Any Colt Umarex 22LR M4 Owners?

[Boneyard1981]

Hey all, love my Colt 6920 so much I'm thinking about getting another--the Colt Umarex .22lr M4 ops version so I can do some cheap plinking. Although I had the chance to handle one--liking it immediately--after doing some reading I came across a number of owners who claimed it was a bear to clean. Wonder if anyone has had similar or opposite experiences.

[Gunsmoke]

Have handled, shot and saw one being disassembled.

In short; don't even go there.

Disassembly and cleaning is horrible. Here is the official instruction video.

Colt .22 M4 and M16 Rimfire Rifles - Field Stripping, Cleaning, & Adjustment - YouTube

Note out:
You need tools to fieldstrip.
You cannot take out the bolt carrier. (on a .22 semi-auto?)


I went over to the dark side and got me a M&P 15-22. Yep the Smith and Wesson. Sorry folks.

One drawback of the M & P 15-22, it's light. For some maybe to light.
But that's the only drawback I can truly give. It works. Period. Pull the trigger and it will go bang. It swallows almost everything I put in the mags. Including Winchester Wildcat ( the manufacturer states not to use that). I haven't shot any Remingtons yet, but am tempted to try. And when one is only tempted to do something stupid like putting Remington-ammo in a .22 semiauto, then that makes one wonder. The mags are not as chunky as the are with the Umarex.

And cleaning?

No tools needed for fieldstripping. No weird parts coming lose that don't have any function.
The bolt carrier comes out faster then one can poor a beer.
Don't like the trigger? Those S & W-guys did something horrible...
You can drop in any milspectriggergroup you can find! Yep. Just get your milspectrigger and drop it in like you would do on a true AR-15 and rock and roll, baby. Same goes for grips, stocks and anything els externally. Get your own goodies.

On the Umarex that ain't never gonna happen.

Here's a fun vid on it. It also shows how easy it field strips.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiPgTlKYikM
(field strip at 32:00. note the tool to get the pin out. I do not need that tool and I do not have kryptonite in my fingers)

My advise:

Don't go for the Umarex. Get the Smith and Wesson M & P 15-22. It's a better gun in many ways.
Period.

[Boneyard1981]

Thanks a lot for the rundown. This confirms what I've read elsewhere, just wanted to make sure there was no anti-Colt bias in their arguments. I'll definitely check out the SW as well as the SIG-522. Too bad about the Colt since it looked and felt close to my 6920. Hopefully, Colt/Umarex will realize the shortfalls you pointed out.

[Gunsmoke]

As far as I've read they haven't.

And that still doesn't make up for the other shortcomings I mentioned through the vids I posted. You can tinker with the Smith like you would with a 5,56 AR.

If you opt for the SIG 522 you won't get an AR.
What you will get is possibly the best tactical 22 outthere.

It is by far way better then the Umarex. It is better then the Smith, but then again it ain't no AR-design.

Either way: SIG or Smith are better guns then the UmarexWaltherbadmarketingideaofColttohavetherename draggeddownthegutter-mishap...

[klw]

Umarex makes horrible guns. I owned a Walther made by them. Sent it back four times. Walther could not make it work. I've NEVER heard anything nice about anything Umarex made.

[CWO4USCGRET]

Although my Colt/Walther, imported by Umarex, M4gery .22 works and hasn't misfired of misfed, it is mechanically different then an AR as is my Sig 522. But the "parent" gun, the Sig 556 isn't an AR either. It takes some AR and some AK features and Swiss ingenuity, and makes a good rifle and .22 plinker.

S&W's M&P 15-22 is the closest to an AR in design as you can get. If I were to do it all over again I'd still buy the S&W and if I hadn't have already owned a Sig 556 I would have bought both the 556 and 522 when they were giving you a 522 when you bought a 556.

I do have an odd-ball "tactical" .22; it is a Professional Ordnance Carbon 15-22. Professional Ordnance is no longer in business; Bushmaster has rights to the "Carbon 15" name now. My Carbon 15-22 weighs approximately 4-3/4# without any sights but loaded with 10 rounds of ammo. It is unique; you can turn the charging handle over and make the gun a single shot bolt action and you can turn an adjustment screw to preset the recoil spring tension, fine tuning the bolt lockup to a specific ammo. It is a fun and accurate gun; I bought it for $300 6 years ago complete in the box with paperwork, sling, and 3 magazines.

[dandak]

So are the problems with this just with the cleaning? I was kicking one over too. Dont mean to be different here, but I am one of the types that almost NEVER cleans 22's. Had a semi auto winchester 190 for maybe 10 years of shooting before I cleaned it. My JC higgins semi goes similiar periods before cleaning. I can put up w/PITA cleaning on a 22 since i so rarely do it. (BTW, I do regularly clean all non rimfire guns).

[Gunsmoke]

Maybe it's a matter of preference.

But i think that any AR-style rifle (or even any other rifle for that matter) should be maintained to a certain level by the shooter. And to me that means that the bolt carrier must be easy to remove. .22 is messy. You know that, I know that, we all know that. Shooting it to the point you get disgusted by the mere looks of the gun is not my idea of caring for me presious.

A dirty semi-auto sooner or later will start to malfunction. I haven't seen any semi-auto rifle that comes with an instruction advice not to clean the rifle - period. And that includes the Walther. And I have seen many semi-auto rifles misfunction because of dirt.
What also was a huge setback for me personally was the fact that you have to set up the rifle for one brand of ammo to ensure functionality. The Smith for example hasn't got that feature. For the simple fact it doesn't need it. I have tested about a small dozen brands in mine without any major issues.

Another must have feature of the AR-rifle is the fact that it is a tinker toy. Personal preference for stocks, grips, triggers - you name it - and the huge availability of those parts demand for a gun like these AR-clones to be compliable with those aftermarketparts.
I still do not understand why Walther made their rimfireseries the way they are. Totally ignoring the aftermarket possibilities and therefor losing the interest of those shooters that want to personalize their rifle to get the best result.

And I'm not alone with these views. When the WaltherUmarexColts came out, they generated a lot of interest. My gundealer had a few in stock and sold a couple. Then the SHTF in the form of the S & W M&P 15-22. They sold like hot buns. After a year or so the dealer decided to ship the WaltherColts back to where they came from. He knew he wasn't going to sell a single one of them, because every body was going for the Smiths, which were standing in the same gunrack.

[chucksolo69]

I for one like my Colt M4 and DO NOT view it like some other folks do as a "training" rifle for a true AR. The gun IMHO was meant to be a "fun" gun in the same vein as the GSG-5 MP5 clone or the SIG 522. I personally don't like ALL plastic guns so would never think about getting the MP-15, no matter how close to a real AR is. You have to take these guns in context of what they were intended for. I believe they are "fun" guns, nothing more. I have done rudamentary cleaning on my Colt M4 .22 and it has performed well now for over 2 years.

[bayouboy]

I for one like my Colt M4 and DO NOT view it like some other folks do as a "training" rifle for a true AR. The gun IMHO was meant to be a "fun" gun in the same vein as the GSG-5 MP5 clone or the SIG 522. I personally don't like ALL plastic guns so would never think about getting the MP-15, no matter how close to a real AR is. You have to take these guns in context of what they were intended for. I believe they are "fun" guns, nothing more. I have done rudamentary cleaning on my Colt M4 .22 and it has performed well now for over 2 years.

This is a perfect description of my experience with the M4 22. I bought mine when they were first released and have enjoyed the heck out of it. In that time, I think I've cleaned it a grand total of twice!