.22 conversion

[et2041]

Remington 22lr bulk SUCKS, all I can run in mine is Federal bulk....

I was just going to ask about the soft lead on the Thunderbolts. I would imagine a lot of lead fouling and FTF with them. Am I right?

[austinN4]

Just a heads up - there are lots of threads on this subject in this section going back several years and lots of good info there: http://m4carbine.net/forumdisplay.php?f=6

[moose01]

It would jam about every second or third shot no matter what ammunition. The cause turned out to be several things: 1)The extractor hook was crap and not getting a firm grip on the rim. The BDM extractor fixed that. 2)The park on the whole unit was very heavy. Polishing all of the contact areas including the firing pin and the guide channels took care of this. 3) There was a bur in the guide channel where the hole for the extractor roll pin was drilled, causing alot of drag. A jewlers file fixed this. If I had bought the bolt from a retailer like Brownells I would have returned it, but I was able to fix these problems and now I am completely satisfied with it. I have the best luck with the Federal bulk and CCI mini mag.

Did you contact CMMG about it? I have used 4 kits and haven't had an issue, and know someone with over 7,000 rounds on a CMMG kit without an issue, so I'm sure it's something CMMG would have taken care of.

Not a big deal I guess either way since you got it taken care of, just curious if CMMG had anything to say about it.

I was just going to ask about the soft lead on the Thunderbolts. I would imagine a lot of lead fouling and FTF with them. Am I right?

I would say out of the 2,500+ rounds I've put through mine, most have been Winchester bulk copper hollow points followed by Federal bulk copper hollow points. Probably 800-1000 rounds were fired using a lead/solid bullet, including the Winchester Wildcat, Remington Thunderbolts, and Federal Champion 40gr solids. All have functioned just as well as the other, and I haven't noticed any fouling problems. I could still put 300-500 rounds down it without cleaning and without a hiccup, and I still followed the same cleaning regimine at the end of the day. That one kit alone has run perfect in two different CMMG rifles. The other kits I know of are being used in a DPMS 20" A2, a couple 16" AR middies, and a DPMS 16" carbine, all without issue.

For $150 and that fact that it has fired a variety of different ammo and for thousands of rounds, I would say it has definitely paid for itself as not only a snap drill/short range practice tool, but as a teaching aid for newbies as well.

[99HMC4]

I was just going to ask about the soft lead on the Thunderbolts. I would imagine a lot of lead fouling and FTF with them. Am I right?

Yup, I ran lead blazer 22lr through it once and NEVER again! Took about an hour and half to get the lead out ofe the barrel.....

[moose01]

Typically, after running 300-600 rounds of rimfire through it, I run a boresnake down the barrel, then run 5-6 rounds of M193 down it before I even throw it in the truck. Later that night I'll break it down and clean it just like you normally would. If I don't run some centerfire down it when I'm done shooting, then I make sure I blow the gas tube out with compressed air when I clean it.

Not long ago I finished the last of my lead .22lr ammo, then cleaned it like usual. Since then, I've ran hundreds of rounds of PMC, M855, and 75gr TAP Practice without a hitch. I haven't noticed any lead fouling problems, or a change in accuracy with either .22lr or .223.

That being said, I'm not recommending lead ammo for it. I used it because I had a lot to use up, and am only posting about it because the question was asked. I haven't bought any since, being as my two local grocery stores carry bulk packs of Federal and Winchester using the hollow point copper plated bullet, and usually cost less than $21 for 550 rounds.

[carshooter]

My Ciener kit has about 10,000 rounds through it so far, including 1100 rounds in one afternoon. I use Black Dog Machine magazines exclusively, and sold the included Ciener magazine before ever loading it.

I fired one brick of 500 rounds of Winchester Wildcat, one brick of 500 rounds of CCI Blazer, and one brick of 550 Remington Golden Bullet through mine. All the rest has been Federal 550 count Bulk pack.

My kit has been extremely reliable from the beginning, but I did thoroughly inspect it for burrs before usage, and I keep it well lubed with CLP when it's in use.

The inside of the upper receiver accumulates quite a bit of powder fouling, but it wipes out easily, and thus far a bore snake has been sufficient to clean the bore. I haven't experienced any leading, even when I use it in a 1/7 twist barrel.

[Benjamin_Martin]

These help loading the mags :

http://palmettostatearmory.com/302.php

[goneshootin88]

Federal Auto Match seems to run the most consistant in mine. Its sometimes hard to find locally, but woth it.

[mike_556]

I've sent my Spike's conversion kit back for the 2nd time last week....Couldn't get it to run anywhere near 60-80% in 8 different CLEAN rifles, including a Spike's M4LE rifle. They insisted the replacement will RUN, or give me my $$ back..

So far not impressed at all......

[shadow65]

My CMMG stainless conversion is close to 2700 rounds with 3 fte's from the very firsts mag. O failures after that. I've used it in a 7.5", 10.5", 11.5" and a 16" bull barrel.
CMMG's conversion are nothing like the others, even though you probably can't just lay them side by side and tell mych difference.
The recoil spring is stiffer, yet has fired every type of .22 ammo I've shot. The only issue is Remingtons. The profile of the bullet just does not feed reliably. This is true of most units.
I've been testing the CMMG M4 LE .22. It's the most reliable .22 semi auto I've ever worked with.