Me and my father are starting a "modern" build. Both of us are into milsurps. I have an RC(for now) K98 collection and he collects German handguns.

We went out of our norm and built an XM16E1 clone. Can't remember if I ever posted it but I will soon. After shooting it, I decided I wanted an AR-15 to take out and shoot more often. So came this build.

All we have in hand, a milled 80% lower.

The build will be..

Lower:
- Milled 80% Anderson.
- LPK - Depends on trigger.
- Trigger - I have a RRA 2 stage in my XM16, possibly one of them. I like the look of skeletonized(?) triggers and but they seem to be over budget and I like the feel of the RRA. Feel free to give recommendations.
- Grip - Opinions needed.
- Stock - Opinions needed.

Upper:
- Barrel - Integrity Arms 16" Lightweight, Melonite *Premium* .223 Wylde.
- Upper - Aero Precision Upper.
- Gas Block - Integrity Arms Low Profile Gas Block.
- Handguard - Brigand Arms Edge 15".
- BCG - Toolcraft Nickel Boron BCG.
- Charging Handle - Strike Industries extended latch charging handle.
- BUIS - None.
- What muzzle device or suppressor do you recommend?

Optics:
- Vortex Sparc AR I/II.

I don't know if this part layout is everywhere, but I copied it from isuhunter's thread. Just giving credit!

The Barrel, BCG, Charging Handle and upper are ordered. Everything else is to be ordered soonish. Budget is a limit.

I'm going for as light as I can get it with still being 100% reliable. Reliability first, weight a close second.

I need opinions on a light Stock/Grip especially. Also looking for a lightweight muzzle device.

Thanks!

shop around for a deal on a Franklin BFS Gen 3 (III) trigger.  lowest price I got on one of mine was $330.  that'll really change your excitement level.

or a Fostech Echo II.

yeah, not a sub-$100 trigger, sorry.

I have a few different grips and like them all about the same; magpul moe, bravo company and ergo. As far as stocks, the mft minimalist is pretty lightweight and seems to be a good value. I also like the bravo stock but it’s hard to go wrong with magpul either. There’s a lightweight parts list floating around here, check it out and go from there. Cheers

The Strike Industries J-Comp does a very good job for $35 bucks IMO...and it’s even a decent flash hider as well.

Well I'd love to try a Binary, that's almost half the budget I set for the entire build. The highest I'd go is a Geissele G2S.

Thanks! I actually kind of forgot about the light weight partslist. I'll take a look and grab whatever goes on sale first or pops up in the EE!

Looks to be fairly heavy. But then again I'm not sure if I'd want feather light for balancing reasons. Not sure. I'll look into it, thanks!

Barrel, upper, lower, charging handle and BCG are in. I'll get pictures in a few hours.

What do you guys want pictures of? Other than overall. This is an integrity arms barrel so I'm sure some people are wondering about them.

Imo, the best econo trigger is the hiperfire EDT or EDT2, they go for $60 on sale right now.
The mft minimalist is lightweight and very snug on the buffer tube.
I suppose the A2 grip is about as light as grips get. I've seen guys skeletonize them too. If you want a good grip though, I recommend the hogue with back strap, second choice is ergo.

Thanks for the trigger opinions! I will definitely look into them!

I ended up picking up a Colt M4 stock along with a Colt 4 pos tube and H marked buffer for $30 shipped. I know the M4 stocks are considered fragile but they're also light!

I was really looking at this.. https://www.valkyriedynamics.com/collections/ar-15-80-lower/products/ar-15-aluminum-grip-cobra-black-pre-sale but it's pretty heavy and not cheap. I will probably end up with a Hogue.

For a trigger you could look into an ALG ACT, it’s a nickel boron polished up mil-spec. Goes for $60 I believe? Somewhere around that. I have one and I like it. Also have a Geissle which is way better but for budget and a fun gun the ACT works great. If you want to pay a little more I’ve heard that LaRue MBT 2s triggers are amazing for the price. They go for $100

For pistol grips I’d look into Ergo grips. I love them and of course the cliche magpul ones.

As for stocks you can always choose a magpul one. Can’t wrong with that. The MFT minimalist as mentioned above is great too. Everyone seems to like the B5 SOPMOD stock as well although I have no experience with that one.

I'm really looking at the Hiperfire 24 series. They're at $100+/- right now.

Thanks for your opinions!!

Just ordered a Hiperfire 243G, Sig Romeo 5 red dot and a LPK!

Just need to get the Handguard now? Already have a Brigand Arms on hold, just could be a few weeks until I have the cash.

Handguard is taking a while as I found they're out of stock. They're working on it.

The Romeo 5, Hipershot and LPK will be here in a few days.

I'll try and get pics of my current progress tomorrow.

the larue mbt may still be on sale for $99 if not the hiperfire for $60 is pretty good. you mentioned a suppressor, if you are going to get one that has a qd mount i would factor that into your build. i perfer the moe grips