Jonathan Arthur Ciener .22LR Conversion

[netxhomesteader]

I guess I'm going to rant here. But I want other folks who are considering buying a .22LR conversion for their AK-47 or other guns to hear about my personal experience with Mr. Ciener.

I ordered my conversion kit in January 2009 after reading several articles in the various gun mags. With the ammo shortage and the way the 7.62x39 went up in price, it sounded like the right thing to do. Here it is August 2009 and I still don't have my conversion kit! I've tried several times to call J.A. Ciener, but to no avail. I finally sent a letter to them and received a short response. "you've waited this long, don't cancel now." Wow, now I feel better.....

Recently, I found a link generated from someone who's experienced similar service from Ciener. [URL="http://www.donotbuyciener22lrconversions.org/"][url]http://www.donotbuyciener22lrconversions.org/[/URL][/URL]

So I know the idea of being able to plink with .22 rounds sounds good, I don't think Jonathan Arthur Ciener is the best option. I'll post again when I get my kit.

 

[baboon]

I've never heard anything good a Ciener's customer service. I heard more about him screwing people over then anything. I guess that's why CMMG came out with a conversion kit.

 

[Army 1911]

What gun is this for? I have seen several conversions at various gun shows, Glock, EEA and others. You might look into other brands.

 

[TriggerTime]

When the ammo crisis was at its darkest, and trying to practice for Service Rifle Competition was impossible because I couldn't find any match .308 and the only .223 was 55 grain stuff and no 77's or 69 match, I sucked it up and ordered a Compass Lake Engineering dedicated .22lr upper with a Douglas barrel for my AR-15.

It has been one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life. Compass Lake is absolutely outstanding quality and they are wonderful folks to deal with. They told me that it would take 3 weeks to build and get to me and they beat that. With my sling and shooting coat on I can keep them in the 10 ring at 100 yards in sitting and prone and offhand is pretty good too.

Plus, I sure love being able to practice and shoot as many rounds as I want without going broke. A brick of match 22lr can be had for about $50 from the right sources.

Sorry to hear about your experience and sure hope it gets made right soon.

 

[TSU45]

If you don't mind me asking, how much does that kit run with the sleeved barrel? I see WASR-22s still popping up for around $300. Might be worth it just to get a dedicated gun and not deal with ciener. Baboon about sums up everything I've heard about ciener.

 

[TxEMTP69]

I know advantage arms has a glock conversion, i've heard absolute crap about ceiners and been told to stay away.

 

[netxhomesteader]

Thanks, the conversion was for my Romanian AK-47. Nice gun, I just wanted to be able to shoot it more often. The kit with an extra magazine was $258. When I was trying to decide if I wanted to buy this, I couldn't find any negatives about Ciener. Now I'm starting to find lots of comments that would have probably talked me out of making the purchase. For now, I continue to wait and and chalk it up to lesson learned.

 

[Hoji]

Thank you for the product/customer service review.

 

[jwise]

I love my Ciener kit for the AR-15. However, I like the Blackdog Machine magazines WAY better than the Ciener mags.

I've heard to never order from the factory, as it is a pain to deal with. If you can find them in stock, they are a good buy.

 

[JKTex]

Ciener has had an absolutely horrible reputation for a long time.

 

[mortdooley]

I am glad that I didn't have this information a few years ago. My 1911 conversion has been such a success that I have looked for a light weight frame to make it a dedicated handgun rather then just a top end.

 

[kingofwylietx]

I have been very pleased with my Ciener converion in the AR. I have no experience with their customer service.

 

[Oldfalguy]

While I too have had zero problems with my AR Ciener unit I have had it for over 20 years so I reckon its sorta honed.
As far as J A Ciener is concerned I am sorry you got the bite but its been the norm for him for many many years. I read several months ago that he wasn't doing much business at all- something might be up but could just be internet rumor-grain of salt
but take a look here- http://www.donotbuyciener22lrconversions.org/

 

[ROGER4314]

I sucked it up and ordered a Compass Lake Engineering dedicated .22lr upper with a Douglas barrel for my AR-15.

I ordered a Compass Lake upper for 22LR. The were great to deal with, the work was done reasonably fast and workmanship was very good.

Compass Lake modifies the M261 military conversion unit. That conversion has a forward end that resembles a 223 round and normally that part of the conversion unit slides into the rifle chamber. CL cuts off the end that looks like a 223 round and they butt the conversion bolt up to a match 22 LR barrel. The goofy looking M261 magazines fit right inside of an AR15 mag so that even looks as it should. This is a really good looking conversion!

The unit was not cheap but you could not tell it was a 22 upper from one of my match AR rifles with a stainless steel barrel. That is exactly what I wanted as a trainer rifle. I even had a flash hider installed and until you pull the charging handle (the stroke is very short), it looks exactly like a 223 A2 upper. For practice, it's perfect!

The major advantage to the CL unit is that along with authentic appearance, their conversion mates the 22LR works up to a proper 1:16 barrel twist rate barrel. Using other conversions, the 22LR slug is still traveling down a 1:7, 1:8, or 1:9 twist rate barrel. That's just not good for accuracy! There is some real accuracy potential in the CL upper.

Compass Lake folks are good people and their products are first class. I recommend them without hesitation.

Flash

 

[ROGER4314]

I was thinking about my Compass Lake 22LR conversion and decided to drag it out to the range. It shoots great at 50 and 100 yards using A2 iron sights. It has a 20" SS Douglas Match barrel.

I had a friend spot dirt clods at 200 yards through the spotting scope. I knew it would shoot well but needed my "come ups" at 200 so we used the trusty dirt balls rather than to haul the targets downrange.

At 200, First shot 4" low, second shot 2" low, third shot....HIT, 4th shot .....HIT! That was using Federal 550 bulk from WW. The rifle is ready for 200 yard competition!

The come ups were as follows: 50 yard zero- 8/3 full down + 4 clicks UP. At 200 yards, it needed 29- 1 minute clicks up from full down for a dead center hold POI.

Function was almost perfect but the rifle was dry so the few problems I had were attributed to lack of lubrication. I cleaned and dosed it with Break Free tonight.

The Compass Lake .22 conversion is a real winner!

Flash

 

[Oldfalguy]

Sorry this happened to you but for the last 8 years a cursory search should have reveled this guys character.
I have a Ak .22 conversion I bought 20 years ago but the extractor came off-sad
If I knew what one looked like I would make a couple and get this thing working.
JAC is the poster child for poor customer service, makes others you THINK are bad look like angels.
Now that so many people have copied Ceiner 22 Ar-15 design there is no reason to deal with him at all-