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Posted: 2/28/2017 4:31:04 PM EDT
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Spikes Tactical lower
16" 1/7 M4 profile barrel YHM low profile gas block MI M LOK 12.625 free float light weight rail EGW comp/flash suppressor Rise Armament single stage 3.5 pound trigger KNS Pins Mission First Battle link minimalist stock Inforce 400 lumen WML MAGPUL K2 grip MAGPUL front and rear BUIS Holosun circle dot optic Nickel-Boron Mil-Spec BCG H2 heavy buffer BCM Gunfighter charging handle It weighs less or equal to my Colt 6520 A2 
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Thanks!! It's amazing how much difference a few pounds and some choice accessories make in the handling of a rifle.
I sighted the Holo sight and irons today at 25 yards. That HoloSun is slick And I'm really impressed with the Rise Armaments trigger. Very clean and crisp with a short reset. Great little rifle. |
| Looks nice Ben, I'm guessing it weighs about 6 lbs as is. If you want to get well below 5 lbs, let us know and we'll offer some suggestions. My own ultralight AR-15, in 6.8 SPC, weighs 4 lbs, 7 oz empty with iron sights while other, more extreme examples reported here end up well below 4 lbs. Holding one of these is a real eye opener. good luck - CW |
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Quoted:
I'm considering a LW build. I'd like to hear some of those suggestions. - Faxon 16" pencil barrel, middy gas, no muzzle device, either no threads, or use a thread protector. - Several companies are making FF handguards that weight about 8 oz or less including the barrel nut. Some are carbon fiber, but my favorite is aluminum-magnesium alloy, made by Bravo Company. I selected the KMR10 model, which just covers the gas block and weighs about 7 oz including a titanium nut. No indexing of the gas tube required, very well made. - LW metal lower receivers are available from V7, 2A Armament, Battlearms Development, et al. All of these are quite pricy, but mine is a Mag Tactical, check GunBroker for availability at lower cost. Weight savings for any of these is about 2 oz. Meanwhile, an ordinary forged upper receiver is about as light as you can get. - Numerous companies are making LW carriers from skeletonized steel, titanium, even aluminum, I like those made by Rubber City Armament - Check out the combination receiver extension and buttstock from Smoke Composites, mine weighs 4 oz total. These are fixed, not adjustable, either carbine or rifle length. - To go inside the extension, get a 1 oz plastic buffer and special reduced-strength spring from Taccom. - When you lighten the reciprocating parts (carrier and buffer), you need adjustable gas, either via an adjustable lo-pro gas block (I like the SLR brand), or at the gas key (I use the one by Rubber City). Getting down close to 4 lbs for an empty AR with iron sights involves counting grams for every little part, titanium pins, bolt catches, etc. Some people are even making lightweight fire control parts. Its the latest craze. In any event, LW parts cost much more than common govt issue and a whole cottage industry has sprung up to service it. good luck and enjoy - CW |
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chasw's suggestions are spot on. My vote for the lightweight BCG is the Faxon Gunner LW BCG. I am using it in my lightweight SBR and it has been great. You can go lighter with aluminum and marginally lighter with titanium, but you'll spend typically $200 more for those. If you use Taccom's buffer system as chasw suggests, Taccom recommends using a steel BCG as they do not have experience with aluminum or titanium.
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As I mentioned before, when you reduce the weight of the carrier to about 6 oz and the buffer to about 1 oz, you need adjustable gas to avoid excessive bolt speed beating your action into premature wear and causing failures to pick up the next loaded cartridge. Not a problem by turning down the gas until your ejection pattern is in the 3 to 4 o'clock range and the BCG locks back on an empty mag. However, the result is the gas impulse is just right for a particular load, not for a wide range of loads.
In my 5-lb 6.8 hunting carbine, I have the gas adjusted to properly eject 100 grain bullets, while my 6-lb 6.8 carbine in military configuration is adjusted to properly eject 110 grain bullets. If I fire the 110 grainers in the hunting carbine, ejection is too vigorous. If I fire the 100 grainers in the military-style rifle, the bolt won't always lock back on an empty mag. Heavier bullets produce a stronger gas impulse and when working with less reciprocating mass, the action has a narrower range for that sweet spot of reliability. Meanwhile, my .223 rifles use full weight M16 carriers, 20 and 22" barrels, rifle-length gas ports and rifle length receiver extensions with GI buffers. Having that much reciprocating mass, as Eugene Stoner and company intended for the .223 cartridge, results in a much wider tolerance for bullet weights and gas impulse. These two .223 rifles feed and eject bullets weighing from 52 to 69 grains nearly identically. So the moral of the story is, when you go for ultralight weight, each carbine's gas tap must be adjusted for a particular narrow range of bullet weights. A small price to pay, IMO. - CW |
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Just completed a "lighter" weight build for my daughter. Comes out to 5.6 pounds without sights or optic. Here is the recipe I used:
Anderson stripped lower with Anderson LPK & receiver extension/buffer kit. CMC flat trigger. MFT grip and Minimalist buttstock. Anderson stripped upper. Faxon 16" mid-length pencil bbl w/ low profile gas block. Standard A2 flash hider ALG Mod 0 13" rail Faxon standard BCG I wanted it light, but not too exotic. She competes in Run n Gun Biathlons, so it needs to be durable and reliable. With the optic and mount, it comes to 7.0 pounds exactly. Bushnell 1-4 in an Aero mount. For comparison, the AR I use in Run n Gun weighs 8.8 pounds with optic... |
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