So with spring coming, our club hosts CMP matches. Any rifle capable of rapid fire will do. I plan to get out with the AR-15 and shoot a few this year, and I think I’ll keep shooting the Langhorne Rod and Gun practical matches, since they are on the last Saturday, and don’t conflict with much else.
I’ve found Thursday indoor silhouette at the club keeps me getting on the range at least once a week, but typically I bring Bitter’s CZ 452, or my Kimber Government Model 82. I’m thinking it might be of good benefit to be able to practice offhand shooting with an AR-15 on Thursday nights at indoor silhouette, but this would mean I’d need a .22LR upper for the AR, and the special magazines for that caliber. I know they make such things, but I’m curious if anyone among my readers has any experience with them, and can tell me which manufacturers of .22LR uppers and magazines for the AR-15 are making quality products.
I don’t have a dedicated .22 upper, but I do have a ciener conversion kit, you can probably find them used for cheap.
They work, and they’re accurate enough for a tactical match.
They don’t hold the bolt open on the last shot, you’ll need to spin a chamber brush before shooting .223 again, and they’ll leave your upper gritty filthy.
They’re not great, but they don’t suck much either.
Head on over to Rimfire Central: http://www.rimfirecentral.com and search on ‘AR 15 22 upper’.
In the middle: ($500 – $600)
Tactical Solutions makes a good upper. (disclosure: I have one of their “AR22 LT” models, and love it – even cheap bulk ammo holds 1″ @ 50yds)
Spikes Tactical makes built to order uppers that have many fans.
At the low end ($200 – $300)
There are various conversions that fit into the action.
Ciener, CMMG, etc
If you have money to burn:($1000 – $1300)
Have “Compass Lake” build you an upper. These are for serious match players.
On any of these, taking delivery anytime soon is NOT to be expected. The Obama factor is still in play.
“Black Dog Machine” 27 round mags are the undisputed best.
($30 each)
Go with what (2) anon. said.
The stuff from, http://www.compasslake.com/ is about as good as there is.
Like the old saying you get what you pay for.
Only problem with there stuff is that when you are out of the 10 ring it is your fault.
Forgot quote marks for the pay for quote and cannot spell their/there.
Oh well, the idea was there.
At least I did not get a they are mixed in.
I’m not sure I’m sold on the conversion kits. Sure, at the 25 yards that we shoot indoors, I doubt it’ll make much of a difference really. But I’d prefer an upper that was engineered from the beginning to be .22LR. I’ve heard some of the problems of the conversion kits fouling the barrel, since .223 Remington is only almost, but not quite the same diameter as .22LR.
I’ve got the dedicated upper from Model One Sales and a 30 rd Black Dog mag. Plenty accurate and works flawlessly. I shoot lots of Federal bulk.
For match practice, I’d stay away from the conversions. I’ve got a DPMS .22 upper (they discontinued it a while back to redesign it, and I don’t know if they’re making them again) that shoots quite well for offhand; I use it on the 100 yd SR1 target. But if I were to do it again, I’d save up my pennies and go for the Compass Lake one, as I don’t quite have the confidence in the upper to be accurate enough to learn anything shooting prone. (Was that 9 me or the gun?) And, the bolt doesn’t hold open, making prone shooting difficult anyway. (The CLE ones do hold open when single loading.)
Spike’s seem to be the one folks want. Ciener’s can be problematic. At GBR2, one was doubling. And their mags suck, I hear.
Better bet is the rbprecision evolution stock (http://www.rbprecision.com/id72.htm) on a 10/22. You can get into a whole gun for the price of an upper.
Sebastian, another option that you might find even more challenging is a .177 air gun upper from Pilkguns. CMP and the NRA have matches for this gun now.
http://www.pilkguns.com/menu_ar15.shtml
Another vote for Spike’s Tactical – and if you want to be extra spendy, add a Gemtech or Spectre can to it – quiet and tacticool. :-)
If you can find one, the CZ uppers are inexpensive and very well built. You’ll need irons for it as they come with an A3 top and a railed gas block, but the local shop had a new one for $250 used a few months ago, and the last one I saw in there was $350 brand new. They are kinda hard to find, though, so they often sell for upwards of $450 used on the interw3bs, ironically.
I have not shot these but they come highly recommended. I practice for highpower with 5.56 but I also want to eventually get a dedicated upper so I can plink more.