.22 LR AR SBR

[Stainer]

Lots of Acronyms with a few questions. I haven't seen a lot of threads on here talking about SBR'd 22 AR's. Why might this be? Are there downsides/upsides to it? Anything in particular you need to watch out for when doing a build of such? I read on Spikes website and they recommend running a suppressor if you have a barrel under 10". Is this a general consensus for .22 ARs? Thanks for the info and if you have a similar build, let's see some pics and here some specs.

 

[esrice]

if you have a similar build, let's see some pics and here some specs.

Not mine, but definitely a favorite. It belongs to INGOer mjrducky. It happens to be on his M16 lower.

YouTube - Spikes .22 Full Auto

 

[curraheeguns]

I love my Spikes .22LR SBR upper. I have a 10 1/2 just like mjrducky but mine has a normal forend. I shoot it regularly on my SBR lowers and on my M16. I did have to put a lakeside spring in it before it would run worth a crap in full auto and it doesn't like to run at all unless it is suppressed.

YouTube - M16 W/ Spikes 22 Upper / Thompson Machine CHD Suppressor

 

[Goodcat]

Talk with Big Tony in a couple weeks here and well hook up Mista K...

 

[Bazooka Joe]

Been thinking about getting a .22 SBR, but you have to have the tax stamp for them right? And is it 200 a year or a one time fee for it?

 

[dudley0]

It would be a one time tax of $200 for the SBR and another one time tax of $200 for the supressor.

Bet it is fun to shoot though.

 

[Stainer]

Talk with Big Tony in a couple weeks here and well hook up Mista K...

I most certainly will.

 

[CountryBoy19]

I read on Spikes website and they recommend running a suppressor if you have a barrel under 10".

Unfortunately for me, they didn't start recommending that until after I had bought a 5.5". It has terrible reliability, but my brother's 16" runs flawlessly.

It think it probably applies to .22 AR's pretty universally. The .22 has very limited recoil for blow-back cycling of an AR. So longer barrels work better. You probably don't see many threads for that reason.

I honestly regret buying a 5.5" but at the time I had been led to believe that it would be just fine with 5.5" and no suppressor. This was when Spikes first started the .22 uppers, I was on the pre-order list and waited months for it to come in. I don't really blame them for not knowing that the 5.5" would have the problems, but I asked them about switching/trading barrels because I wasn't happy and they weren't really willing to deal on it much since it was a year old and used. They said they'd be happy to swap the barrel for me for free if I bought the barrel outright, but I just couldn't justify putting almost $200 into a gun that I'm already pretty deep into. Then what would I do with the 5.5" barrel? Sell it for $50? They aren't worth much because reliability is so spotty with them.

I've thought about just dropping the SBR altogether and going with a 16", but then what would be the fun in that?

 

[mjrducky]

I love my short SBR 22. Barrel is 5.5 and works with or without the suppressor.

 

[CountryBoy19]

I love my short SBR 22. Barrel is 5.5 and works with or without the suppressor.

Spikes?
What ammo?

I'm using Federal Bulk packs...

Did you have to do anything to get it to run w/o suppressor?

I've tried everything, all of the tips/tricks/mods that Spikes had, and still can't get it to run reliably w/o suppressor.

I get 3-5 FTE (eject) per mag. They get caught up and jam in the bolt, causing you to drop the hammer when the bolt isn't closed. It just leads to much frustration. I've learned to watch for shells ejecting so I know if one is jammed, but that only saves from the frustration of racking the bolt to re-cock the hammer. You still have the frustration of clearing the jam all the time.

I'm jealous of you...

 

[mjrducky]

Sorry I've mostly ran winchester and American Eagle Federal. I did what Corey did and I changed out the spring and ejector and upgraded to spikes enhanced package because I run it FA but other than that I haven't had to many problems that I couldn't attribute to my errors. I found it runs perfect dirty so I usually run semi for the first 30-100 and the fa after that up to 2000 rounds without any issues.

Yes it is a spikes upper. Also I use the CMMG and Black Dog mags / and Drum incase your using something else.

Spikes?
What ammo?

I'm using Federal Bulk packs...

Did you have to do anything to get it to run w/o suppressor?

I've tried everything, all of the tips/tricks/mods that Spikes had, and still can't get it to run reliably w/o suppressor.

I get 3-5 FTE (eject) per mag. They get caught up and jam in the bolt, causing you to drop the hammer when the bolt isn't closed. It just leads to much frustration. I've learned to watch for shells ejecting so I know if one is jammed, but that only saves from the frustration of racking the bolt to re-cock the hammer. You still have the frustration of clearing the jam all the time.

I'm jealous of you...

 

[Stainer]

Does Spikes even make the 5.5" anymore? The shortest on their website is 11.5

 

[CountryBoy19]

Does Spikes even make the 5.5" anymore? The shortest on their website is 11.5

That's a good question. I think it's because they don't list the FF handguard models online anymore, and 11.5 is the shortest you can go with a standard M4 handguard. I think they will still make them with FF handguards, they probably just aren't in high demand so they don't put them on the website.

Spikes makes and offers LOTS more that isn't listed online, so when it doubt, call them.

 

[curraheeguns]

That's a good question. I think it's because they don't list the FF handguard models online anymore, and 11.5 is the shortest you can go with a standard M4 handguard. I think they will still make them with FF handguards, they probably just aren't in high demand so they don't put them on the website.

Spikes makes and offers LOTS more that isn't listed online, so when it doubt, call them.

+1

They will make you about anything you ask. But lately they are slow as grandma. My last order of normal, website listed, in stock items took 6 weeks to ship.

 

[esrice]

They will make you about anything you ask.

When I was quoted for a custom SBR upper a couple months ago, Kat was saying that due to the overwhelming popularity of their "stock" models, they were really trying to get away from their built-to-customer-spec stuff. I told her that made me sad.

 

[curraheeguns]

Sounds like it is time to spend some money on additional employees!!!

 

[samrothstein01]

FWIW, I bypassed the $200 sbr stamp and went with a tac-sol sbx upper. It has a permanently attached shroud that gives you the 16" legal, but "swallows" the suppressor so when it's attached it only adds about 1" to the OAL. It has ran near flawlessly both with and without suppressor. It's one of my favorites.