.22 Conversion, Dedicated .22 Trainer, or Case of Centerfire?

[Squid556]

When it comes to training with your defensive centerfire handgun / rifle I see three schools of thought....


- Buy a 22 conversion kit for your rifle / handgun $150 - $300. Return on investment 1-2K rounds. Drop it in and use your same firearm just cheaper. Albeit with about 70% the same experience due to less recoil.


- Buy a dedicated 22 rifle / handgun that's kinda similar $200-$500. Return on investment 2K-4K rounds. Have a stand alone firearm that gives say 50% the same experience as your centerfire.


- Buy more centerfire ammo dedicated for training. Lets say for similar dollar amount as described above you could get 1000-1500 rounds 9mm or perhaps 500 - 1000 5.56. You dedicate that ammo to be spent wisely training with the exact firearms expected to be used defensively. However, there is no ROI and after a given amount of range time its all gone.

This is not to say you wouldnt still occasionally train with centerfire ammo, the case of ammo option is just additional ammo put through the defensive firearm.

Which makes the most sense? What say you INGO?

 

[Gabriel]

I'm a huge fan of 22LR. I try to have a rimfire trainer for all of my "main" firearms. I don't like swapping parts back and forth. Once a firearm is setup, I don't want to have to mess with it. Plus, if I have a rimfire upper or slide to swap back and forth, to me that's half a firearm that will end up a complete firearm at some point anyway.

I still want a Glock 44 for a rimfire trainer to my handguns. I just haven't gotten around to it yet since I don't really pay for my 9mm ammo anyway (or my 5.56 and .308 now that I think about it).

 

[shibumiseeker]

I built a dedicated .22 AR. Not so much as a trainer but to have as a small game hunting rifle in a familiar platform.

I also have several AR conversion kits and a brick of ammo in my go-bags so I have versatility with my main rifle.

 

[Ashton1911]

I have a conversion kit for my EDC, as well as a comparable 22lr standalone. The 22lr feels like a toy, without the weight or feel of solidness I get with my EDC. I suppose a more expensive 22lr gun would work, but this has been flawless, and my wife actually likes to carry it because of the weight and ease of handling. Perhaps I will get another 22 trainer, but for now, the conversion kit has been ideal for my training.

 

[OneBadV8]

I like dedicated .22lr trainers where they make sense.

Other valid options would be to use that money/budget on taking an in person class with a trainer, more ammo for your own training, or even set aside more time for dry fire practice, or even a dedicated dry fire training system.

 

[Squid556]

I like dedicated .22lr trainers where they make sense.

Other valid options would be to use that money/budget on taking an in person class with a trainer, more ammo for your own training, or even set aside more time for dry fire practice, or even a dedicated dry fire training system.

I cannot stress enough how useful snap caps and dry fire practice has been to me. Saves a lot of ammo.

 

[Magyars]

I voted dedicated platform same/similar to your firearm. That's what I did.

 

[Ashton1911]

Dry fire/laser cartridge is by far the most economical, especially for draw-first shot. Mantis system is also worth trying, especially on pistols.

 

[jsharmon7]

Depends on the weapon. Recoil between 22lr and 9mm is so different that I lose a bit of the feel. In a rifle, the recoil from 5.56 isn’t much anyway, so using a 22lr instead isn’t a huge stretch.

 

[Gabriel]

Depends on the weapon. Recoil between 22lr and 9mm is so different that I lose a bit of the feel. In a rifle, the recoil from 5.56 isn’t much anyway, so using a 22lr instead isn’t a huge stretch.

I found that putting rounds through my CZ455 really helped with shooting my .308. It wasn't really the shooting part as much as I found myself able to set up and get behind the rifle a lot faster. With my Tippmann, it's not nearly as aloud and I can shoot steel from a lot closer doing drills and not have to worry about destroying it.

 

[WebSnyper]

I've done both.

When I was carrying Glocks I used an Advantage Arms kit.

Conversion kit is also nice to use if you already have a backup/duplicate of you EDC and can dedicate the frame from that to the conversion kit at the range.

When I was carrying an M&P I got the M&P compact 22.

Now that I'm carrying Sigs, I have a tx-22 and a tx-22 compact. (322 came out after and doesn't mimic the Sigs any better to me)

I also have an S&W 15-22 to mimic the AR.

Both help me get some reps and more time in behind the gun for less $$ on ammo. Still need to practice with centerfire of course as you can in some cases get a little sloppy with 22, but generally when used as an additional training aid I think a 22 with very similar or identical operating procedure can be very helpful, especially when training on optic use.

 

[brentlacy]

I kind of did a combo... started with a dedicated 22 upper, then enjoyed it so much, I picked up another lower, and viola! a similar rifle on same platform. Added bonus is that I put in extended takedown pins to make a takedown 22 for cheaper than a 10/22 takedown. The chiappa 22 upper is at least as reliable/accurate as the CMMG conversion kits, for not much more, and no fouling of the gas system that way...

 

[HCALREF]

I have a Kimber 45 and one of the original Kimber 22 conversion kits for it. That works for me.

 

[Amishman44]

I have a Kimber 45 and one of the original Kimber 22 conversion kits for it. That works for me.

I purchased a .22lr conversion kit for the wife's Beretta 92 FS and everyone loves it!
I have a Beretta 92 Centurion DAO for when we CC the same magazines and ammo!
Having the conversion kit for her 92 helps with lots of training but cheap on the ammo cost!
The kids really love the 92 in .22 as well...considering buying a dedicated 92 in .22lr!

 

[chadm]

Posts like this are interesting to me. What’s the intent behind the question?

Do you go to the range twice a year? If so, buy normal ammunition.

Do you go to the range every week or month and want reps behind your carry gun, then go with a conversion.

Like guns and want to shoot and clean them, get all the guns and all the ammo!

 

[Squid556]

Posts like this are interesting to me. What’s the intent behind the question?

Do you go to the range twice a year? If so, buy normal ammunition.

Do you go to the range every week or month and want reps behind your carry gun, then go with a conversion.

Like guns and want to shoot and clean them, get all the guns and all the ammo!

I agree that it’s a case by case basis. When I worded the OP I wanted to keep it as simplified as possible but some details get lost for brevity.

I was once working behind the counter and a guy is having the worst time deciding between two different handguns. Was in love with some 40 cal and was considering another 9mm.

He asks about the price of each ammo. At the time it was like $6 box difference. Customer got really hung up on it and I could tell the decision making process was DIW.

So to help him along I ask, how often do you shoot per year? “Oh about once every year”. I suggested due to the low round count the price difference was negligible and he should buy the one he liked more (.40 cal). Ended up buying the one he didn’t like as much (9mm) only to save like $6-12 / yr.

In my eyes anyway rimfire training makes sense if you have a beginner shooter …. Or someone who’s shooting often enough to benefit from the cost savings. What you guys think?

 

[chadm]

I agree that it’s a case by case basis. When I worded the OP I wanted to keep it as simplified as possible but some details get lost for brevity.

I was once working behind the counter and a guy is having the worst time deciding between two different handguns. Was in love with some 40 cal and was considering another 9mm.

He asks about the price of each ammo. At the time it was like $6 box difference. Customer got really hung up on it and I could tell the decision making process was DIW.

So to help him along I ask, how often do you shoot per year? “Oh about once every year”. I suggested due to the low round count the price difference was negligible and he should buy the one he liked more (.40 cal). Ended up buying the one he didn’t like as much (9mm) only to save like $6-12 / yr.

In my eyes anyway rimfire training makes sense if you have a beginner shooter …. Or someone who’s shooting often enough to benefit from the cost savings. What you guys think?

I totally agree with this. I hope I didn’t come off as snarky. It wasn’t my intent. It is interesting to me to see people get hung up on points that don’t really matter (like the cost of ammo when you only shoot a box or three a year). LOL

 

[Chase515]

I bought a blem psa upper for a 100$ tossed a cmmg kit in it. No regrets. Plastic magpul sights. Nothing special, kids love shooting it while the other kids are shooting my 10/22 talo with a vortex viper on it.

 

[Ark]

I have a CMMG kit. It's cool for movement and transition but isn't accurate enough for real rifle training. It would take a dedicated upper and duplicate optic to really train productively on accurate shooting, and even then you're stuck training on smaller targets, not further targets.

Still think .22 is useful, but it's not cheap to max out training value for 5.56.

 

[kaveman]

I'm all for buying a dedicated .22 trainer even if it doesn't duplicate another gun and you don't train with it. Then technically it's a 'plinker' more than a 'trainer', but what's wrong with that? Every time I get a .22 conversion or any other caliber conversion it eventually becomes its own gun anyway.