Which .22 conversion kit for my M&P 223/556

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saltair

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Looking into a 22 conversion kit for my AR15.
Can anyone recommend a suitable kit for the M&P. Are some better than others? Just doing my home work.
Can I use the same charging handle.
I'm new to the AR15-22 world and this S&W forum is a great place to start.
 
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I actually looked into this at first myself, and googling will find some kits and they reportedly do work well, but in the end I just decided to get the M&P 15-22 anyways. The main deciding factor for that was real world testimony from a lot of people who got those bolt kits, and although they were reliable, most claim that accuracy suffers, and for me, I like being accurate with my shooting. It would really bother me to do that and lose accuracy.
 
not sure what the conversion kit costs are but you can get a whole new 15-22 for around $400.
 
I've seen several conversion units at my range and most of them, performance and accuracy-wise - not to mention cost - are inferior to the 15-22.
 
There is a device called the Better-mag that is a drop in for 22LR conversions so that you can run M&P15-22 mags. I'm in the process of building one currently.

That being said... I have no less than 3 15-22 as well as a 22LR upper. The 15-22 are just plain fun and so lightweight, hard to resist. Wife loves hers.
 
You'll probably have better luck posting this in the M&P Rifle forum. In here, you have a bunch of M&P 15-22 dedicated AR .22 fanatics.

The 15-22 has a lot of advantages. It's a dedicated .22 which means the barrel twist rate is made for the .22 caliber round. The 15-22 has a 1/15 twist rate where a .223/5.56 will likely have a 1/7, 1/8 or 1/9. The conversion kit is basically a bolt carrier group and you use the rest of your own rifle. The AR (.223 or 5.56) twist rate is not optimized to stabilize the .22 round therefore accuracy is impacted. Also, the .22 round is very dirty. It can really fowl up an AR.

You can also find a complete .22 upper for your AR but you are paying bucks for it. In many cases, more than a complete 15-22. That's why I went with the 15-22. And, it matches my M&P 15 OR very nicely.
 
Not to mention that the bore diameter of a .223/5.56 is fractionally larger than a .22 LR, which has a negative impact on accuracy, as well.
 
Lol.. what those guys said ;) I just know everyone was complaining about a drop off in accuracy. I just didn't understand the reason why. I do now. That was what led me to my love affair with my M&P 15-22! :D
 
Never thought about the barrel twist or size difference.
I already have 2 .22's and I'm sure the conversion accuracy can't compete with my old Remington model 34.
 
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