CMMG Conversion Jam

[M1_Garand]

I'm new to the AR platform, and built a rifle earlier this year. Before I took it to the range, I had picked up one of the CMMG .22lr conversion kits that everyone seems to love. However, when I inserted it in my rifle, it completely locked the rifle up (could not take apart the rifle without beating the stock on a hard object, could not work the charging handle, etc.). Rather than stick with it, I returned the kit and just exchanged it for some .223 ammo.

The rifle itself works fine with .223 /5.56, as I've succesfully shot about 1000 rounds of Lake City surplus, and about 500 rounds of Tula / Wolf steel cased rounds.

I love shooting it, and I'm wanting a .22 conversion since its cheaper to shoot. I'm wondering if the issues I had with the CMMG kit were just due to the fact that all the parts were brand new, and now the kit may work better since the rifle is broken in.

Anybody have a similar experience as mine? I don't want to waste money on another kit if the CMMG conversion is picky about the types of rifles it works with.

Edited September 13, 2012 by M1_Garand

[Troutburger]

Here's my tale on the cmmg conversion.

Shot it many times loved it tons of fun.

One day at the range was plinking away. A round chambered appx 3/4 or a bit more, unknown to me. It was chambered far enough in so that the rifle still fired. Blew a split in the side of the .22 right around the rim. Just glad I was wearing safety glasses, as something struck the glasses and I got a tiny burn on the cheek.

Got rid of the kit, been wanting a dedicated upper ever since.

[jumprun13k]

Have you sanded down the projections on the side of the magazines? The kit instructs you to sand them down just enough for the mag to drop free easily, yet not so much that it wobbles all over the place.

I didnt do it at first and had the same issue. Once I fixed that I was good to go.

[M1_Garand]

Andy, I never got that far - the CMMG bolt assembly itself caused the rifle to lock up. I saw the instructions about sanding down the magazines, but they weren't casuing an issue.

Trout, thanks for the info. I'm leaning heavily towards just spending the extra money on a dedicated .22 upper, just wanted to see if it was worth giving CMMG another shot since its cheaper.

[TnShooter83]

I haven't had any problems with the CMMG kit I have in a Windham Arms. I've never even fired 5.56/223 in that rifle yet.

I do kind of wish I had a dedicated upper for it as the way it is now it get REALLY nasty in the trigger group /lower after shooting.