Favorite .22LR Upper

[seanc]

Borrowing from the general forum:

What's your favorite .22LR AR upper?

What's the most accurate .22LR AR upper?

Currently, I'm using a CMMG Bravo adapter and it's fine for training, but I'd like a dedicated, accurate .22LR upper. I'm finding most are out of stock and have been for some time.

[9x19]

Most of mine use CMMG parts. I do have one from Bear Creek, and a couple from Tactcal Solutions (no longer made).

I've read good things about the Nordic uppers, but have no personal experience.

[Screwball]

I always liked my Spikes upper with LW barrel. Thing is way more accurate than I am. I redid the bolt group with a CMMG so I could have more function.

When I bought my M&P15-22, I switched to those magazines and the BetterMag.

I did build a specific lower just for that upper.

[zukiphile]

Seanc,

My uppers are built around the CMMG. You are right about the number of parts that seem to be out of stock.

The barrels I've used from most accurate to least.
Lothar Walther 16.5"with Federal Automatch, American Eagle HVCP, and Gold Medal Target
CMMG Heavy Taper 16.1" with Aquila Subsonic
Lothar Walther 10.5" with the same selection of Federal
CMMG 20" A2 with Aguila standard velocity
CMMG M4 profile with Aguila standard velocity
Ghost M4 profile with Aguila standard velocity
CMMG 17" medium taper - a lemon flavored disaster I returned to Optics Planet

Of those, I'm aware of the CMMG 17" and M4 profile currently available.

Bore Buddy sells quasi experimental 1:12 22lr barrels. Keystone Accuracy sells stainless barrels that require alteration of your rimfire BCG. Beyer sells very well regarded barrels that have a steel sleeve in an aluminum barrel iirc.

Bore buddy sells a couple of items that I consider necessary, a firing pin and a bolt weight. CMMG is very good in replacing parts on request, but Bore Buddy pins break far less often and aren't very expensive. A bolt weight is important if you are going to use a 22lr specific LRBHO and S&W magazines.

Note that Screwball has a dedicated lower, not just an upper. So do I. I found that by the time I had optimized a trigger and its springs and changed the bolt catch, it was an excellent rifle but no longer suitable for use with a centerfire upper.

HTH

[9x19]

^ Good Points ^

All but one of my rimfire uppers are mated to dedicated lowers.

[FrankenMauser]

Currently, I'm using a CMMG Bravo adapter and it's fine for training, but I'd like a dedicated, accurate .22LR upper. I'm finding most are out of stock and have been for some time.

I only have one. It is not a factory upper.

I bought a CMMG Bravo kit a while back, and shot it through two '5.56' barrels. Both were 1:8" twist, however. So, performance was pretty terrible.
Eventually, I tore apart an upper built primarily from garbage parts (some literally came out of a dumpster) and rebuilt with a CMMG 22 LR barrel (and collar) from Joe Bob's.

It had an out of battery event within the first 50 rounds, and I found that nearly all of my aftermarket triggers had hammer springs too stiff for the .22 LR bolt. (It would often eject and feed, without cocking the hammer.)
I added some Bore Buddy parts - including the basic bolt weight and firing pin.
I 3D printed a few parts.

No more OOBs, and fewer issues fully cycling.

Performance was not impressive, initially -- like 6-8 MoA 10-round groups with decent ammo. So, I decided that we needed to "season" the barrel by just shooting the crap out of it with bulk ammo. The son and I have been working on that for 6-8 weeks. It is probably at about 800-900 rounds of mostly Federal Auto Match (bulk), and it has been interesting to watch group size slowly shrink. (No, it has not been cleaned, and doesn't appear to need it yet.)
I haven't had it on paper in the last few weeks, but it is now hitting a 3" steel target at 65 yards about as consistently as our match rifles.
It might turn into a shooter, after all.

One of the bigger lessons learned, for me, was that CMMG magazines are mediocre (and why only stupidly-long 25/30 rounders!?), I need better CAD practices*, and Black Dog Machine steel feed lip magazines are a solid choice.
BDM magazines have given us zero issues, unless ammo-induced (like a bent round, because bulk pack).

*I designed and printed my own 14-round magazine for potential use in NRL22, before BDM had their 15-rounders back in stock. There is a minor error in my rim guide geometry in the feed lips, which is nearly impossible to fix without starting over -- because of my bad practices in CAD. It works the majority of the time. But a very slightly oversize rim hangs up just enough to take enough inertia out of the bolt to cause a misfeed.

[seanc]

Thanks for the replies and the general experiences you're having with your 22LR builds.

I really like my lower as is. I'm still new to the AR platform, so forgive the following stupid question:
Absent a .22LR complete upper, is it feasible to build one with an upper, decent 22 barrel and collar, hand guards, AR charging handle and use the CMMG kit sans the chamber adapter?

I like to standardize on triggers and would like to use the lower I already have that's been 100% reliable with the Bravo kit so far. I have a Savage MSR 2.0 that has a 1:8 twist that's giving me hand size groups at 50 yards using bulk ammo (mostly Aquila and Federal) with that Bravo kit. I'm not a competitive shooter, but I like small groups no matter what I'm shooting.

[zukiphile]

Originally Posted by seanc

Absent a .22LR complete upper, is it feasible to build one with an upper, decent 22 barrel and collar, hand guards, AR charging handle and use the CMMG kit sans the chamber adapter?

Yes. The only difference between the conversion kit and a bolt for a dedicated barrel is the collar or chamber adaptor. Bore Buddy has a very good collar with an adjustable detent for less than the CMMG or RTB collar.

I like to standardize on triggers and would like to use the lower I already have that's been 100% reliable with the Bravo kit so far.

I understand. That's where I was when I was shooting more centerfire. I mostly used Geissele triggers then, and that's not a small cost in replicating an existing lower.

Consider the following:

PSA has Anderson Manufacturing aluminum lowers for sale for $35. You can find lower parts kits without FCG for $30 or $40. One thing a dedicated lower does is keep all the grit and soot generated by rimfire out of your centerfire lowers.

[MarkCO]

When I was building uppers, I used the barrels from Beyer, my own Carbon Feather handguard and BCGs from Velocity and the Black Dog magazines. With match ammo, they were under 1", 5 shot group at 100 yard units. The JP was close, but not quite as accurate. If I was going to suggest one today, it would be the JP.

The issues were folks liked to use crap ammo in them, did not clean them and they became more trouble than they were worth. There are about 100 of them in the wild, and the folks that have them don't give them up easily.

[MarkCO]

Absent a .22LR complete upper, is it feasible to build one with an upper, decent 22 barrel and collar, hand guards, AR charging handle and use the CMMG kit sans the chamber adapter?

A Beyer barrel, Black Dog Magazine and a BCG (empty buffer tube) will get you there.

https://beyerbarrels.com/barrels/ar15_barrels

https://palmettostatearmory.com/psa-...ess-steel.html

[seanc]

Thanks for confirmation on adapting the CMMG BCG and overall parts needed list. I didn't know if I was oversimplifying what was needed.

[FrankenMauser]

The 22 LR AR finally locked up today. Right about 1k rounds of Federal Auto Match, with no cleaning. Will not function in any form, except to fire a round if you can get it to chamber.
We'll get it cleaned up and back on paper next time we're at the range. Perhaps tomorrow.

[Fishbed77]

I’ve owned a CMMG Sierra dedicated upper for well over a decade now, and it’s probably the most reliable and accurate stock semi-auto 22LR I own. Thousands and thousands of rounds at this point.

I have always used Black Dog Machine magazines.

[berettaprofessor]

Favorite 22 uppers? LOL it's a Ruger 10/22 Charger, upper and lower. Put an adapter on the end and a SB-mini folding brace and it's my absolutely favorite fun toy!

(And, yes, I papered it so I can keep the folding brace on it).

[seanc]

^ You should start a new thread on 10/22 Chargers.