Setting Up .22 LR Training Rifle

This video demonstrates setting up a dedicated .22 Long Rifle training rifle. There have been ammo shortages that have affected whether or not you could really train and practice with your full-size gun, because that ammo was too expensive or hard to find. It makes sense to have a cheaper way to train than always firing full-power ammunition.

.22 LR Answers the Call

Having a dedicated .22 LR is a great way to do that. One good thing about the .22s in the AR community is they’ve gotten much more reliable in recent years. Whether you use a .22-caliber conversion kit or a purpose-built, dedicated .22-caliber only training rifle, you can get some great reliability, and when .22 ammo is on the shelf, you can get some great value.

How Similar Is It?

Rifle training with a sub-caliber is never going to be one-to-one with your full-size rifle, but you can make it as close as possible by making sure your training rifle is set up as consistently as possible. It doesn’t make sense to have a .22 rifle set up completely differently from the gun you’re trying to emulate while you’re training.

The video shows an AR that is set up for home defense, with sling, collapsible stock, back-up iron sight, light and laser, and Aimpoint red dot sight. Next to it is a .22 set up as a training rifle in a very similar way, with collapsible stock, back-up iron sight, and light and laser unit that is mounted in the same place and activated in the same way as that on the full-power AR.

Like any red dot worth having, an Aimpoint sight is expensive. By using a quick-release lever, it can be popped off one rifle and moved to the other within seconds, and you’re ready to go.