Pros and cons of an AR-22 rifle

[Narragansett]

I am doing a lot of shooting lately, and need to lean a bit on the economy of rimfire to help with the ammo costs. So I am thinking about an AR-22 in rifle length. Frankly I know nothing about them, and who makes a better unit. An M4 Tippmann elite has caught my eye.

Any suggestions, noted problems, recommendations?

 

[GypsmJim]

I had a Mossberg clone that was made in Mexico. It was literally **** and went back to the factory 3 times with no fix.

I sold it at a loss and bought a S&W 15-22. One of my best purchases.

I now have other AR15s but my Smith is one of the best.

Highly recommended.

 

[SF VET]

My S& W version has thousands of rounds fired. My grandsons love it. NV

 

[robvious]

I have no first hand knowledge with the Tippman or S&W ar models.. but I do have a Colt (Umarex/ Walther) AR22... multiple thousands of rounds thru it.. was a favorite of everyone.. cheapy red dot and a box of clay pigeons make for a wonderful range day.. bust them and chase the chips until there is nothing... bring more than a 1,000 rounds if there are any kids involved, young or old.. they are a hoot.. one of the best purchases I have ever made.

 

[.38SuperMan]

I’ll second the Smith. I put an Sig Romeo5 on it and absolutely love it.

 

[gdogs]

First question is do you already have an AR-15 in 223?

If so, then it can be as simple as buying a conversion kit (I've been happy with my CMMG stainless kit) and dropping it in your upper. There are a few things you can do in terms of polishing the rails of the kit to make them pretty reliable. Negatives to that are a twist rate not ideal for 22lr, and the amount of junk deposits that end up in your gas tube and receiver. That said, when you are done shooting 22lr, you can drop your normal bolt back in and fire a few rounds of 223 to clean out the system... mostly. If you have a super safety in your AR, they can be made to work with these kits (but I'd recommend the next option if that is desired).

One step up from that is to build a dedicated upper in 22lr (again if you already have an AR lower). You'll still need a conversion kit, but also a dedicated barrel adapter/collar, as well as a barrel. This doesn't have to significantly increase the cost, upper receivers are pretty cheap, barrels can be found for under $100, then you'll just need a forearm. Set up a budget, build within it. With this route you'll get better accuracy, and I've found slightly better reliability than the fake bullet chamber set-up above. Building an AR upper in 22lr is extremely simple, there are no gas blocks to align or tubes to install.

Next and easiest option is to just buy the Tippman you mentioned (sorry I don't know anything about them) or a S&W M&P 15-22 which seem to be liked by the people that own them.

I started my AR-22 journey with a conversion kit in an existing 223 upper. Within a year I built a dedicated upper with a 16" M4 style barrel. I just recently rebuilt it with a pistol length barrel for my SBR since I just got a 22lr suppressor. I'm probably going to change to a quiet collar from BoreBuddy soon.

Here's mine below as she currently sits. Just has a cheap red dot on it at the moment, I haven't decided if I'm going to switch to iron sights for this one or go with a lower powered scope. Excluding optic, I have about $300 in the upper as is.

 

[Rodan]

Just buy an S&W 15-22... you can pick them up cheap used, and they accept mil-spec stocks and grips so you can set them up like your 5.56 AR. They're reliable, and the mags are reasonable. Mine run great with CCI SV, which also makes them nice and quiet with a suppressor...

IMHO dealing with a conversion unit is more trouble than it's worth when you can get a 15-22 for the same or less $$$.

 

[TeamPB]

We have a S&W 15-22, its great. We also have two Tippman's, they are great and I am tempted to get a third, the RCR.

Tippman now sells a magazine speed loader. It is witchcraft! It takes moments, not minutes to load many, many magazines. Get one, it works on the 15-22 also.

Enjoy!

 

[Narragansett]

First question is do you already have an AR-15 in 223?

If so, then it can be as simple as buying a conversion kit (I've been happy with my CMMG stainless kit) and dropping it in your upper. There are a few things you can do in terms of polishing the rails of the kit to make them pretty reliable. Negatives to that are a twist rate not ideal for 22lr, and the amount of junk deposits that end up in your gas tube and receiver. That said, when you are done shooting 22lr, you can drop your normal bolt back in and fire a few rounds of 223 to clean out the system... mostly. If you have a super safety in your AR, they can be made to work with these kits (but I'd recommend the next option if that is desired).

One step up from that is to build a dedicated upper in 22lr (again if you already have an AR lower). You'll still need a conversion kit, but also a dedicated barrel adapter/collar, as well as a barrel. This doesn't have to significantly increase the cost, upper receivers are pretty cheap, barrels can be found for under $100, then you'll just need a forearm. Set up a budget, build within it. With this route you'll get better accuracy, and I've found slightly better reliability than the fake bullet chamber set-up above. Building an AR upper in 22lr is extremely simple, there are no gas blocks to align or tubes to install.

Next and easiest option is to just buy the Tippman you mentioned (sorry I don't know anything about them) or a S&W M&P 15-22 which seem to be liked by the people that own them.

I started my AR-22 journey with a conversion kit in an existing 223 upper. Within a year I built a dedicated upper with a 16" M4 style barrel. I just recently rebuilt it with a pistol length barrel for my SBR since I just got a 22lr suppressor. I'm probably going to change to a quiet collar from BoreBuddy soon.

To answer your question, I do not have a current AR. I never have had one, and frankly know nothing about the AR platform orher than a lot of people want to take them away from us

Here's mine below as she currently sits. Just has a cheap red dot on it at the moment, I haven't decided if I'm going to switch to iron sights for this one or go with a lower powered scope. Excluding optic, I have about $300 in the upper as is.

 

[cherrypointmarine]

I don't have an AR22 , but I do have an MP5-22 . It's one of the originals , made by H&K , not Umarex . It's been great fun and is very accurate . I mounted a RD on it and it'll tear the middle out of a target . Saying that , I have been looking at the S&W AR22 , just don't know if they make a PC version . Something to look into , need a new toy .

 

[STORMINORMAN]

An M&P15-22 works! Lightweight, more than "reasonably" accurate, inexpensive (and inexpensive to modify), reliable and FUN! There's an entire forum of posts to read regarding them.

An aftermarket trigger and a decent red dot and you are in business. Good idea to get the correct size anti-walk pins, though..?

Cheers!

 

[Echo40]

I thought about getting an AR-22, but ultimately decided that since my goal was to save money, it made more sense to just buy a .22LR Conversion Kit for my existing AR-15.

Granted, it's not as efficient as a dedicated Upper or a 100% AR-22 due to the faster 1/9 twist, (.22LR typically uses a 1/16-1/18 twist, IIRC) but it's good enough for me, and cost me a mere fraction of what a dedicated AR-22 would have cost otherwise.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

I just put a can on my 15-22.......Makes it go fweeeezz instead of BANG........Makes it much mo funner........And it was fun before dat............................Get the S&W 15-22.

 

[Farmer17]

I bought the CMMG conversion unit for my AR and it worked ok but you had to clean it often, but I didn't want to have to re sight in the scope after changing calibers every time so I sold it. I thought it would be cool to have an AR15 in .22 RF but I already have two in 5.56 and one in 300 Blackout so I decided to just stick with my camo Ruger 10-22 Take down with suppressor.

 

[rwsmith]

I wouldn't want to waste a quality AR upper/lower/other parts on a .22 rimfire. I'd get something like a Ruger 10/22 and use the AR for a more potent caliber.

 

[Imissedagain]

An interesting rifle, is the Ruger SR22.
Pic from the web, and will post ours, along with the Win 9422, when I turn on the computer.
A Smith at Ruger, apologized, for ever making that contraption.
So, is a minty 9422, in your plan?