Spikes Tactical AR15 .22lr Conversion Kit

[gunderwood]

I received my conversion kit today and am planning on shooting it tomorrow. I'll post a range report. I wanted to post some info on it.

Here is the kit:

It comes with the bolt/bolt carrier, an extra (different) recoil spring, gas tube plug (for permanent conversion only), 1 27 round mag, stickers/instructions and everything is packaged in a nice clear plastic tube. The tube will be useful for holding your bolt and/or transporting the conversion kit. This kit is priced similarly to other kits, but is slightly more expensive all things considered because it only comes with 1 mag vice the three that CMMG stainless kit offers. CMMG makes a non-stainless kit for about $30 less. The Spikes Tactical kit includes two orings to help seal the chamber (others don't) and it is nickel plated. These two features along make it worth the extra money IMHO.

More pictures:




The kit was test fired (if you look you can see it is slightly dirty forward of the first oring) with the Federal 550rnd bulk packs of copper plated ammo. Good to know it was designed to work with cheap .22lr as that is kind of the point. The bolt is held back on an empty mag until you release the mag. That is the only modification to the shooting mechanics. The mag is branded with Spikes Tactical, but is a Black Dog mag. Seems to be decent quality.

To use the kit, you open the AR, remove your bolt, insert the conversion, close AR. Load mags and shoot. The manufacturer says some guns/ammo combos may need tuning to work well. Also, round hammers work better than notched. I'll know tomorrow. Accuracy is suppose to be in the 1-2" range at 50 yards. Sufficient for CQB training on steel. Spikes Tactical offers a full auto upgrade (don't know what it does, but only they offer it as far as I know).

I've heard that if you are going to shoot 5.56mm and .22lr in the same range sitting without cleaning, always shoot all of the 5.56mm first. The .22lr ammo leaves a grit behind that can cause upper wear when you put the 5.56mm bolt back in to fire it.

completed, range report coming soon.

[allingeneral]

Ya know what would be cool? A youtube video of you swapping the parts out - with narrative. Then finished up with some test firing at the range

Sounds like a lot of bother though ...just thought I'd toss it out there

[gunderwood]

Ya know what would be cool? A youtube video of you swapping the parts out - with narrative. Then finished up with some test firing at the range

Sounds like a lot of bother though ...just thought I'd toss it out there

Video allows for voice recognition. I'm pushing the limits with pictures which can be identified because of sensor noise characteristics.

[allingeneral]

ahhh...very good point, sir. Duly noted!

[gunderwood]

Ya, I'm practically admitting I own an AR too...you're asking for a lot. I'm running low on tinfoil until Costco has a sale again.

Here are some pictures showing how to replace the 5.56mm bolt carrier with the .22lr bolt carrier. The .22lr bolt rides on the bolt carrier group. It does not cycle like the 5.56mm design. Only the bolt moves and it has its own recoil spring.


Pull out the old bolt, but leave the charging handle in.



Insert the .22lr bolt carrier assembly. The charging handle cycles the bolt when assembled and pulls the whole assembly out when you want to remove it.




Done. You can see the new bolt carrier is flush with the end of the upper receiver. You can also see the accu-wedge I installed in the lower (bright red). It takes most of the play out of an AR between the upper and lower. It makes it feel more solid.

[Jakeiscrazy]

I wonder what the accuracy will be like. Who makes yo-.... that AR.

[zephyp]

So is the conversion kit assembled like a replacement part and you just swap them? Assuming you carry it in your range bag then maybe it only takes a couple of minutes to switch over?

[rromeo]

Ya, I'm practically admitting I own an AR too...you're asking for a lot. I'm running low on tinfoil until Costco has a sale again.

I don't own an AR15. I have a semi automatic .223 rifle patterned after a popular platform.

Thanks for the review. Palmetto State Armory has a sale on the CMMG stainless kits for special friends right now. I think I may pay the few bucks more and get the Spike's. I use Spike's lowers, so I may as well keep it in the family.

[gunderwood]

I wonder what the accuracy will be like. Who makes yo-.... that AR.

It is a Daniel Defense M4V3. Mid-length gas system, 16" barrel, 1:7 twist, etc. I've heard 1-2" at 50 yards for the .22lr kit, but hopefully I'll find out tonight. I've added to it:

Accu-wedge, DD Mirco Aimpoint mount, Aimpoint T-1, Magpul AFG, WC TTU, and the ST .22lr kit.

I still need:

AAC M4/SPR suppressor, tritium sights, night vision/QD mount for it (PVS-14?) and flip up rear sights if I do that, surefire scout light, a few more rail covers and of course a lot more pmags.

So is the conversion kit assembled like a replacement part and you just swap them? Assuming you carry it in your range bag then maybe it only takes a couple of minutes to switch over?

Yes. As I've shown it that is one assembly you only disassemble if needed. It literally is replacing the AR bolt/bolt carrier with this kit. Single unit, swap them out in less than a minute.

Ya, I'm practically admitting I own an AR too...you're asking for a lot. I'm running low on tinfoil until Costco has a sale again.

I don't own an AR15. I have a semi automatic .223 rifle patterned after a popular platform.

Thanks for the review. Palmetto State Armory has a sale on the CMMG stainless kits for special friends right now. I think I may pay the few bucks more and get the Spike's. I use Spike's lowers, so I may as well keep it in the family.

The CMMG kit is the most popular. Spikes Tactical is newer. The CMMG is practically identical except the nickel coating, orings, and it comes with more/different mags.

[gunderwood]

So, the kit mostly works. It cycles and picks up a new round, but doesn't always recock the hammer correctly. The first mag, it didn't at all. The second it did a few times. The instructions note it could take a few mags to break in. Also, as this has that new WC trigger, it hasn't really been polished by the bolt carrier yet. That could be causing more drag. There is a different recoil spring included with the kit and it is suppose to be used if the gun isn't cycling. I'm going to call them and see what they suggest. It worked well enough that I think it just needs a bit of tuning. I was using really cheap .22lr too.

Accuracy was ok. With the cycling issues, I didn't really test that yet, but offhand and just plinking it was acceptable.

The orings really work. there was a ton of carbon build-up in front of the first oring, but virtually none between the first and second. That alone makes the spikes worth the extra money IMHO. That junk isn't getting blown back into your chamber/lugs.

I'll probably switch out the recoil spring (assume the manufacturer agrees) and go test it out again tomorrow.

[rromeo]

What ammo were you using? I have a ton of the Winchester bulk that my Marlin loves.

[gunderwood]

What ammo were you using? I have a ton of the Winchester bulk that my Marlin loves.

My other .22s like the Federal bulk packs. 550 rounds in a light tan box and real cheap at Walmart. I didn't bother to bring anything else. I will today. I haven't had good luck with the Winchester 333 round bulk packs in my guns. None of them like it. .22s can be picky about ammo.

The instructions noted you might have to tune things, so that is the next step. The bolt was cycling enough to eject the old brass and load a new cartridge, but it has to cycle just a bit more to cause the hammer to fully lock back. It came with a second spring that I think is lighter and that probably is the fix.

[gunderwood]

I took it out today and shot about 200 rounds. It is starting to function better. I tried some different ammo and it seemed to like the Winchester SuperX best. I noticed that I had more jams/failures to cock the hammer when I had a full mag. I began loading strings of 5, till it shot well, then 10 till that shot well, then full mags. It seems the springs are very sensitive to breaking it on both the mag and the recoil spring. It still does not function 100%, but it at least wasn't a single shot like last night. I tried the same Federal ammo I used yesterday and it worked about the same as the Winchester which is a huge improvement.

I called the manufacturer and they said it could take a few hundred rounds to break in. I think the new hammer has a lot to do with that too. It hasn't been polished by the 5.56 bolt carrier and the hammer spring is new. It is also possible WC put a stronger hammer spring into their TTU. I'm going to put some more ammo through it and see how things go. I'll post it here. I'm feeling more confident as there was a huge improvement over last night. The manufacturer gave me some spring tuning tips, but advised I wait until I had more rounds through it. In short, the kit is sensitive because of the low recoil of .22lr and the nominally heavy hammer springs for 100% ignition of milspec 5.56 primers.

I should note that there are virtually no differences between the brands of .22lr conversion. They all are finicky. This is more finicky than I was expecting, but things are improving. The more rounds I fire the more it seems to be working. Just isn't 100% there yet...more like 40%. It does feel smoother now.

The oring seals are working. There is virtually no gas blowing by the first ring and none past the second one. While the upper will still need cleaned as there is a lot of carbon in there, the chamber and locking lugs on the 5.56 barrel are staying more or less clean. Those are two hard to clean areas and in my book that makes the orings worth it in this kit. That is a real difference worth paying for.

I am still working the kinks out, so I haven't done any real accuracy testing. The accuracy seems to be sufficient for plinking and CQB training. I am enjoying shooting it, when it works. If I can get this to function correctly (after break-in/tuning is done?), I'm sure I will end up putting thousands of .22s through it. When it works, it really is that good.

[SgtBill]

Garret I learned over many years of tuneing guns that you should never do anything to them untill they have at least 5 oo rds. through them. Then when you take them apart you can clearly see the wear marks on the metal and know where to start to polishing. If you take your weapon to a person to have tuneup work done and he brings out anything but an Arkansas honeing stone pick up your weapon and leave.
Bill

[gunderwood]

Bill,

Ya, the tips were mostly about how to trim the recoil spring. The second recoil spring it ships with is identical to the installed one with the exception they have cut a few coils off to get this unit to cycle in their test gun. Once it is broken in, you are suppose to tune it by trimming coils. If for some reason the factory tuned recoil spring is too weak, the spare spring is to be used and you tune it by trimming it.

I will not be modifying my AR. It is a very nice (and not cheap) Daniel Defense M4V3. It runs fine in 5.56 mode. This is purely a .22lr kit that I'm working out the kinks of.

Cleaning update
I took it apart to give it its first, full cleaning (didn't do it yesterday since I fired so few round through it). Holy cow is .22lr dirty! It makes wolf 223 look clean! I guess it is worth it as I spent about $15 in ammo vice $100. Definitely do not fire 5.56 after firing .22lr without cleaning it!

While cleaning, I noticed that the first oring seal has broken. I checked it at the range, it was not broken, and then fired about 50 more rounds. It must have broken between that field check at the range. The carbon build-up between the two orings suggest it broke while I was still firing it. I wonder if it broke when I reinserted it after checking the unit. I suppose the orings would have dried up and the tight seal with the chamber could have done it. From now on, I will put a small amount of oil on them before inserting the unit and see if that extends their life time. They sell replacement orings for 1.50 each. I feel the kit should have included a few of those as spares. The second oring is fine. I don't understand why they include a spare spring, but not a cheap oring. Oh well.

The kit also could use better instructions as there is no disassembly/tuning instructions. Also, if the orings are sensitive to breaking when being inserted (as I theorized) then they should note that. I'll keep posting updates as I think is experiment may be of use to anyone out there considering a .22lr temporary conversion kit.

[SgtBill]

Most likely the o ring dried out and reinserting it it had to pass over burnt powder carbon and got torn. With as dirty as .22 ammo get's a weapon I sure would not fire a .223 round through it without cleaning first. The copper wash or lead wash in front of the chamber could cause dangerous high pressure in the barrel. I am not saying that it will, I am just saying that I would not fire it untill it was cleaned.
Bill

P.S. Check with NAPA or Advanced auto parts about the o ring they should be able to order them in bulk at a low price. $1.50 per is out of sight.

[Jakeiscrazy]

+1 What Bill said. Walmart and Home Depot might carry a o-ring pack as well. Should have come with spares for sure, shoot em an email and tell them that so they know.