Need help putting together 22LR AR15

Austan · Mar 9, 2021

erik72 said:
My first foray into AR22s was with Taccom3G. He made some 17" tension barrels that were awesome and used the CMMG (Ciener style) bolt with a collar of slightly different dimensions than CMMG. He moved away from 22LR for several years but is getting back into it and making 22LR products again. I think he's even offering that 17" tension barrel again though it's not offered threaded at the moment.

During my searches, I came upon the taccom site and it does show the 17" tensioned barrel your talking about. Out of stock of course. I had wondered if they were any good not being familiar with the name.
I also reached out to Scott Volquartsen to see if he had plans to make his tensioned barrel in the cmmg style since he offers it for the s&w. He said he wasn't planning to but he'd look into it. I've had great success with his other products and would likely go that route if the opportunity arises.
So now I have been searching for a few weeks and everything seems to be going out of stock that I consider purchasing. I suppose I will have to piece it together once I decide what to do.

erik72 · Mar 9, 2021

Austan said:
During my searches, I came upon the taccom site and it does show the 17" tensioned barrel your talking about. Out of stock of course. I had wondered if they were any good not being familiar with the name.
I also reached out to Scott Volquartsen to see if he had plans to make his tensioned barrel in the cmmg style since he offers it for the s&w. He said he wasn't planning to but he'd look into it. I've had great success with his other products and would likely go that route if the opportunity arises.
So now I have been searching for a few weeks and everything seems to be going out of stock that I consider purchasing. I suppose I will have to piece it together once I decide what to do.

I imagine the Volquartsen version would be on par with Beyer. I'm not sure why all these custom 10/22 barrel makers (Whistlepig, Kidd, et. Al.) are not making AR22 barrels. Hell, the machining has got to be easier and the AR barrel nut system is far superior than the 10/22 method. A CMMG Bolt/Collar, Beyer Barrel, a good 2-stage trigger, and you're there. You should call Clint Beyer. I'd be he'd have a barrel to you in a couple weeks.

Nivium · May 31, 2021

This thread had good attention for a while, and seemingly a lot of interest. I'm posting the results of my 22LR purchase/decision for anyone who is curious. I ultimately went with a Nordic Components 22LR ar upper I found a deal on. Paired it with a geissele ssa-e and a holosun red dot. Haven't suppressed it or changed the brake yet, but planning on pairing it with a sparrow.

Results are honestly much better than expected. A lot of the discussion on this thread concluded that an ar22 wasn't worth the endeavor for reliability or accuracy when a 10/22 was so much easier and more available. Whether or not this is true, I have to say the Nordic is incredible thus far. Would say a little over one 1/1.5 MOA at 100 with high velocity CCI's and very little emphasis on accuracy shooting at the time (I think at 50 yards when I'm really taking my time, it could be a real contender upper). Have put probably 400 through it thus far, 50% cci and then a bunch of random stuff I had laying around. Runs like a sewing machine, zero ftf. One or two dud rounds, but that had nothing to do with the upper. Great upper and glad I went with the 22ar concept.

sheepdog697 · May 31, 2021

Im not sure if someone has recommended this yet, but you might be able to do a smith and wesson mp15-22 with the volquartsen barrel.

lorevildgar · Jun 1, 2021

I'm thinking about building an AR22 myself to scratch that AR itch without the horrendous centerfire prices we have right now. So far what I'm looking at is:

A Better-Mag S&W 22 Rimfire Adapter from Redi-Mag
A barrel that takes the CMMG adapter collar ideally, either Beyer's or Lothar-Walther. I'd like a Keystone Accuracy barrel, but right now they're not making any for ARs. Any other suggestions would be great.
BoreBuddy's 22LR AR Premium Reliability Bundle

Everything else I can either reach into my box of spare AR parts or find in a trade or something, but those are the major items I feel like I would need. Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Fieldinm11 · Jun 2, 2021

The Begara BR - 14 is completely awesome

Austan · Jun 3, 2021

Fieldinm11 said:
The Begara BR - 14 is completely awesome

I don't follow this post. The Bergara 14 is bolt gun. What am I missing? I see they make what appears to be a 10/22 clone called the BXR, which also isn't an AR-22.

Anyway, I'm still waiting for my Beyer barrel. His "a couple weeks" turned into a few months so far. I hope it's worth it.

chevy_man · Jun 5, 2021

AZ Dan said:
If your priority is precision, I wouldn't recommend building an AR-22. They are a lot of fun for run-n-gun type steel matches, but precision is a pipe dream. Everyone has a different standard for "precision", and an AR-22 will be 1.5-2.5 MOA @ 100 yards under the best possible conditions. You will be able to hit medium sized steel targets no problem (4" targets is what my local club puts at 100 yards for matches), but a KYL rack set at 100 yards will be very difficult, if not impossible on the small side of the rack.

I've been down this road. Honestly, just go buy a S&W M&P15-22 with a threaded barrel.

Pretty much this.

You can spend extraordinary amounts of money trying to make one accurate, but it's cheaper to get more accuracy out of quite a few other platforms.

The 15-22 has been reliable and fun for steel matches.

Merle · Jun 9, 2021

lorevildgar said:
I'm thinking about building an AR22 myself to scratch that AR itch without the horrendous centerfire prices we have right now. So far what I'm looking at is:

A Better-Mag S&W 22 Rimfire Adapter from Redi-Mag

A barrel that takes the CMMG adapter collar ideally, either Beyer's or Lothar-Walther. I'd like a Keystone Accuracy barrel, but right now they're not making any for ARs. Any other suggestions would be great.

BoreBuddy's 22LR AR Premium Reliability Bundle

Everything else I can either reach into my box of spare AR parts or find in a trade or something, but those are the major items I feel like I would need. Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I am using the Better Mag M&P15-22 mag adapter and it works great. Also using a 16" CMMG barrel and bolt. My local club has 22 speed steel matches and most guys are using custom 10-22 rifles. My setup is just as accurate and just as or more reliable.

reelserious · Sep 18, 2024

Just wondering if there are any new wonder barrels for the 22 AR platform in the last few years,are the RRA barrels any good ?

Nivium · Sep 19, 2024

reelserious said:
Just wondering if there are any new wonder barrels for the 22 AR platform in the last few years,are the RRA barrels any good ?

The nordic comp 22rb has been very accurate. Not sure exactly what barrel they use, probably their own

TimK · Sep 25, 2024

I can update my own progress with the CMMG conversion. My smith completed 4 shilen ratchet barrels for a group of us that decided to do this together. Accuracy is excellent and reliability is generally good with one exception. One other owner and I have both had out of battery detonations. The bolt did not have enough energy to fully seat an occasional round, and if you didn't notice the bolt was out of battery it would go off (when the trigger was pressed) and blow the case. Very loud.

I have a bunch of stuff from Bore Buddy. I solved the problem by running his added bolt mass thingy with all steel weights and the stiffest spring in the kit. The bolt has much more energy now and seems to seat rounds reliably. I was expecting it to not cycle with the extra mass and spring stiffness, but it runs fine.

I'm going to shoot it in a match Saturday. Should be a good test of reliability.

erik72 · Sep 25, 2024

TimK said:
I can update my own progress with the CMMG conversion. My smith completed 4 shilen ratchet barrels for a group of us that decided to do this together.

This is awesome! I got a notification resurrecting this old thread.

I'm dyin' to know if 68Hoyt ever did shoot that 18" Lothar Walther barreled upper I sold him.
TimK...I've got a couple questions for you. What chamber did your 'smith use? I have several barrels with the Bentz chamber (which I've read here and elsewhere that it's kind of the go-to for semi-auto match chambering) and even they act differently from one to another. In one session I rarely get to 200 rnds with a specific upper but I would suggest cleaning the chamber at least that often if not more if you're getting out of battery detonations. Did your 'smith turn the barrel to accept the CMMG collar or did he cut the breech like Keystone Accuracy does? I'm not sure one way is better than the other. I just prefer less parts moving around. I have (2) KA barrels and they both run like sewing machines.

Since my earlier comments in this thread, I have acquired a JP upper. It's an older one; not their new Precision Rimfire that goes for like $3k. It's an 18" SST barrel and a Nordic-style bolt. It uses black dog magazines as a standard but they do have a "catch22-like" bolt hold-open that is specific to their bolt. I use KRISS magazines or S&W magazines and it works flawlessly. Accuracy is as they state. 1/2" groups at 50yds is pretty doable. An 1 - 1.5" at 100 yds is doable as well. Pretty acceptable to me but as I stated in earlier posts; not Vudoo level accuracy.

This is pretty interesting....I have also acquired a KRISS DMK22 upper. The original KRISS Barrel was swapped out for a 24" Green Mountain bull barrel. It shoots pretty dang good. I don't have any good targets I can share but it's a good shooter. So that got me thinking about the 10/22 barrels available on the market. I purchased an adapter from KRISS and bought a barrel from acculitebarrels (Whistlepig). It was on sale so if my experiment didn't work, I would be out too much. Anyway, the KRIS bolt is just a slightly modified CMMG bolt. A set screw is drilled & tapped in the guide rail to keep the bolt from launching off the end but the KRISS adapater essentially makes the barrel look like what Keystone Accuracy does. The KRISS Bolts are on backorder so I modified a CMMG bolt to fit the KRISS adapter. Just some filing to narrow the guide rails and open up the ejector cut a little bit. So far, this is running great. No accuracy reports yet but a 24" acculite barrel is very deceiving...and fun to shoot. I'll attach a couple pics.

The long and the short of it is...some AR22 stuff has come and gone but there has been some good stuff brought to market in recent years that makes this venture even more interesting. See Taccom3g.com and Borebuddy.com as examples.

1st pic is the JP
then the KRISS/CMMG/Acculite frankenbuild.

68hoyt · Sep 25, 2024

I did / have but it’s been months ago , I need some short mags for it

TimK · Sep 26, 2024

ERIK72, my smith used what he called a hybrid chamber. Pretty close to a Bentz or Browning. We talked about the subtle differences, but I got lost in the gunsmith gobbledygook. He cut it so there is no engagement of the bullet in the lands. He cut the barrel to mimic what CMMG does on their dedicated uppers, so it utilizes the collar. He slugged all four barrels and cut them off at the tight spot if there was one. IIRC, only one of the Shilen blanks had a detectable tight spot. Having seen some Vudoo's barreled with Shilen Ratchets shoot itty bitty groups, I convinced myself I wanted control of the barrel blank. The project was expensive and time consuming, but totally worth it. It's accuracy is roughly equivalent to my Vudoo with a stock barrel. Of course, the two guns don't like the same ammo (not even a little bit) so the comparison is flawed, but the Shilen will lay down 1" groups at 100. Someday I'll send both guns out for lot testing and determine the true capabilities of both, but for now I'm just buying random lots of Eley and SK and hoping for the best.

I borrowed one of the older Nordic based JP uppers to try some time ago. I was unimpressed with the accuracy.

johnson · Oct 4, 2024

I recently put together a 16" using a Beyer Barrel and I'm happy with it. I've only had a couple hundred rounds but no issues besides the trigger not resetting but that's because I have Bore Buddy's adjustable weight kit and am still tuning it. I'm shooting mainly CCI SV and SK Standard Plus.

The Kriss 15rd mag let's me shoot comfortably off the bench but the spring seems weak and will not put enough pressure on the bolt catch to lock back on the last round. The 25rd mags are tight in the magwell in 3 different lowers so I've had to sand one down to fit. I have not live fired with them but lock back when manipulating the charging handle at home.

Build List:
Expo Arms® AR-15 Builder Kit - 13" M-LOK Enhanced Wedgelock Handguard
Beyer 22 LR Ultralight Target, AR15 16"
BoreBuddy Quiet Bolt (nitrided)
BoreBuddy 22lr Adjustable Bolt Weight - Gen 4 Adjustable
BoreBuddy Dedicated AR22 Pressure Plug (buffer replacement)
LaRue MBT-2S
BoreBuddy Bolt Catch w/ Kriss AR22 mags, 15rd and 2x 25rd
SilecerCo Sparrow
Bushnell LRHS 3-12x

obx22 · Oct 6, 2024

I’ve been working with a couple of these AR conversions for a bit, most recently testing 3 different but identical profile barrels (16.25” alloy shroud bull from TacSol), however the chambers (and feeding) are completely different. Last month I took it to 400yards on a 12oz soda can, and a couple of weeks ago shot this 5 round group at 100yds. Yesterday I tested the same rifle with different magazines, and while I didn’t have feeding issues, the groups were 2 1/8” for 10 rounds, so I now have to have a magazine test day not just for function, but accuracy.

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