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Posted: 10/19/2009 11:45:22 AM EDT
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Please someone push me over the edge. I've decided I need a .22lr conversion for my AR and I can't seem to pull the trigger. I can't decide between Spikes and the two CMMG versions. I don't want to go dedicated yet but I may want that option in the future. Both offer a collar to accomplish this. Spikes has the nickel plating and CMMG has a SS. CMMG is available now and is cheaper and Spikes is like a 3-4 week wait. Is one really better than the other? Or should I just snatch up a CMMG at Area51Tactical for $171.00? I know Specops has been over this and over this and I've even emailed him with questions. He likes the Spikes and who could blame him? Someone give me a good reason to wait for Spikes or order the CMMG now. Since this isn't life or death, smartass answers are welcome, like I have a choice.
Well I received my Spike's conversion kit and CMMG mags today. I put about 50 rounds thru it, after cleaning it initially because it arrived filthy. I had no failure to chamber but 5 stovepipes on fed bulk. And not the easy to remove stovepipes but the ones that require needle nose pliers. Accuracy was very good. The mags were very sloppy in the magwell. Overall I am not totally in love with it. |
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Well I won't be much help, I ordered a couple of Ciener kits when Midway had them for $139.
If we can believe half of what Specops says (and I have no reason to doubt him), he's shot more rounds through .22LR conversion kits than most people will in their lifetime. (except for the guy at CMMG that does the testing of the conversion kits) I would strongly consider his opinion. If you believe the Spikes is better, then I think it is worth the wait unless you have some compelling reason to get a conversion kit right now. |
| I have the non-SS CMMG version and it has been flawless since breaking it in. I believe that CMMG makes the Spike's kit but I'd go for whatever you can find now at a good price. I don't have any experience with the CMMG SS or the Spike's plated versions but I would expect them to clean a little easier. |
| I have ciener and spikes. If you can get the ciener deal off midway they are a steal. I like my spikes too but my ciener has been just as reliable. The spikes has nicer clean up. The nice thing with spikes is that they will stand behind what they sell. with ciener ehh |
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wevo: I believe that CMMG makes the Spike's kit.
Not the case, No, Sorry. Why would CMMG use very special o-rings and a few other innovations on a unit they would let Spike's sell but not on the one they sell with their name on it? CMMG may want to make Spike's Conversion but they don't. The CMMG Conversion is a good conversion on it's own. Please, No Offense Intended... wevo, Come shoot with me some time. Seriously, Spec |
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Quoted:
wevo: I believe that CMMG makes the Spike's kit.
Not the case, No, Sorry. My bad. When I was at SHOT I could of sworn I heard from CMMG that they were in with Spikes on the 22lr kits. Sorry about the confusion. Quoted:
Please, No Offense Intended... wevo, Come shoot with me some time. Seriously, Spec No, worries 
That would be great. Where you located, SpecOps-13? |
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I own both and aside from a few magazine issues I absolutely love them. The CMMG took a little tweaking out of the box to have it grab the round every time which was my choice as opposed to sending it back. I took a minimal amount of material out of the slot where the extractor rests when the bolt is closed to allow it to better snag the rim of the spent casing in the chamber. I also polished the 5.56 casing doubler taking the parkerization off and have had no issues with it sticking in the chamber.
I am building another rifle now and the first component was a Spikes stripped lower. I needed another kit and since I was using a Spikes lower I went with their conversion kit. The Spikes kit came in 10 days, had no fit/finish issues and really looks sharp. The lubricity of the parts because of the nickel finish means it doesn't need much in the way of oiling in fact I believe the instructions with it say something to the effect of minimal/no oil required. The O rings on the casing doubler mean you have to give it a firm tug with the charging handle to remove it when it's time to go back to shooting 5.56. The accuracy for both is acceptable out of a 1/9 twist resulting in a playing card size group at 50 yards. They do shoot differently and my report below is comparing one CMMG kit to one Spikes kit and in no way is a blanket statement for all of one to all of another. Out of my rifle, the CMMG kit that I own shoots a little low and a little left from a 5.56 50 yard zero. The Spikes kit out of my rifle shoots low requiring only an elevation adjustment on the optic as opposed to a windage and elevation. This has been consistant through the 1200 rounds or so I've fired since owning both kits through a S&W M&P15. I'm finding them both to be predictable with their function and accuracy. My failures have been magazine related using the BDM magazines and in another thread I was told it is probably a very minor height issue with the right hand feed lip and removing a very small amount of material will fix the problem. I'm on my way to the range today with a little sand paper and a file to see if that does the trick. The above information is simply my experience out of my rifle with the two specific kits that I have. I'm sure there are CMMG kits that work like the Spikes I have and very possibly Spikes kits that work like the CMMG I have. I don't think you could go wrong either way but if I had everything to do over today I would be inclined to try the Stainlesss Steel CMMG over the original parkerized finish. While mine has proven reliable I like the Nickel finish on the Spikes kit and imagine the Stainless Steel CMMG would be just as snazzy. Honestly I can't see you going wrong either way and both kits will allow you to get that much more trigger time and where mine have excelled is with newer shooters who like the quieter and minimal recoil .22LR to get started before moving on to a 5.56 or other kind of rifle/shotgun. If I start a build on a third rifle I will likely go the CMMG Stainless route and will have a review of what I think amount to the top three AR15 conversion kits available today. Customer service with both companies has been spectacular, the quality of the products is where you would want it to be for a $200 component. Even with the modifications I made to the CMMG chamber adapter I have seen/used other CMMG parkerized kits that functioned flawlessly leading me to believe I had a rare slightly out of spec chamber adapter with my first CMMG. Here's a push... Buy one! You'll wish you had one all along. |
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Quoted:
Palmetto State Armory has the Spikes kit instock for $199 with 1 mag and free shipping. Hell yeah, Spikes it is! There's nothing like free shipping to push a man over the edge! I appreciate everyone's info and opinions. I need another .22lr like I need another hole in my head but this just seems too cool to overlook. I plan on eventually using this conversion for a dedicated build and I like the fact I can perhaps get a precision barrel and collar from Spikes to match my bolt in the future. Now, do I go with the CMMG mags or the BDM? |
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Here's the deciding factor:
CMMG is the oddball of the bunch when it comes to collars. They use a smaller ID collar than the TacSol, Spikes, M1S and other Atchisson variants. Between the two, I'd go Spikes all the way. Keep in mind, this is coming from a happy TacSol owner. |
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