I've been planing to put together a dedicated 22LR and I'm ready to start gathering parts.  I already have a couple SBR's a 10.3" in 5.56 and a 8.5" in 300BLK.  I don't mind doing the paperwork to do the SBR but I'm not sure if it's worth the effort for 22.  I'd also like to be able to take this with me easily to friends and families so filling out 5320 each time can be a pain.

Anyway wanted to know thoughts and opinions on 22LR - Pistol or SBR?

I like my 22 LR AR pistol w/ the SBA3 brace.  I built a dedicated suppressor for it on a F1 but don't see any reason to SBR it.

Attached File

Wow I like your rug / blanket ! I see one in your Avitar too .

Very nice !
Nice rifle too

Doesn't everybody already own at least one SBR'd lower?
Its trivial to plop your 22lr upper on whatever lower you want.  You dont even need to deal with swapping your buffer setup out.

Mine lives on a spare SBR lower.  I wouldnt feel back about having it on a pistol lower, as long as they don't keep changing the rules about what you can and can't do with a brace.  With the current brace rules, I think its fine.

Building from a new lower? Pistol.

If not, get a 22 upper and swap out to your sbr'd lower

Yes planning to build from a new lower.  Btw what makes it a "pistol lower" does it just depend weather the lower has an adjustable rifle stock or fixed brace style stock?

i have two .22 pistols with braces and both have cans. the lower is whatever you build it as first. anytime i put one together i leave the stock off, put a pistol upper on it and snap a pic. after that do whatever you want

It's a blanket we bought on a trip to Mexico.   I normally use it for a background on my pics so I know they're mine and they're easy to find scrolling through my phone.

It's legally a "pistol!"

Why put it on the books if you don't have to? Pistol.

In other words don't purchase a complete lower that already has a collapsible stock...

Just swap a 22LR upper on your existing lower(s).  That said, I went pistol as my range is on the free side of the Red River of the North and I live on the commie side.

You actually can purchase a complete lower that has never had a rifle upper attached to it and use it as a pistol lower if you first remove the stock before attaching a pistol upper to it. A complete lower still transfers as "other" if it has not been assembled into a rifle or pistol.

I'd build up a pistol with a brace of your choice.  You already have a couple of SBR lowers so obviously you can run the .22 upper on either of those if you want just as easy as swapping whatever uppers your using on those sbr lowers over onto a new pistol lower.  Another option is to use a cheapo brace like a KAK blade for now and submit your form1 then slap whatever stock you want on there when it comes back approved.  Form1s fortunately are not taking anywhere near as long as form4s are at the moment.  

I don't see the point though unless you really want to add another stamp to your collection.  Only you can ultimately decide if the wait and additional money is worth it or not.



Brace works fine for me

Are we planning to suppress it?  A barrel shorter than 5 inches will keep most bulk pack subsonic which is nice to just use whatever you have on hand.  I'm using a Velocity 4 in bbl.  Most folks use and will recommend the CMMG 4.5 in bbl.  Right to Bear out of FL is a good source of AR22 parts.  Most of their house branded parts are OEM CMMG stuff at a discount. Best of luck with your project.

I highly recommend some of the borebuddy upgrades.  Check out the bolt bounce thread.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/AR-15/Super-slow-motion-22lr-AR-bolt-bounce-eliminated/15-752521/

Great info all.
Think I'll just go the pistol route. Hadn't thought about just tossing on SBR lower if wanted to use with rifle stock. I'm thinking I'll just purchase a complete upper from CMMG. I do plan to suppress, I actually have a couple already both are form 1's. I've been debating barrel length but might as well go short since it'll be suppressed most of the time.

thanks for all the feedback

Personally, unless it’s set up exactly like your main 5.56 AR for training value, I prefer something like this  10/22 in an Odin chassis...SB sidefolder, and an RMR.   But to answer your question...pistol. Braces are too good these days not to unless you don’t one any SBR’ed firearms.

Attached File

Like yourself I have a couple of SBR's already, but when it came .22LR time I went pistol, because the upper is so easy to drop on one of the SBR's... In others words, you have both :-)