.22LR AR Conversions?

[Chris Rhines]

Okay, I'm about ready to wrap my TacSol AR-22 upper around a tree. For the last two range sessions, I've been unable to fire three consecutive rounds out of this POS without a malfunction. I've had dead triggers, failures to feed, failures to eject, light strikes, the whole panoply of unreliability, with many different brands of ammo and several different (otherwise dependable) lowers.

So, I'm going to box the AR-22 up and ship it back to TacSol. In the meantime, I need something to practice indoors with. What do you guys like for .22LR AR clones or conversions? I'm open to almost anything at this point.

Nordic Components AR-22s are out of the running, unless someone has a line on a used one for sale. They're supposed to be awesome, but I'm getting itchy and I want to pick up a replacement this weekend...

Thanks,
Chris

[Al T.]

Chris, I'm sold on the S&W M&P15-22. FWIW, I'm closing in on 5k rounds down range with zero issues.

[orionz06]

What are the problems with the TacSol? They can be finicky but once running they are amazing. I am only selling mine because for other reasons.

What trigger?

[John Ralston]

The hammer can have a big affect on the Tac-Sol Reliability.

Mine works 100% on one Lower, but is F$%&^*% frustrating on another. No break in was necessary, but it started life on the 100% Lower.

[orionz06]

The hammer needs to be rounded. The hammer spring has a greater effect, I believe.

[John Hearne]

My limited experience is that AR conversions run great from the start or require a lot of tweaking to run. The only good news is that once they're running, they tend to keep running.

[Chris Rhines]

What are the problems with the TacSol? They can be finicky but once running they are amazing. I am only selling mine because for other reasons.

What trigger?

Malfunctions - I've had three main types, sorted by frequency.
1.) Dead Trigger/Hammer Follow. The hammer follows the bolt carrier forward after firing. It appears that the bolt carrier is getting far enough back to strip and feed a round from the magazine, but not far enough to get the hammer hook to catch on the trigger.
2.) Light strikes. Self-explanatory. I have inspected the firing pin, and it does not appear to be damaged or worn.
3.) Failures to eject. The empty case ends up either wedged between the bolt and the breechface at 90 degrees, or else is spun 180 degrees and jammed over the ejector.

I've used a couple of different triggers - a Geiselle S3G, a JP trigger kit both with and without the reduced-power hammer spring, and a stock GI trigger with an un-notched hammer. None seemed to work any better than the other.

-C

[orionz06]

Ever try cutting the action spring on the bolt? Should do the trick.

[Chris Rhines]

Ever try cutting the action spring on the bolt? Should do the trick.

Hmmm. No, I haven't tried cutting the action spring. How much would you take off for a start, or should I just take a Dremel tool and cut-off wheel with me to the range?

Thanks,
Chris

[orionz06]

Maybe 2-3 coils at a time. Take a pair of wire snips.

I find this link to encompass everything quite well. I would start with tuning the spring with 1 trigger only, whichever is rounded and has a decent hammer spring.