I shoot a couple of CMMG B units... I used two part epoxy to partially fill the front of a standard AR charging handle to help preclude a spent cartridge from lodging there... the Boonie Packer bolt hold open kit for AR22s is designed to use S&W 15-22 magazines (the magazines will wear where the cartridge rim rubs, so watch for it) ... a chamber insert conversion will give you rather poor accuracy, so I'd recommend a dedicated .22lr barrel and CMMG style collar unit... I like the CMMG unit as the ejector is on the bolt rail.. I use a Bore Buddy firing pin and wire EDM extractor... the cost of the CMMG conversion unit, a dedicated barrel, and full float hand guard is likely more than the cost of a SW 15-22, but provides for me a solid, reliable unit...I use Black Dog sonic welded stainless feed lip magazines ... mine hold 24 round... regards

 

Build your own upper.
Pick a CMMG barrel in the length you want. 4.5, 9.2 or 16-17"
Use a CMMG bolt and collar.
Whatever hand guard you want.
The Boonie Packer is nice for LRBHO, but limits you to 15/22 mags.
I use a Catch22 bolt catch so I can have LRBHO with 15/22 mags (with shims) and still be able to use CMMG or Black Dog mags with manual bolt hold open.

 

Build your own upper.
Pick a CMMG barrel in the length you want. 4.5, 9.2 or 16-17"
Use a CMMG bolt and collar.
Whatever hand guard you want.
The Boonie Packer is nice for LRBHO, but limits you to 15/22 mags.
I use a Catch22 bolt catch so I can have LRBHO with 15/22 mags (with shims) and still be able to use CMMG or Black Dog mags with manual bolt hold open.

Don't want to build my own.

Honestly, I've already abandoned the idea of getting an AR style upper. Seems liek the accuracy for most of these, even the expensive offerings are not the most accurate. I'd rather shell out more and just get a KIDD rifle or something that's worth the money and just works without having to epoxy anything, compromise, etc.

 

Went to my first Project Appleseed shoot this last weekend and received my Rifleman patch using a bolt-action rifle (CZ 457 American). Was a lot of fun and will definitely be going back as many times as I can next year.

I have a couple AR-15's, one of them a Smith & Wesson M&P Sport II that I still have not shot to this day. Was thinking of buying a .22LR upper and turning it into a nice Appleseed rifle.

Don't mind spending a bit if it's quality. I've briefly looked at the JP Enterprises and CMMG uppers that seem to be around $800. That's quite a bit to spend, but if the quality and accuracy is there I can justify it.

A few other questions...Is there a way to get the bolt t lock back on the last round (seems like this isn't a standard feature on .22LR's for the AR-15 platform) and are there specific magazines I'll need to use with the S&W M&P Sport II lower? Do all of these .22LR uppers require a proprietary charging handle or are you able to use a charging handle from a .223/5.56 upper?

I did exactly what you are talking about. Cmmg barrel, collet for my existing conversion bolt from midway USA for $200. Spent another $200 on a stripped upper and and hand guard from aero precision. Picked up a $10 a2 flash hider and a $20 ejection cover and forward assist that are not necessary. Better mag has an adapter to hold open if you use the S&W mag. I find the mags very good and cheap. I’ve put a JP 3.5lb trigger spring and have polished the sear. You have to remove the better mag from the lower to make it shoot 5.56 again. It’s easy to remove. Now I think I’m going to buy about stripped lower and just build a dedicated rifle. It’s fun.

 

I'll second LeadStacker's suggestion of a Tippmann M4-22 dedicated .22 rifle. It replicates the functionality of a centerfire AR-15 almost exactly, including the bolt release and last round hold-open, a functional forward assist and approximately the same weight due to having aluminum upper and lower receivers. The magazines are proprietary but they are the same size and weight of 30 round Magpul Pmags so no change in the handling characteristics from your centerfire AR mags. It's compatible with AR stocks, handguards and most (but not all) aftermarket triggers. I've had mine for about 3 years and it has run flawlessly on all the standard and high velocity ammo I've thrown at it. Street price of $575-$600 for the Elite model. Check out the video and print reviews on the internet.

 

If you want an aftermarket trigger, call Greg at tippmann, he can either give you a list of ones that will work, or possibly mod the one you want to work. I have the elftmann 2 stage in mine and like it a lot.

 

The Tippman rifles look great. Half to less than half of a KIDD and look like they'd be a massive bump up in accuracy, reliability and quality compared to a 10/22.

 

They are nice for the $. Mine will shoot 1 hole 10 round groups at 25 yds off a bipod with a Sig red dot.

 

I just picked up a Tippman and am impressed, makes the M&P 22 look "toyish". They have a really nice build quality and feel more like an AR platform.

 

I have a .22 upper I use to practice service rifle shooting. Compass lake is the gold standard for 22 uppers in my opinion. The last round bolt hold open kit is worth the upgrade. Rock River also makes a 22 upper that's supposed to good.

.22 Dedicated Service Rifle Upper Optics Ready Customizable

Our Dedicated .22 uppers are built on a slightly modified replica of the Army’s M-261 kit. We chose to base our upper on the M-261 because it is more reliable and more accurate than the alternative…

compasslake.com

 

More emphatic pluses here for the Tippmann M4-22. This is the 'sleeper' rifle on the 22lr market.

A poster above mentioned how it compares to the S&W and I agree.

Got my Tippmann a couple years ago for Appleseed and have used it at rimfire KD as well. Liked it so much I bought one for my son.

For Appleseed use, make sure to get two of the Tippmann short profile magazines, and use different color electrical tape (or similar) to be able to tell them apart - as you need loads of 2 and 8.
Right now, there is a promotional coupon that gets new rifle buyers a free extra magazine from the factory.

I have also tried the Tippmann for benchrest (bipod & bag), and while it's not as suited to the task as my CZ457, it's still a load of fun to ring the 3" gong at 150 yards, every time.

With paper at 100 yards, I can routinely manage a ~1" group using generic CCI. I will at some point try some fancier ammo to see what happens. I did upgrade my trigger... it's a TriggerTech ... and added an extended mag release, but that's all I changed.

If you already have a Tippmann M4-22 Pro with serial number over 20k, and want to upgrade to an Elite handguard, I have an unused spare here that needs a new home.

 

My .22 build is a Taccom [thought it was cmmg] barrel/bcg in a Seekins AR upper and lower. I use Black Dog mags. Very reliable rifle, heavy though. There is no last round bolt hold open but the bolt does hang on the mty mag follower. Just shot an Appleseed pistol clinic. A fun day with my son, we both shot .45s. At what range is an Appleseed rifle clinic shot?

 

My .22 build is a CMMG dedicated upper in a Seekins AR upper and lower. I use Black Dog mags. Very reliable rifle, heavy though. There is no last round bolt hold open but the bolt does hang on the mty mag follower. Just shot an Appleseed pistol clinic. A fun day with my son, we both shot .45s. At what range is an Appleseed rifle clinic shot?

25 meters or yards, I can't remember what they use but I think meters for a normal event.

There is also a Rimfire Known Distance event once you have achieved Rifleman at a regular event that you shoot at 25,50,75 and 100.

 

25 meters for the Appleseed rifle. Or, 82 feet, for people like me!

Course-of-fire is from standing, seated, and prone, depending on the stage.

The Ramseur rimfire KD that I went to was 50, 100. 150, and 200. Interestingly, most people did better at 200 than 150. I know I did. Come-ups and wind are really a big deal at 200! But the 150 was tougher.

 

I can certainly believe 150 would be tougher with the time limit. The slow fire prone stages are essentially untimed for me.

 

Went to my first Project Appleseed shoot this last weekend and received my Rifleman patch using a bolt-action rifle (CZ 457 American). Was a lot of fun and will definitely be going back as many times as I can next year.

I have a couple AR-15's, one of them a Smith & Wesson M&P Sport II that I still have not shot to this day. Was thinking of buying a .22LR upper and turning it into a nice Appleseed rifle.

Don't mind spending a bit if it's quality. I've briefly looked at the JP Enterprises and CMMG uppers that seem to be around $800. That's quite a bit to spend, but if the quality and accuracy is there I can justify it.

A few other questions...Is there a way to get the bolt t lock back on the last round (seems like this isn't a standard feature on .22LR's for the AR-15 platform) and are there specific magazines I'll need to use with the S&W M&P Sport II lower? Do all of these .22LR uppers require a proprietary charging handle or are you able to use a charging handle from a .223/5.56 upper?

$800 is pretty high for the CMMG Resolute upper when you can get their barrel and bolt combo for $350, an upper receiver for $50, any number of handguards for less than $100 a charging handle and a muzzle device. You're into a complete CMMG upper for around $500. Heck...I'll put it together for you. If you wanted to spend another $100 or so, you could upgrade to a Beyer barrel which are aluminum shrouded SST barrel liners. These have a great reputation for being very accurate and you'll have the aftermarket support of the CMMG bolt. (i.e. BoreBuddy stuff, Catch22 or Better Mag adapter last round bolt hold-open devices, etc.)

The JP upper is a different animal. Its bolt design is different than the CMMG in that it share's a lineage with the Nordic Components uppers. Nordic, JP, RRA, BCA, and now Taccom3G all use a similar style bolt. I think with any of these you're still looking at comparable accuracy potential to that of the CMMG (and Right to Bear) Uppers. If you're expecting 1/4" accuracy at 50 yds with middle of the road ammo, then I think you'll be hard pressed to find it with a semi-auto; though a $2,000 Kidd Supergrade comes pretty darn close.

The nice thing about the 22LR AR upper is that you can configure your lower any way you want it and there is a plethora of excellent triggers. FWIW I've never found the standard charging handle to be an issue with any of my 22LR uppers.

 

The RRA is an excellent rifle (or upper) but the wait is ridiculous. The time spent waiting on mine would have been worth the extra money to buy a Keystone Accuracy upper instead which I would buy over CLE.

 

Nordic Components Upper

22RB Dedicated 22 Upper - Nordic Components

Nordic Components' 22RB Dedicated 22 Upper converts your AR15-pattern rifle into a dedicated 22 rimfire just by changing upper receivers.

nordiccomp.com

 

I personally like to build my own 22lr uppers, that way I can pick what parts I want to use. Plus I have a little bit more control over quality control (depending on the manufacturer).

I used a CMMG 16" heavy barrel for my last build> I took the time to true the upper receiver and also make sure the barrel was not a loose fit in the receiver. I didn't have to do much as far as fit, the CMMG barrel extension was a snug fit in the Anderson upper. I didn't really have to take much material off when truing the face of the receiver either.

And as others have mentioned, what ammo you choose makes a difference too. It won't matter how good the upper is if you feed it crappy ammo. I haven't really tried a lot of different ammo in my last build since it shoots CCI Standard quite well and holds tight groups.

 

If you don't want to build your own 22LR upper, the JP22 is great. It works great for Appleseed. The JP is a 1moa shooter at 100y when you find the ammo it likes... mine likes a lot of Wolf Match Extra [Eley] which is what I used for Rimfire KD. At 50y its 1moa with almost any ammo.