Dedicated .22 upper

[jagee]

I'm very indecisive, but I think I've finally decided on a .22 AR upper to go with the lower I bought from @Aszerigan because I also bought a TSV can from him and don't have a threaded. 22 to put it on. Two birds, right?

Now...here comes more decisions I can't decide on:

SBR vs pistol vs rifle?

Brand of upper:

This one

Complete AR22 Apogee Uppers

Introducing the BoreBuddy AR22 complete uppers! Our uppers include: BoreBuddy Bolt Group (if selected) with all the upgrades (bolt upgrades: Round firing pin, power extractor, gen 2 standard colla…

borebuddy.com

Or this one?

Upper Receivers

Looking for an AR15 upper build kit or stripped upper receiver? CMMG has you covered with all things upper receivers.

cmmg.com

Or something different?

Now...help me decide, please and thank you.

 

[Aszerigan]

SBR! SBR! SBR!

Sorry, my cheer squad got to this before me.

Let’s be honest - for a subsonic 22, nobody needs a 16” barrel.

 

[jwamplerusa]

Well, I have an aversion to giving the government more information or money. So for now no SBR or can for me. Would really like to have a can though.

I went the cheap route and purchased a right side charging Bear Creek arsenal upper to go on my INGO lower. The accuracy was not quite what I wanted, but Bear Creek arsenal warrantied the upper based upon a rough bore.

Unless you're getting an accuracy guarantee from one of those uppers you may want to consider their cost benefit value. The BCA was something on the order of $280 to the door and I have seen it on sale for less.

A 22 long rifle AR-15 pattern rifle however is more fun than an adult should be allowed to have. Thank goodness 22 long rifle is still reasonably inexpensive. I thought I shot a lot of it before I built this rifle. My expenditure has tripled or quadrupled since I built it.

My best piece of advice is, spend the money on a good trigger. But beware that the hammer typically has to have full power to reliably ignite 22LR rounds. I've currently settled on a LaRue MBT2s which seems to be working well.

I noticed one of your uppers had a round firing pin. Personally I am not a fan of those, and had to reprofile the BCA firing pin to improve ignition reliability. The round firing pin tends to waste impact Force outside of the rim area reducing the effect of power applied to that which ignites the round.

 

[TJ Kackowski]

Since you're already in for the can ... SBR for the win. Maybe even SBR with full auto?

After all, it's just money ... you'll make more.

 

[Gabriel]

I'd have a hard time paying that kind of money for a 22LR upper when you can get a Tippmann for that price or less.

 

[Aszerigan]

Since you're already in for the can ... SBR for the win. Maybe even SBR with full auto?

After all, it's just money ... you'll make more.

Cant make the FA, but the SBR would be sweet.

If you want to shoot FA, PM me and we'll make it happen.

 

[patience0830]

Since you're already in for the can ... SBR for the win. Maybe even SBR with full auto?

After all, it's just money ... you'll make more.

Where's he gonna find a f/a lower he can afford?

You giving an old one away?

 

[92FSTech]

If you're going to run a can, a shorter barrel could potentially enable you to run regular bulk-pack .22LR ammo at subsonic velocities. Federal Automatch is subsonic out of my Ruger MkIV Tactical, but supersonic out of my 16" AR, so I have to buy more expensive subsonic ammo for the rifle. The cost savings in being able to run cheap bulk pack subsonic would pretty quickly pay for your tax stamp, especially considering how much fun a dedicated .22 AR is and how easy it is to dump ammo through it.

One thing I will say for a longer barrel is that it keeps heat down in the can. The huge upside to a cooler can is that it makes it easier to clean. I soak my baffles in silicon oil, and as long as I don't get it too hot the crud just wipes off with a rag. The shorter barrel of my MkIV allows way more heat buildup and I usually end up having to soda blast the carbon and lead off, which isn't a huge deal but it's kinda a mess.

At some point I'd like to figure out the ideal barrel length to keep Automatch subsonic, while still being long enough to keep from baking all the crud to the inside of the supressor.

 

[Gabriel]

If you're going to run a can, a shorter barrel could potentially enable you to run regular bulk-pack .22LR ammo at subsonic velocities. Federal Automatch is subsonic out of my Ruger MkIV Tactical, but supersonic out of my 16" AR, so I have to buy more expensive subsonic ammo for the rifle. The cost savings in being able to run cheap bulk pack subsonic would pretty quickly pay for your tax stamp, especially considering how much fun a dedicated .22 AR is and how easy it is to dump ammo through it.

Considering how dirty just shooting half way decent ammo through my CZ gets my suppressor, I can't imagine how dirty it would get dumping a ton of bulk ammo through it with a semi auto.

 

[OneBadV8]

I went with a dedicated CMMG .22 upper. I’d do it again.

Mine is just 16”, I’m not a pistol fan though. I just registered my shorter ones as SBRs

 

[jagee]

I'd have a hard time paying that kind of money for a 22LR upper when you can get a Tippmann for that price or less.

But if I buy a Tippmann then I still have a lower I have to decide what to do with!

 

[Gabriel]

But if I buy a Tippmann then I still have a lower I have to decide what to do with!

I do understand that dilemma.

 

[jagee]

r/ar22 on Reddit seems to like BoreBuddy quite a bit, at least for replacement parts. I'm leaning toward getting one of their complete uppers but can't decide on length.

And I'm still on the fence about SBR or not...

 

[92FSTech]

Considering how dirty just shooting half way decent ammo through my CZ gets my suppressor, I can't imagine how dirty it would get dumping a ton of bulk ammo through it with a semi auto.

View attachment 318966

It definitely accumulates a LOT of crud, but as long as I don't get it hot enough to bake onto the baffles it wipes right off....maybe 5 minutes tops to get it back like new. The rag you used to clean it is done for, though!

 

[jagee]

SBR! SBR! SBR!

Sorry, my cheer squad got to this before me.

Let’s be honest - for a subsonic 22, nobody needs a 16” barrel.

Restock of 12" barrels is a month or so out. I'm on the list to be notified when back in stock...

Complete AR22 Apogee Uppers

Introducing the BoreBuddy AR22 complete uppers! Our uppers include: BoreBuddy Bolt Group (if selected) with all the upgrades (bolt upgrades: Round firing pin, power extractor, gen 2 standard colla…

borebuddy.com

Might as well SBR the lower...

 

[GLOCK91]

SBR the only way to go!!

 

[Ashton1911]

Im ridiculously interested in getting a Mist 22 integral for a 10/22. Wouldn't that negate the advantages of the SBR by giving me a 9 inch barrel and pinned suppressor core? OAL would be 17 or so.

 

[jagee]

Im ridiculously interested in getting a Mist 22 integral for a 10/22. Wouldn't that negate the advantages of the SBR by giving me a 9 inch barrel and pinned suppressor core? OAL would be 17 or so.

I'm a fan of integral as well. Basically makes it a 1 stamp gun instead of 2 to get the same overall length.

My integral is a 300BO upper...

HM Defense 300 Blackout Integrally Suppressed Upper

Full thanks to @jagee that ordered this and allowed me to do a review. I've seen a lot over the years - suppressed this, newly invented that. Thirty five years collecting guns, fifteen years in the resale market and there's new stuff, better designs, better materials, but not a lot of change...

www.indianagunowners.com

 

[jagee]

SBR paperwork submitted. Now we wait on the permission slip.

...I'm still waiting on barrel/upper anyway.

 

[Jarvitron]

FWIW I have a 16" dedicated 22ar upper with a folding stock lower and it's probably my favorite gun to shoot. It would be cooler if it were shorter and suppressed but a 16" 22lr barrel is about 1.5" shorter than a 16" 223 barrel, so it's more like a 14.5".