OK... is the JA Ciener AR15 [or, M16 equivalent] .22LR conversion system the same as the M261? If not, what's the differences? If you have a Ciener product, what's your experience with it? Accuracy? Reliability?

From what I understand the only major difference is that the Ceiner kit has high-cap mags available for it.  I doubt you'd see a difference in accuracy out of the two as neither is super accurate due to the fact that AR barrels have the wrong twist rate for .22lr.  I have a m261 kit and it's reliable, but at 50 yards I'm grouping 2.5" or more.  It's the gun, with any of my 10/22's I can shoot .5" at the same distance with the same ammo.



Digital

Ciener is junk.....piss poor magazines defeat the purpose of "hi-cap".   I could never get mine to run.  Designed to be made cheap and fast which doesn't reflect on the price.  

M261 is much better......quality machining and sturdy mags, runs well, need to tweak some things IF you run other than a stock trigger.

Highly recommend running a dedicated barrel/upper, it is well worth the extra expense if you plan to shoot much.  If done correctly.....it has the accuracy potential of any custom Ruger 10/22.

The JAC kit will work very well with some tinkering.  The appeal is that it has 30 rd mags and is the only thing going for FA if that makes any difference.

Get the spring set from Lakeside.  It took mine to 100%, even with subsonic ammo out of a 5" barrel.

My JAC Kit works 100% in both Semi and Full Auto with (and without) my dedicated .22 upper.

Of course, I installed the Lakeside $17 spring kit and use only 40 grain Federal Champion solid lead nose ammo.

Only real advantages of the JAC Kit are the 30 round mags and it's ability to shoot "Full Auto"...  

My Ciener 30 rounders have worked great right out of the box (bag).
JR

The M-261 was made for the US Army so it is Mil-Spec. Very rugged, and in a dedicated upper very accurate as well. At CLE we had several Cieners sent to us to "get working", but very little success in that area. If a 30 round mag is important to you then you need a serious cartridge in it like .223 or .308.

High cap magazines can be made for the 261. I used a delrin block shaped like a 20 round AR mag and fitted a S&W model 41 mag into it and it works fine. I don't see why this couldn't be done with any magazine that had a straight section long enough to reach through the AR mag well.

Regards, Ray

can I use a dedicated 22LR barrel with a M261 ? what are my options beside a .223 barrel ? thanks

The best reason to avoid JAC is that the owner is a total asshole with zero customer appreciation or customer service skills.  If one of Jon Ciener's products doesn't work, he'll blame you, yell at you and slam the phone down on you.  I hate that fucktard and will never spend another dime with him.

I've got an JA conversion shoots very well and accurate if you can hit nickels at thirty yards thats good. you might not win the olympics but good enuf. the mags runs good even shooting subsonic ammo.
There great with a Can.