SAR 18#6

.22 Long
Left: The Chiappa upper receivers were mounted on an American
Tactical Imports OMNI Hybrid polymer lower receiver for testing.
Note the Leupold optic that was used for accuracy testing.
Above: The Chiappa bolt group (top). Notice this is black; the other two receivers had a chrome plated finish. The back
of the bolt has a spacer to keep dirt from entering the receiver through the ejection port. The bottom shows both loaded
and unloaded Chiappa polymer magazines.
directly behind the bolt that seals up the
ejection port protecting the inside of the
rifle from debris. Both black and chrome
plated carriers were seen.
The upper receiver was placed on
an American Tactical Gen 2 Hybrid polymer
lower receiver. This was the most
finicky of the lot. Quite accurate at 25
yards with 28 rounds in just over an inch
with Scorpion ammunition but the uppers
experienced some failures for the
bolt to fully close. This was pretty much
the only type of malfunction. Probably
5% of the rounds failed to cycle properly.
If the round fired, it extracted, ejected
and fed. At this point is where the hiccups
began. This rifle did not like Stingers;
the longer case was a contributor
to failure of the bolt to close. The best
performance came with Scorpion and
CCI MiniMag ammunition. The magazine
is proprietary to Chiappa but the
Black Dog Machine magazines worked
perfect as well. The Chiappa magazine
was a little more difficult to load and
you had to get the technique down. If
the back end of the rim of the cartridge
did not all stagger, that would interrupt
the shot column from rising and cause
a stoppage. All three of the uppers tested
experienced this failure for the bolt
to close. One of the uppers only had it
happen a few times. This could have
well been a chamber issue. The chamber
and bore were scrubbed and clean
to insure there was no lead fouling.
The Chiappa receiver has the lowest
MSRP and is not a bad unit to start
off with. Chiappa has excellent customer
service and were very helpful.
Chiappa has some OEM contracts for
these upper receivers. Finding the right
ammunition is always the key to reliability.
During testing, due to the sheer
number of uppers tested there just was
not enough time or ammunition to do
any real ammo compatibility testing.
Given more time and ammo this author
is sure I could have found a winning
ammo/rifle combination.
There are many options out there
for the purchaser of a .22 conversion
kit. Certainly some are better than others.
Based on this testing, price is not
always a determining factor for quality.
Mostly yes, but not always. The DPMS
is the perfect example, with a low $399
MSRP it outperformed some of the ones
in the $600 range. Then again the top
performer has an MSRP of $625. The
testing showed clearly that the .22 Long
Rifle caliber is just not as reliable as a
center fire cartridge. When the rifle malfunctioned
it took some time to determine
if the problem was with the rifle or
the ammunition. Mostly, it came down to
the inconsistencies of the ammunition.
Good magazines make a difference and
for best reliability result leave a standard
trigger group with a rounded hammer.
During testing two match grade triggers
were tested with the notched hammer
and the rifle would malfunction. Also,
you do not want to change out your
hammer spring for a lighter one. This
may cause issues with detonation on
the hard rim of the cartridge case. Stay
with high velocity ammunition. The best
result from this testing showed CCI MiniMag,
CCI Stinger, Scorpion, Federal
American Eagle, Winchester M-22 and
Remington Thunder Bolt. Every rifle can
be a little different; you may find a round
that works better in your particular rifle.
www.smallarmsreview.com 73 SAR Vol. 18, No. 6