Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns .22lr Conversion Kit for G19 (Range Report)

My only .22 handguns right now are a handful of Ruger MK II's. I like them. A lot. But...you know how it goes...your eyes start to wander and you start thinking about something else. I looked at a bunch of different .22's and shot a few that friends had, but nothing really tripped my trigger. So I decided to go a more practical route. My EDC is currently a G19 so I went searching for a .22lr caliber conversion kit for it. Apparently, here in the ammo shortage, I'm not the first person to go looking for a .22lr conversion kit. It's slim pickings. Advantage Arms makes a good one, but finding one was pretty tough. But, I did manage to track one down and it arrived today with the afternoon mail.

It comes with a zippered canvas case with interior pockets.


In addition to the slide, it comes with a 10-round magazine (2 mags would have been better, but oh well), and a mag loader.


The sights are very Glock-ish, except the rear sight is adjustable. (I don't know why the rear sight looks crooked in this picture--it isn't in real life). They even provide a tiny screwdriver for the task.


The sights were pretty much zeroed right from the box. I was shooting Remington Golden Bullet ammo at 25ft so I really don't know the kit's true accuracy potential. Plus it was (1) me, (2) shooting iron sights (my eyes were laughing at me).

I used the mag loader a few times just to see how it worked, and it was pretty nice! Often, it can be a little tricky loading.22r mags that don't have the pull-down button to relieve the spring tension, because the rounds are so slim; it's hard to stay centered as you push down. The loader was pretty fast and slick.

Here are the first and last groups I shot:




Anyway, that's the range report from here.

Carry on!

I have a .22 conversion for my Sig Sauer P226, it's lots of fun to shoot and pretty accurate.

Looks good.

No interest in the G44?

I have had an Advantage arms kit for several years. Mine came in a plastic case quite like a Glock box
Works very well, has good sights.
Be sure to follow the ammo specifications.

I looked hard at the G44, however, I went with the conversion kit mainly because I could save a fair bit of money versus a new gun.

I have a G44 and a full size M&P 22 so I can shoot for cheap as opposed to the same guns I have in 9mm.
I am thinking hard about getting a 1911 in 22 in order to do the same.
Between the G44 and M&P, I like to shoot the M&P more but both are fun

Thanks for mentioning that. I meant to ask the collective about it. I read about the strict ammo guidelines.

They say NO "hyper velocity" ammo, like Stingers. OK, that's fine. Then they say "you MUST use high velocity" ammo like CCI 40gr Mini Mags. OK, that's fine too. But, where I start to scratch my head is when I compare the specs of recommended ammo vs the specs of not recommended ammo--often they are exactly the same. Here's a couple of examples:

Recommended:
Remington Golden Bullets 40gr, MV=1255 fps.

Not Recommended:
Remington Thunderbolts 40gr, MV=1255 fps.

Highly Recommended:
CCI Mini Mags, 40gr, MV=1235fps

Not Recommended:
No Federal ammo of any kind. But, Federal Champion 40gr, MV=1240fps

The guidelines also prohibit ALL Winchester ammo but don't say why. I suppose through the years they've found that certain ammo brands are less consistent from one round to another, leading to stoppages that the user blames on the conversion kit and not the ammo. None of the "prohibited" brands void your warranty, so it will just be the usual routine of finding out what your gun likes and going with that.

Anyhoo, it is what it is. I am a huge fan of CCI Mini Mags and have a lot on hand, along with some other "approved" types of ammo, so I won't want for ammo.

The training value is different for each person.

I don't find that having a conversion kit for my EDC or having a .22lr clone of my EDC to be a significant benefit, as compared to the value of just shooting rimfire generally. The differences in weight, balance, and trigger pull, totally change how a person handles a gun. Plus we don't react the same way; our brains know we are shooting rimfire and don't employ the same bad habits that we exhibit when shooting centerfire.

I completely believe in using rimfire in a practice routine; I just caution those who think they'll be getting a "cheap substitute" for their EDC. If that is your goal, I think you'll be disappointed. But, if you're just wanting another rimfire gun for whatever value shooting rimfire has for you--go for it.

Congratulations on your 22 conversion.

I purchased several boxes of Winchester 22LR pre shortage and they were junk, lots of miss fires and poor accuracy.

Looks good. Having a .22 with the exact trigger and grip is a very good idea, I think, which is why I bought a Kadet 2 unit for my CZ. Wish it came with a loader, but I’m working on cobbling one up out of a cheap DS mag model. Came with two mags, and I recently picked up a couple more at a really good price.

The Kadet has eaten every thing I’ve fed it so far without a bobble, just like the Omega Convertible it understudies.

10-4

Wildcats?

No sir

I do not disagree with any thing you said. I am learning as pistols have never been my thing.
I start off with a 22 and end with my 9. I try and use what I did with the 22 (grip, sight alignment, trigger control, etc.) when I am shooting my 9.
Having 2 different pistols just saves me from swapping out for the cal. change.