Finally got a nice AR15 lower.  I am looking for...

1) Best (or second best) .22 upper on the market for accuracy.  Info on what to look for/avoid?
2) Good (or very good) .45ACP upper and information... mags, who to look for/avoid.


Opinions and reviews more than welcome.

It's good to be back!

=)

Here are a few options.

Compass Lake AR22 Upper: uses Army M-261 conversion kit, price $960
Compass Lake Engineering

Accuracy Speaks .22lr Service Rifle Upper: Custom built to use user supplied conversion kit, price $695
Accuracy Speaks

Fulton Armory Mirage .22lr upper: uses Ciener conversion kit, price $850
Fulton Armory

All the uppers should be capable of at least 1/2" groups at 50 yards. You would have to contact each manufacturer to determine their claimed accuracy.

That's some difference from a regular upper.  I will look into each of those and see if the $960 appears to be worth the extra money over say the Accuracy Speaks or Fulton.

Thank you!

More?  =)

I really good friend of mine has a Compass Lake upper .22 and he shoots it indoors against my bolt action Remington 513T.  It is as accurate at a bolt gun, but the semi action.

Of course I only paid 200.00$ for the 513T

DPMS also makes a .22lr upper. It's a little less expensive than the other options. I have one on order and will post range results when I get it.

DPMS DCM .22lr Upper

Quoted: DPMS also makes a .22lr upper. It's a little less expensive than the other options. I have one on order and will post range results when I get it. DPMS DCM .22lr Upper

Looking forward to hearing about thar DPMS range report s4.  50 yards and some quality ammo especially.  Does the DPMS take standard velocity rounds?  I would only be shooting at 75 yards or less for the .22lr.

Keep us posted!

My DPMS M4 .22--not billed as match grade--keeps cheap Winchester Dynapoints at an inch or better at 50 yards. Best group so far is .665 with several in the sevens. This is with a cheap 4X scope. Who knows what it would do with a bigger scope and some expensive ammo.

Quoted: Looking forward to hearing about thar DPMS range report s4.  50 yards and some quality ammo especially.  Does the DPMS take standard velocity rounds?  I would only be shooting at 75 yards or less for the .22lr. Keep us posted!

It can use standard or high velocity ammo. I bought about 20 different kinds of ammo to try, half of it match ammo.

Quoted: My DPMS M4 .22--not billed as match grade--keeps cheap Winchester Dynapoints at an inch or better at 50 yards. Best group so far is .665 with several in the sevens. This is with a cheap 4X scope. Who knows what it would do with a bigger scope and some expensive ammo.

How much did the DPMS set you back and I wonder how much better the higher end uppers can do... one in ch at 50 yards is very impressive (shooting and performance).  =)

I was hoping for that with the more expensive uppers using regular ammo.

I've got the DPMS bull bbl flat top, it will shoot 1" groups at 50yds rested all day, I had a few CCI Velocitors, shot 3, two touched at 50 one about 1/4" off, I was amazed.....I got mine thru Brownells.
Its been discussed that the gun will fire out of battery causing the case to rupture and blow up the mag, mine was caused by a fouled chamber so I scrub it with a bent brush every 50-75 rounds....eye protection is a must, I wont let my lefty daughter shoot it

Quoted: Quoted: My DPMS M4 .22--not billed as match grade--keeps cheap Winchester Dynapoints at an inch or better at 50 yards. Best group so far is .665 with several in the sevens. This is with a cheap 4X scope. Who knows what it would do with a bigger scope and some expensive ammo. How much did the DPMS set you back and I wonder how much better the higher end uppers can do... one in ch at 50 yards is very impressive (shooting and performance).  =) I was hoping for that with the more expensive uppers using regular ammo.

The DPMS M4 .22 upper lists at $500 and when I bought mine Cheaper Than Dirt was selling them for $400. They don't list that version anymore, but I got a CTD catalog in the mail just today and they are blowing out some of the bull-barreled flattop uppers (no front or rear sights) for $300 (normal list is $400), I'd move fast if you want one.

Moondog is right about them firing out of battery--that happened to mine the very first day I shot it. This however was caused by a faulty lot of Federal Walmart Bulk ammo that didn't chamber fully (have seen this happen with two boxes out of more than 30 shot). My left-handed son was shooting it at the time and THANK GOD he had his safety glasses on. Blew the extractor clear out of the gun. But that has been the ONE AND ONLY problem with the gun. We now have well over 2,000 more rounds through it with NO problems whatsoever. The last two times I shot it (in the last two weeks) I was amazed at how smoothly it ran--no failures to feed, fire, or eject of any kind, it just keeps humming along. But I'm very careful with the first few mags every time I open a new bulk box. For the $400 I have in it--plus another hundred or so for sights and (cheap) scopes--I could have built up a real tackdriver 10/22 BUT I don't think that would have been anywhere near as much fun. PLUS which my kid is getting valuable AR shooting time that will serve him well if he ever goes into the service.

I have a DPMS M4 upper and have the same expierences as Snake.  I also blew a mage bue to and out of battery.  Using CCI Stingers.  Great ammo, but for some reason or another, it just didn't chamber once and BAM.

Oly makes a .45 upper. It's the only one I can find. I was looking for a .45 when I found this thread.

Good luck and let me know if you find others (I'll do likewise)

Shooterer

I once had the bull barrel DPMS and had issues (out of battery fireing,bolt problems ect) but It would certainly shoot.I tried all of the high dollar match ammo and a 20 power leuopold against my Anshutz at 50 and 100 yards.I had a feeling that it had the ability to hold its own against the Anshutz (which in it self is a very tall order)but the whole system is handicapped at the match level by the lack of a truly match quality trigger. Any of the supper light AR triggers such as the jewel do not function well against the rimfire.I tried several types -jard,jewel,lighter springs ect and in the end I was useing a RR national match which is a fairly decent trigger but is sorely lacking when going head to head with the Anshutz.
Yes,I would sometimes get some incredible groups at longer ranges but when trying to shoot multible 10 shot groups the trigger breaking wrong would throw several shots of every group "out".
I have not laid hands on a Compass Lake,Accuracy Speaks or Fulton so can not give any info.
I would like to know what trigger systems these folks are useing ?I see how a nice 3lb +- would get you a great rifle to practice for service rifle competitions,but this same gun will fall short in serious rimfire competition.
I have got my Ceiner tuned so it is reliable and with the RR NM trigger ,good scope,and standard vel match ammo will shoot under 1" @50yd off sandbags.I use this rig with great glee and pleasure in various rimefire plate shoots and general blasting and plinking.I hear others not able to get my results but as they say-it works for me!

NHSport, my brother, I feel ya! I am fighting the same battle myself at the moment.

My DPMS will shoot 3/8" groups at 25 benched but the trigger is holding me back in offhand. I do a lot of 25 yard offhand shooting with a number of different .22 rifles and invariably shoot the DPMS the worst.

I recently got the new Rhineland Arms R22, which uses AR FCG parts. This had by far the worst AR trigger I've ever pulled, heavy and extremely gritty, and I've shot hundreds of them. The problem was a very roughly machined sear surface on the hammer. I carefully stoned both sear surfaces (hammer and trigger) very smooth and lubed them and the trigger is now about 5-6 pounds, with a typical AR amount of creep, but it's very smooth. It's now sort of like a Glock trigger with the 5 pound spring in it. I can now shoot the R22 offhand about as well as I shoot most of my .22 rifles.

Now this is important: The R22 uses a special hammer spring, which only has the right leg. It takes noticeably less effort to cock that hammer than any AR I've ever seen.

Just today I stripped out my DPMS .22 and stoned the sear surfaces to see if I could get its trigger as nice as the R22's is now. Its hammer and trigger surfaces were already pretty smooth, so my polishing efforts didn't help nearly as much. It's smooth now, but the full-strength hammer spring is keeping the pull weight up somewhere around I'd guess 8 pounds.

My next step, I guess, is to see if I can find a reduced power hammer spring for the DPMS and see if it will operate reliably. Reliability is excellent with the R22 but it uses a Ruger 10/22 bolt and firing pin.

The adventure continues....