As the title suggests, I am looking at getting a 22lr for the sole purpose of cost-effective training to acquire skill with my ar-15. I'm looking at all the different options, and would like feedback from those who have already gone down this road.
My current thinking is to buy the CMMG conversion bolt, a few cmmg/blackdog mags, and the Borebuddy reliability upgrades. I'll also be getting a Primary Arms red dot that I will zero for 22lr. That should allow me to switch fairly quickly at the range between 5.56/.22lr, and the handling characteristics would be identical to my normal AR except for no recoil.
Down the line I figure that I will buy a 22lr barrel and collar to improve the accuracy and turn my upper into a dedicated .22lr upper. That would happen after I build a 2nd 5.56 upper, which at current prices I could afford to do after shooting <2000 rounds of 22lr instead of .223. That is my thought process / justification.
The S&W M&P 15-22 seems like it will be the most reliable and easiest solution. However, by the time I buy furniture and a trigger to replicate my real gun, the cost would be the same as buying the conversion kit and then a complete upper down the road. For all that it will be much lighter and balanced differently so I don't feel it will translate over to 5.56 skill as easily.
Thoughts/suggestions?