Over the last few years, I've had the opportunity to work with Tippmann Arms' top-quality M4-22 series rimfire rifles. Patterned after the M4-style AR-15s, the .22 LR semi-automatics tested have included the Redline race gun along with the more budget friendly LTE series, available with a variety of polymer furniture color options. In those reviews, I focused more on the use of the M4-22s for competition and general purpose .22 LR plinkery. But as folks who follow rifle shooting trends well know, ARs have been steadily making their way into the great outdoors for some time now. Tippmann recognizes that there are plenty of sportsmen who want to enjoy the benefits of rimfire ammunition fired from rifles with authentic AR-pattern rifle features, controls and modularity.
This is why the Tippmann catalog includes two ideal options for nature lovers. One is the M4-22 Elite Bug Out Rifle, chambered in .22 LR, which is outfitted with a side-folding shoulder stock. In 2024, the line up was expanded to include the M4-22 WMR Magnum Elite Tactical Rifle. This is the company's first model chambered in the more potent .22 WMR rimfire cartridges, often referred to as the .22 Mag., which is an ideal caliber option for small game and varminting. Here is what this pair of carbines have to offer.
Tippmann M4-22 Elite Rimfire Rifles' Shared Features
The rifles discussed here are both members of Tippmann's Elite rifle series. This means that even though they are different models and calibers they do share several features in common. For the sake of brevity, let's look over the shared features here with the key differences reserved for later sections. I'll be referring to these two models as the Bug Out and the WMR respectively, for the sake of brevity.
The M4-22's are blow-back operated, rimfire semi-automatics with nickel-plated bolt assembles. The .22 LR and the .22 Mag. cartridges operate at a relatively sedate maximum pressure of 24,000 psi (.223 Remington tops out at 55,000 psi). This allows for the Tippmann flat-top upper receivers and Mil-Spec compatible lower receivers to be cast from aluminum rather than forged. This in turn saves on production costs while making these guns strong enough for regular use.
The 16-inch-long solid 4150 steel barrels are treated with a matte-black finish. The muzzles are threaded at 1/2x28 TPI and fitted with a removable A2 birdcage flash hider at the factory. The matte-black handguards are made from aluminum with integral Picatinny optics rails on top and M-LOK compatible accessory slots along the right, left and bottom flats. The rifles ship with a set of Tippmann's folding polymer sights. When folded, the sight set provides what could best be described as a close-quarters pistol sight picture. The front and rear sight are both fitted with ambidextrous release levers that allow them to pop up when pressed. When deployed, the front sight's post height and the rear sights' aperture windage are knob adjustable with no tools required.
The right side of the upper receiver is outfitted with a polymer ejection port cover, a brass deflector and a functional forward-assist button. The lower receiver's pins, external controls and the trigger group are all Mil-Spec and can be traded out with aftermarket AR-15 components. The one exception is the trigger guard which is integral to the cast lower receiver.
Many ARs ship with so-so Mil-Spec trigger groups, which work reliably but have a gritty feel and heavy six- to nine-pound trigger pulls. Tippmann sends the M4-22 rifles out the door with in-house single-stage fire control groups with curved, serrated triggers listed with four-pounds eight-ounces of trigger pull. The triggers of both rifles were smooth, broke cleanly and free of any creep. The Bug Out trigger broke with four-pounds six-ounces of trigger pull while the WMR's trigger was spot on at four-pounds eight-ounces according to a digital trigger gauge.
The Gen2 textured polymer grips are made for these rifles by Tippmann. The latch plates are of the dual sling loop variety while the castle nuts and six-position M4 aluminum buffer tubes are Mil-Spec. The Tippmann polymer shoulder stocks feature checkered release levers, two sling loop ports and checkered butt plates.
M4-22 Elite Bug Out Rifle
The .22 LR Bug Out's (A101256) definitive features include a modified bolt assembly and hinged buffer-tube adapter which allows the adjustable stock to fold over to the left side of the receiver. The shortened, flat-face bolt is fitted with dual guide rods, supporting two recoil springs, secured to a rearward plate. This assembly is fully contained inside of the upper receiver with an aluminum plug installed to fill the gap between the folding stock adapter and the empty buffer tube. The .22 LR caliber markings are found on the left side of the lower receiver. Fitted with a nine-inch long aluminum handguard, this rifle tips the scales at 5-pounds 10.3-ounces, without a magazine.
The Bug Out is configured to accept Tippmann's in-house 10- and 15-round magazines that have an external footprint which is similar to the classic straight-profile 20-round AR-15 5.56 magazines. The company also offers 25-round magazines with the curved profile of Mil-Spec 30-round 5.56 magazines. All three capacities are now available in six different colors, including the Flat Dark Earth (FDE) option shown here. I really like that the waffle-pattern body of these .22 LR magazines is actually a sliding cover. This cover can be released and pulled down—or completely removed—to expose the magazine's central channel. The channel accommodates a textured follower extension than can be pinched and pulled down to compress the magazine spring for easier loading. This rifle arrives with one black 25-round magazine in the box, but I included the FDE magazines to spice things up a bit.
M4-22 WMR Magnum Elite Tactical Rifle
The recently released WMR model's (A101256) number one claim to fame is its caliber. Some folks make the mistake of thinking that the .22 WMR cartridge is just an elongated .22 LR, which is not the case. The external cartridge-case dimension has notable differences including a slight tapper which has made it the bane of semi-automatic pistol and rifle designers for many years. You have to get things just right in order for the variety of .22 WMR ammunition currently available to cycle reliably in a box magazine fed rifle like this one. Tippmann pulled it off while maintaining the definitive features of their platform. The aluminum handguard is 12 inches, and the caliber markings are located on the underside of the barrel in-between the flash hider and the front edge of the handguard. The WMR weighs in at five-pounds 14-ounces without the magazine.
This configuration still uses the same style of bolt assembly, buffer, buffer spring and receiver-mounted buffer tube as most of its .22 LR compatriots. The buffer tube is mounted to the lower receiver in AR fashion, and the bolt rides back into the tube against a lightweight buffer. The only magazine configuration currently available is a straight-profile 15-round magazine in black. It had to be modified internally to accommodate the longer, .22 WMR cartridge which means the exterior cases are fixed in place. The two magazines tested—one shipped with the gun and a second was requested for the evaluation—would only accept 14-rounds of ammunition. Perhaps the company means a 14+1 ammunition capacity? Since both boxes held the same number of rounds and fed reliably throughout the course of testing, I'm guessing it’s simply a typo in the rifle's online specifications.
At the Range
At the shooting range, both versions of the M4-22 platform proved to be enjoyable to work with. The controls were utterly familiar while operating smoothly and properly. These guns are roughly a pound or so lighter than a typical unloaded centerfire M4 carbine, so the heft and balance are similar but a bit more agile. The .22 LR Bug Out experienced two failures to feed within the first 15-rounds fired. After that, there were no issues during the rest of the test using the three FDE 25-round magazines and a mix of .22 LR ammunition with loads ranging from practice to premium grade. The WMR experienced no malfunctions throughout the range session using the two magazines provided with a mix of full-metal jacket and expanding bullet rounds.
Readers who have seen the other Tippmann reviews will notice that those guns, and the two evaluated here, were all topped off with the same optic. It’s a Bushnell Rimfire 3-9x40 mm Rifle Scope featuring a DZ22 Dropzone 22 reticle (RR3940BS4; $100) mounted using an AR style Weaver One-Piece SPR scope mount (48377; $70). There's a reason for this. I've actually fitted these rifles with a half-dozen different scopes and mounts ahead of the range tests. Only the Bushnell and Weaver combination proved to be just barely tall enough to be compatible with the in-house polymer folding back-up sights. Other optics and mounts rest closer to the top of the receiver and would require the rear sight to be removed. In principle, I prefer to have back-up sights when possible. And since this Bushnell and Weaver set are a great fit for the guns, I've opted to use it once again.
Formal bench-rested accuracy testing was conducted at 50 yards by firing three, three-shot groups into paper targets. A LabRadar LX chronograph was used to measure average bullet muzzle velocity for 10-shot strings. The Bug Out was evaluated using CCI's bulk box Automatch .22 LR round along with Tippmann's own Standard and High velocity loads. The .22 WMR test ammunition included CCI, Federal and Remington offerings.
I've tested other .22 LR and .22 WMR rifles for this website using three-shot groups which have yielded group sizes of around one to 1.5 inches in size. The two Tippmann's did noticeably better. Accuracy can vary a good deal depending on the .22 LR ammunition used but the Bug Out demonstrated half-inch group potential with the Tippman High Velocity Load. The WMR consistently kept groups under an inch across the board with a best group of 0.35 inches and an average extreme spread of 0.66 inches. Here are all of the results:
Parting Shots
Tippmann Arms' series of M4-22 rimfire carbines provide a useful, reliable and enjoyable AR-platform shooting experience. The standard models are an ideal fit for those who engage in hunting, competitive, home defense and casual target shooting endeavors with ARs but would prefer to do so using less expensive .22 LR ammunition. This company's inclusion of the Bug Out and .22 WMR configurations in their catalog provides customers with options that can also comfortably embrace rimfire rifle roles including emergency preparedness, survival, camping, small-game hunting and just-for-fun guns for those who enjoy natural settings. The folding stock M4-22 Elite Bug Out Rifle currently has a suggested retail price of $724.95 and the M4-22 WMR Magnum Elite Tactical Rifle is listed for $769.95. For more information, visit tippmannarms.com.
