This kit has been mentioned a few times on the Monkey, but really deserves its own thread. Basically the conversion consists of a replacement AR-15 bolt and one or more 22LR magazines that will fit and function in an AR mag well. Why do you need this? Simple, it allows you to shoot 22LR to save money, conserve 5.56 ammunition and make your AR-15 more versatile. IMO for preparedness this is a necessity as opposed to an accessory. While the 3 20 round kit ranges from $200 (Primary Arms) to $230 (Brownells) it quickly pays for itself. Currently the ubiquitous 55 grain 5.56 XM193 costs 50 cents more per round than 22LR. For example, a 350 round brick is $175 less expensive then 350 rounds of XM193. A brick and a half and you are money ahead. There are also 10 round magazines and full kits for California Monkeys. For standard direct impingement AR's simply replace the bolt carrier group with the 22LR bolt shown below. When the rifle is buttoned up seat the bolt by pulling the charging handle all the way back and release it. Make sure is slams into place so that the bolt is fully seated. Once the bolt is seated insert a loaded 22LR magazine and charge as normal. Because the conversion is blow back as opposed to gas operated you should also be able to use it in any AR-15 piston rifle conversion such as Adams Arms that have a removable piston rod. Note that the forward assist and the bolt catch will not operate with the conversion kit installed. The lack of a bolt catch means that the bolt won't lock open after the last round is fired. Here is a great in depth article: CMMG Bravo 22 LR AR Conversion Kit - a Kit That Doesn't Suck ~ VIDEO
Best money spent for a .22 rifle, Period! Makes an already handy Carbine into a Steller performer! Even better when run suppressed, as the only noise you hear is the hammer strike! Accuracy is pretty good, even with the super fast twist barrels most AR rifles are equipped with, but don't expect to win any matches, they are service accurate enough, which is more then enough! Be sure to keep your normal chamber clean, and when swapping back and forth between the conversion and regular bolt, give the rifle a very good cleaning and you will be very happy with things!
I knew you would chip in! They also make a point about not leaving the conversion in the rifle during storage. In your experience is it accurate enough for squirrels and rabbits is need be?
My experience with these conversions is pretty extensive, so I will share what I have learned, both good and bad! First, the bad! They will never equal something like a Savage MK-II .22 Bull Barrel rifle, so don't expect that kind of accuracy, after all the conversion needs to fit all the chambers out there, and while "Mil Spec" might be good enough, it's still not tight! That said, it's plenty good enough if you do your part! I have seen folks play with all sorts of ideas to make things fit tighter, usually what they end up with is a mess they need to clean up both the rifle and the conversion! No, it's not worth messing about with it, leave it as is and choot it! Now, the good! Depending on your barrel and twist, you can get pretty dang good accuracy out of these, the better the barrel, the better these will run! Optimum combo seems to be the 1/12 twist 16 in length, however, I have run them all the way down to a 1/7 twist 11.5 inch, and they were surprisingly accurate ( though you really want heavier bullets) I can get mine to run with this combo accurately ( about 1 Moa) out to about 130 meters or so, give or take, depending on what I ate for breakfast! One thing I noticed was leading of the barrel, especially the Non Chrome lined tubes, not all that bad, but it does effect accuracy over time, so cleaning is a must to get back as much potential as your going to have! I do note the 16 inch barrel 1/9 twist seems to increase accuracy potential out to about 150 meters or so, again, clean is king, and the 20 inch National Match AR is the most accurate of all, but I noticed velocity starts to flat line past 16 inches, so it's pure sight radius at that point, also a 1/9 twist! What was an eye opener was the old SP retro with it's even slower 1/14 twist, 14.5 inch tube, which runs the best groups I have seen, though it's also the most sensitive to ammo, getting to the point of finicky and not really worth the trouble to get that kind of improvement! All this was/is done with iron sights like God and Eugene Stoner meant them to run, and this kind of accuracy is about as good as any .22LR with irons!
Nice write-up at the link, even if they did mess up on the .22lr round dimensions...a .22 magnum uses a .224 round, while .22 lr is .223 Not much difference, but with the lower weight and velocity the accuracy is definitely sub-par out of a 20" barrel with a 1/8 twist.
Different Gun Same Deal HK German G3 .22 Caliber Conversion Kit $599.95 Used Surplus Genuine German HK G3 .22 caliber conversion kit Fits and converts all HK91, G3 rifles to shoot the cheap and readily affordable .22 LR ammunition. Includes bolt group, barrel tube, 1 magazine, and cleaning kit and wooden green case. NO MANUALS included as these last units did not have them. Almost sold out last call. Origin: German Brand: Heckler & Koch In stock Qty: SKU: HKP-01147 Works well if a bit heavy and with the HK claw mount scope it is a tack driver.
I have a Ciener kit in a short suppressed m-16, it is about as much fun as you can have without bail money being involved.
@Ura-Ki pretty well covered it. They are nice kits and will shoot minute of squirrel when kept reasonably clean. I have an old GI Issue conversion that I've used since the 80's in old SP-1's to current issue M4 style platforms with no problems. I am completely sold on the idea and have been since the 80's. Same for the .22 conversions for the 1911's. @HK_User: I have wanted one of those for a long time-just don't want to come up off of 6 bills for it
Funny you mention the 1911 conversions, As I just scored a Factory Kimber top end kit for $300 brand new in the box with 2 spare mags! For grins, I installed it on my Eclipse and ran a few different brands of ammo through it, all were impressive, even the shitty Remington Hornets and Yellowjackets, all fed perfectly and shot to point of aim at 20 paces! I then loaded a mag with 10X and Eley each and shot one bug hole groups back to back! DAMN, that kit makes my High Standards feel kinda sad when a 1911 can keep up with them!
Mine is an old Colt ACE conversion. Don't think it will ragged hole a bullseye but it is minute of squirrel like it's AR cousin.
Yeah,I shoulda coulda woulda back in the 80's Brother. Last ones in stock I've seen would be 6 bills and change after shipping. We need to get that lame assed @Ura-Ki to pick us up in Mobile and takeus on a trip to the Continent to score some good stuff. I recently found a place in the EU that was selling FAL receivers for 40 bux US. He's got a bigassed ship, he needs to share the wealth!!!
Have a kit, don't shoot with silencer so can't comment on that, hard to really evaluate the kit as I can't get it back from my kids, they borrowed it, love it, like shooting 22 long rifles in AR's, like being able to change from one rifle to another, and like being able to shoot in bckyard, noise does not panic neighbors. So I guess it is worth getting, or at least if you can "borrow" dads.
I built a Les Bauer .45 1911 lower a while back and stuck a .22 top end on it, bought a few magazines, and it is fun to shoot. miss that punch and recoil though, so it can learn you some bad habits.
I have one. Not impressed with accuracy, but it's fun. I'm working on a dedicated .22 barrel conversion that'll use the Spikes Tactical collar and lock it onto the CMMG bolt. With a .217" bore diameter accuracy should improve. I think I started working on it ten years ago, so don't expect any updates until I retire and get my honey-do list caught up.
FAL can play the .22 game too. Accuracy is very good with this kit. Took three to find one that wasn't flawed, but it all works now. I'd love to get the CMMG kit to do as well in the AR15.
That would be a tough bit of engineering! Replacement Mini-14 bolts have to be headspaced, so I'm not sure how a drop in would work. Due to the size of a Mini-14 bolt I don't see how you could do it without an entire bolt replacement.
