I have a 16" CMMG complete 22LR upper with a persistent failure to feed rounds from magazine.
We have  assembled this upper  on (5)  lowers, each  of which are 100% reliable with 5.56 uppers.
 Lowers tried include:
Superior arms S-15,zero failures over 5 years of  5.56mm use, upward of 7000 rounds
DPMS Panther, 100% functional over 2000 rounds 5.56mm
Colt LE6920, 100% functional over 200 rounds 5.56mm
ARFCOM SBR, 100% function with over 1000 rounds  5.56mm
Armalite M15, 100% function with excess of 1000 rounds 5.56mm
.
I have 4  fresh from the wrapper CMMG grey color 25 round  22LR magazines, none of which will feed at least half of the rounds succesfully.
Out of 1100
rounds attempted, more than half have failed to feed from magazine, most ending up mangled and unusable, occasionally a  round can be shoved into the chamber
by pushing forward on bolt carrier.
 Out  of all attempts to fire this UPPER, I have  had  TWO succesful 20 round shot strings.
  a couple 5 to ten round strings, but normally have 5 or 6 failures to feed from each very frustrating magazine full.
It takes longer to SHOOT a magazine than to load one.
We have tried  22LR ammunition from Federal, Remington , CCI, Peters, Aguila,
And Winchester with eqaully poor results.

I have  twice chucked a bronze brush and spun it with a drill in the chamber, with CLP.

Have cleaned  and lubed the upper, have attempted to shoot it dry, wet, dripping with oil, have tried PB Blaster, WD-40, motor oil, and CLP.

This is thesingularly most unreliable mechanical  device I have ever owned or operated.

Please outline the steps I should take to make this 22 conversion function.
Thank you.
....
EDIT: Complete upper has been returned to CMMG  for the second time, along with (four ) grey cmmg magazines.... Stand by for update,,,,,
....... EDIT......
 CMMG upper is   back, in hand, and running on Federal Champion 40 grain Bulk pack.
Went 100 consecutive, 25 each in 4 magazines, no issues.

 Don't even think about trying Winchester Wildcats, or Reminington Thunderbolts, they don't work.

Call them up and tell them you want 3 springs for the conversion.  Weak, Standard, extra strong then try each on a loaded clip.  If all else fails take the strongest one and start clipping coils one at a time.  If it fails to ignite primers on LR then remove pin and check for broken firing pin.  When it's unbroken the point should look like a verticle wedge point.  If it is broken it will spin using a knife point to turn it with spring pressure removed from the back.

If they don't have springs like that call up velocity arms in MN and ask how much.  
May as well order a couple ten round clips from them while you are at it.  They have one that uses spring and follower an main body from a Remington .22 that is bullet proof and feeds great.

Sounds like you've done about all anyone can from your write up. CMMG Support will work with you to get resolution.
They are aware of things that I may never see in Field Testing. Keep us posted on your progress and we can help the
next guy....


Thanx,
Dave S

yep, if buzzing isn't getting it going there is likely a defect. give us a shout and we will get you up and going.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Do you use a BHO device? Do you have the stainless or parked bolt version? Does the bolt seem to move freely without any binding without a Mag inserted? Sounds like a possible magazine problem. Either way they will get you fixed up. Very good at helping the customer after the sale. Not that this matters to you but our dedicated upper run flawlessley and I am sure yours will too when you get it nailed down.

negative bolt hold open device.
Unassembled, the bolt assembley seems to slide  freely, good spring tension.
  seems like it OUGHT to work. I would love to blame the magazines, but I have  four  brand new ones, and none  will feed.
Also, would love to think it was justy an out of spec lower, but we have five different lowers, all of which  work  hundred percent  with their respective 5.56mm  barreled uppers.
 I guess this 22  upper is going back to CMMG for  some factory love.

They will surely get you fixed up. One last question. Does the bolt assembly go into and out of the upper reciever smoothly or does it bind up? Maybe the rails on the bolt assembly are bent or just are plain defective.

I had a dropin conversion once that was out of spec and I had to "machine" the rails a little. Machining means a piece of sandpaper on a piece of glass

Very smooth when hand cycling, the bolt slides nicely on its rails, the spring  retainer tube is smooth and  the whole assembly fits it's  (CMMG supplied)  upper receiver  just right.
It "feels " great, and it really  SHOULD  work.

Did you adjust the mags by sanding the rear tabs?
Is the rear plate even with the end of the upper reciever? I recommend using the TACCOM3G push plug. It removes all movement from the bcg.
Some have play in them and can cause all sorts of feeding and light strike problems.
Dave N

When cycling, if you see any movement fore and aft with the BCG, it can cause problems.
Grey mags that fit loose are at the very least, rare. Most are so tight before the tabs are sanded, they will not fully seat.
Dave N

Confirm, FOUR new from wrapper, grey CMMG magazines, floppy loose in FIVE different lower receivers.
Colt's LE6920
DPMS 'Panther'
Superior S15
Armalite M15
AR-15.com ARFCOM
 .22LR conversion magazines are  loose in all above receivers.

That is just really odd.

My CMMG complete upper was being quite hateful, failing to feed about 3, 4 times per mag..  I shipped it up to them, and they tested it out.  I did end up having to pay for the upgrade to the Stainless bolt unit to get it to run pretty well.  28 bucks shipping, 30 buck upgrade, but now it runs pretty OK.   Upper rail on top of receiver is still too wide, will not accept ARMS or magpul buis, but did take an Eotech.

60 bills on top of the purchase price, to have it run.

It's pretty neat, but not something I'd rush out for again.

Are you using the grey colored 25 round magazines?
...................edit. to add:

So, do I understand that you returned your complete 22LR upper TO CMMG for repair, they apparently couldnt get it to function, and  so they then offered to allow you to PAY extra  for the stainless model that DOES work?
     You sound slightly less than pleased with this scenario.
Is the stainless  model now  running at 100% ?

It has been good so far.  I sent it up to them, they had it sort of running OK, but not right.  I pretty much figured I was going to end up having to get the SS kit in there, as once I starting digging around support pages, it seemed to be noted that the SS kits are less troublesome, so I went for it.  I'm not real pissed off about it, just not sure why they offer the non-ss kit in the full uppers, if they can't trust them to run.  I have more cash tied up in my .22 LR M4 style upper than I do in my reasonably good quality .223 M4gery upper. 400, +28+30  If I choose to add a working forward assist, and a bolt hold open, I'll be right at about 5 bills.

The top rail was annoying, but I just need to find a rear sight that does not need to slide on, but has a clamping type mechanism.  I will probably just put a carry handle on it, and be done.  I hate to tie up an eotech on it, just due to not being able to slide on a sight.

The upper is neat, and has sufficient accuracy.  The people I talked to were helpful.  I did agree to pay the upgrade charge.  I can buy a carry handle, rather then use an extra BUIS.  The whole deal is much more hassle than it should be though.   I would not claim "bad company", but more "might wanna have a think about the full uppers"

I also recommended they do away with the parkerized versions. But, it is a lower price point.
Dave N

Yeah, the place I bought mine from (I was not aware I could buy direct) did not offer anything but the parkerized version.  I found out about the SS version when looking into it after it would not work, even after cleaning, oiling, a few hundred rounds of break-in.   If the full uppers just plain shipped with SS, and that was that, even for a few extra ten dollar bills, it would have made me just plain happy.

I am going to pick up a 20 inch CMMG 22 barrel, and duplicate my service rifle for highpower matches, using a spare pinned  sight service rifle upper. and practice that on the cheap, too.

Boxed up the  complete WASP upper, along with 4 magazines, UPS back to CMMG,  second trip back to it's maker. If they can get it running   this time, I will be happy.

I took mine out today with the kids, and shot the heck out of it.  It ran flawlessly for 300 rounds, then needed a quick wipe and oil, and went right back to business.   I am now a bit more okay with it.  :)

Still waiting for mine to be repaired..
I will report back when I get it back.

I've been having problems with my one and only 25rd Evo long skin mag. I can load it and it will feed about 2rds. I then pull mag to see ammo down in the mag. Slight tap on bottom and they pop up. Then it's one round...tap...one round....tap....etc for about the first 10 to 12 rounds. It has become worse the last trip out.

I have taken the mag apart and cleaned it. I ran it clean and dry (problem) I ran it with CLP (problem) I then used some Mobil1 (problem). Nothing I do will get it to function 100%. The few times it does work it's great. The BHO I have gave up on. I get it to work about once in about 25 mags. I think that may be due to shooting with an integrated suppressed barrel and not having enough back pressure to completely get the bolt to the rear to engage the BHO.

Is there anything that I should try before bugging CMMG about it? I'm at a loss for the cause. I wanted to buy some more mags but don't want to toss money at something that wont run 100% yet.

Happens with Fed bulk, Rem subs, CCI ARtactical and Wolf match.

I have one or two of those

Do we know what the cause is?  I have one like it as well.  I just havent had time to really look at it.  I am sure that it can be fixed wiht a Dremel if I knew where to look.

MAHA

From looking I can not see an area that could be filed,sanded or use a Dremel on without really messing something up. I can pass the follower in and out of the mag body with ease, it never hangs nor sticks. I've even streached the spring some to give it more push and that still won't help.

I'm still at a on this mag.

There has to be a reason as to why it is getting worse. The first few trips to the range it worked like a charm (other than the BHO).

Still waiting for  ( second ) repair .

Received this Communication , from CMMG:
"""Well then, I guess the only thing left to do would be to get one of your lowers in here to test it."""
''

Thanks, Brent B.
CMMG, Inc
620 County Road 118
Fayette, MO 65248
(660)248-2293
(660)248-2290 (FAX)
www.cmmginc.comOn 10/19/2012







From: Brent B. <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, October 19, 2012 6:25 AM
Subject: Re: Repair M4LE-.22



"Do you have any accessories other than standard parts on your lowers like Magpul BAD lever? Are your hammers notched or rounded on the top?............."
..........................................NO. The ONLY accessory on any of the FACTORY BUILT SEMI AUTO AR-15 RIFLE LOWERS  is your CMMG  .22LR upper

Thanks, Brent B.
CMMG, Inc
620 County Road 118
Fayette, MO 65248
(660)248-2293
(660)248-2290 (FAX)
http://www.cmmginc.com/

I have  one Colt LE6920, build date  August 2012
(2) Armalite M-15.. built 2008
one DPMS A-15 date unknown...
a couple ARFCOM lowers, 2010
and  (2) Superior Arms S-15 built 2006

All  AR15 lowers are fully assembled  and 100% functional rifles with their 5.56 UPPERS.
 Again, ALL LOWERS we have are fully one hundred percent functional with centerfire uppers.
NONE of them will function at even 50% with the  CMMG upper.
No fancy triggers here,no BADLEVERS, just  a few  factory  built rifles, and the rest assembled with regular DPMS lower parts kits, it would be absurd to claim  " Mil-Spec" because there  is not and has never been a miltary specification for an AR-15 semi-auto trigger group.

 We have myriad and varied brands of .22LR ammo, and several different .22 pistols and rifles, each with several different magazines, everything firearm  here works ALL the time, except the CMMG .22LR upper.
"..
.
Brent, you are  bordering on the verge of silliness here.

We are discussing the failure to function of ONE CMMG dedicated, complete .22LR upper assembly, purchased NEW, and installed on  MULTIPLE  perfectly functioning rifles, to include one BRAND NEW  current production UNMODIFIED  Colt LE6920, a PAIR  ( That is TWO )  Armalite M-15 carbines, unmodified from factory specification,  along with  a DPMS rifle,  a pair each of Superior Arms and ARFCOM  carbines, assembled with standard  DPMS parts kits, and ALL of which run and function 100%  with their respective centerfire upper assembly(s).

We are using FOUR brand new from the package CMMG grey colored 25 round .22LR magazines, and have attempted function, as outlined in numerous communications below, with several different styles each of several different brands of .22LR ammunition, ALL of which function in every other .22LR firearm we have handy.

 Your suggestion that I am in possession  of half a dozen out of spec rifles, each of which somehow function at 100% reliability in 5.56 configuration is a patent absurdity.

The possibilty that DPMS

COLT,

Armalite,

Superior Arms,

and ARFCOM

would all conspire to  simultaneously place in MY possession  multiple copies of out of spec lower receivers, incompatible ONLY with YOUR CMMG .22LR conversion, but fully functional in all other respects... Well, the statistical  probability seems  vanishingly slim.

The only common  factor in ALL of these failures to function is ONE specific  CMMG .22LR Upper assembly.

... Please, Fix, repair or replace the Upper Assembly..  I expect this task should be within the realm of the possible  for a company in the firearm manufacturing business to accomplish.

Thank You.
Fullpower

I don't always post in arfcom, but when I do, it's about issues with my CMMG .22 LR upper.

It's uncanny.

The issue above is EXACTLY what I started to experience today.

I have two Evolution mags. One feeds just fine and the other has EXACTLY the same problem above.

I'm not using any BHO. Just the WASP 22 LR upper and the parkerized adapter.

Oddly, the other mag just feeds fine.

I think it's lack of strict quality control on the Evolution mags that cause some of the mags to have a different
internal geometry.

On the mag that has a feeding problem, you can clearly feel a rough spot when you load every third round.

I have FOUR of the gray color CMMG 25 round magazines, NONE of which will feed the dedicated upper, with anyone of 5 different lower receivers.
Freshly returned from the CMMG factory, and still mangling every brand of .22LR cartridge I can get my hands on.
 After several thousand attempts, We have a 75% failure to feed rate.

This is disappointing. I have been trying to decide between the Armalite M15/22 that uses a CMMG mag/bcg and Smith M15-22. I like the idea that Armalites M15/22 has a standard lower. I'm wary that I might have trouble with the CMMG mags/bcg.

.
.
.EDIT......
I have found a particular ammunition that is currently functioning 100%.
  FOUR magazines, each with 25 rounds of Federal Champion 36 grain copper plated hollowpoint hi-velocity, fired without issue....
One hundred consecutive shots,  Zero malfunctions.    
 Guess I had better stock up on  Federal Champions.