How to build a ultra-lightweight AR-15

[Thompsoncustom]

Just got done writing a article on how to build a ultra lightweight ar-15 on my website and was wondering what you guys thought and more importantly is I messed up anywhere ;). Was just looking for your guys personal thoughts on the article, if it sounded good, was ok, not really interesting at all and so on. So if your bored and got a little time to read tell me what ya think. Thanks Dan

https://aerospacearms.com/blogs/gun-freedom-zone/building-the-lightest-ar-15

[6bg6ga]

There is something to be said for light weight and something to be said for accuracy. I'll go for a heavier more accurate gun any day. As for 500 yards... never seen a good 500 yard AR yet. Independence? Not far from Cedar Rapids.

[xringshutr]

Your article definitely hits the lightest components possible in the AR-15 world that I'm aware of. Honestly I would sacrifice a few ounces and get a steel trigger group. Don't know about the longevity of a polymer trigger and hammer.
6bg- don't take this the wrong way, but there are many 500 yard AR's out there. Heck, even 600+ yards. You just have to build them right....with a quality barrel. Everything is an accessory to that.

Sent from my D6708 using Tapatalk

[Digital Dan]

Well considered and constructed article though the objective does not appeal to me. No doubt others will disagree on the latter. My sole experience with this style of rifle was 2.5 years of combat. Reliability in harsh circumstances is worth a bit of extra weight. Long range precision not so much.

[KenH]

how many folks found the black background and pale text hard to read? I had to select the text to make it white with blue background to be able to read. A real hassle for sure. For presenting text to read, chose a neutral background with nice contrasty text.

Ken H>

[Thompsoncustom]

There is something to be said for light weight and something to be said for accuracy. I'll go for a heavier more accurate gun any day. As for 500 yards... never seen a good 500 yard AR yet. Independence? Not far from Cedar Rapids.

Not to far at all about 40min, I come up to Hiawatha once a month to shoot USPSA.


how many folks found the black background and pale text hard to read? I had to select the text to make it white with blue background to be able to read. A real hassle for sure. For presenting text to read, chose a neutral background with nice contrasty text.

Ken H>

Thanks for the heads up i'll look into making the text easier to read.

[dverna]

There is something to be said for light weight and something to be said for accuracy. I'll go for a heavier more accurate gun any day. As for 500 yards... never seen a good 500 yard AR yet. Independence? Not far from Cedar Rapids.

The AR is a very capable platform. The National Match High Power Rifle course has targets at 600 yards. I think a few even get hit. LOL

Do not base your opinion on the cheap AR's shot at your local public range by mall ninja wannabes using the cheapest ammo at the gun show.

Don Verna

[koehlerrk]

Nicely written article, I like the disclaimer at the beginning. Some of those parts I've heard of, others not, but there's so many options in the AR world that's not surprising.

I'd like to see a part two, where you've built this rifle and take it out for range testing.

Rick

[6bg6ga]

The AR is a very capable platform. The National Match High Power Rifle course has targets at 600 yards. I think a few even get hit. LOLDo not base your opinion on the cheap AR's shot at your local public range by mall ninja wannabes using the cheapest ammo at the gun show. Don VernaI handload for the AR-15's we have. Both have match grade barrels. I've never been extremely pleased with the capabilities of the 5.56/.223. For 600 round shooting I'll either bring out one of the 22-250's or the 308.

[6bg6ga]

I re-read the article and its covers all the bases . Its a nicely written article. To be honest here a lot of us have a AR-15 simply for when the time comes and the **** hits the fan. I'm not a fan however of polymer uppers and lowers and aluminum bolt assemblies. Since mine is made for when it hits the fan I opted for a gas piston assembly over the typical gas operated system because it stays cleaner. Carbon fibre barrel? No not in my lifetime and especially at $500. I will keep my heavier AR-15 and employ the use of a good sling. I suspect that these lighter AR-15 will be better suited for the younger at heart with more disposable income that want the newest, latest, and greatest. For me an "Old School" guy I'll stick to the proven and easy to obtain parts that readily available.

[M-Tecs]

I build both the AR Service Rifles and Matches rifles for NRA High Power competition so my guns tend to be on the heavy side. For accuracy they need to hold 4 inch 10 shot groups at 600 yards. Most will do better.

Nice article for the folks looking for a lightweight AR.

[garym1a2]

Back in the late 80's and early 90s when I shot NRA highpower service rifles with both a Match M1A and a Stock Colt Hbar I could get good scores with my M1A. But the Colt would get much tighter groups at 200 and 300 yards. The Colt also cost 1/3 of the M1a and was much cheaper to reload for.

I handload for the AR-15's we have. Both have match grade barrels. I've never been extremely pleased with the capabilities of the 5.56/.223. For 600 round shooting I'll either bring out one of the 22-250's or the 308.

[garym1a2]

Article overall was good. But $329 for a 4oz rail is a bit much. Also if you want lightest weight specify ammo use. A round loaded with 55gr bullets will be 5 gr lighter than the 62gr bullet. I also would check case weight as steel cases maybe different than brass. Also optics not specified.

Just got done writing a article on how to build a ultra lightweight ar-15 on my website and was wondering what you guys thought and more importantly is I messed up anywhere ;). Was just looking for your guys personal thoughts on the article, if it sounded good, was ok, not really interesting at all and so on. So if your bored and got a little time to read tell me what ya think. Thanks Dan

https://aerospacearms.com/blogs/gun-freedom-zone/building-the-lightest-ar-15

[popper]

I don't shoot 223 nor am I interested in an ultra-light for big $$ but I will state that development of newer/lighter parts is a good idea as stuff just gets better. Like polymer lowers (Glock) and handguards. Even lightweight steel uppers? Just takes incentives to make stuff better.

[Texas by God]

I built a .300 BO on a CavArms one piece Zytel lower and it is my favorite AR. Lightweight, tough& very accurate. Of course I keep a M4 imitation 5.56 handy as well.

[Love Life]

I enjoyed the article very much. Having a lightweight AR is actually refreshing after years of lugging around an M16A4 with quad rail, flashlight, grenade launcher, PEQ-2 and up, and all manner of weight adding stuff. The M4 was better, but still had a M203 slung under it, and a flashlight and PEQ-15. That was for work, lol.

For my personal AR's, I prefer them bare bones with a carry handle sight. Lighter is better for me when not carrying one for a living.

[308Jeff]

The AR is a very capable platform. The National Match High Power Rifle course has targets at 600 yards. I think a few even get hit. LOL

Do not base your opinion on the cheap AR's shot at your local public range by mall ninja wannabes using the cheapest ammo at the gun show.

Don Verna

The first F-T/R I match I ever shot was with a 16" Bull Barrel 1:9 DPMS upper on home built lower. Crappy stock DPMS lower build kit trigger, Nikon 3-9X BDC scope, hand loaded 68gr Hornady match bullets. I had zeroed the scope at 100 yards, and shot the match through the 500yd BDC. Ended up with a 567 3X.

Maybe I got lucky?

[308Jeff]

There is something to be said for light weight and something to be said for accuracy. I'll go for a heavier more accurate gun any day. As for 500 yards... never seen a good 500 yard AR yet. Independence? Not far from Cedar Rapids.


The first F-T/R I match I ever shot was with a 16" Bull Barrel 1:9 DPMS upper on home built lower. Crappy stock DPMS lower build kit trigger, Nikon 3-9X BDC scope, hand loaded 68gr Hornady match bullets. I had zeroed the scope at 100 yards, and shot the match through the 500yd BDC. Ended up with a 567 3X.

Maybe I got lucky?

[Moonie]

I've got a polymer lower, actually we have 2 in the family, they shoot very well and are noticeably lighter than the aluminum ones. I use mine on both 6.8 SPC II and 300BO uppers. My middle son uses it on a 300BO SBR.

[Thompsoncustom]

I only have one polymer lower the one listed in the article, Worried me a little at first but the fit to the upper is really tight and it hasn't gave me any problems yet. I haven't tired to beat it to death like some people would but supposedly you can run it over with a truck unharmed which is good enough for me.

[W.R.Buchanan]

What everyone must keep in mind is that ALL Battle Rifles were designed to be humped around by 19 year old kids.

As we age we must learn to conserve as much energy as possible so that if needed we still have some fight left in us.

I thought the OP's article was very well done, however the law of Diminishing Returns is in play here as well. In this case the amount of $ that some of the parts cost far outweighs the amount of weight they actually save, and past a certain point the weight saved matters less and less. I consider that weight to be around 6 lbs. for this type of weapon.

I have two light weight carbines. One is my Kel-Tec SU16CA. It has the KT M4 style Fore End, a YHM Muzzle Brake, a TRS 25 Red Dot, a Streamlight TLR1S, and one of my 1.5" wide side mounted slings. With 2 loaded 10 round mags in the buttstock it weighs exactly 6 lbs 1oz. As it came from the factory 4lbs 11oz! I bought the gun with some of the mods already done for $400 and have another $200 in it, so $600 total. It also folds in half, and you can put it in a 3 day back pack. Accuracy is 8x10 steel plate at 200 yards 100% and 80% at 300.

My other lightweight gun is a Bushmaster Carbon 15 (now discontinued.)It has a Carbon Fiber Upper and Lower Receiver and a chrome lined pencil barrel. It weighed 5lbs 3 oz before my mods which included the addition of a standard AR Front Sight, Magpul Furniture, and Rear Sight, a Bushnell TRS 25 on a 1" riser, a Streamlight TLR1S, and one of my 1.5" Nylon AR slings. It weighs 6lbs 8 oz. I have a little more in that gun at about $1000, which included the $700 initial cost. Accuracy with this gun is comparable to the Kel-Tec or good enough for all intended purposes.

Part of that is the 1.5" wide sling which distributes the weight of the gun over a larger surface area which reduces fatigue. I have worn both of these guns at Front Sight Rifle Classes for the better part of 4 days and been no worse for wear at the end, as opposed to classmates that were trying to hold up M1As and highly accessorized AR's that were whining about noon on day 2.

My whole point here is that these guns represent more inexpensive alternatives to Guns assembled from "All the Lightest Parts" but still yield a relatively light weight gun that can be carried extensively by nearly anyone. The question becomes,,, " do you really want to spend the extra money to save a few ounces." There was an outfit at SHOT that had an AR that weighed 3lb 7oz. it was $3000+.

Another way to look at it is,,, "can you extract the value of that new gun in use." This is why I recommend that people start with a $600 AR instead of a $1600 gun. The vast majority, and I'm talkin' 95%+ of the shooting public couldn't tell the difference in the way the two guns shoot so why should they spend the extra $grand on something they don't understand. The differences in the current batch of AR's in the $600 to $1600 range is so minimal it is ridiculous, and unless you are shooting competition or being shot at regularly, the need for the more expensive gun is completely subjective and serves no other purpose than to make someone feel like they have some kind of advantage, which they most likely won't even be able to use.

The extra money would be better spent on training so as to get the full potential out of what you bought, rather than sitting at home looking at your new piece of jewelry because you spent all your money on it..

I think everyone should buy whatever they want, but I also think that they should do their homework before they spend their hard earned $ and look to get the most bang for their shooting buck. That way you'll shoot more and enjoy it more.

My .02 on this subject.

Randy

[Love Life]

I was once one of those 19 year olds humping around the M16A4 and would have loved to hump a 6 pound rifle around, lol. Now I am a 32 year old humping around an M4 with attachments and wish it were lighter. I definitely appreciate weight savings. Ounces=pounds. Pounds=pain when it comes to long distance movements carrying heavy weight.

[Texas by God]

My .300 previously mentioned tips the scales @ 8# wearing a nylon/neoprene sling, 4X Nikon, and 20 125gr rounds on board as well as a Lowes 30mm tube flashlight. 7# without the light. I love it.

[BlackoutBuilder]

This is the lightest stock I can find

http://www.battlearmsdevelopment.com/bad-lbs-mil-lightweight-butt-stock-for-milspec-receiver-extension

I have a lancer carbon fiber handguard that is really light. The Reaptor charging handle is lightweight.

Heres the safety sellector I went with.

http://www.tacticallink.com/V7-Weapon-Systems-Hybrid-3-Gun-Sport-57-Degree-Ambi-Safety-Selector-With-Titanium-Core.html

I picked up a 9" fluted barrel for 300 BLK from BCM. Those carbon fiber jobs are a thousand dollars!

[kenyerian]

I enjoyed the article. Well written.

[popper]

My 10" HBAR barrel BO pistol is 5# unloaded, add a few ounces for the Seeall sight.

[Thompsoncustom]

The nice people over at brigand arms emailed me about the article today with good things to say, they also pointed out the handguard is 4.6ozs like I had listed but that includes there barrel nut that comes with it so the handguard it's self is only 3.2ozs

[6bg6ga]

Are you going to have a booth at the next gun show in CR?

[OutHuntn84]

Very interesting read! Certainly gets the brain working on the ultralight concept.

[BlackoutBuilder]

If we could get the weight of the US.gov off of it, I'd be happy.

[garym1a2]

My favorite AR is a simple M4 type (14.5 inch barrel, 1.5 inch pinned flash-hinder) with mag pull plastic sights and a TRS25 redot and a streamline free float rail, only about 7lbs.

[Texas by God]

If I can find another Cavarms lower I will put a 20" A2 upper on it with Magpul handguard chambered for 5.56/7"twist. There is an interesting video on these lower's toughness if you google it.Best, Thomas.

[BlackoutBuilder]

I have an American Arms poly upper. Its ok I guess. Light, $35. I sanded off the name and the brass deflector for looks.

[Thompsoncustom]

Are you going to have a booth at the next gun show in CR?

Not yet since we are onlined based are inventory isn't all that big.