Great thread Rob... I'm hoping to be in the market soon for a dedicated .22lr upper myself so I'm totally gonna swipe your research.
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Great thread Rob... I'm hoping to be in the market soon for a dedicated .22lr upper myself so I'm totally gonna swipe your research.
Keep your powder dry.
M4Carbine required notice/disclaimer: I am a tactical marketing professional. PM for details.
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I have had a Spike's Tactical .22LR upper for almost two years now, before most if not all of the other dedicated upper mentioned came out. I had no break-in issues, and did no tinkering to make it work. In the time I've had it I've shot about 10,000 rounds through it. So long as I feed it Federal Bulk Pack, American Eagle, or Aguila-brand ammo, and clean the thing every 500 rounds or so, it almost never malfunctions. Up to about 50 meters or so, which is as far as I've ever bothered to group it, it's easy to get 2-3 inch groups from the bench with an EOTech, with any of the above-indicated ammunition. This upper is one of the best weapon-related things I've ever spent money on and I'm extremely happy with it.
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Tac Sol M4 style upper. First 150 rounds were flawless. I went Tac Sol for the SS Bolt group.
More testing tomorrow.
ETA: I have now put 400 rounds through the upper. CCI Mimi mags / CCI Blazer / Federal Bulk pak / Federal Red box. No failures. I am very satisfied.
Mark
Last edited by mgobel; 08-15-09 at 07:47.
Senior Member
1. Spikes and the reason was availability. Tactical Solutions was 6 months back at the time.Originally Posted by rob_s
2. I had not shot either prior to purchase.
3. Initial impressions were it was finicky with ammo. (only worked with Federal bulk pack when it was new and the accuracy was so so 3 or so inches at 50 yards.
4. After about 4000 rounds the upper started to work with all ammo but Remington Gold Bullet. It is more accurate now that I can try difference ammo. About 1.5 inches at 50 yards. It even works with standard pressure Ely ammo.
5. I did break a hammer pin but it was a DPMS parts kit. I did not tinker with the upper in anyway.
6. When I first got the gun it was very finicky and the malfunction rate with the ammo it worked with was about 3 or 4 per 100 rounds. Now after 5k rounds through the gun it works until you get it so dirty the rounds don't want to chamber which is around 600 rounds. Then you need to clean it which is easy. So now I can go a long time without a malfunction.
7. I am very happy with my purchase. Its an excellent trainer and its a lot of fun.
8. I am happy with the model I purchase.
9.The upper works with pretty much anything now. Over its history Federal was the most reliable. CCI Blazer is the most accurate and my preferred plinking load now.
Serving as a LEO since 1999.
USPSA# A56876 A Class
Firearms Instructor
Armorer for AR15, 1911, Glocks and Remington 870 shotguns.
Senior Member
This is great, a ton of useful info condensed into one thread.
My preference is similar to Rob's: want to avoid proprietary complete rifles (good as they may be) such as the Colt/Umarex or the S&W 15-22, and stick with .22lr uppers that can run on standard milspec lowers, and that use some type of fairly common .22lr magazine (seems like the "Black Dog" or "M261" mags have become a de facto standard).
From the thread, sounds like 2 of the top choices for training and plinking are the uppers from Spikes or Tactical Solutions. If I decide to go with more of a match/target oriented upper (something that would be similar to a CMP standard setup and help train for CMP matches), my understanding from John at White Oak Precision is that the Compass Lake Engineering uppers are a great option as well. Those CLE uppers cost over $1K though, so I don't know if I will go that way. Right now, a general-use .22lr upper sounds more appealing. I may look at the TacSol "LT" upper (which is set up differently from their "M4"), because that gives the flexibility of putting a carry handle and sights on it to set it up like a CMP match rifle. Or, you can run it as a flat top with an optic. More flexible, and several hundred dollars less than the CLE offering, though obviously it won't have the same accuracy potential.
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My rigs
Senior Member
Did some accuracy testing today and I got better groups than I have in the past. Range was 50 yards and the rifle was shot off sandbags.
Last edited by Alaskapopo; 08-26-09 at 02:02.
Serving as a LEO since 1999.
USPSA# A56876 A Class
Firearms Instructor
Armorer for AR15, 1911, Glocks and Remington 870 shotguns.
Member
Well, I finally got through the first 650 rounds and can answer the questions Rob posted:
I was looking for a 1"@ 50 yd .22LR upper I could use to give me trigger time on my 5.56 lower without the cost of 5.56. The ability to keep the FCG habits the same, still be able to take care of pests on the farm, and introduce the kids to rifle shooting all pointed to a dedicated .22 upper.
(1) At $525 with the TacSol (Mike Rock) barrel, the potential accuracy at a better price for the TacSol upper compared to the upgraded Spikes pushed me to the TacSol camp. I clean my rifles right after I shoot them so the nickle treatment on the Spike's bolt didn't seem to make that much of a difference.
(2) Actually saw a guy in the next lane at NRA working with one of the earlier TacSol uppers and not having too much fun with all the jams. (Third time the shell fail to extract he packed it up and headed out) That had me a little concerned but watching a few posts showing TacSol stepping up and fixing them made eased the concern. So the shorter version of the answer would be none.
(3) Iniitial impressions have been very positive. Aside from the need to use un-nocthed hammers, it was a true drop-in and run purchase that has be without hiccup. Quality construction and < 1" @ 50 yds with Fed 550 bulk pack. Just what I was looking for.
(4) No break-in issues. Only tried Fed 550 bulk pack and 325 count Fed AutoMatch. No FTF / FTEs.
(5) Don't try to use the upper with a notched hammer. Major PITA to fix (thanks to Robb at VA Arms for unf*#king it!)
(6) 650
(7) None
(8) Zero
(9) Huge fun - very happy with it. Would not change a thing. I did switch out the handguards for the MagPul MOE and added the MagPul MBUS. Need to put a sling attachment up front so I can use my sling from my real AR. Otherwise GTG.
(10) No interest in another brand or choice. This does everything I ask of it.
(11) Fed Bulk pack 550 count 36 gr HP and 40gr Fed AutoMatch 325 count boxes from Wal-Mart have been working well. Will try Stingers and a few others to wring out the accuracy potential, however, for inside 50 yds, this set-up handles the chores I need it to take care of.
My Mag-Sol next to the Noveske:
Cheers,
Pk
Last edited by Pk14; 10-29-09 at 01:56.
Member
I was a little disappointed when I first got it and had some problems, but TacSol's customer service is the best! I look forward to many more rounds. This thing is so much fun to shoot, it should be illegal!
Update 1/18/10 - I've now put 895 rounds thru it - mostly Federal Bulk from Wally World. No malfunctions of any kind. I'm sure Spike's are great also, but I wouldn't trade this one!
Last edited by rman43; 01-19-10 at 10:31. Reason: Added URL to picture of m4
Member
I built my own. Spikes was back ordered for months, Tac Sol or CMMG didn't have one out yet. This was a couple of years ago.
I have built several 22 uppers for various people. If you are looking for a complete rifle in 22 I would go with the S&W M&P 15-22. It is cheaper than the Colt and uses a standard AR trigger and hammer.
If you are looking for a 16" barrel dedicated upper I would buy a CMMG. Most will require a little break in. Some of the newer bolts that are polished or plated work fine out of the box. We have had good luck with the CMMG magazines. Black Dog Machine makes good magazines as well.
If you want a short barrel version send me a pm or email. We offer the CMMG 16" versions but built our own 6" sbr uppers.
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