What happened to PSA 22LR uppers?

Necessary_Nutrient

Necessary_Nutrient

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I bought one of these a few years ago along with the adapter to allow Smith & Wesson mags and it works great. Able to use a standard AR15 lower receiver and quite reliable. Looks like PSA discontinued them, so I’m wondering: is S&W the main/only game in town now for a 22LR AR15?

PSA 22LR upper
 
I mean....you can always use one of the CMMG conversation bolts/magazine kits. although accuracy may be hit or miss with a .223 twist barrel.
IMG_20220115_213713_9.jpg
I built mine with an 18" 1:8 barrel (all I could find during COVID) and the accuracy is surprisingly good. I used an AR-9 upper for more reliable ejection with the wider port.
Worst case, screw on a 1:14 barrel and Bob's your uncle.
 
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I remember them but am not sure why they stopped selling them. Maybe they decided to do more of the Sabre products instead.

NIGHTLORD40K said:
I mean....you can always use one of the CMMG conversation bolts/magazine kits. although accuracy may be hit or miss with a .223 twist barrel.
View attachment 1260462
I built mine with an 18" 1:8 barrel (all I could find during COVID) and the accuracy is surprisingly good. I used an AR-9 upper for more reliable ejection with the wider port.
Worst case, screw on a 1:14 barrel and Bob's your uncle.
Click to expand...
I run a CMMG conversion in an old Sabre Defense 1:8 upper. The accuracy is good enough to hit 3" steel at 100 yards with bulk ammo.
 
I have one i got years ago and love it, I've actually built a dedicated lower mostly identical to my 16" Recce 5.56 with the same Larue MBT 2 stage trigger and the same US Optic TS12 scope.

My guess woul be they didn't sell enough of them to be profitable. Not everyone wants to spend the money to have a dedicated 22 upper for a regular lower, whe they cost nearly as much as a complete Smith or Colt.
Many that do may just as soon put one together the way they want.
I put together a 9" barreled dedicated 22 upper to match the 300 BO upper on my SBR, using Right to Bear's CMMG knock off parts, it works excellent.
 
My guess is that the contract they had with whoever was making the parts expired. That very well may be the group making things for Bear Creek now. I don’t know, but my speculation is based on the timing of the disappearance of one and the emergence and advertising of the other. Seems just as likely that they may have been bought out, went out of business, or just didn’t renew a contract.

The reason I’m so sure it was a contract deal is that the firearms world isn’t as big as it seems. There are a lot of investment groups owning several brands, and one bunch making parts for their competitors on contract. PSA is doing some manufacturing now by buying up their suppliers, but I don’t think that’s the case here. Why buy your supplier and then drop the product? That makes no sense.
 
rabid wombat said:
Try these…

LAR-22 .22LR

Rock River Arms, Inc. offers a complete line of American made, custom built AR15 style rifles.
www.rockriverarms.com www.rockriverarms.com
Click to expand...

I do like RRA, might have to take a look. I have also noticed the H&K 416 seems to be a popular choice for a complete weapon system and I already have S&W magazines so that's probably the easiest bet.
 
Necessary_Nutrient said:
I bought one of these a few years ago along with the adapter to allow Smith & Wesson mags and it works great. Able to use a standard AR15 lower receiver and quite reliable. Looks like PSA discontinued them, so I’m wondering: is S&W the main/only game in town now for a 22LR AR15?

PSA 22LR upper
Click to expand...

They are easy enough to "build" yourself. I have put together 4 of them now, of various length and styles.

Right to Bear has 22LR uppers if you want ready-made.

Upper Receivers & Parts - Complete Uppers - RightToBear.com

www.righttobear.com www.righttobear.com
 
mavracer said:
Those look good, it says mil spec FCG so should be able to put a good trigger in it. That's my biggest gripe about most of the complete guns.
Click to expand...

Hence the beauty of the dedicated 22LR upper. You can pin it onto your existing lower that already has a good trigger, or you can build/buy a lower specifically for it.
 
My son built a light AR and left it to me to test in the local 2023 military matches*; at the end of the season he told me it was my rifle.
May 2024 I ordered a .22 LR CMMG stainless conversion kit + three 25rd mags from PSA for $169.95.
The conversion kit replaces the AR-15 bolt carrier group and AR-15 magazine and keeps the same upper receiver, barrel, forearm and sights.
I seriously doubt I could have found a complete dedicated .22 upper matching weight, balance & sights of my .223 upper for ~$170.**

_______
* "Enhanced Modern Military" non-issue AR-15 especially with Red Dot sights don't count for year end score, only as-issued Modern and Vintage rifle and pistol count, but any excuse to try myself shooting standing off-hand works.
** A dedicated .22 LR upper would have a more proper rate of twist barrel and no chance of jamming a .22 empty in the .223 charger handle.
 
7mmRLC said:
If I could obtain another AR in 22lr I'd be looking here. https://tippmannarms.com/
Click to expand...

mavracer said:
Those look good, it says mil spec FCG so should be able to put a good trigger in it. That's my biggest gripe about most of the complete guns.
Click to expand...

They seem well reviewed and while their cheaper models still have the composite handguard and buffer tube, everything else seems like a properly set up M4-22 clone. Trigger is supposed to be right between 4-5 Lbs which would work for me.
 
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