until recently, he was just about the only person making AR conversions. Even now, Ciener makes many of the conversions sold under other names, and many of the dedicated uppers use his moving parts. One exception is the CMMG ver-
sion of the Atchisson unit, which is currently marketed by Brownells. Packaged in a clear plastic tube in place of the hard case that Cieners come in, it comes with one 30-round
Variety is the spice of life. These ARs have been converted to .22 LR (left to right): Model 1 Sales dedicated upper on a Sun Devil SBR lower, custom up- per with Lothar Walther barrel and Horus Vision scope, lightweight Tactical Solutions dedicated upper on a Stag lower and M4-style Bushmaster with CMMG conversion installed.
mag, and a warranty backed by Brownells, which is a strong selling point by itself. Using the Ciener/Atchisson-style
conversion is simplicity itself. After making sure your .223 is empty, push out the rear takedown pin and rotate
the muzzle of your upper receiver downwards, as you usually would when fieldstripping the gun. With- draw the bolt carrier from the rear, slide the conversion unit down in its place and close the action (a word of warning; the recoil-spring system is
AR .22 conversions aren’t particu- larly new, nor are they hard to find these days. (Top to bottom) these are a pair of Atchisson conversions from Spike’s Tactical and J.A. Ciener; an M261 conversion, and the bolt/ recoil assembly from a Tactical Solu- tions dedicated upper.
42
While the bore diameter of the .223 Remington is similar to that of the .22 LR, the chamber dimensions are much larger. Most .22 conversions get around this by using a chamber insert that fills up the dead space and which serves as a separate chamber for the .22 round.
For those who want to build a cus- tom conversion, German barrelmak- er Lothar Walther offers AR barrels properly set up for .22 LR. As with many dedicated uppers, the cham- ber area of the barrel protrudes into the upper and uses a steel donut to mate with a standard Atchisson- style conversion.
PERSONAL DEFENSE • SPRING 2011 SPECIAL EDITION
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