PSA .22LR upper experience - Page 1

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - PSA .22LR upper experience

Posted: 9/6/2018 4:55:05 PM EDT

I have a PSA M4 .22LR 1/16 upper that I took out for the first time today to get a rough zero. I bought a Primary Arms ACSS .22 scope for it used from a member here and was excited to take it out. The scope mount is in an Aero ultralite that was also purchased used. A better-mag made by redi mag adapter is what I’m using to accept Smith and Wesson 15/22 mags and still be able to use my bolt release. Installation was easy into my wife’s lower for now. I have a dedicated Stag .22 lower and ACT trigger group on the way.
Shooting unsupported from a bench I was able to get about 1” groups with my bag of mixed random ammo. Shooting the same way kinda of rapid I was able to get about 2” groups. It was an indoor range so I was shooting at 25 yards. The rifle is heavy enough that recoil is almost nonexistent. If I had something to support the rifle in and more consistent premium ammo I feel I could do a bit better. I had one failure that was caused by a round getting stuck in the void space of the charging handle between it and the BCG. CMMG makes a charging handle to fix this very problem, so I see myself getting that down the road. Out of about 250-300rds it only happened once whether I was shooting slow or fast.
All around I feel like the PSA upper , Reid mag adaptor and smith and Wesson mags are all great products. The PSA ACSS scope does not seem to have as clear glass as my other scopes and I was not able to shoot it at distance and use any of the range estimates that are built in. That being said I’m overall satisfied it other than its weight.https://imgur.com/a/YVdNcyF

Posted: 9/6/2018 5:02:45 PM EDT

[#1]

At what distance?

Posted: 9/6/2018 5:16:32 PM EDT

[#2]

25 yards

Posted: 9/7/2018 2:03:24 PM EDT

[#3]

Quoted: ...with my bag of mixed random ammo.

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What was the purpose of mixing your ammunition? I would think that leaving it segregated would permit you to determine which gave you better results. At 50 yards and switching from one type to another, I can see shifts in points of impact in excess of two inches, and that shift isn't always entirely vertical.

Posted: 9/10/2018 10:42:02 AM EDT

[#4]

I just took out a new PSA 7.5" 22LR upper. I put a good Primary Arms PAC5x scope on it since it's fairly compact.

I was getting TWO FOOT flyers at 50 meters for the first 50 shots. At the end of the day I had about 200 rounds through it, six different types of quality ammo, and was lucky to keep ten shots on 8.5x11 sheets of paper for all ten rounds. This was from a solid bench, with a front bench rest and a rear sandbag.

It makes me wish I hadn't sold off my CMMG 22LR M4 upper. It would do 1 inch at 50 meters with ammo it liked. But no, I had to have a stumpy upper to run on a pistol lower with a brace. I am now waiting to see if PSA will accept a return for a refund. If they insist on repairing it, and it actually can do 1.5" at 50 meters that would make me happy too.

Posted: 9/10/2018 2:54:07 PM EDT

[#5]

Quote History

Quoted:
I was getting TWO FOOT flyers at 50 meters for the first 50 shots. At the end of the day I had about 200 rounds through it, six different types of quality ammo, and was lucky to keep ten shots on 8.5x11 sheets of paper for all ten rounds. This was from a solid bench, with a front bench rest and a rear sandbag.

It makes me wish I hadn't sold off my CMMG 22LR M4 upper. It would do 1 inch at 50 meters with ammo it liked. But no, I had to have a stumpy upper to run on a pistol lower with a brace. I am now waiting to see if PSA will accept a return for a refund. If they insist on repairing it, and it actually can do 1.5" at 50 meters that would make me happy too.

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TTAG had an article about a 9 inch CMMG that showed awful accuracy too. With the accuracy of the 16 inch barrels, I'm puzzled by the inaccuracy of the shorter barrels.

Posted: 9/10/2018 3:35:36 PM EDT

[#6]

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Quoted:

TTAG had an article about a 9 inch CMMG that showed awful accuracy too. With the accuracy of the 16 inch barrels, I'm puzzled by the inaccuracy of the shorter barrels.

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Well damn, I just ordered the 9.5" CMMG Barrel a couple hours ago. Wish me luck...

Posted: 9/10/2018 6:23:12 PM EDT

[#7]

Quote History

Quoted:
Well damn, I just ordered the 9.5" CMMG Barrel a couple hours ago. Wish me luck...

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I'd be interested in your result.

My 16 inch barrels cycle the bolt harder than I like. My putative solution was the 9.5 inch barrel with a light tube of some sort permanently affixed to make legal length.

It should produce a relatively stiff barrel at a length that exerts less force on the bolt, and if the barrels are all made the same way, it should provide good accuracy, just like your 16 inch barrel did.

Posted: 9/11/2018 5:56:48 AM EDT

[#8]

Quote History

Quoted:
I just took out a new PSA 7.5" 22LR upper. I put a good Primary Arms PAC5x scope on it since it's fairly compact.

I was getting TWO FOOT flyers at 50 meters for the first 50 shots. At the end of the day I had about 200 rounds through it, six different types of quality ammo, and was lucky to keep ten shots on 8.5x11 sheets of paper for all ten rounds. This was from a solid bench, with a front bench rest and a rear sandbag.

It makes me wish I hadn't sold off my CMMG 22LR M4 upper. It would do 1 inch at 50 meters with ammo it liked. But no, I had to have a stumpy upper to run on a pistol lower with a brace. I am now waiting to see if PSA will accept a return for a refund. If they insist on repairing it, and it actually can do 1.5" at 50 meters that would make me happy too.

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I had similar "accuracy" results with my new 7.5" psa.

Posted: 9/12/2018 6:09:43 AM EDT

[#9]

Also just got my 7.5" PSA upper and was pretty disappointed. At 15 yrds I was getting rounds all over the place. Tried different ammo and similar results. Also getting cases stuck in the charging handle but thats an easy fix. Hoping accuracu increases or else I'll be getting rid of it. Very fun little pistol.

Posted: 9/12/2018 7:25:04 AM EDT

[#10]

Here is a link to a thread I started in GD. Mine is getting better, im not giving up yet.

Posted: 9/12/2018 2:16:21 PM EDT

[#11]

Sounds like I’m getting decent accuracy compared to others. I was kinda thinking people would be claiming a lot better accuracy and I’d regret not just getting a 10/22.

Posted: 9/12/2018 2:20:18 PM EDT

[#12]

Quote History

Quoted:

What was the purpose of mixing your ammunition? I would think that leaving it segregated would permit you to determine which gave you better results. At 50 yards and switching from one type to another, I can see shifts in points of impact in excess of two inches, and that shift isn't always entirely vertical.

View Quote

With .22lr I’ve always just poured what I buy into a Ammo can. I do some close range plinking and never really measured accuracy. In the future I’m going to keep my ammo separate and try to do longer range shooting with it out in the desert once it cools off. I’m really looking forward to trying out the ACSS system.

Posted: 9/13/2018 10:18:43 AM EDT

[#13]

My 7.5" Upper is headed back to PSA for a refund. It took a few days to get their RMA Request reply, but I now have everything needed. (Thanks, PSA.)

I will wait for the hurricane to move through SC before shipping so that freight carriers have resumed normal schedules and in order to make sure PSA doesn't get flooded out, etc.

I tore down a crappy old 10.5" 5.56 upper I had sitting idle and will mount the 9.5" CMMG 22LR barrel in it FRI night.

Having a stumpy 22LR upper that shoots well shouldn't be this hard.

Posted: 9/15/2018 11:39:16 AM EDT

[#14]

Got my 9.5" CMMG barrel/bolt combo yesterday. The can is a Griffin Checkmate. The barrel is about two holes in the handguard shorter than the end. I tore down a 5.56 10.5" upper to make it. When not running a can I have a Troy Claymore that will get the muzzle blast out past the end of the handguard. The scope is an older PA PAC5x. Running the Catch22 clip-on spacer and have their bolt catch waiting for install if it groups. I have a 10-rd mag for bench work.

I go shoot tomorrow if my Austin area range doesn't flood out today. We've had about 8 inches of rain in that area in the past ten days and more coming today.

XH1F0090 by JS Chenoweth, on Flickr

Posted: 9/16/2018 4:51:34 PM EDT

[#15]

My 7.5 PSA upper is junk too. I put approx 350 rounds of federal automatch through it prior to this. It ran reasonably well, a few fails to feed and eject. One was due to the brass lodging in the CH. Heres the 25 yard hasty accuracy test with automatch. I was shooting off a decent tripod with a red dot, so sub 1 inch groups should have been very attainable.

Ignore the .300blk holes. PSA upper is in blue.

Attached File

Posted: 9/18/2018 9:26:58 AM EDT

[#16]

I dropped my PSA 7.5" Upper off with FedEx Ground yesterday. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

I hope to have some rounds through my home-built 9.5" CMMG this weekend. Weather and laziness stymied my planned outing last weekend.

Posted: 9/18/2018 9:53:38 AM EDT

[#17]

Quote History

Quoted:
I dropped my PSA 7.5" Upper off with FedEx Ground yesterday. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

I hope to have some rounds through my home-built 9.5" CMMG this weekend. Weather and laziness stymied my planned outing last weekend.

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Let us know how it turns out. I'm looking at buying a cmmg soon depending on your results.

Posted: 9/18/2018 10:11:18 AM EDT

[#18]

Quote History

Quoted:
Let us know how it turns out. I'm looking at buying a cmmg soon depending on your results.

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Will do.

Posted: 9/20/2018 8:07:26 AM EDT

[#19]

I shot my 9.5" CMMG build (pictured above) yesterday. Not spectacular, but there is hope.

With ammo it liked (Fiocchi 40gr SV) it did approx. 2" at 50m. Aguila Super Extra SV also grouped about the same, but it wouldn't reliably cycle the bolt back far enough to cock the hammer and pick up a new round - even with a suppressor mounted. That Aguila was the only ammo that had any functional fails. It gobbled up a bunch of other stuff. (More reliable than my 10/22's, but not nearly as accurate.)

Would I recommend running out and buying the CMMG barrel/bolt combo? It's too early to say. I need to try another optic to be sure my problems are scope-related. It's supposed to be a rainy weekend so it may be two+ weeks before I can shoot it again.

Posted: 9/20/2018 9:44:35 AM EDT

[#20]

I am building a 4.5 cmmg when the parts arrive. I'll update when I've tested it.

Posted: 9/20/2018 2:20:57 PM EDT

[#21]

Quote History

Quoted:

With ammo it liked (Fiocchi 40gr SV) it did approx. 2" at 50m. Aguila Super Extra SV also grouped about the same, but it wouldn't reliably cycle the bolt back far enough to cock the hammer and pick up a new round - even with a suppressor mounted. That Aguila was the only ammo that had any functional fails. It gobbled up a bunch of other stuff. (More reliable than my 10/22's, but not nearly as accurate.

View Quote

Meh. I've owned rifles that were worse than 4moa.

Aguila SV may be faster than Remington Subsonic, but it has a gentler recoil impulse and it is very smokey from my pistol barrels. I like Aguila quite a bit, but it wouldn't be my first choice for a necessarily pricey suppressor.

I've found that reduced power hammer springs are kinder to my firing pins. They might also solve a short stroking issue and give you a lighter trigger.

Posted: 9/21/2018 2:42:18 PM EDT

[#22]

I am running a Hyperfire 24E trigger group. Easy to cock and 30% greater hammer fall energy than GI. It may come around with Aguila, but I don't care because my other 22LR's aren't crazy about it. I'll spend one or two cents more a shot for ammo it likes.

Posted: 9/25/2018 10:15:46 AM EDT

[#23]

Thanks JSC for the update. 4 moa from bulk pack ammo is pretty good. Now i just need to decide if i want a 9 or 4.5 inch barrel.

Posted: 10/3/2018 2:09:57 PM EDT

[#24]

PSA refunded my 7.5" Upper pretty quickly.

I went out to shoot my 9.5" CMMG barrel kit again. I ran a bronze brush, on the end of a drill & coated with Mobil One oil, in the chamber. There were flecks of things I couldn't get out with a really old bore-snake. I then bore-snaked it after having run the brush. I then shot it with my most accurate ammos for my 10/22.

I am down to 2.25 inches for 20 rounds, after having seasoned the bore (10 shots), at 50 meters. Groups were the same with or without a suppressor. PROGRESS!

It is truly more reliable than my 10/22. I am just running the Catch 22 clip-on spacer. I count my rounds and don't dry fire onna empty chamber.

Posted: 10/3/2018 3:09:39 PM EDT

[#25]

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Quoted:

It is truly more reliable than my 10/22. I am just running the Catch 22 clip-on spacer. I count my rounds and don't dry fire onna empty chamber.

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I find the CMMG more reliable than my 10/22s as well, mostly because the CMMG always ejects the brass where the 10/22s sometimes don't.

You have the Catch-22 spacer but not the bolt catch? It's worth the price, imo.

https://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1134191

Posted: 10/3/2018 6:06:13 PM EDT

[#26]

My 10-22 is an older one, I had some problems a few years ago, but a new extractor (Kidd?) later and I dont think Ive had a jam yet. If I can get my AR close to its reliability I would be happy. I sent my upper back to PSA, hopefully I get something back with reasonable accuracy.

Posted: 10/4/2018 12:19:53 PM EDT

[#27]

Quote History

Quoted:

I find the CMMG more reliable than my 10/22s as well, mostly because the CMMG always ejects the brass where the 10/22s sometimes don't.

You have the Catch-22 spacer but not the bolt catch? It's worth the price, imo.

https://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1134191

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I have it, it's just not installed because I hadn't decided that I was dedicating a lower to be 22LR only. It'll probably happen soon and I'll put in the catch.

Posted: 10/4/2018 1:24:32 PM EDT

[#28]

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Quoted:
I have it, it's just not installed because I hadn't decided that I was dedicating a lower to be 22LR only. It'll probably happen soon and I'll put in the catch.

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Got it. Been there. I like mine so much, I made the jump.

Posted: 10/4/2018 6:48:15 PM EDT

[#29]

Tell me more about the catch22. Will it work with Blackdog mags?

Posted: 10/4/2018 7:15:52 PM EDT

[#30]

Quote History

Quoted:
Tell me more about the catch22. Will it work with Blackdog mags?

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The Catch-22 is a bolt catch with a dog leg extension that will hold the CMMG/Ceiner pattern bolt. I understand it may also work with some others, including the new Nordic.

It will work with S&W 15-22 magazines to lock the bolt back after the first shot. It can be activated manually with no magazine or a BDM or CMMG pattern magazine in the rifle to comply with a range's open bolt rule, but it will not work as a last round bolt hold open in the absence of the S&W magazine.

https://arcatch22.com/

Posted: 10/12/2018 3:26:44 AM EDT

[#31]

Wow.

Been following this thread for a while as I considered a dedicated PSA 22lr build. Because of this & my prior experience...

Instead I decided to just do a 10.5” stainless 1:8 upper & use a CMMG Bravo conversion in it.

If it’s anything like my 16” stainless 1:8 I will have much better accuracy than what you guys are seeing with the added versatility of also running standard 5.56 NATO in the same gun.

Posted: 11/7/2018 12:49:25 AM EDT

[#32]

https://imgur.com/a/ploJpSt My Stag .22 lower came in and I bought a used ALG ACT trigger to put in it. I got it from a EE member here and it’s the older one so it doesn’t have the lighter purple hammer spring. I think the reduced power spring should be fine with .22 right? Im hoping to get out and shoot it a bit more this weekend.

Posted: 11/7/2018 11:56:08 AM EDT

[#33]

Does the 22lr lower do anything a normal lower doesn't? Or is it just to get the caliber marking?

Posted: 11/7/2018 12:02:20 PM EDT

[#34]

The 22 LR lowers are standard milspec lowers. I have 22 LR dedicated uppers on lowers stamped 223/5.56 and some on lowers stamped multi. Makes no difference to me but some people might like the proper caliber designation on the lower.

Posted: 11/7/2018 12:57:46 PM EDT

[#35]

As I understand it, correct me if I’m wrong and someone knows for sure. In California if it’s marked .22 it’s a long rifle. If it’s marked 5.56, 223 or multi cal it falls under the assault weapons regulations and would need to be a featureless rifle or a fixed magazine to be legal in this state. Plus it was a blem and only $53 on stags site so I figured why not.

Posted: 11/9/2018 4:26:41 PM EDT

[#36]

So to add my recent experience. I got this :

PSA .22 upper

And took it out today to zero it. Fed and fired great blackdog mags but the accuracy was atrocious with 7 different types of ammo. I'm talking like up to a 2 foot spread from a supported position at 25 yards randomly.

Sent it back to PSA this morning for a refund. I would have been happy with a couple inch spread at 25 yards for my purposes but it was absolutely terrible. Really disappointed. I tried cleaning and ran about 600 rounds through it to see if it would change but to no avail.

Posted: 11/9/2018 4:53:10 PM EDT

[#37]

Quote History

Quoted:
So to add my recent experience. I got this :

PSA .22 upper

And took it out today to zero it. Fed and fired great blackdog mags but the accuracy was atrocious with 7 different types of ammo. I'm talking like up to a 2 foot spread from a supported position at 25 yards randomly.

Sent it back to PSA this morning for a refund. I would have been happy with a couple inch spread at 25 yards for my purposes but it was absolutely terrible. Really disappointed. I tried cleaning and ran about 600 rounds through it to see if it would change but to no avail.

View Quote

That sucks. I wonder whats causing the inaccuracy problems. I returned mine and built an upper with a 4.5" cmmg bolt and barrel. Accuracy is good. 1-1.5" @ 25. I really wanted the pSA to work out.

Posted: 11/9/2018 6:42:04 PM EDT

[#38]

Quote History

Quoted:

That sucks. I wonder whats causing the inaccuracy problems. I returned mine and built an upper with a 4.5" cmmg bolt and barrel. Accuracy is good. 1-1.5" @ 25. I really wanted the pSA to work out.

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Yeah, there's nothing glaringly obvious to me upon examining it. I had a cmmg dedicated upper build years ago that was a little tack driver.

Posted: 11/9/2018 6:47:36 PM EDT

[#39]

Maybe they are using .224 valkyrie barrel blanks

Posted: 11/9/2018 8:08:08 PM EDT

[#40]

I bought a PSA upper with a 7 1/2” barrel and chambered in 5.56 x 45 and a 1/7 twist. My plan was to use it with a CMMG 22 conversion bolt firing Aguila 60gr. SSS. 1” at 25 yards on a rest was all I could get. Even 40gr. Suppressors gave similar results. I replaced the trigger/hammer with a RRA TAC and replaced the barrel with a DPMS 1/9 twist cut down to 6”. Now doing everything with the same ammo and rest it gives nickel sized groups. All this was done from bag rest and the bolts 5.56 chamber unit.

Posted: 11/9/2018 10:54:14 PM EDT

[#41]

Quote History

Quoted:
I bought a PSA upper with a 7 1/2” barrel and chambered in 5.56 x 45 and a 1/7 twist. My plan was to use it with a CMMG 22 conversion bolt firing Aguila 60gr. SSS. 1” at 25 yards on a rest was all I could get. Even 40gr. Suppressors gave similar results. I replaced the trigger/hammer with a RRA TAC and replaced the barrel with a DPMS 1/9 twist cut down to 6”. Now doing everything with the same ammo and rest it gives nickel sized groups. All this was done from bag rest and the bolts 5.56 chamber unit.

View Quote

Hell I'd have been happy with 1" at 25.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - PSA .22LR upper experience

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