Ran probably 300rd of misc ammo with stock trigger no trouble at all. Only fired a couple of rds without the can just to function test,I'd guess I'm at about 1000rds through barrel and can. I was going to go 4.5" at first but changed my mind only because of handgaurd selection. I think most of the bulk HV I've shot is staying sub but there is a noticable diff from SV. Ran 2 or 3 mags of HV with a bumpfire,worked pretty well.
Observations in shooting my 15-22 as an SBR
- Thread starter RedNeck Jim
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Ran probably 300rd of misc ammo with stock trigger no trouble at all. Only fired a couple of rds without the can just to function test,I'd guess I'm at about 1000rds through barrel and can. I was going to go 4.5" at first but changed my mind only because of handgaurd selection. I think most of the bulk HV I've shot is staying sub but there is a noticable diff from SV. Ran 2 or 3 mags of HV with a bumpfire,worked pretty well.
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RedNeck Jim
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My 4.5" worked just fine with HV, but had the issues with SV. That issue only cropped up on the second round, which led me to blame the suppressor's FRP. That tells me SV ammo with a 4.5" barrel is maybe cutting it too close or right on the edge of having enough back pressure to cycle the gun properly. Your post makes me think going to 6" is a big help for those wanting to shoot SV.
BigWaylon
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Ran two mags of bulk pack Blazer through mine yesterday. First ~15 rounds unsuppressed, the rest with a Warlock II. Not a single hiccup.
Taking my son shooting for his first time on Sat (or at least that's the current plan). We'll try unsuppressed and suppressed. Seven 25rd mags loaded, and four 50rd drums. Also have the three 22 pistols with 6-8 mags apiece. Should be a fun day.
It'll all be the same bulk Blazer, so probably won't help with this discussion...but it'll more than double the amount of rounds I've put through the SBR so far.
6" barrel could definitely make a difference. There's a reason <5" is recommended to keep everything subsonic. If you're fine with thinking about going 10" this time, maybe something in 7"-8" range would also work.
Taking my son shooting for his first time on Sat (or at least that's the current plan). We'll try unsuppressed and suppressed. Seven 25rd mags loaded, and four 50rd drums. Also have the three 22 pistols with 6-8 mags apiece. Should be a fun day.
It'll all be the same bulk Blazer, so probably won't help with this discussion...but it'll more than double the amount of rounds I've put through the SBR so far.
6" barrel could definitely make a difference. There's a reason <5" is recommended to keep everything subsonic. If you're fine with thinking about going 10" this time, maybe something in 7"-8" range would also work.
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RedNeck Jim
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Hopefully soon you can try a batch of SV & see if your short barrel also causes you issues.
Agree. However my desire to go SBR has less to do with how short I can go, or if it allows me to shoot HV without a sonic crack (both very valid reasons to SBR a 15-22), but with how quiet can I shoot & can I reduce the length of the gun with suppressor attached back to normal (carbine) length & reduce the weight way out on the end of the barrel. With a 5" Sparrow, my 11" barrel will now bring the gun back to carbine length and better match up with my 300 Blackout SBR.
BigWaylon
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Made your barrel swap, yet?
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RedNeck Jim
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Yep, swap took place and my barrel came in today from Adco. It was cut to 11" and hope to test it soon. Too cold to shoot now... at least it is for me. Temp was just above zero this am when I was feeding horses.
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RedNeck Jim
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Took off a bit early today, since the sun is shining & it is above freezing. Tried 150 rounds of Norma Tac-22 & 100 rounds of CCI Sub-Sonic ( slower than the Norma) with the new 11" barrel. No failures whatsoever & the barrel is exceedingly accurate, so good job Adco. I am one happy camper and even the horses came up to observe.
BigWaylon
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Glad to hear that report! 
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Jim, if you don't mind me asking, what do they charge to cut & thread a 15-22 barrel?
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RedNeck Jim
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You select their AR15/AR10 barrel threading, which costs $65. You fill out the form online & checkout prior to sending the barrel. They normally turn around the barrel in a day or two. Just make sure you pack the barrel properly & really wrap/protect the ejector. I keep my double box that my 300 Blackout upper came in to ship such items. It is really strong & full of padding. I also used it to ship the lower to be engraved for the SBR requirements.
I'm thinking of sending them my 16" barrel on my other 15-22 to be rethreaded, even though it came threaded from the factory. This way I can get the O-Ring engagement, which keeps the threads clean when using a sparrow, it will shorten the threads so as to no longer need a spacer, plus that will get the barrel recrowned by them. I'm no expert, but all I read tells me the crown really impacts accuracy & they do a great job. This 11" barrel seems to be very accurate. Guess I need to bring down a rest to verify what MOA it now shoots.
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RedNeck Jim
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Guess I will discuss my decision to go to a 11" barrel. I can easily see where many would say, "What's the point of only cutting off 5 inches?" Surely folks question not making the gun ultra short... and ultra cool?
Well there is the problem... COOL. Making this gun cool has been my downfall from day one. Can't tell you how many cool attachments I have, now sitting in a drawer. Cool keeps getting in my way of having a light, functional rifle, and it bit me here with this SBR project.
My original intent was to do exactly this... shorten down the barrel enough so that the gun was back to carbine length, with the suppressor attached. However I saw all these cool pics of 15-22s reduced to ultra short rifles. Then I liked the argument that all ammo shot thru a 4.5" barrel would stay subsonic, and that sounded logical, so I went ultra short. What I didn't consider or understand was that HV ammo shot thru my new, ultra short 15-22 was loud... much louder than subsonic. Sure it didn't have the sonic crack, but it was still quite a bit louder than what I had grown accustomed to. When I tried to use my subsonic ammo, I soon found out a 4.5" barrel would not always cycle the action properly. Even with a suppressor attached, there was not enough back pressure to reset my trigger. I then looked online & saw videos of others having exactly the same issue.
So here I am. After a barrel trade, I'm back to where I originally wanted to be. At a glance, it is still a carbine. Now I shoot suppressed and my gun just feels much better without having that extra weight of the suppressor out front. The gun is back to being carbine length and is back to being better balanced. And now it is back to being ultra quiet using subsonic ammo & back to being 100% reliable.
Only question is, how short can we go as to be able to get 100% reliability when shooting subsonics? I hope others can respond with their experiences with barrel lengths less than 11".
Well there is the problem... COOL. Making this gun cool has been my downfall from day one. Can't tell you how many cool attachments I have, now sitting in a drawer. Cool keeps getting in my way of having a light, functional rifle, and it bit me here with this SBR project.
My original intent was to do exactly this... shorten down the barrel enough so that the gun was back to carbine length, with the suppressor attached. However I saw all these cool pics of 15-22s reduced to ultra short rifles. Then I liked the argument that all ammo shot thru a 4.5" barrel would stay subsonic, and that sounded logical, so I went ultra short. What I didn't consider or understand was that HV ammo shot thru my new, ultra short 15-22 was loud... much louder than subsonic. Sure it didn't have the sonic crack, but it was still quite a bit louder than what I had grown accustomed to. When I tried to use my subsonic ammo, I soon found out a 4.5" barrel would not always cycle the action properly. Even with a suppressor attached, there was not enough back pressure to reset my trigger. I then looked online & saw videos of others having exactly the same issue.
So here I am. After a barrel trade, I'm back to where I originally wanted to be. At a glance, it is still a carbine. Now I shoot suppressed and my gun just feels much better without having that extra weight of the suppressor out front. The gun is back to being carbine length and is back to being better balanced. And now it is back to being ultra quiet using subsonic ammo & back to being 100% reliable.
Only question is, how short can we go as to be able to get 100% reliability when shooting subsonics? I hope others can respond with their experiences with barrel lengths less than 11".
Best of luck, redneck... It's certainly been an adventure..
I don't recall hv ammo sounding substantially different out of my 5.5" buckmark pistol with ss sparrow attached. Unsuppressed, though, and even subsonics are relatively loud.
Sounds like the hv and short barrel need more space for gas than your suppressor has.
Not to be a buzzkill, but we are getting one of our 15-22s converted to integral suppressed. 10" barrel, ported and pinned suppressor (with removable core for cleaning). But it has much more volume than our sparrow. Runs hv ammo subsonic... So, same length, 4oz heavier, only 1 form 4 for suppressor.
When it comes in, I'll be happy to compare 10" integral with hv ammo to 5.5" with hv and a sparrow on the buckmark. Not exactly what you have but should be close enough. I've shot the integral indoors @ ffl with hv and subs, and I couldn't tell the difference.
I don't recall hv ammo sounding substantially different out of my 5.5" buckmark pistol with ss sparrow attached. Unsuppressed, though, and even subsonics are relatively loud.
Sounds like the hv and short barrel need more space for gas than your suppressor has.
Not to be a buzzkill, but we are getting one of our 15-22s converted to integral suppressed. 10" barrel, ported and pinned suppressor (with removable core for cleaning). But it has much more volume than our sparrow. Runs hv ammo subsonic... So, same length, 4oz heavier, only 1 form 4 for suppressor.
When it comes in, I'll be happy to compare 10" integral with hv ammo to 5.5" with hv and a sparrow on the buckmark. Not exactly what you have but should be close enough. I've shot the integral indoors @ ffl with hv and subs, and I couldn't tell the difference.
BigWaylon
Member
To add to RJ's answer...there's no additional charge (over the $65) to have them do the SiCo o-ring engagement specs. You pay to ship it, then they add actual shipping charges to your bill before they charge your card.
I cut my barrel down to ~6" before I sent it. (Final product is 4.5") This allowed a smaller box, cheaper shipping price, and I kept the stub here so if have a 1/2-28 mount to check things on.
They also charge a $50 Assembly/Disassembly if you don't have the wrench to remove the barrel. Definitely cheaper to just buy the wrench instead, plus you'll have it to tighten up the barrel but in the future.
Or spend a bit more, get the Tacticool22 barrel nut as well, and then spend far more money to use a real barrel nut and your choice of handguards...
ChattanoogaPhil
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When you say select AR threading, are they making the threads standard rimfire .4in or .6in AR?
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RedNeck Jim
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They cut to .4 (rimfire), thus no longer the need for the spacer. There is not an option for just the 15-22, so I have always selected their item for AR threads. Then I specify in the comments section about what length to cut the barrel, if doing so, plus specify that I want it threaded to the SilencerCo specs for the O-Ring engagement for the Sparrow. There is a pull down menu where you select the thread pitch, and for us it is the 1/2 x 28.
The shorter threads is a big reason why tomorrow I'm sending my 16" threaded barrel to be rethreaded by them. The other reason is getting the O-Ring engagement. A couple of weeks ago, while transferring the suppressor between several guns, I lost the spacer for the 15-22 with the factory threaded barrel. Couldn't find it anywhere in the Gator or the pasture & it made me mad... mad enough to decide to send it to Adco to be threaded properly. As you know, failure to use a spacer on the longer, factory threads (AR), can cause the suppressor to screw on too deep & has the potential for baffle strikes.
Wonder if there is a logical reason for S&W to use AR thread length as opposed to rimfire?
BigWaylon
Member
It simply means separate barrel (like an AR) as opposed to barreled action of a bolt-gun, etc.
They'll thread it whatever you want (length, pitch, etc)...but it's $65 for AR barrels vs $140 for the others.
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RedNeck Jim
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Phil, upon further thought, I may not have answered correctly. Yes, all mine have been cut to the rimfire .4 in length, however I'm not certain they do that automatically for all rimfire barrels. Could be mine have all been cut that length because I always specify cut to the SilencerCo specs for O-Ring engagement. I suggest anyone getting a thread job to specify the specs for their suppressor or at least specify they want the rimfire length threads. Can't be too thorough. I honestly don't know what length they would cut them if you gave them no instructions besides selecting the 1/2 x 28 option.
ChattanoogaPhil
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Right. And that's an issue with the 1522 factory threads of 1/2 x 28 with a standard AR length of .6in. A barrel being sent to someone to cut down for SBR might just duplicate the factory thread cut length.
Even if the .6in works with a can, as it does with my YHM Wraith, it creates issues swapping with other guns cut .4in during a range visit because the threads in the can quickly fill with gunk beyond .4in. It can be remedied with spacers but best to just avoid the issue.
I don't know why SW uses standard AR length other persuit to be as identical to an AR as possible, which overall they did a pretty good job of.
Even if the .6in works with a can, as it does with my YHM Wraith, it creates issues swapping with other guns cut .4in during a range visit because the threads in the can quickly fill with gunk beyond .4in. It can be remedied with spacers but best to just avoid the issue.
I don't know why SW uses standard AR length other persuit to be as identical to an AR as possible, which overall they did a pretty good job of.
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RedNeck Jim
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Emailed Steve at Adco, who always responds VERY quickly, and asked him directly. If possible, they will always cut the threads to .4, such as if you send in an unthreaded 16" barrel or are cutting down a threaded barrel to shorter length. However, if the 16" barrel is already factory threaded, the threads have to remain .6 and they cannot cut to SilencerCo specs. They will do so if you authorize them to cut off the existing threads, but now you have made a SBR.
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