Which should I get. I can't beleive a 22lr upper  costs more than a 10/22. Is there some advantage to getting the upper as opposed to a 10/22? Which uppers are available? What kind of mags does it take? Oh yea, how fast can you switch uppers on an AR? I'm looking for some pros and cons here.

I'd get the 10/22, personally.  Very customizable, and very fun to shoot.  The upper is nice cause you can practice with your AR for 1/10 the cost of 5.56mm ammo.  Uppers take mags that, IIRC, are manufacturer specific to the upper.  The ciener conversion is under $140, and mags are around $40-50.  It can take 10 and 30 rounders, although the 30's are hard to come across as of late.  The 10/22 takes all sorts of different capacity magazines.  Switching uppers on an AR takes about 30 seconds, and that's if you don't know what your doing.

10-22....

I had a Ciener kit with the M-16 and it was worth the money to have a full auto 22LR...  For semi-only, the 10-22 is cheaper and the 10-22 will function much better with lots of mags and lots of different types of ammo.  Ciener mags can be a PITA to get running although they do work pretty well when you get them running right!

Get the 10/22, The magazines are cheaper

The choice is clear.  Get BOTH!!!

10/22, It is my favorite semi-auto .22lr out there. they're built tough and you'll never have a problem with mags/funtion of the rifle.

Another vote for the 10/22

I vote for the 10/22 also.
Have one myself, plus the AR's.

Quoted: Another vote for the 10/22

+1

Have both and they each have a different purpose. When I want to chew out the center of a target quickly, I pick up my 10/22. When I want to have fun with steel pins, I pull out the .22LR AR upper. Get both, but if you don't already have a 10/22, get that first.

definitely get a 10/22

I have the CZ .22 upper and its great.  I like it becasue you get to practice witht he AR ergonomics v. changing weapons and controls.

It all depends on what you want.

Depends what you already have, and what you want out of it.   Out of the box, no question that a 10/22 is much cheaper, but I wouldn't call it anything more than a plinker.   If you are looking for a tack driver, building a 10/22 can quickly get expensive.    If you already have an AR lower w/ a nice trigger, getting say a Kuehl upper  probably won't be any more expensive than a 10/22+aftermarket bbl+aftermarket stock+FCG upgrades+etc....

Rocko

Quoted: The choice is clear.  Get BOTH!!!

This is the correct answer.

The real question is which do you get FIRST?
My answer to this is the 10/22.

When you eventually go the 22 upper route, I recommend the Ciener kit to begin with so you can get up an running quickly and cheaply with your existing upper.  When you get bored and want more accuracy, get a Kuehl upper (or just the barrel if you have a spare upper receiver).  Kuehl is made to work with the Ciener kit.

Just my $.02.

This is my CZ upper in action!

+1 on the ruger

The great thing about the ruger is all the cool things you can do to it without the worry of it being "tactical" or "visable". There's alot of absolutely beautiful 10/22's out there but i wouldn't want to protect my family with one, lol. Besides, knowing my luck, the one time I actually NEED the AR would be the one time i was too tired to swap it back out to .223 before I went to bed.

Not a fan of Ruger anymore, after hearing their position on the AWB issue...but it's damn hard to beat that 10/22. IMHO the best all around .22 in production today.

Get the 10/22 dude.  I have several and an AR-15.  I personally believe that if you are gonna practice fire with a weopon and you are gonna be firing live ammo then it needs to be the correct ammo for said weopon.  An AR-15 is not a weopon that causes bankruptcy to practice with.  The 10/22 however is an excellent firearm with much potential...depends on your bankbook and abilities.  It will give you confidence from usage and will help you in the aspects of fire control.  I personally have fired subsonic rounds through my 10/22 and contrary to what some folks say the SS rounds are reasonably less noisy and cycle the action fine with reasonable accuracy.  I have 2 10/22s.  One is a general purpose and one is my 'pretty gun'.  My general purpose gun is mostly stock and has a Ruger commercial sling.  This thing has gone through total hell and I wouldn't trade it for the world.  I have a 'pretty' Stainless model with laminated stock and matte finish scope that I have spent 3x as much on than my general purpose gun, but I would give it up way before I would my general purpose gun.  I tripped and fell down the side of a mountain in eastern Washington state whilst hunting snowshoe hares with my standard Ruger 10/22.  I was bruised and beat up...my 10/22 rode the trip out with me.  Most of my bruises and blunt trama came from me hanging on to that gun.  After I regained my composure and decided that my hunt was over I checked my little rifle.  The scope was fucked.  I blew the snow out from around the ejection port and checked the barrel.  It was already loaded and ready to fire before I fell...snowshoe hares don't wait for folks to ready a firearm.  It didn't go off, the safety held. I looked around for a decent target and found a cone from some kind of evergreen tree and set it about 70 feet away.  I had see through mounts.  I wished myself luck, aimed, and pulled the trigger.  Needless to say that was 13 years ago and I still have my little rifle.  It's not an AR-15 and it was never meant to be.  I beleive an AR-15 was never meant to be a .22 rimfire rifle either.  I hunt deer with my .270 and not my AR-15.  I hunt rabbits and coke cans with my 10/22, not my AR-15.  Things are what they are and nothing else.  I feel that the AR-15 is a finely tuned piece of machinery designed to keep free men free.  I think a 22 rimfire rifle is a finely tuned peice of machinery designed to sharpen marksman skills and for riflery enjoyment at a modest price.  There are many things people can say about thier choices of firearms and thier opinions on guns and ideas.  You sir have to make up your own mind.  And when you do it will be the right choice for you...untill you decide it is not.  Remember a song I like...something about free will...if you decide not to make a choice then you have still made a choice.  Who sings that anyway.

Oh yea my old 10/22 has no tellin how many rounds fired through it.  I got my son one for Christmas last year.  He loves it.  When I think of modding a 10/22 I always think of gettin a used one from a pawn shop...never using my old sweetie has

Whatever you do dude, I wish you luck,

Wes

'nother vote for the 10/22.  Mine is 12 years old with roughly 45,000 rounds through it and is still all stock except for the stock and a home made trigger job to get rid of the pretravel and some of the creep.  It doesn't shoot the groups that it used to, but it is still going strong.  This fall it is getting an overhaul with a new PC trigger group and a Green Mountain 20" target barrel.    It now does dual duty as a warm-up gun before I shoot my deer rifles, and shoots subsonics for the rabbits in the garden and grapes.  Everybody needs at least one 10/22! Check out www.rimfirecentral.com for all of the info you need.

Well ive made my mind up and i didnt even ask the question.. 10/22 all the way
i wish i could mod my marlin model 60 like the 10/22....

Quoted: Remember a song I like...something about free will...if you decide not to make a choice then you have still made a choice.  Who sings that anyway. Wes

Free Will (1980)

You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice.
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill
I will choose a path that's clear
I will choose free will.

RUSH

10/22 unless we can get cheap 30 rd mags, for AR conversion.

Get a 10/22 with Volquartsen trigger and hammer, and a Green Mountian bull Barrel. You will not be dissappointed, it makes one hell of a plinker.

Hey that's it...RUSH...thanks M4-guy....I knew someone would remember that for me.

Wes

I am a Ruger guy. (I love them)I only have two 10/22,a plain jane and a 10/22T that has had some trigger work.The second gun is a real tackdriver.
I have had a dpms dedicated upper and sold it off.
The ceiner is a great toy,I use it on all my different uppers as the mood and use strikes me.I already have all the Iron sights,scopes and red dots to go with my ar and all work with the ceiner. (with a quick re- zero)
I have not had any trouble with my two 10 rd mags or my one 30rd. I have found accuracy varries wildly with different ammo so try them all.(wolf match target has been the all star)
It is a snap to swap the ceiner in and out and any upper is fast also,This is an non-issue it is so easy.
Both the Ceiner and the 10/22 are a blast,everyone into guns needs at least one semi auto rimfire for blasting fun.
30rd mags for ceiner and 25's for the 10/22 should be more reasonable and available soon but the ceiners will likely cost more but they are quality mags.
My vote is for the Ceiner,but you really can't go wrong with the 10/22

10/22 with some 50 rounds mags

the banana ones

Quoted: Which should I get. I can't beleive a 22lr upper  costs more than a 10/22. Is there some advantage to getting the upper as opposed to a 10/22? Which uppers are available? What kind of mags does it take? Oh yea, how fast can you switch uppers on an AR? I'm looking for some pros and cons here.

Umm... which one is easier to clean?

If you already have an AR15, a basic .22 Rifle is an economical way to get some range time and practice marksmanship.  It's gratifying to hit a soda-can at 100yards with my Marlin Model 60.

 I don't own a Ruger 10/22, but I've handled them, shot alongside them or chatted with their owners.  The Rugers have a reputation for digesting ammunition without hiccups or breakdowns.  They're plenty accurate out of the box and can be customized with aftermarket parts until you're satisfied.  I think the Ruger 10/22 offers a high quotient of fun for the money.

 If you're more serious about training with your AR, then a .22LR upper will allow your body to train with the same sights, the same cheek-weld, and the same body positions you expect to use in serious competition while utilizing economical ammunition.  You may be able to shoot at more range facilities, i.e. ranges that don't allow rifle ammunition.

 If you can, try both before spending money.  Your ergonomic preferences may tilt the scales in favor of one or the other.

 How fast can you remove your current upper, set it down, and reinstall it?  That's how fast you can change upppers.

 If you want to invite a friend along to shoot, it's nice to have a complete rifle for each of you.

Good luck.
~Craig