Advantage Arms Gen 4 Kit - Review

[littlejerry]

Gentlemen,

I recently purchased an Advantage Arms 22lr conversion kit for my Gen4 Glock 19. I was quite apprehensive about the purchase and was expecting reliability issues based on other reviews I had read online.

My carry gun is a Gen3 19, but I also own a Gen4 19. I purchased the kit for the Gen4 because it was the only 19 kit I could find available. Given the choice I would have gotten a Gen3 kit.

I'm happy to say that after 500 rounds down range the kit works great! I tried a wide variety of ammo:

Rem Golden Bulley 36gr HP bulk pack
Blazer 40 gr Bulk
Fed 40 gr Lightning
Rem Target 40 gr
CCI Std 40 Gr
Winchester Super-X 40 gr HV
CCI Mini Mags 40 gr


I experience ZERO malfunctions with Mini Mags, Rem Golden bulk pack, Federal Lightning, and Remington Target ammo. CCI Std velocity would not reliable cycle the slide(1 in 3 shots would require manually cycling the slide). CCI Blazer bulk pack would have ejection malfunctions every other magazine.

Accuracy was good, although POI was about 1 inch high at 15 yards with the rear sight bottomed out.

Overall I am very impressed with the kit. It exceeded all reliability expectations and I guarantee it will see heavy use in the coming months. With this being my first .22lr pistol I will use it to focus on developing my raw accuracy fundamentals for cheap.

Unfortunately I have come to the realization that this will not yield the savings I had originally anticipated. Now that I have the kit($300) I now need more magazines($15 each, figures 4-5 spare mags, $75), better sights to match my carry gun(~$50), and I need to change my Gen4 trigger setup to match my Gen3(~$20 for NY1/3.5 combo).

By the time its all said and done I could have purchased a new Glock with GSSF pricing. At this level of investment it will take longer than anticipated for the kit to "pay for itself." My hope now is that since the initial investment has been made I will be more likely to shoot the Glock more often now since there will be less pain from the wallet for future range trips. It also opens the door to shoot in .22LR leagues in the area and try out some .22 2-gun events

All in all I would say it was a worthwhile purchase but not the bargain that I had hoped for.

[Vgex2]

Glad it is working for you. I would like to purchase a similar kit, but always argue with myself that I could just get something like a SR22 pistol and have 2 complete firearms.

[littlejerry]

I had a similar dilema but ultimately I wanted a gun that had the same trigger, grip, controls, etc. I also have the benefit of using the same holster and mag pouches. Being able to practice drawing from concealment and practice press-outs using all my current gear is a big plus.


I wanted to get a Buckmark(and still do!) but I didn't want to get something that was less challenging to shoot than the Glock. I'm actually considering putting a NY-2 trigger spring in my Gen4 just for training purposes.

[ST911]

All in all I would say it was a worthwhile purchase but not the bargain that I had hoped for.

The savings are in life cycle costs, not initial investment. My AA kits have paid for themselves more than I could measure.

Do remember that the conversion kits are to supplement, not supplant training/practice with the regular gear.

[Frailer]

I purchased a Gen 3 17/22 kit yesterday. I've only put 100 rounds of CCI Mini-Mags through it, but so far my experiences mirror yours. I'm pleased with my purchase, but I'm definitely going to need more magazines.