The idea of combining two popular ideas into one can often lead to greatness. The idea of firing .22’s out of an AR-15 is nothing new, either. Conversion kits have existed for decades and now more than ever there has been a big push to create .22 firing facsimile of various semi-automatic rifles. These sub-caliber variants are able to shave off some considerable weight by including more use of polymers while bringing the ergonomics and operation of the real McCoy to the shooter’s table. They’re fun for training, plinking, and heck, they’re just plain nifty.
Not all of these .22’s are created equally, however. Tippmann Arms out of Fort Wayne, Indiana have taken this AR-22 concept to a whole new level. Rather than build a .22 surrounded in an AR’s shell they’ve taken an AR and scaled it down to a .22. Where some of these ‘tactical .22’s’ feel kind of flimsy the Tippmann still utilizes aluminum for the upper and lower receivers. Even then the listed weight of the M4-22 Tactical Rifle is still a very comfortable 5.7 pounds.
The M4-22 is largely mil-spec compatible and can accept most standard AR components and accessories. The handguard has 8 different mounting positions for rails, the M4 style stock has all of the length adjustments which we’re accustomed to having, it has a working dust cover and last shot bolt hold open, a full length upper picatinny rail, a 4150 solid steel barrel with 1/2×28 threads, a birdcage flash hider, all pretty good stuff to start. Going further there are some additions and attention to detail which really surprised me.
Disassembling the Tippmann revealed a bolt carrier which is quite a lot more like a normal AR-15’s rather than something completely original. It’s here that I noticed something which actually had me laughing, Tippmann has been so faithful in making an M4 style of .22 that they’ve included bolt serrations for a functional forward assist. Personally I’ve never seen the forward assist used in a normal AR but anyone who has spent any appreciable amount of time shooting .22’s know just how quickly they can foul up pretty much everything. Now that forward assist is making a lot more sense to me!
Oh yeah, there’s also a bayonet lug. On a .22. Because you can find a bayonet lug on an M4, you can find it on the Tippmann. Just in case you really wanted to get your point across while blazing away on a milk jug in the backyard.
Magazines come in 10 and 20 round capacities and, once again being pleasantly surprised, they have steel reinforced feed lips. I was so caught off guard by this addition that I had to double-check with a magnet. Sure enough, steel feed lips. These are some very durable feeling mags and all of the more delicate pieces of the design are kept almost perfectly flush with the top of the mag body, meaning that if you happen to drop one there’s a less likely chance that you’ll damage something important and hinder proper feeding.
Their attention to detail goes so far as to have an ‘auto’ setting listed upon the fire control group. Naturally these rifles do not come with a giggle switch, according to their website the fire control group is AR compatible but the safety selector is proprietary.
So, from all appearances we have an over-built .22 rifle which will be immediately familiar to anyone who has had some trigger time with an AR. How does it shoot? Pretty darn well! The one I had a chance to try out had a set of the polymer Magpul back-up sights, which while very useful aren’t the best for precision shooting due to the wide front sight post. Despite this, while firing from a bipod I got about a 1.5″ group at fifty feet and a 2″ group at 75 feet. I’m confident that the rifle can shoot better groups than what I was able to obtain.
Another consideration with these groups comes from the ammo. I started with Winchester white box, which the Tippmann really did not like at all. (To be fair I have yet to find a semi-auto .22 which DOES like the white box stuff.) While shooting these groups I also had to keep fighting with this weaker-powered ammo. By comparison the M4-22 ran flawlessly with American Eagle, Armscor, whatever bulk ammo was on hand for the rental guns, and some old solid lead stuff that I didn’t know the make of. I certainly wouldn’t consider the Tippmann to be picky about what it’s being fed.
Fun factor with the M4-22 is quite high. It’s such a light platform and so crisp on the trigger that getting double, triple, or quadruple taps is easy enough to feel second-nature. The trigger has a positive reset, both audible and tactile. If you do ever have a wimpy load go through the chamber you’ll immediately be able to tell that some user-end assistance is required. Build quality feels quite good, nothing rattled or felt cheap. The magazines felt sturdy enough to park a truck on top of (not that I’ve tried this yet.) The only complaints which I could find with the entire setup was that the bayonet lug was polymer instead of steel and the magazines could be a little difficult to load. A small wooden dowel might work nicely as a load assist.
The Tippmann Arms M4-22 gets a thumbs up. It’s fun, accessible, easy to shoot well, and can be tricked out for any range or backyard operations you might have in mind. If you’d like to try it out for yourself come on down to the Range of Richfield and take one for a spin!
