How accurate are 22lr ar15s?

[kBob]

The biggest problem is that many new shooters just do not understand "cant" that is canting the rifle or laying it sort of on one side or the other while shooting. If you had a laser rifle with sights as high as the AR irons it would easy to see how leaning the rifle just a little to one side or the other could produce a "frown" of a crescent shaped shot group.

Add that frown to any other accuracy issue ... like the free bore in the Bolt Carrier Group replacement type adaptors like CMMG... and groups can seem large

Some say common modern AR barrels with 1-7 to 1-9 twist are to fast for .22LR bullets actually damaging the bullets when they have to go from the free bore of the adaptor with no spin to suddenly hitting the "fast" rifling. This claim was also made with the old 1-12 twist with the M16a1 and there may have been something to it as we found the copper clad Super X gave better groups in M16a1 with COBRAY built BCG type adaptors than lead "target" or "Match" ammo and figured it had to do with relative hardness of the bullets. They certainly left less leading in the barrel and did not foul the adaptors as fast as outside lubed plain lead target and match ammo.

I suspect that there are more than a few Appleseed "Rifleman" qualified shooters that used either a dedicated Upper, dedicated AR .22 rifle or even a BCG replacement adapter like the CMMG.

I would say that the CMMG type BCG adapters with "copper clad" solids as as accurate as most Nylon 66 rifles ever were and more accurate than most ( and I am on my forth Nylon 66). On the other hand, no if I had to shoot for group size or a tiny target I will not pick up My AR with an Olympics Arms BCG Adaptor in it over my Anshutz!

-kBob

 

[armedwalleye]

I’ve got a 15-22 with magpul furniture. Topper it with a scope and added a bipod. We regularly shoot it with a friend’s daughters at the 25 yard pistol range for them, and the girls are able to hit golf balls pretty regularly. When he and I shoot there, we like to shoot golf balls off the tees, and try to beat the other at hitting the balls rolling down the berm, then go back and shoot the tees,

At the rifle range, with holdover, I can hit a 4” gong at 100 with boring regularity, and do pretty good on a 2” gong.

 

[Dr.Rob]

My Marlin 995 can shoot circles around my CMMG upper. I suspect CMMG used a 556 barrel that was not ported rather than a real 22LR barrel.

Maybe the twist is too fast, I was unimpressed with the accuracy. It works reliably, but not with great accuracy past 25 yards.

 

[DMW1116]

I would have to shoot it again to check, but I wonder if the ones my buddy has are accurate enough to squirrel or rabbit hunt? Probably are with a good scope.

 

[12Bravo20]

Year ago I bought a Chiappa M4 22 upper when the LGS practically gave it away. It didn't shoot worth a crap. I then swapped the polymer upper receiver out for an aluminum one and also changed to a free float hand guard, That made a world of difference and it is now as accurate if not better than all of the Marlin semi-autos I own.

My last AR build was a pistol using a CMMG dedicated bolt and CMMG 4.5" barrel. I wasn't expecting much out of such a short barrel. It does surprisingly well at 25 yards with a cheap PA red dot on it.

Now with the adapter kits we used when I was in the Army, a lot depended on what ammo we used. I did notice that the M16A1 always did better with it's 1-12 twist versus the M16A2 with 1-7 twist.

 

[bassjam]

It all depends on your needs and budget. The CMMG kits with the dedicated barrel should be plenty good enough for plinking. I've never shot my daughter's M&P 15-22 for accuracy but I can tell you it's a ton of fun to shoot and I don't notice a difference from my SIG 522, which I have bench shot before and know it's capable of about 2MOA.

I decided I wanted something that's possibly more accurate and have started a build with a Lothar-Walther .22lr barrel. No results yet as I'm having issues with the conversion bolt collar (W-L uses an "old" CMMG collar dimension and my collar is newer) so I'm having a buddy machine the collar to fit.

You can also get a .22lr kit from JP Rifles (which I think use a Lothar-Walther barrel) or barrels from Beyer which are supposed to be pretty good.

 

[CraigC]

My CMMG is a great AR trainer but it ain't gonna replace any of my 10/22's for pest control.



Still the "go-to" rifle for varmints.