Posted: 4/24/2026 12:17:52 PM EDT
[Last Edit: gearjammer351][Edited]
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I've had this kit a long time, and it was never reliable enough to be fun, and I just left it in the closet for ages. Recently, I found someone talking about how they'd made theirs work well, and I figure it couldn't hurt to fiddle with it. I mean - if I completely ruin it, so what? I wasn't using it anyway. I did some "gunsmithing," and I got it to work well: it feeds, fires, and ejects well, and it's no longer ammo sensitive at all. It'll now happily run through any HV .22 ammo I put in it. I was really excited about this, as it has potential to be a fun toy and trainer. I am down to one issue, that if I can resolve, will make it a useful gun (I bought another frame, so I can just leave this on - making it a gun, and not just a "kit"). I don't count, so I'm just estimating. After shooting several magazines through it (100 rounds- 150 tops), empties start sticking in the chamber. Sometimes completely, and other times they'll come out part-way (pictured). When it starts doing this, it just continues, and I just stop shooting it. Once I clean the thing thoroughly and polish the chamber (with a very mild paste), it runs fine again -for another 100 rounds or so. Now, it's fun to shoot, but I'd like to be able to get more than 100 rounds through it without having to disassemble/scrub/polish it. None of my other guns require that level of cleanliness to function. It does this with different ammo, too. I haven't gotten scientific about it, like writing down what ammo and how many rounds until issues happen. I'm considering getting more aggressive with the polishing. Worst case is I ruin it and buy a new barrel (that hopefully doesn't do this). I would like to save the ~$100, though, if this one can be made to work. Any suggestions? Is aggressive polishing the solution? A chamber reamer costs more than a new barrel for this thing, so I've ruled that out. ETA: I've already checked the extractor, and it's fine; it's the right shape and has plenty of spring tension. These are sticking in the chamber - like several times, I had to tap one out with a cleaning rod or use a tool to pry one out by the rim. Attached File |
Of all men’s miseries the bitterest is this: to know so much and to have control over nothing.
- Herodotus
- Herodotus
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I have five AA Glock conversion kits and I use Flitz on a cotton barrel mop on a short cleaning rod spun by a hand drill to polish the AA barrel chambers. Polishing the chamber really helps and some reliability issues can be attributed to the ammunition. Some ammo seems to foul the barrel and chamber quicker. I have been buying Armscor 36 grain plated hollow point 22 LR at Rural King on sale for $3-$3.50 per box of 50. I also buy and shoot a lot of Aguila Super Extra plated 38 grain hollow point and 40 grain plated round nose. I can usually shoot an AA kit for a few hundred rounds before it needs cleaned. I normally use a bore snake to clean the barrel. It has been a few years since I have needed to polish the chamber. I think the more you shoot an Advantage Arms kit the more reliable they get. Outside temperature can have an effect on reliability with 22 LR ammo and the AA kits. Many times after I clean a kit I will get a malfunction on the first and or second round. It is like the kit runs better warm for whatever reason. You can try buzzing the chamber of your AA barrel. CMMG recommends this for their 22 LR AR-15 conversion kits. They recommend spinning a brass brush soaked in oil in the chamber spun by a hand drill. My AA kits will run on some other 22 LR but I buy what is available locally. I have shot a lot of CCI Mini Mags and Blazers over the years. Back in the early 2000’s I shot the Federal 550 bulk packs from Walmart with the 36 grain Hollow Point. The Quality Control got really bad on Federal bulk packs and I haven’t bought any 325 packs recently because of the poor quality. I gave up on Winchester and Remington 22 LR years ago. I have read recent manufactured Remington is better but I won’t buy Remington when I can buy Aguila and Armscor cheaper that works. When my AA kits need cleaning I pull the slide off the frame. I use patches made from old T Shirts to wipe every thing clean. I make sure the breach face is clean as well as the sliding ejector. I also wipe out the frame. I have dedicated frames for all my AA kits. Once clean I use Breakfree CLP and I spread a drop of lube on the sliding ejector. I put a drop of lube on the slide/frame rails plus a drop of lube on barrel friction/contact areas. I put a drop of CLP on each of the four frame rails. I can see polishing from repeated firing on the recoil spring guide rod. I usually put a drop of CLP on the guide rod under the recoil spring. I see where people recommend 1 Shot dry lube on AA kits which I have never tried. The newer AA kits seem to need cleaning more frequently than my well used kits. I can see polishing of the aluminum slide from the repeated shooting. I suspect the wear has increased the tolerances and resistance so the kits are more reliable. The recoil springs seem to weaken which help in reliability. |
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I shoot my AA Glock kits with dedicated frames more than any of my other 22 LR handguns. Here is a picture of my Glock AA kits on dedicated frames plus my Glock 44. From top to bottom AA 17/22 Target kit on a 17.3 frame, AA 26/27 LE kit on a Glock 26.3 frame. AA 19/23 LE kit on a 23.3 frame but is currently on a Combat Armory frame. AA 19/23 Gen 4 LE kit on a Glock 23.4 frame. Glock 44 with Glock Tritium Night Sights. Bottom is my AA 19/23 MOD CA compliant kit on a Combat Armory frame. I am not currently running a Red Dot Sight on the MOD (optics ready MOS) kit. 
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| Welcome to the world of .22 conversion units of all types. Many HAVE to be kept clean simply because .22 ammo is absolutely filthy. |
Liberals are a curious mix of communism and fascism, they want to destroy you but want to use your own money to do it.
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
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Originally Posted By VASCAR2: You can try buzzing the chamber of your AA barrel. CMMG recommends this for their 22 LR AR-15 conversion kits. They recommend spinning a brass brush soaked in oil in the chamber spun by a hand drill. For Ruger22/45 and SW 41, I installed Volquartsen extractors. |
Preferred pronoun: MARINE
| Get good aggressive cleaning solvent and scrub chamber. Clean it perfectly. Shoot until malfunction, then clean again. Repeat multiple times. You will notice it takes more and more rounds until malfunction. Do not use weak ammo for this, eventually you will be able to use cheap bulk ammo, but will take a while for the cheap ammo to work well. What you are doing is smoothing out the chamber and making the working parts work together berrer over time. |
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Originally Posted By fxntime: Welcome to the world of .22 conversion units of all types. Many HAVE to be kept clean simply because .22 ammo is absolutely filthy. Originally Posted By wildearp: This is how I clean several different rimfire firearms when they start having partial extraction issues. For Ruger22/45 and SW 41, I installed Volquartsen extractors. This is the only conversion kit I have or have had. This one is the reason I never bought another.  I have a couple of Rugers that are fantastic, and I usually just end up shooting one of them instead. My TX22 is getting broken in and the early problems I had with it seem to be going away. 1 year and a few hundred rounds is what that took. For this thing, nearly 2 decades and a whole lot more shooting, and polishing, and fiddling. If I weren't such a cheapskate, I'd have tossed it years ago. |
Of all men’s miseries the bitterest is this: to know so much and to have control over nothing.
- Herodotus
- Herodotus
| FWIW, the old AA mags had steel feed lips and they were thinner and didn't interfere with SOME AA slide extractors making them far more reliable. Sometimes it's the mag itself that is the issue and it causes the extractor to not grab the case as well as it should. |
Liberals are a curious mix of communism and fascism, they want to destroy you but want to use your own money to do it.
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...