The Best .22 Rimfire Replica Rifles to Own

Affiliate Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We earn from qualifying purchases.

All of us are into exotic firearms, or you wouldn’t be trudging through this online column on the subject. If you’re anything like me, the weirder the better. The rub is that the toxic combination of draconian gun laws and basic economics conspire to make it tough to get our mitts on some of the more intriguing examples. Anybody with a little spare front pocket change can land a no-frills AR these days. The fancy stuff will still set you back, but High Point and DIY parts guns have put America’s rifle within reach of most any law-abiding citizen of reasonable means. However, what about the truly rarefied iron? The only way to land a real-deal HK G36 or a vintage German Sturmgewehr is to be independently wealthy and in possession of some fairly onerous government licenses. Those guns are out there, but they are both lyrically expensive and really hard to source. What’s a brother to do?

The Rimfire Revolution

If you’re not just crazy picky about the details, the flower of modern engineering prowess has ably populated the market with some simply fascinating .22 rimfire replicas of some seriously cool tactical firearms. Some of these guns are out of production but available on the used firearms market. Others are sold brand new at your local gun emporium. The charade is not quite perfect, but they’ll pass for the real steel in dim light.

Most of the guns we are about to discuss are the right size and nearly the right weight. The sundry switches and ditzels are typically right where they should be. The manual of arms usually mimics that of the parent weapons nicely. All of them operate via unlocked blowback. The biggest shortcoming is recoil. A .22 rifle will just never jump around quite like an AK47 or an MP5. However, if you’re looking for an inexpensive way to turn .22 bullets into noise and look awesome doing it, these are your tools.

The AR15

If you already have an AR15 lying about, about $150 will land you a drop-in .22 rimfire converter. The conversion parts replace the standard bolt/bolt carrier group and are actuated by the host charging handle. Magazines typically include spacers that allow them to fit in a standard AR magwell. The replacement bolt assembly includes a chamber insert that adapts the 5.56mm chamber to accept and feed .22 rimfire rounds.

I am on my third one of these. An early version from the 80’s was a bit finicky. My latest version from CMMG runs like a rat after a raisin. You can even add a bolt weight and trip lever to get this rig to run on rock and roll with a full auto lower receiver. Tragically, I have tried mine with a forced reset trigger, and results have been spotty.

A generation ago, an Italian company imported the AP74. This was a decent rendition of an early M16 replete with triangular open flash suppressor and black plastic furniture. The gun fed via a 15-round single-stack pistol magazine that fit into the fake magazine that was itself an integral part of the lower receiver. Curiously, the safety and magazine release were both proprietary. Regardless, the AP74 shot fairly well and looked cool at a time when AR15 rifles were not quite so commonplace. Replacement magazines are essentially unobtainium today.

The Mitchell AK22

I got this rifle from Santa Claus back when I was in High School. It is a stamped receiver AKM in only the broadest terms, but it came along when legit AK’s were both rare and stupid expensive. This gun featured the obligatory ranch gate safety and fed from either 15 or 28-round magazines. The 28-rounders sort-of mimic the basic geometry of the actual rifle mags.

The AK22 orbits around a stamped steel receiver. The gas system components are just there for looks. Despite its pressed steel receiver, the rear sling attachment point is on the left side like that of the milled-receiver Kalashnikovs. Curiously, a few of these guns were registered and converted to full auto prior to the 1986 ban. I have even seen one registered AK22 receiver that was subsequently used to create a 5.45x39mm AKS-74U Krinkov. That gun cost a holy fortune.

Full Size AK options

There is a drop-in rimfire conversion available for stamped receiver AK rifles made in Croatia that can typically be found for $150 to $200. I installed mine in an early stamped receiver AKM from Palmetto State Armory and experienced no particular difficulties. The right side of the gun looks a little weird as the kit does not fill up the ejection port, but it has run just fine with standard-velocity ammo.

This kit includes a full-length .22-caliber barrel sleeve and a 25-round polymer magazine. All of the switches and controls run just like those of the larger gun. Due to eccentricities among the literally dozens of stamped Kalashnikov-variant rifles floating about out there, some fitting may be required on oddball platforms.

The HK G36

There are two ways to get into a semiauto rimfire G36 assault rifle. The first is the Nomad dress-up kit from Archangel. This kit consists of a polymer shell that accepts a standard Ruger 10/22 rifle. The end result can be fitted with either an aluminum flash suppressor or a polymer fake suppressor and looks great. However, the switches are all wrong, and, underneath, it’s still just a 10/22. Big boxy magazines complete the look. 

Heckler and Koch actually offers a whole line of replica rimfire guns that mimic their HK416, MP5, and G36. The G36 looks and feels like the real deal. It even uses the same spring-loaded midline charging handle that reciprocates with the bolt. The polymer stock folds just like that of the German assault rifle, and the controls are spot-on. With an MSRP of $679, the .22-caliber HK G36 is obviously a bit spendy for its genre. However, mine is beautifully executed. Additionally, unlike a lot of autoloading .22 rifles, my copy has been just crazy reliable.

The MP5

My MP5 replica was originally imported by German Sport Guns about 15 years ago. It originally came with an aluminum fake suppressor that covered its unnaturally long 16-inch barrel. Original buttstocks intended for the actual German submachine gun would not fit, but it looked great. So great, in fact, that HK sued GSG and forced them to castrate it. There are lots of subsequent versions that honestly look a bit lame. This is one seriously complicated .22 rifle. The inside looks like a sewing machine. However, I have pushed A LOT of ammo through mine and found it to run fairly well. 

To be right, this gun needs to be registered as a short-barreled rifle. In the past, that has required a boatload of paperwork and a vile $200 transfer tax. As of 1 January 2026, the paperwork requirement will remain but the tax goes away. I am still hopeful that the registration requirements will eventually die a natural death as well. For now, I am just thankful to be free from that unconstitutional tax.

Cutting the barrel is easy enough. I got a machinist buddy to do that with an EDM machine, but it could be done manually if you’re meticulous. I sourced an MP5-style flash suppressor online to make the muzzle look right.

Old School Cool

The StG44 was the world’s first true mass-produced assault rifle. Everything else—the M16, the AKM, the FN SCAR, etc—they all spawned from that original German wartime gun. They only made about half a million copies, and most of these were gobbled up on the battlefields of WW2. Combine this relative rarity with the fact that they were all full auto, and the few guns available to collectors today are just stupid expensive.

There is a company based out of Kentucky called D-K Production Group that offers a splendid semiauto new-made replica chambered for the original 7.92x33mm kurz round. These guns sport an MSRP of $6,200 and are out of stock. If you want to get into a shootable StG44 without robbing a bank or hocking a kidney, there is just one way to get there. That’s the Mauser STG44 .22.

This gun is the right size and weight at nearly 10 pounds. The guts are complicated, and the gun is pretty tough to clean and service. A lot of keyboard commandos have griped about reliability. My copy shoots fine with zippy ammo. It also looks just crazy cool. Aside from the magazine-loading button on the right side of the magazine, the StG44 .22 could pass for the real thing.

These guns have been imported by a couple of different companies, and availability can be spotty. They are reliably available on the used gun market. I have found them for sale new in the $400 range.

This same company offers a .22 rimfire version of the German MP40 submachine gun. This gun is offered in both rifle and pistol versions for around $379. The rifle version includes the underfolding stock and a truly ghastly fake suppressor to cover the unnaturally long 16-inch barrel. The pistol version has the appropriately-pruned barrel and no stock. 

My gun was the rifle version. I did a BATF Form 1 and cut the barrel back before sourcing a replacement barrel nut online. The end result looks pretty epic at a mere fraction of the cost of a vintage gun. Reliability and performance are about the same as the StG44 .22. The gun likes spunky ammo, but has run well for me.

Ruminations

These rimfire replicas will always be toys. They will do anything that a Ruger 10/22 will do and look fabulous doing it. However, they are usually a bit more cumbersome. You could indeed stalk tree rats with a 10-pound StG44 .22, but there are easier ways to skin that cat.

If, like most normal people, you lack the means to drop fifty grand on a transferable StG44 or HK MP5, these .22-caliber versions make for great stand-ins without breaking the bank. Additionally, for now at least, .22 ammo is both available and relatively cheap. The .22LR really is America’s cartridge. We consume them by the zillions every year. These military cosplay rimfire guns represent a some seriously cool way to help out with that.

---