Mrs. DJ is finally going to take her first carbine class in a few weeks (she's had a couple of women-only pistol classes and one tactical pistol class).

She is going to be running one of my lighter weight ARs, but even my lightest (no light, RDS only) is still a bit heavy for her.  She's 5'3" and about 130 lbs (up from 105 before we had kids).

I'm going to build/buy her own AR once she's done the class and has some ideas what she likes about rails, grips, sites, slings, etc.  What I would like from you are recommendations on things you did to help you with size/weight.



Input from anyone is welcome, but I'm particularly interested in challenges the smaller arfcom ladies have had to solve that I may or may not even be aware of yet.

DJ, get her some 1# hand weights, use them for repetitive  movements.  MrsWind is shorter, but with Judo, Karate and weightlifting, she handles my 1911 like nothing.  When I had my dojo, I had all warm up with them and the women noticed results in 30 days

First, tell the wife good luck at her course. Depending on the course it's probably going to be a lot of hard work. I hope she gets a lot out of it.

Secondly, her size is no excuse for not being able to function just about any AR out there. Yes some are very heavy but the size excuse is old and played out. I will say the lighter the better for most women because we tend to give up if we are uncomfortable or tired. I built a pretty light weight AR for that very reason. I wanted to have it on hand for new shooters or weaker shooters to try out.
Here are the specs:
BCM 14.5 middy BFH
12 inch fortis rail
BCM gunfighter grip
Magpul AFG foregrip
Stock Magpul STR
Acog TA33-8
The receivers BCG are mil spec

The entire system weighs 7.5lbs empty, 8.2lbs loaded with a 30rd mags.
I fully admit to having low upper body strength but I run this gun with no trouble.

Lastly, to help with arm strength she can grab some 5-8lb hand weights and practice bringing them up like she would a rifle. Hold them there as long as possible and do it often. If you want her to get a better feel make her do it with your AR. Every time she should hold it a bit longer. She could also do some kettle bell routines. She could plank, push-ups or pull-ups. In this short amount of time it won't make a huge difference but any little but helps.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the feedback!  I'm sure she will do fine, but I want to build something that she looks forward to shooting vs. something she's willing to put up with.  

How do you like the fortis?  I hadn't seen it before and was thinking of something slick with just a top rail to save weight, but it looks to be very "skeletonized".  She also liked the AFG on one of my ARs, but not sure if she'll use that or a VFG depending on the length of the rail on whatever she chooses to shoot.

I really do like the rail. I didn't think I would at first but the lightness of it won me over. The only downfall I can see in it would be if she shot it enough to really heat up the barrel. If she doesn't wear a left handed glove and has small fingers she could burn them when gripping. That's way out there.

I have a VFG on my other AR and I prefer the AFG. The only reason for the VFG would be if she holds it instead of doing a thumbs forward grip. I still do thumbs forward with the VFG but it's just so much easier with the smaller one.

Great feedback, thank you!  She thinks she will have an easier time holding the rifle up longer with the VFG, and she might, but I know the bio-mechanical advantage of the thumb forward grip on aiming (something I had to unlearn/relearn along with extending my stock further than I thought I needed).  She hasn't shot enough to develop any real bad habits yet, like me , so I hope she'll come away with some skills and an appreciation for what works and what doesn't.