SAOD Industries offers a broad variety of dedicat- ed .22 LR uppers, from pistols to exotic models with tensioned barrels using polygonal rifling. They know what they’re doing; I’ve shot 1/2 MOA with them at 50 yards.
you can still
safely shoot .22 LR
through a suppressed .223 without baffle strikes (the exit holes for .223 “cans” often being in the .30" range). Still, proceed with caution — your results may vary. Another consider- ation is the lead deposited in your barrel by the notoriously dirty .22 LR bullets may cause pressures to rise to a dangerous level if you im- mediately fire .223 through it after- wards without cleaning. I would as- sume this risk is highest after firing a truly significant amount of rimfire ammo, but that’s the conventional wisdom — and you’d be wise to fol- low it.
Dedicated Upper To avoid the potential issues with
swapping between calibers, as well
as bore diameters and twist rates, it’s time to look at dedicated uppers. Essentially, they’re standard AR-15 upper assemblies, only without a gas system and with a .22 LR conver- sion unit in place of the customary bolt carrier. Additionally, they’ve got barrels cut with only a .22 LR cham- ber, a bore diameter in the neighbor- hood of .221" and a rimfire-friendly twist rate. While there are high-end gunsmiths who produce match- grade .22 LR uppers for use in ser- vice rifle-types competitions, most of those are beyond my experience. Among the dedicated uppers I am fa- miliar with, however, are those from Model 1 Sales. Available in almost any configu-
ration in which they make a center- fire rifle, the Model 1 uppers use a
Ciener-style operating system, with one crucial change: in place of the .223-cartridge-shaped chamber in- sert is a steel ring (or donut, if you will) that adapts the conversion unit to fit around the .22 LR barrel, which protrudes slightly into the up- per receiver. Otherwise, it’s identical. In fact, if you’ve got the upper and more than one .223 rifle, it makes sense to buy the chamber adaptor separately so you can use the as- sembly as a standalone conversion as well. It takes only a few seconds to change between the donut and the chamber adaptor. The particular Model 1 upper I’ve
got is made in the M4-style and has a quad-rail system on it. It looks so similar to a .223 that I keep red rail covers on it so I know at a glance it’s
.22 conversions magazines (left to right): 30-round steel Ciener, slimline polycarbonate mag from Black Dog Machine, M261 mag inserted into a 20-round .223 mag, full profile 15-round Black Dog mag with bolt-stop fea- ture and translucent 30-round Black Dog mag.
44
The Tactical Solutions dedicated upper uses their own proprietary .22 mecha- nism, which is derived from the Atchis- son design. To the basic 2-rail pattern, they’ve added an ingenious keyway system to keep the bolt in place, which allows them to use thicker steel for the rails themselves. Brilliant.
PERSONAL DEFENSE • SPRING 2011 SPECIAL EDITION
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