Lightest weight 20" AR15, who has it?

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Lightest weight 20" AR15, who has it?

Posted: 4/26/2017 6:20:05 PM EDT

So inspired by someone's thread, who has the lightest weight 20" AR15 Rifle? Curious how light it can get for a 20".

Posted: 4/26/2017 6:37:13 PM EDT

[#1]

M16A1 clone would be pretty light.

Take that rifle, put a BCM KMR on it, delete the forward assist or get a new receiver, add a carbine buffer tube with a lightweight stock and an H buffer. I'd say that be pretty light without spending a shitton on lightweight receivers and the like.

You bastard, now I want to do that.

Posted: 4/26/2017 6:44:39 PM EDT

[#2]

I'm building a 20" rifle right now with a SP1 upper, Faxon Firearms 20" Gunner barrel and original M16 stock.. not sure what it's going to weigh, but it's not going to be heavy!

Quoted:
You bastard, now I want to do that.

View Quote

You should, and then post it.

I'm going to take a picture of mine on a scale and post it when complete.

Posted: 4/26/2017 6:54:46 PM EDT

[#3]

M16 (not A1; deleting the forward assist will save some weight) clone, slickside upper, is a very good start. Using a slickside flat-top with DDA1.5 irons may save a few ounces. It wouldn't be the lightest, but it would be a useful configuration for more than just lightweight bragging rights.

Posted: 4/27/2017 3:14:08 AM EDT

[#4]

According to the manufacturer listed parts weights, using a Faxon Gunner barrel and carbon fiber handguard with a GWACS lower would get you to around 5.5 lbs

Faxon Gunner 20" barrel- 1 lbs 8.32 oz
Faxon gas block w/ tube - ~2 oz
A2 flash hider w/ crush washer- ~2.2 oz
Faxon 15" CF handguard/GI barrel nut - ~ 9 oz
Arisaka 3" M-Lok cowitness rail - .4 oz
Aero Slickside Upper - 6.5 oz
Standard charging handle- 1.2 oz
Daniel Defense A1.5 front/rear sight- 2.8 oz
Full auto BCG - ~12 oz
GWACS complete lower - 1 lbs 12 oz
Total- 88.42 oz

Posted: 4/27/2017 3:36:48 AM EDT

[#5]

Mine is 6lbs with irons. Modern build, not a clone. I could easily drop it below 6 by adding a low mass carrier.

Posted: 4/27/2017 3:45:23 AM EDT

[#6]

Mine weighs a bit over 6 pounds, there are some things I could do to lower the weight a bit, low mass semi auto carrier would drop a few ounces, go with a slick side over a regular port door and FA, but it does not weigh to much for me, balances out just fine for what I do with it.

Posted: 5/16/2017 10:28:09 AM EDT

[#7]

All I have is a bathroom scale to weigh mine on

Posted: 5/16/2017 12:52:22 PM EDT

[#8]

My Model 604 clone - 6 lbs. 14.4 ozs. (including empty 20-round USGI magazine)

Attached File

Posted: 5/16/2017 1:07:05 PM EDT

[#9]

I can tell you which direction NOT to go if you want lightweight, but this is a very fun 8.5 lb rifle!

Posted: 5/16/2017 1:14:03 PM EDT

[#10]

You could get under 5 pounds. If you really wanted to you could get right around 4.

ETA: That's with sights and without plastic receivers.

Posted: 5/16/2017 1:17:02 PM EDT

[#11]

Quote History

Quoted:
I can tell you which direction NOT to go if you want lightweight, but this is a very fun 8.5 lb rifle!

https://i.snag.gy/S9vxVz.jpg

View Quote

I've got a rifle identical to it except for the VFG and I thought it was just under or at 10lbs.

Posted: 5/16/2017 1:19:16 PM EDT

[#12]

Quote History

Quoted:

I've got a rifle identical to it except for the VFG and I thought it was just under or at 10lbs.

View Quote

Could be. I had to stand on my bathroom scale with and without the rifle so it's probably off a pound or so

Posted: 5/16/2017 5:57:31 PM EDT

[#13]

Quote History

Quoted:
I can tell you which direction NOT to go if you want lightweight, but this is a very fun 8.5 lb rifle!

https://i.snag.gy/S9vxVz.jpg

View Quote

HBAR or Govt profile?

Getting rid of my HBAR barrel upper and getting a Govt profile upper made made a world of difference in weight and balance with my 20" C7A1 clone.

Posted: 5/17/2017 10:05:41 AM EDT

[#14]

Quote History

Quoted:

HBAR or Govt profile?

Getting rid of my HBAR barrel upper and getting a Govt profile upper made made a world of difference in weight and balance with my 20" C7A1 clone.

View Quote

Govt profile. It balanced nicely and feels great to shoot but it's definitely still my heaviest AR

Posted: 5/17/2017 11:09:01 AM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
So inspired by someone's thread, who has the lightest weight 20" AR15 Rifle? Curious how light it can get for a 20".

View Quote

The lightest profile you'll find is going to be the .625" aka "pencil barrel".

Posted: 5/17/2017 11:25:30 AM EDT

[#16]

Quote History

Quoted: According to the manufacturer listed parts weights, using a Faxon Gunner barrel and carbon fiber handguard with a GWACS lower would get you to around 5.5 lbs

Faxon Gunner 20" barrel- 1 lbs 8.32 oz
Faxon gas block w/ tube - ~2 oz
A2 flash hider w/ crush washer- ~2.2 oz
Faxon 15" CF handguard/GI barrel nut - ~ 9 oz
Arisaka 3" M-Lok cowitness rail - .4 oz
Aero Slickside Upper - 6.5 oz
Standard charging handle- 1.2 oz
Daniel Defense A1.5 front/rear sight- 2.8 oz
Full auto BCG - ~12 oz
GWACS complete lower - 1 lbs 12 oz
Total- 88.42 oz

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Buffer? The military uses the H6(?) buffer in carbine tubes w/ 20" A2 bbls. I'm sure if you use an adjustable gas block & turn down the gas, you could use a lighter buffer & bolt carrier.

Posted: 5/17/2017 1:01:07 PM EDT

[#17]

Get a V7 light wt upper a GM light wt 20" 1:12 or 1:14 use a V7 Ti BCG with a BCM 15" KMR & V7 Ti hardware

Posted: 5/17/2017 2:05:49 PM EDT

[#18]

A 20" pencil barrel is 6.8 oz heavier than a 14.5" pencil barrel. So you're looking at almost half a pound over what a shorter rifle is going to weigh (more if you use a shorter hand guard on the shorter rifle) and the center of gravity is going to be further out.

Posted: 5/17/2017 5:52:37 PM EDT

[#19]

Quote History

Quoted:

Buffer? The military uses the H6(?) buffer in carbine tubes w/ 20" A2 bbls. I'm sure if you use an adjustable gas block & turn down the gas, you could use a lighter buffer & bolt carrier.

View Quote

That's a good point, H6 weighs around 2.4 oz more than a standard carbine buffer for around 90.8 oz.

A Faxon lightweight carrier weighs 8.6 oz, and an SLR Sentry weighs 1.2 oz, with a CAR buffer it would be around 84 oz.

Posted: 6/25/2017 10:36:43 PM EDT

[#20]

I'll weigh mine tomorrow, don't have the best scale for it. Hoping for under 7lb, though it will probably be just over.

Posted: 6/27/2017 6:52:51 AM EDT

[#21]

Fulton Armory Legacy Rifle. Check it out.

Posted: 6/28/2017 12:26:58 PM EDT

[#22]

Built an 18" for someone for 3gun. 5.75 lb with red dot and doesn't move. Weighed with wheeler trigger gauge.

Aero slick upper
Whisky Arms aluminum BC
JP SCS with white spring and all weights
SLR Sentry 6 gas block
JM comp
Cav Arms Lower (he has a beard and loves the slick, lineless stock)
Odin works skeletonized looking hex kinda pattern handuard - love it
Faxon 18" gunner barrel, but you could sub in 20" here for only a few oz more.
TRS 25 red dot on solid riser, could shave another oz here.

I am actually jealous. I had the old Cav lower on two different builds and scrapped each one for various reasons, mostly 6.8 mag feed problems or trigger incompatibility. He tried it once and fell so in love with it I cant take it back. Now I really wish I had one like his for local short burner stages and a heavier gun for longer real 3 gun matches.

Posted: 7/2/2017 1:51:23 PM EDT

[#23]

Bathroom scale's aren't any good at referencing the weight of a rifle Buuut...

Just weighed....found out analog bathroom scale is totally useless for this purpose so, here's some pictures of both of my light weight builds, 20" and 14.5" pinned/welded.
Both are wearing Faxon Firearms "Gunner" profile barrels, 20" is an SP1 receiver, with NM front sight post.

Notice the adjustment on the Magpul CTR stock... yeah, A1 length stock is best length stock. (built it before the new 20" to replace the 20" BCM A4 I traded my father). Turns out it looks just the same as the A1 length of pull. With the scope and rings on the carbine, it feels a little heavier than the 20" rifle. The A4 was by far the heaviest, and had that darn A2 stock...strongest best stock but damn it... needs to be A1 length.

But a very similar build in the online Gunstruction, yielded 6lb 14.88 ounces.