ULW .22 LR AR

Dustin Cantrell · Aug 24, 2012

After my girlfriend said some of my relatively light guns were too heavy, I decided to build an ultra lightweight .22 LR AR. I started with a New Frontier Armory polymer lower and added a Spike's LPK. Did a little trigger work on it while I was at it. I got a carbon fiber butt stock and FUL complete upper from Taccom 3G. The barrel is pretty neat. It's a tension barrel with a carbon fiber sleeve and carbon fiber hand guard. They use a DPMS Low Pro upper receiver to assemble the complete upper. I have a red dot on order but it hasn't shipped yet. I might take my UTG Compact CQB Bug Buster off my BCM to use in the mean time. Can't wait to get out and test this sucker! It weighs 3 lbs 5 ounces. Red dot should be around 5 ounces so I'll end up a little over my 3.5 lb goal but this rifle is still super light.

Wall · Aug 24, 2012

Super Cool.
I was playing with one that Tim Ubl from Taccom brought to High Plains this year.
The only thing that'd make it cooler would be if the barrel would accept a suppressor.

Dustin Cantrell · Aug 24, 2012

A suppressor on it would be very cool. I took it out and ran several mags through it. First mag had a few light strikes. None in the last mags I shot. Maybe it needs a little breaking in. Not sure.

Dustin Cantrell · Aug 25, 2012

Got some range time in today. Took this ULW .22 LR AR, BCM AR, CZ 712, CZ 455 Varmint and my G35. I took a buddy and he loved shooting it. We were on the police range so there was a sergeant out there and he put in some trigger time with it as well and had a lot of fun with it. I think we all agreed that the ULW .22 LR AR was our favorite today. We moved out to 100 yards and were ringing a 7.5" plate shot after shot. There were a couple inexperienced ladies there when we first got to the range and I let both of them shoot it. For both of them it was their first time shooting a rifle and one of them didn't seem to want to put it down. The CZ 712 was great, no cycling issues. I loaded it up several times with 8 in the tube and shot it as quickly as I could pull the trigger and it ran great.

I'm still getting occasional light strikes with the ULW .22 LR AR. Sometimes it will shoot through a whole 25 round mag just fine. Other times it might have 1-2 light strikes where I will have to drop the mag, pull the charging handle back to cock the hammer and then reinsert the mag and the round fires on the second strike. Not sure if it's the trigger work I did or something wrong with the firing pin. I looked at the spent cases and they aren't getting hit very hard by the firing pin. Just a little ding in them. Any suggestions?

jtischauser · Aug 25, 2012

That thing is sick bro!

Dustin Cantrell · Aug 25, 2012

Jesse Tischauser said:
That thing is sick bro!

Thanks! It's amazing how light it is. You can maneuver it very quickly. Can't wait to get that red dot on there. Might have to find some rimfire steel matches to shoot in!

Wall · Aug 25, 2012

Dustin Cantrell said:
I'm still getting occasional light strikes with the ULW .22 LR AR. Sometimes it will shoot through a whole 25 round mag just fine. Other times it might have 1-2 light strikes where I will have to drop the mag, pull the charging handle back to cock the hammer and then reinsert the mag and the round fires on the second strike. Not sure if it's the trigger work I did or something wrong with the firing pin. I looked at the spent cases and they aren't getting hit very hard by the firing pin. Just a little ding in them. Any suggestions?

Did you use lightweight springs, like the JP 3lb set?
If so, try putting the factory hammer spring back in.

Dustin Cantrell · Aug 25, 2012

I used the Spike's mil-spec LPK. I did a lot of polishing and then altered the hammer spring per the "15 Minute Trigger Job". I'll order some of the JP spring sets in various weights to try out.

Wall · Aug 25, 2012

Dustin Cantrell said:
I used the Spike's mil-spec LPK. I did a lot of polishing and then altered the hammer spring per the "15 Minute Trigger Job". I'll order some of the JP spring sets in various weights to try out.

I have a red JP hammer spring which is the heavier weight, It may solve your problem.

Dustin Cantrell · Aug 25, 2012

Wall said:
I have a red JP hammer spring which is the heavier weight, It may solve your problem.

I order them soon. I have several items I need to order from you but I was going to wait until you got the black Ice magwells back in stock. Figured I'd order everything at once.

Wall · Aug 25, 2012

Dustin Cantrell said:
I order them soon. I have several items I need to order from you but I was going to wait until you got the black Ice magwells back in stock. Figured I'd order everything at once.

Which black ice? If there's something you're wanting that I'm out of, please send me a pm.

Dustin Cantrell · Aug 25, 2012

Wall said:
Which black ice? If there's something you're wanting that I'm out of, please send me a pm.

The DP Ice black Glock magwell. I wasn't in a rush for that or the other parts so I was just waiting until your site showed you were back in stock. I'll send you a PM in a few.