Need help putting together 22LR AR15

[Austan]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

The Begara BR - 14 is completely awesome

 

[Austan]

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]

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]

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.