New AR-22, CCI Christmas ammo, McFadden Machine Lightnin' Grip Loader

Hi all-

I just put together a new (old) lower build and bought a new CMMG upper. I took it to the range last night. OnTarget isn't my range of choice but is the most convenient for when I only want to shoot 9 or 22. It ran Federal bulk great (this stuff) but choked on the CCI red and green Christmas ammo. I was wondering if anybody had experience with the CCI Christmas stuff? I know it's kind of gimmicky but the brick was only $20 and it seemed cool at the time. I'm concerned the powder coat they put on the bullets is messing with the dimension of the ammo as I was having issues with it even fitting into the chamber.

Also, it was my first time successfully using the McFadden speed loader and it was AMAZING! I was initially discouraged when I purchased it last year, but that was of my own ignorance when I didn't read that it can't be used on factory 10/22 mags. So when I bought the correct adaptor for CMMG 22 mags, it ran flawlessly. It allowed me to shoot a brick in under an hour. I was shooting a ton to break in the new gun and only had 2 10rd mags (I've got some 25rd mags with my sister up in PA, just need to get them from her.)

Anyway, I'm 99% happy with the new build. I'm going to eventually dye the stock/grip/handguard some crazy fun color like banana yellow or blaze orange. I just wanted to have a fun/light 22 beater AR that I could use to plink and have fun and train new/first time shooters on. And one day, have my daughter train on.

Let me know what you guys think or if you have any input on the CCI Christmas stuff or the speedloader. Also open to suggestions/upgrades on the rifle. As we all know, an AR is never truly finished.





P A R T S L I S T:
TenArms Co poly lower
Magpul SL Carbine kit, going to dye them something crazy
CMMG MK4LE 16" .22LR Complete Upper
CMMG mags
UTG rear sight
DS Arms mil-spec buffer tube
Yankee Hill EZ Pull Takedown pins
Mil-spec LPK from my parts drawer

blankford said:

Hi all-

I just put together a new (old) lower build and bought a new CMMG upper. I took it to the range last night. OnTarget isn't my range of choice but is the most convenient for when I only want to shoot 9 or 22. It ran Federal bulk great (this stuff) but choked on the CCI red and green Christmas ammo. I was wondering if anybody had experience with the CCI Christmas stuff? I know it's kind of gimmicky but the brick was only $20 and it seemed cool at the time. I'm concerned the powder coat they put on the bullets is messing with the dimension of the ammo as I was having issues with it even fitting into the chamber.

Also, it was my first time successfully using the McFadden speed loader and it was AMAZING! I was initially discouraged when I purchased it last year, but that was of my own ignorance when I didn't read that it can't be used on factory 10/22 mags. So when I bought the correct adaptor for CMMG 22 mags, it ran flawlessly. It allowed me to shoot a brick in under an hour. I was shooting a ton to break in the new gun and only had 2 10rd mags (I've got some 25rd mags with my sister up in PA, just need to get them from her.)

Anyway, I'm 99% happy with the new build. I'm going to eventually dye the stock/grip/handguard some crazy fun color like banana yellow or blaze orange. I just wanted to have a fun/light 22 beater AR that I could use to plink and have fun and train new/first time shooters on. And one day, have my daughter train on.

Let me know what you guys think or if you have any input on the CCI Christmas stuff or the speedloader. Also open to suggestions/upgrades on the rifle. As we all know, an AR is never truly finished.

P A R T S L I S T:
TenArms Co poly lower
Magpul SL Carbine kit, going to dye them something crazy
CMMG MK4LE 16" .22LR Complete Upper
CMMG mags
UTG rear sight
DS Arms mil-spec buffer tube
Yankee Hill EZ Pull Takedown pins
Mil-spec LPK from my parts drawer

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Looks awesome, congrats on the build! The part that blew me away is that you manage to shoot that much ammo with 2 10x mags in a hour. Has me interested in the speedloader. I have several Ruger 25x mags and I am quite slow loading them.

nice rifle! ive been using the McFadden loader too, it is quite cool! And, I've learned to count really really fast

I have a CMMG 22lr upper. The first rounds I tried were...... CCI Christmas rounds. You are having same issue I did. I switched to non coated, and had no issues. Later I tried the CCI coated again, and if I recall they ran OK. Brand new Bolt, maybe needed some rounds through it before it was broke in a bit and would close with enough force to overcome a bit of that CCI coating.

I use the McFadden loader for my 15-22 mags and drums. Works like a champ!

Love the McFadden loader. They have about 25 different adapter. I have four of them. They all work great.
https://www.mcfaden.com/McFadden-Machine-Lightnin-Grip-Loader-s/1828.htm

Schipperke said:

I have a CMMG 22lr upper. The first rounds I tried were...... CCI Christmas rounds. You are having same issue I did. I switched to non coated, and had no issues. Later I tried the CCI coated again, and if I recall they ran OK. Brand new Bolt, maybe needed some rounds through it before it was broke in a bit and would close with enough force to overcome a bit of that CCI coating.

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Wow! That is eerie that we both tried such a unique type of ammo in our new CMMG uppers. At least you were able to confirm my results. I plan on running a shitload of standard bulk (non coated) through this thing over the course of the next several months.

I also just picked up a CMMG 22LR upper and ran about 400 rounds of various ammo. CCI Mini-mags, Winchester super X, and CCI Standard Velocity all ran great. What’s funny is I have about 500- 1000rnds of that Christmas ammo but didn’t try it. I also have that McFadden speed loader but was to lazy to look for it. I ended getting the Better-Mag adapter because I have a bunch of 15-22 mags. Everything works great. Very pleased with it! Since I’m a lefty I’m going to install an ambi safety and ambi charging latch.

Hey blankford, how’s the accuracy on yours? Im not that thrilled with mine but I haven’t been shooting consistently. Also I just have a CMMG Milspec trigger that breaks at about 6 lbs. I was thinking of picking up one of those LaRue MBT-2S that is currently on sale to help tighten up groups but not sure if it will work. On The CMMG site it states

“ For best performance use a round style hammer as notched hammers can cause function issues and 36 grain plated nose bullets have proven to be the best choice for function.”

Does anybody know if the LaRue trigger has a notched hammer? I’ll post pics up hopefully later this week if I receive the rest of my parts but I have added a Seekins Enhanced Bolt Catch, A Radian Ambi safety, a Raptor charging handle and a Norgon ambi Mag Release.

Cicirich said:

I also just picked up a CMMG 22LR upper and ran about 400 rounds of various ammo. CCI Mini-mags, Winchester super X, and CCI Standard Velocity all ran great. What’s funny is I have about 500- 1000rnds of that Christmas ammo but didn’t try it. I also have that McFadden speed loader but was to lazy to look for it. I ended getting the Better-Mag adapter because I have a bunch of 15-22 mags. Everything works great. Very pleased with it! Since I’m a lefty I’m going to install an ambi safety and ambi charging latch.

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Wow! Very nice looking. So 15-22 mags will work with the CMMG MK4LE upper? Sorry if that's a dumb question, I've only been using CMMG mags and black dog mags. And the McFadden speed loader is a must for this thing haha!

Cicirich said:

Hey blankford, how’s the accuracy on yours? Im not that thrilled with mine but I haven’t been shooting consistently. Also I just have a CMMG Milspec trigger that breaks at about 6 lbs. I was thinking of picking up one of those LaRue MBT-2S that is currently on sale to help tighten up groups but not sure if it will work. On The CMMG site it states

“ For best performance use a round style hammer as notched hammers can cause function issues and 36 grain plated nose bullets have proven to be the best choice for function.”

Does anybody know if the LaRue trigger has a notched hammer? I’ll post pics up hopefully later this week if I receive the rest of my parts but I have added a Seekins Enhanced Bolt Catch, A Radian Ambi safety, a Raptor charging handle and a Norgon ambi Mag Release.

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I'm not sure if the LaRue trigger has a notched hammer or not, but I do know that I just ordered one because holy hell $87 for an amazing 2-stage trigger. I don't even have a gun to put it in....it might go into this one. I'm currently running a gritty mil-spec trigger in it. The accuracy is...ok. Again, I could use a better trigger like you and that would definitely lead to some improved groups. But with 22, you're only ever going to get so good. Unless you're using high-end 22 match ammo, but that kind of defeats the point of 22 plinking on the cheap. Those are some nice upgraded lower components too. And despite what the CMMG website says, mine has had better luck with 40gr ammo, rather than the recommended 36gr. Kind of weird but whatever, I have plenty of both and 22 is like 3-4cpr right now. It's a plinkers market!

blankford said:

Wow! Very nice looking. So 15-22 mags will work with the CMMG MK4LE upper? Sorry if that's a dumb question, I've only been using CMMG mags and black dog mags. And the McFadden speed loader is a must for this thing haha!

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Yes 15-22 mags will work but you would need to purchase a better-mag adapter.
https://www.redi-mag.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=52. Well worth it in my opinion. The bolt hold open works everytime. And of course McFadden makes an adapter for 15-22 mags.!

blankford said:

I'm not sure if the LaRue trigger has a notched hammer or not, but I do know that I just ordered one because holy hell $87 for an amazing 2-stage trigger. I don't even have a gun to put it in....it might go into this one. I'm currently running a gritty mil-spec trigger in it. The accuracy is...ok. Again, I could use a better trigger like you and that would definitely lead to some improved groups. But with 22, you're only ever going to get so good. Unless you're using high-end 22 match ammo, but that kind of defeats the point of 22 plinking on the cheap. Those are some nice upgraded lower components too. And despite what the CMMG website says, mine has had better luck with 40gr ammo, rather than the recommended 36gr. Kind of weird but whatever, I have plenty of both and 22 is like 3-4cpr right now. It's a plinkers market!

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I think I will order 1 as well.

Here she is with all the upgrades! Just waiting on the LaRue trigger. I was able to score an OD green
Radian safety and Radian Raptor OD green charging handle. I’ll be off to the range in about an hour.

Very nice looking man!
That is a super high end build, especially for a dedicated 22.

I went to Freestate with my dad yesterday and we put about 300rds through the CMMG upper. I don't know what to call it at this point, the AR-22? It's a TennArmsCo poly lower and dedicated CMMG upper, so I guess it's an AR-22 lol. Had maybe 4 malfunctions in the 300+ rounds. I'll take those numbers any day with a 22.

The thing just ATE all the ammo we threw at it. I had a random mix of Remington golden bullet 36gr hp's, Winchester M22 40gr and Federal Automatch 40gr. We had 8 mags total, 5 CMMG factory mags and 3 black dogs from Palmetto. And of course, the McFadden speed loader was heavily used. That thing is just awesome I can't say enough about it. It feels pretty cheap and flimsy but damn if it doesn't load an entire 25 round mag in under 10 seconds.

Also shot some stout XM193 5.56 from Federal. With my VG6 muzzle brake, I had the poor guy next to me jumping out of his shoes. I'm going to get the VG6 Cage mitigation device next time Schuyler arms has it on sale.

I was shooting between my 16" mid-length and my 10.5" AR pistol and the differences were night and day. The AR pistol was actually kicking up! While the 16" just stayed flat and recoiled straight back into the shoulder. Now I know that it was more than just the muzzle brake making a difference between the two but it was crazy to feel the contrast between the two. I was trying out my new CMC Lantac ECT1 trigger in the 10.5" and damn...that is a nice trigger. Way nicer than I even know how to shoot it lol. It is going to take an entire day at the range with it to fully hone in on my trigger work with it.

Also, love my new Sig Romeo 5 red dot. The auto-on and auto-off feature (motion detected) is amazing and a total battery saver and you don't have to remember to turn your red dot on or off anymore. BUT...does that make it worth double the cost of a budget minded red dot like the TRS-25 (of which I have 3)? The jury is still out. I know I love it, but I still love the TRS-25's and looking down the red dots and shooting paper, they both serve me pretty much the same.

We also shot pistol side by side (bullseye competition) and he kicked my butt with his Glock 17. I was shooting my Beretta 92FSm which I am normally lights out withm but all the rifle shooting threw me off and I couldn't shoot pistol worth a damn.

Overall, awesome range trip and we topped it off with some beers at IBC Brewing Co in Bel Air and then burgers over at Sean Bolans. Good times were had by all.

CMMG ARC SPRING KIT

Had to pick up one of these recently.

I was having major issues with my AR-22 the other day at the range and I've boiled it down to two things. Each of which I have addressed, however I haven't function checked it yet. I'm going to shoot it this weekend and will post an update if I remember.

1. Dirty bolt
2. Loose bolt because wasn't using buffer and spring

I was having light primer strikes and failures to eject and so I took it home and cleaned the dirty bitch. In the process I lost a spring or two as I wasn't being careful when detail stripping the bolt. So got a spring kit from Brownell's and just installed them today in a clean bolt. That should take care of that issue.

The other issue, which I think was the major one. Was that I wasn't running the gun with the buffer and spring in place. Now this is a 22 and it doesn't utilize them and so they are technically not necessary however it does aid in keeping the bolt locked in tightly against the barrel extension. The IraqVeteran8888 channel actually just did a great detailed breakdown video of cleaning this tyep of system.

They actually used to make small pressure plugs to plug up your buffer tube and still provide resistance against the bolt. They don't make them any longer from what I can tell, and I scowered the web.

So I'm going to put the buffer and spring back in and this should help keep the entire system tight and will fix my light primer strike issues and extraction issues. ::fingers crossed::