In between loads of laundry, and general house cleaning, I've spent some time weighing various bits and pieces of AR-15 hardware.  I'm compiling a weight matrix, so those of us who are interested in building a light weight rifle will know how to get the most anoriexic rifle possible lol.  

Anyway, I'm curious as to what a finished Cav Arms lower weighs. If anyone of you can pop that sucker off and weigh it, I'd be grateful.  I can put that in the spreadsheet and compare it against the LE buttstock equipped lower.  

Pop over to the "build it yourself" forum to see what I've got so far, if you're interested.  For example, did you know that a chopped carry handle rear sight weighs 4.5 ounces, while the ARMS # 40 only weighs 1.85...pretty cool, huh?  

(Ok, I'm getting loopy over this, but at least I'm off the streets hehehe).  

IIRC the Cav-Arms guys said the Cav-15 with a 16" lightweight barrel is about a full pound less than the lightest regular AR.

I've heard that it's light...I shot them an email earlier today...hopefully they'll let me know tomorrow.  I think it will be cool to have a knowledge base to compare the weight of different items.  

They have a thread in their forum with the weights listed.

Also, check here:

[url]http://groups.msn.com/TheMarylandAR15ShootersSite/weightinformation.msnw[/url]

Thanks, Calvert1...I guess they beat me to it lol.

Fenian, for what it's worth, my Cav lower is a factory, "Treetop" chop job to make it A1 length. Mine weighs 32 ozs, including all parts to make it go boom. Thanks.....Chad

Chad, how is that different from the regular Cav Arms stock?  Based on your weight, and what I've got from the MD AR-15 shooter's sight for what I assume is a stripped one, the lower parts kit and the buffer/spring weigh 5 oz.  (The weight listed on that site, minus your weight).  

So, we got yours at 2 lb exactly...about the same weight as an LE buttstock lower.  If I could just find out what a post ban CAR stock weighs, I'm in business.  

Fenian-
Apparently, the different makes have considerably different weights as far as the post-ban fixed tele's go. I've seen weights quoted from .54 to .85 lbs.
-Hobbit

Hobbit,

I guessed as much...well, if I had a better scale, I was switching stocks on a couple of rifles and could have weighed them...oh well...maybe next time.  But, I'll figure this all out...if I could get full lower under under 29oz, I'd be under the elusive 5lb mark.  I'll get there...long as I got a dremel lol.  

Hi, My post ban aluminum lower is actually a little bit lighter than my standard MKI Cav Lower.

It has a pinned CAR stock (with Carbine buffer and spring)hogue grip and RRA lower with all other standard parts.

The wieght complete was 1.97 lbs.
The wieght of the Cav was 1.98 lbs.
Cav says 1.94, could be variations in the parts I've used.

Insidently I weight two bolt/boltcarriers that looked identical and I was suprised at the wieght difference.

Also FYI and FWIW the BMAS flip up rear sight is 1.5 oz.

DPMS detachable fixed sight is also 4.5 oz.

The Hiperform ultra-light handguards (carbine length) are 6.0 oz.

Standard hanguard with single heatsheild including everything that is removed to install a FF tube is 6.7 oz.

All wieghts where taken on a scientific analytical grade digital $3K scale.


Edited to add: The CAV is going back on the lightwieght as soon as I get the MKII. 1.69 lbs, WOW.

Fenian, My cut down stock is A1 in length. The older,not produced anymore Cav lowers were longer than the 10 5/8 length A2 lower. So mine, cut down, really isn't that much different in weight.
Ridge's scale is much nicer than mine, so I listen to his advice. My old scale is pretty accurate once you get above 4 or 5 ounces. Mine doesn't do well with items under this. On mine, which only measures to 1/4 ounce, the delta ring assembly is 1 oz, a barrel nut 1.25 oz, the car handguards at 5.25 oz. I didn't weigh them together to get a more accurate reading, as I wasn't thinking. I use Ridge's figures for that.
Thanks.....Chad

Cool...thanks for the help guys!  The Model 1 lightweight kit is on order; hopefully they'll ship it tomorrow.  Right now, I'm gonn go ahead and use the CAR stock that comes with the kit.  If I can get a decent scale, one that goes up to about 10 lbs or so, then I can weight the finished rifle, upper and lower separate, and also together, so I (we) will have a difinitive answer as to what the lightest setup will be.