The AR-15 is currently one of the hottest
items in the USA. It is definitely a seller’s market, and has
been since our Presidential election last November. Everything
semi-automatic has been selling like crazy, as shooters are
taking our new President at his word, and are concerned that he
will indeed push have these firearms banned. It makes no
difference to gun ban supporters that the semi-auto has been
around for well over one hundred years, and that the action
design is one of our most common and most popular. The truth is,
they want to ban the private ownership of all firearms, and the
semi-auto is just the easiest target at this time. When we are
disarmed, we become subjects instead of citizens. We are already
headed down that road at high speed, with the government
grabbing a bit more control over our lives each day. If we
protest our government’s deeds, we are labeled as right-wing
loons. If we speak out against our new President, we are labeled
as racists. One thing that our new President has done, is spark
a nationwide interest in stocking up on guns and ammunition.
Since the election, firearm sales are at an all-time high. Guns
are selling out faster than they can be produced, with waiting
lists at most gun shops to buy the most popular items, such as
semi-automatic rifles, shotguns, and handguns. Ammunition sales
are topping the charts as well, as shooters are buying
ammunition that might later be banned or greatly restricted
under government control, as there is a movement in the US House
of Representatives to place stricter controls upon the purchase
and possession of ammunition. Most gun stores and ammunition
shelves in discount stores like WalMart are pretty bare of ammo
supplies. Powder and primers are selling at record levels.
Ammunition for popular semi-auto rifles is hard to find, and
expensive to buy if you can find any.
That brings us to the subject of this piece,
the Tactical Solutions .22 Long Rifle conversion for the AR-15
rifle. I like Tactical Solutions products, and I like the folks
that work there. I have tried many of their products in the
past, and every one of them has proved to be superior to the
competition. They have recently become an advertiser on
Gunblast.com, and we are glad to have them aboard. We are pretty
picky about our advertisers, and have turned some down in the
past. We welcome Tactical Solutions. They make good products and
treat people right. I like their products, and have used them
for many years. If I am pulling the trigger on one of my own .22
pistols or rifles, chances are that bullet is heading down the
bore of a Tactical Solutions barrel.
Good 5.56mm and .223 Remington ammunition,
which was once both cheap and plentiful in the US, has become
expensive and hard to find. For many years, 5.56mm ammo could be
purchased for about twenty cents per round, and that was really
good brass-cased boxer-primed ammunition. Today, if you can find
any for sale, good 5.56mm surplus will cost over twice that, and
more. However, it is scarce and hard to obtain, at any price. A
day at the range can cost a couple of hundred dollars in ammo,
and the cost is not the only thing to consider. If you shoot up
your 5.56mm ammo, will you be able to replace it? Maybe not. A
much cheaper alternative is a .22 Long Rifle conversion unit.
These have been popular for centerfire pistols for many years,
but it makes even more sense for a rifle. Currently, good
hollowpoint .22 LR ammo costs about two and one-half cents per
shot. There are a few different brands available, but my
favorite is the Federal hollowpoint high velocity stuff sold in
bulk boxes of 550 rounds at WalMart. Even this stuff is getting
hard to find, as shooters are buying it up as fast as they can,
but it is a much less expensive alternative than shooting up
good 5.56mm or .223 Remington ammo in an AR-15. For what it
costs me to buy a twenty-round box of good 5.56mm ammo, I can
buy a 550 round box of .22 LR. The upper conversion makes a lot
of sense, if it functions well. The Tactical Solutions unit
functions well. About a year ago, I tried one of their early
prototypes, and it would sometimes fail to fire, not setting off
the primer in the cartridge rim. Their production units do not
have that problem. They redesigned the firing pin, and the unit
that I show here functioned one hundred percent of the time. The
Tac-Sol unit uses the superb Black Dog Machine magazine. This is
the same magazine that works so well in the Kel-Tec PLR-22 and
SU-22 firearms. The magazine is the heart of a semi-auto
firearm, and is usually the weak link in a semi-auto .22
conversion, but the Black Dog works perfectly in every firearm
in which I have ever tried it. In fact, the owners of
Tactical Solutions along with Kevin from Black Dog Machine have
just formed a new company, Black Dog Magazine, and Tactical
Solutions will be handling the sales of all Black Dog magazines.
Tactical Solutions offers three different
conversion uppers. One has a lightweight barrel, as Tac-Sol is
famous for manufacturing. The second style wears an integrally
sound suppressed barrel with removable baffles, and the third is
the one that I show here. It is their M-4 style, and is made to
replicate the appearance, feel, and handling qualities of the
M-4 style of AR-15 carbine. These uppers will fit on any AR-15,
M-4, or M-16 standard lower receiver, and installs without tools
in about one minute, if you take your time. A good operator can
do it in half that time. The Tactical Solutions AR-15 conversion
comes with everything needed, including a stainless steel bolt,
the Black Dog twenty-five round magazine, barrel, handguards,
everything. Slide out two pins, remove your 5.56mm upper, and
replace with the Tac-Sol unit. Simple. One feature of .22
conversion units that is seldom mentioned is that you will shoot
more, becoming a better shot and more familiar with your rifle.
At today’s ammo costs, you will pay for the Tactical Solutions
upper conversion in about 1500 rounds of ammunition, and much
sooner of you are shooting the really good stuff. Three
Saturdays at the range will pay for the conversion, plus, it
will allow you to shoot more, as recoil, noise, and ammo costs
are vastly less using the .22 Long Rifle conversion. It is also
a great way to train a new shooter. I believe that every citizen
should know how to use their country’s main battle rifle, and
using the Tac-Sol conversion on an AR-15 will allow you to teach
your children and other young folks how to use a rifle that
might one day be thrust into their hands to defend our nation.
For accuracy testing of the Tactical
Solutions upper, I mounted my most-trusted target scope, the
Leupold Mark 4. The Tac-Sol upper wears a flattop Picatinny
rail, which makes mounting a scope or dot sight very easy to do,
using Picatinny or Weaver compatible mounts. The barrel is made
from chrome molybdenum steel, and has a one-in-sixteen inch
twist, and a birdcage style flash suppressor. Accuracy testing
was done using a variety of ammunition, with the accuracy
results listed in the chart below. Groups were fired using a Target
Shooting, Inc. Model 500 rest. This rest has twin rails at
the bottom which allows the use of long magazines. Groups were
fired on a clear day, with an air temperature around fifty-five
degrees Fahrenheit, at an elevation of approximately six hundred
feet above sea level. Bullet weights are listed in grains. HP is
hollowpoint. S is a solid lead bullet. Group sizes are listed in
inches, measured center-to-center. Groups were fired fifty yards
from the shooter’s position.
| Ammunition |
Group Size |
| Federal Bulk 36 grain HP |
0.75" |
| Winchester 40 grain Dynapoint |
1.25" |
| PMC 40 grain Match S |
0.875" |
| CCI Mini Mag 40 grain S |
1.125" |
| Olin White Box 40 S |
1.75" |
| Federal Spitfire HP |
1.125" |
| Winchester 40 grain Wildcat |
2.50" |
| Remington Bulk Cyclone 36 grain HP |
1.25" |
| Aguila 60 grain SSS |
2.125" |
| Federal Hi Power 40 grain S |
1.275" |
| Remington Hi Speed 40 grain S |
1.50" |
| Winchester Xpert 36 grain HP |
2.25" |
| PMC Zapper HP |
0.625" |
| Wolf 40 grain S Match |
0.625" |
The Tactical Solutions upper proved to be
very, very accurate with most ammunition. Even the least
expensive ammo tried, and one of my favorites, the Federal Bulk
Pack hollowpoint grouped into three-quarters of an inch at fifty
yards, repeatedly. Almost every ammo type was under two inches,
and four types were under one inch. Reliability was excellent.
Feeding was perfect. The rifle fed every type of ammo
flawlessly. The only ammo that failed to fire was traced to the
ammo, and was no fault of the rifle. Sometimes rimfire ammo just
does not go off when it receives a solid hit on the primer.
There were three failures to fire during the tests, all traced
to a bad cartridge. Ejection was also flawless.
The Tactical Solutions upper receiver proved
to be an excellent performer. It feels like an M-4, handles like
an M-4, but costs far less to shoot than an M-4. As it assembles
on your lower receiver, there is no special paperwork required,
and it does not have to ship to a firearms dealer. It is a great
accessory for an AR, and will pay for itself in ammo costs in a
very short time. As a training weapon for law enforcement, this
Tac-Sol unit is a great way to get in a lot of training without
straining the budget. For the rest of us, it is a no-brainer. If
you have an AR, you need one. Tactical Solutions products are
made of quality materials, made right, and made in the USA.
Check out the entire line of Tactical
Solutions products online at www.tacticalsol.com.
Jeff
Quinn
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