with.

 

[12Bravo20]

Did you notice a significant improvement in accuracy when you switched to a 22 barrel? Changing conversions to dedicated barrels wasn't a thing when I purchased mine, but if its possible to do with old models, it might be worth messing with.

While I haven't used a CMMG conversion, I have used the GI issued conversion in both the M16A1 and M16A2 rifles. The A1 with 1:12 twist was more accurate than the A2 with 1:7 twist with 36-40 Gr 22LR rounds. A dedicated 22 barrel with 1:16 twist will do the best for 36-40 Gr bullets. Like any 22 barrel, find what your shoots best.

 

[MistWolf]

The chamber adapter of the conversion unit must be kept free of lead buildup. If the lead isn't cleaned out, group size at 25 yards will grow from inches to feet. I've had this happen several times with three different uppers. We now use a dedicated upper.

 

[Mn Fats]

Same reason people buy the cheapest 1911 they can find, then freak out because it doesn't work. What'd you expect? Forums were full of "tuning" advice for these back then. I was just answering the OPs question

My question was about reliability. I know its a cheapish device but I highly disagree with your 1911 comparison. I wanted only one AR so I paid the price and went with LMT. I'm not looking to get too far into the AR game. No dedicated 22lr upper. Buy once cry once type of thing. A better comparison would be buying only one 1911 and choosing Les Baer or above then wondering about a 22lr conversion kit.

 

[greyling22]

my cousin installed it in his AR and it has worked great.