.22 conversion kit for the AR-15, does it work ok? Magazine question?

[His lordship.]

I am thinking of getting my first AR-15, and the cost of .223 ammo has me worried.  There is a variety of .22 conversion rimfire kits that you can buy and was wondering how well they work if anyone has one?  Does it cause any wear issues and how reliable are they?

Another plus is that the AR-15 can be converted into a larger caliber if I ever decide to do big game hunting by swapping the upper.  Because of the ammo prices getting so high I have been phasing out my center fire rifles and am now mostly using .22 rimfire.

I rented a Colt made AR-15 A4 the other day at the range and was having a weird jam situation.  The gun was dirty and had a 20 round mag that looked worn, it had no finish left on it.  When the last round came up to be fired it would jump out of the magazine and lay loose in the receiver.  I am familiar with double feeds, stove pipes, failure to extract, eject, etc.  But that was very strange.  Normally I would keep a gun like that clean and use another mag, but it was a rental.  Does it sound like a magazine issue?

Thanks.

[rdmallory]

Look at the S&W AR15-22

I have 3 AR rifles along with this one. Even with me reloading the AR15-22 is less expensive and fun to shoot. Less expensive than a good 22 upper


Doug

http://www.gunblast.com/SW-MP1522.htm

Can you pick out the 22LR?

[SHOOTALL]

rdmallory may have the best idea . But if you get an AR you might look at a mid-length gun . The A-4 a great gun but the mid-length may be a better choice as the M-4 has the shortest gas tube causing a hoter bolt and carrier and a faster bolt speed. They both have 16 inch bbls it just placement of gas port . Hey if you must have a grenade launcher then go M-4 but if not go mid-length 

[NickSS]

I have a conversion kit made by Olympic Arms which is a copy of the USGI M 261 (?) kit that the army and air force used for years and may still use.  Mine when new gave me some jams but once I smoothed the steel bar that guides the bolt with some wet and dry 400 grit sand paper it works well.  Accuracy is about the same as I get in my standard Ruger 10-22 carbine.  Recently I bought a 25 round plastic mag for it and this mag has some issues but with a little use it is getting better at reliable feeding.  The 10 shot mag that came with it fits down inside a standard AR mag and works well when you learn to position it properly.  My rifle does not shoot to the same point of aim with the 22 LR conversion kit but all I have to do is elevate my rear sight to get on.  I have fired hundreds of rounds plinking with my DPMS M4 carbine using the conversion kit.

[Lloyd Smale]

another vote for the smith ar22. I love mine. Its accurate and very reliable and reasonably priced

[Savage]

Another vote for the M&P 15/22. About the same price as a LR upper for the complete gun. It's my choice.
Savage

[Buckskin]

There are a number of nice AR style 22's out there and I would definately agree that route instead of the conversion kit. $400-600 and your good to go.

[nfafan]

I have a conversion kit made by Olympic Arms which is a copy of the USGI M 261 (?) kit that the army and air force used for years and may still use.  Mine when new gave me some jams but once I smoothed the steel bar that guides the bolt with some wet and dry 400 grit sand paper it works well.  Accuracy is about the same as I get in my standard Ruger 10-22 carbine.  Recently I bought a 25 round plastic mag for it and this mag has some issues but with a little use it is getting better at reliable feeding.  The 10 shot mag that came with it fits down inside a standard AR mag and works well when you learn to position it properly.  My rifle does not shoot to the same point of aim with the 22 LR conversion kit but all I have to do is elevate my rear sight to get on.  I have fired hundreds of rounds plinking with my DPMS M4 carbine using the conversion kit.

I have the exact same conversion kit from Oly. After some cleaning and polishing it works flawless in all my ARs. Which is the beauty of this kind of "AR .22 conversion kit" - it is portable. No cash tied up in a single-purpose gun.

Go here for M261 mags. Be advised that they work best when loaded with 23 rounds or less.
http://blackdogmachinellc.net/olympic-m261.aspx

[His lordship.]

Thanks for the replies, guys.  I finally bought my first AR-15, a Smith and Wesson M/P, had it to the range and shot 70 rounds through it.  Did a field strip on it today, does seem to burn clean.  My Mini-14 is more accurate, but the Mini is broken in and the
AR is not, will see in a year or so which is better.

The general consensus is that the AR .22's seem to be the way to go over the conversion, might pick up one of those dedicated rifles and see for myself.  I did read that all the plastic used tends to make them on the "springy" side in regards to accuracy.

[Bugflipper]

I have the spikes tactical conversion. It works fine after about 2 mags. The instructions said it would jam for the first mag until it wore in. I think it hung up about a dozen times with the two mags and hasn't missed a beat since. The barrel of an ar is a different diameter. So groups are about 2" at 50 yards. 3 or 4 companies make the same exact conversion, and it is used in the dedicated uppers I have seen. I just went with the st because it was stainless and I read reviews of the blued ones taking a lot of force to get unstuck from the chamber if you shot a whole brick. Polished the part that looks like a 223 casing and have had no issues with it getting hung up in a dirty chamber. Happy with it as well as the black dog mags but they are a pain to load. Would get the mag loader if I had it to do over.

[454Puma]

I just got the CMMG conversion kit a few days ago! Have fired it in both of my AR's  a Colt 20" HBAR 1:7" and a DPMS 16" HBAR 1:9"  both ran very well with the kit!  So far the 16" is more accurate but that could change as it was really wind when I shot the Colt today! All I want is minute of Whissle Pig though out to 100 yards! 

[Bugflipper]

I just got the CMMG conversion kit a few days ago! Have fired it in both of my AR's  a Colt 20" HBAR 1:7" and a DPMS 16" HBAR 1:9"  both ran very well with the kit!  So far the 16" is more accurate but that could change as it was really wind when I shot the Colt today! All I want is minute of Whissle Pig though out to 100 yards! 

The 60 grain sniper sub sonic ammo from aguilla may work well with the slow twists. IIRC ballistic gelatin at 100 yards gives 24" penetration. The bullet is very hard so a through and through on a gh is a given.