I took advantage of the Father's Day coupon and ordered an ST-22 upper. I ordered a standard M4 upper and asked for skinny CAR guards rather than fat M4 guards. I also went with the railed gas block as my main carbine, a Stag 3, has a similar block up front. It arrived on Friday, less than two weeks after ordering it.
Spike's packs these things VERY well. They use a heavy kraft paper to secure the upper, rather than packing peanuts. I hate packing peanuts as they always cause a mess, plus the paper is more environmentally friendly. After removing all of the paper, I uncovered the bubble-wrapped upper, which was sealed in a plastic bag. The box contained the barrel upper receiver, bolt assembly, and charging handle. No spare parts or instructions were included. There was a business card, along with a yellow piece of paper with a few "warnings". This paper mentioned that the upper was test fired with Federal Bulk Pack, Federal Bulk Pack is the recommended ammo, and to avoid running the upper wet. It also mentions that all NFA rules apply and to avoid lead bullets (as opposed to copper plated/washed).
I always disassemble any new firearm to give it a cleaning, as most are covered in preservative. The ST-22 was practically bone dry, with a few specs of carbon on the bolt face and some unburnt powder (?) in the barrel. I sprayed some CLP in the bore and ran a bore snake through it. The rifling was sharp and clean. I sprayed some CLP on a rag and wiped down the interior and exterior surfaces of the charging handle, as well as the bolt rails. Spike's says to run it dry and Internet reports confirm that, so I decided not to run it wet like a traditional AR bolt.
I mounted a Brownells flip-up sight on the front gas block, a Magpul FDE MBUS on the receiver, along with a Primary Arms M4 Clone. The upper receiver has white T-marks on the rail, along with a laser-engraved Spider logo on the top and Spike's Tactical ST-22 on the left hand side.
The upper was mated to a Spike's Tactical lower in the "SAR" serial range. This lower was built with a DPMS LPK, Magpul Polymer FDE Trigger Guard, Tango Down FDE Battle Grip, mil-spec receiver extension, a Midwest Industries QD sling plate, and a Stag Arms M4 stock that was painted with Coyote Aluma-Hyde II. The lower has a standard buffer and action spring in the receiver extension, just in case I decide to use it on a standard rifle. The ST-22 does not require a buffer or action spring, so removing them can save weight and cost.
I loaded up some mags before heading to the range. Mags were 15-rd and 26-rd magazines from Brownells, made by Black Dog Machine. The 15-rd mags could be filled to capacity but the 26-rd mags got a bit sluggish around the 20-rd mark. I assume they'll loosen up with usage. I wasn't impressed with the plastic on the magazines. It seems a bit hard compared to the plastic of a P-Mag. The BDM mags also had a lot of flashing left over and were a bit rough. That said, they did end up functioning perfectly.
Out at the range, I did a quick boresight to get the red dot on paper. This first group, shot with Federal Bulk Pack, had about a 1" spread with two shots touching. After getting the RDS sighted in, I lined up my irons (plastics?) to match. I fired a few more shots to get those to hit where I wanted. Zeroing both the RDS and irons took 24 rounds, using 3-shot groups.
Once I was zeroed, I set up some steel targets and started plinking. I brought along some
Federal AutoMatch and
Aguila SuperExtra Standard Velocity. Both are lead-tipped and generally fed fine. I did not observe any lead build up on the feedramp. The standard velocity Aguila did not reliably cycle the gun. In one 15-rd magazine, I had two identical malfunctions, both of which were failure to eject (not failure to extract). I switched back to Federal Bulk Pack and no problems for the rest of the day.
I put about 180 rounds through it, doing rapid fire, slow fire, and double-taps. I plan to try shooting prone with a 26-rd mag as a field-expedient monopod. Overall, I was VERY please with how the gun performed.
The only downside to the upper, which is actually common to all Atchisson-based conversions/uppers, is that bolt hold-open is caused by the magazine follower and does not rely on the standard bolt catch. Removing the magazine causes the bolt to close. This makes it different from a standard AR-15 in that, in those guns, when the mag runs dry, the bolt locks open, you eject the magazine, insert a fresh one, and hit the bolt release to chamber a round. On the Spike's ST-22 (and other Atchisson-based conversions/uppers), when the mag runs dry, the follower will hold the bolt open, you eject the magazine (which I had to pull out, since the bolt was holding it in by the follower), insert a fresh mag, and then operate the charging handle to chamber a round. On the upside, this helps reinforce ripping the mag from the gun during a magazine change.
Once I got home, I found cleaning to be a breeze. I CLPed and Boresnaked the barrel. I disassembled the bolt assembly using
these instructions. I used some CLP and a tooth brush to clean off the residue, which was very easy due to the nickle plating. I wiped the rails, guide rod, bolt surfaces, and charging handle with a rag that had some CLP on it, and reassembled.
I think the ST-22 will be some of the best money I've spent on firearms. After taking a carbine class, I've realized how important technique and practice are. Practicing gets expensive when factory .223 is running $400-$500 per thousand. Reloads are cheaper, but good luck finding primers. Running a .22LR upper allows me to practice the fundamentals of shooting for about 10% of the cost. The upper will pay for itself in less than 1,500 rounds.
No, it's not as glamorous as a 6.5 Grendel upper, or some Leupold glass, or some Uber Tactical Defense platinum free floating handguards. But, the ST-22 will probably see more use than any other gun I own.
