AR .22 CMMG Conversion or 10/22

[x1eric]

Ok built an AR last year, shooting it in the quantity I want is fun but costly. Looking for opinions/experience. Not intersted in a dedicated upper, or spending that same amount on the .22 AR's available. Here's how ive boiled it down so far.

.22 Conversion Pros
Get to train on the platform (build muscle memory) for cheap
get to make use of the eotech without having to swap, zero, swap, rezero from rifle to rifle. (hoping only POI elevation will change with .22 conversion)
marginally cheaper than a new 10/22 at $180

.22 Conversion Cons
1/7 barrel might make it unusably innacurate , all reviews i find say accuracy is so-so out to 50yds, and thats with 1/9 twist. How would 1/7 perform. If i can hit a 8" pie plate at 50yds im fine.
might gunk up rifle, fouling might make cleaning a pain but with plated ammo i think ill be ok
will have to swap optics rezero all the time

10/22 pros
will add a new gun to the arsenal
will be much more accurate
dont have to worry about any malfunctions due to a conversion system
possibly add the g36 style chassis to it so it looks cool, cause if you dont look cool your doing it wrong

10/22 cons
more expensive than conversion at around $220
AR will collect dust, get shot alot less
will create diff. muscle memory even with an ar clone stock
have to swap optics constantly
will be one more gun to lug when going shooting

Really if someone were to say "i have a 1/7 with conversion and i group 6"-8" at 50yds", i can live with that and would get it and just shoot at bigger targets for training purposes. I built my rifle to my wants, and saved for the Eotech, id like to get use out of both.
Conversely if they say "i have a 1/7 and im lucky to hit a Buick at 50 yds id get the 10/22. just to be able to shoot cheap.

 

[ChrisK]

Get a 10/22. You will be happy. They are great/fun little guns and are still pretty dang cheap.

 

[ArtieD]

Ar conversion because its a very expandable platform.

 

[topgunz1]

With a 1/9 twist my AR conversion was pretty much zeroed out to 50yds with my eotech. I have one of the original Ceiner's and it worked flawlessly once I polished the rails up a bit. The Black Dog magazines were a godsend when they came out. Your upper will get nasty shooting .22, I once shot several hundred rounds of .22 and went straight back to .223, it had a few malfunctions so I hosed it out with CLP and it worked just fine after that. I always shot a few rounds of .223 after a .22 session to blow out whatever had collected in the gas tube before finishing for the day.

I've since built a dedicated .22 pistol, but had a blast with my conversion kit in my carry gun, got a lot more trigger time for cheap. For up close training it can't be beat, the only thing different in the manual of arms is no bolt hold open when empty, so you have to cycle the charging handle on reloads instead of just hitting the release.

Edit: I have a Ceiner .22 kit, not a CMMG. Yeah, it's that old!

 

[rcm192]

I have each. I have stag model 2 that i'll run a CMMG stainless conversion in from time to time. Its an earlier model, I got it about 2 years ago. It runs pretty well with federal bulk from wallyworld. I can maintain close to a 1" group at 25 yards with ease (this was with an eotech 512). I also have a 10/22 in a promag marauder kit with a BSA sweet 22 mounted. I can keep dime sized groups or better at 25 yards benchrest. Its fun to shoot both, just depending on what youre looking to do with them. I find my 1022 get more range time than my 22 AR conversion.

Also Ive shot an easy 2K rounds w out a cleaning in my 1022 with little to no failures, the AR conversion is a little more temperamental if its not lubed/cleaned (this is why I got the stainless, i had a parkerized unit that was getting bursts and shot out of battery/splitting brass! that went back to the factory asap) they actually gave me the SS conversion returned at no upgraded fee.

 

[Hogin]

I have the cmmg stainless version and love it. I have had about a half a dozen fail to ejects and have put roughly 2500-3000 down the pipe. Like others have said, your gun will be dirty. And I too, always shoot a few .223 through it afterwords to clean out the gas tube. I recommend it, just my .02 worth.

 

[x1eric]

With a 1/9 twist my AR conversion was pretty much zeroed out to 50yds with my eotech. I have one of the original CMMG's and it worked flawlessly once I polished the rails up a bit. The Black Dog magazines were a godsend when they came out. Your upper will get nasty shooting .22, I once shot several hundred rounds of .22 and went straight back to .223, it had a few malfunctions so I hosed it out with CLP and it worked just fine after that. I always shot a few rounds of .223 after a .22 session to blow out whatever had collected in the gas tube before finishing for the day.

I've since built a dedicated .22 pistol, but had a blast with my conversion kit in my carry gun, got a lot more trigger time for cheap. For up close training it can't be beat, the only thing different in the manual of arms is no bolt hold open when empty, so you have to cycle the charging handle on reloads instead of just hitting the release.

thanks for the insight/tips, Im hoping with the 1/7 if its off it will only be Elevation wise that way i can just give the eotechs elevation a few turns without messing with windage, then when done reverse it. although now thinking about it my flip ups would give me a reference point to zero back to 5.56 cowitnessed without even shooting. And the model im looking at is the stainless evolution, i think it comes with the bolt hold open which everyone says doesnt work anyway. i just have enough invested in my AR build id like to get to use it as much as possible.

 

[x1eric]

I have each. I have stag model 2 that i'll run a CMMG stainless conversion in from time to time. Its an earlier model, I got it about 2 years ago. It runs pretty well with federal bulk from wallyworld. I can maintain close to a 1" group at 25 yards with ease (this was with an eotech 512). I also have a 10/22 in a promag marauder kit with a BSA sweet 22 mounted. I can keep dime sized groups or better at 25 yards benchrest. Its fun to shoot both, just depending on what youre looking to do with them. I find my 1022 get more range time than my 22 AR conversion.

Also Ive shot an easy 2K rounds w out a cleaning in my 1022 with little to no failures, the AR conversion is a little more temperamental if its not lubed/cleaned (this is why I got the stainless, i had a parkerized unit that was getting bursts and shot out of battery/splitting brass! that went back to the factory asap) they actually gave me the SS conversion returned at no upgraded fee.

Just when i lean towards the conversion you go and post the 10/22 with the G36 stock!!! Im telling the wife its your fault I got both! all jokes aside thanks for the response.