Hey everyone. As many of you know, we've had a thread for many years where the OP maintained a list of the lightest AR parts available. The ultralight crowd has congregated there ever since, sharing builds and ideas. Here's a link to that thread, where, IMO, all the discussion about ultra light builds should continue. I've asked mods to lock this thread, it's only for posting info about the database and the rules. Actual talk about parts weights belong here...

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_118/638524_Lightweight-Parts-List-with-WEIGHTS--AR-15-.html

When the list was no longer being updated, I decided it was time for me to contribute to the group in a productive manner. I gathered together all the data from the main thread, but added tons of manufacture data, info from online reviews and retailers, YouTube videos, other forums, and more. I've even contacted several manufacturers to get data direct from the source in cases where they don't publish it on their www site. The result of all that data entry is the Google sheet linked below. The idea for this database is two-fold:

1. that it would become a "living" document that belonged to the arfcom community, as opposed to a list maintained by a single user. The current sheet is editable, and my hope is that when early adopter arfcommers  get new parts, they will post the weight data there for the benefit of all. The database is far from complete at this time. It is, effectively, a start...hopefully a helpful one.

2. That it would expand beyond parts that are best-in-class with respect to weight. To be sure, the data is sorted with weight as the primary concern, but few people build a rifle using every single one of the lightest parts from each category. Many people build a rifle where weight is a consideration, but it isn't the #1 factor. Maybe for balance they want to run light parts out front, but a heavy stock. Regardless of what you want to build, if you care about weight, this database is for you! In short, it should have a much wider audience, and participation, than just the ultralight community that inspired it.

Rules

Because this data is accessible and editable to anyone with the link, there's some risk to it being screwed up by yahoos or people that don't know how to use Google sheets very well. Because of that, I've saved a copy that isn't editable, just in case. I will update that file occasionally to keep my backup current, but for the good of all, please observe the following rules:

1. Do not change the format of any sheet, the columns etc. I'm already in the process of making them more descriptive / informative / better, and am certainly willing to entertain suggestions, but people randomly changing the format all over the place will cause chaos, so don't do it!

2. If you add a part / weight, leave your screen name in the comments field for the data you add. This not only shows who contributed what, it allows people to contact people that have used said part to ask them questions etc.

3. There's only two weights reported here, manufacturer and user. Manufacture means DIRECTLY from the source, like packaging, manuals, the company www site, promotional materials, or press releases. Pretty much everything else is a "user" weight...even if said user is an authorized retailer or whatever.

4. The data should always be left sorted by manufacturers weight. If you want to sort a different way, save a copy of the file for your own use and sort it however you'd like. The data is free, do what you wish with it, but for the sake of consistency and the designed purpose of the spreadsheet, keep it sorted as stated. Also, PLEASE pay attention to what you sort as well. Some sheets have multiple sub-categories, and blindly selecting / sorting will intermix everything / cause chaos.

5. Actual data is in black text. The light gray text is merely a placeholder that makes it easier to do simple sorting operations. So if you are adding a weight for your new BCG, the M weight would be gray text and the U weight would be the weight you got from your scale and it'd be in black text. Alternatively, maybe you see a new product get announced and you want to post the manufacturer's claimed weight. In that case, the M weight would be in black, and user data in gray.

6. All weights are in ounces. If your scale isn't capable of greater than tenth of an oz accuracy, the data probably isn't going to be accurate enough to be helpful to others and shouldn't be added to the database.

7. Don't erase other people's data. If someone claims an item weights 6.5oz...And you buy one and weigh it and it's 7.0oz, don't just erase their info...Put your data in the comments field and we'll sort it out. It's possible you have a newer generation or part, or maybe the original weighed used a crappy scale. Either way, it's better to get to the bottom of the issue than to just delete stuff willynilly.

8. If you ARE the manufacturer and want to contest data here, I would LOVE to hear from you. Accuracy is the most important thing. Feel free to contact me any time. I set up a Google account just for this purpose. It's: [email protected]

The link:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1I6Qb6kAJjChEJ56qhznv2291c5UHRDyNXuSXGObumqM/edit?usp=drivesdk