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I did, and wasn't happy with how heavy everything was.

So I decided a lightweight build would be fun. Here's the result:



With a red dot, light, and loaded 20 round magazine...weight is 6 lbs, 8 oz. It gets up to 6 lbs, 12 oz with a loaded 30.

Didn't take a picture of the loaded weight with the 20, but here it is with a 30 round magazine:



I've shot a lot of ARs from 10.5" to 20" and everything in between. This one is by far my favorite that I've ever owned or built. Could have made it even lighter with a 10" rail instead of 13", skipping some ambi parts, going with V7 titanium bits, etc....but for close to the price of standard parts, this one came out pretty well I think.

Parts list and reasoning:
Faxon 14.5" pencil barrel, midlength gas with a Voodoo Manimal pinned and welded to take the gun to 16". Lightweight, Faxon has a great reputation
ALG EMR V2 rail. Light, Mlok compatible, comes with QD points on either side, free floats the barrel. Great rail, and light.
.650 low pro gas block. Could have saved some weight here by springing for one of the LW options, but...$$$$$.
Areo Upper w/no forward assist. Another easy way to shed a few ounces.
AIM Surplus Lightweight BCG. This thing shaves 3.9 oz off the regular BCG and doesn't cost an arm and a light. Very happy with it.
BCM Ambi Gunfighter charging handle. I'm a lefty, decided not to save weight and go with ambi parts here.
Standard PSA lower. Could have saved weight and bought a LW lower too, but like the gas block....a place I chose to save $$$$.
Magpul K2 grip. Light, slim, no finger grooves.
Geissele SSA-E. This trigger is amazing. If you've never shot a Geissele trigger you don't know what you're missing.
CMMG Ambi safety. Another stop where I cared more about function than weight savings. Stupid dominant left eye.
Spikes T2 buffer kit. Wanted a good buffer set up to pair with LW bolt.
MFT Minimalist stock. Light weight, has QD point for sling, tight lockup.
Primary Arms Advanced Red Dot. Light weight, not too expensive, good battery life.
ScalarWorks QD mount for red dot. This thing is awesome. Super light, easy to take on and off, locks up tight. Great mount.
TLR-1 HL light. Already had it, and they're fairly light and familiar to me.

6 1/2 pounds loaded is nice. I think I've found my new home defense rifle. Plan on shooting it at Cola Warrior this year with a 5x prism, but its a little heavier with that optic on it. Red dot will serve nicely for most days.

You made me do it.

My under 7 lb carbine trips my bathroom scale at about 10.2 lbs with a 40 round mag, light, VFG, and ACOG. I had no idea it was that heavy.

Maybe I'll put the adjustable sling back on to help with all that weight. OMG, the weight just went up to 10.5.

I'm surprised. My mini 14 with loaded 20 round mag is only 6 lbs 13 oz. Wood stock and all.....no scope.

All of my gun's have asked me not to weigh them. They have put on extra weight during the winter and they are very sensitive about it. Hopefully with extra exercise at the range they will drop some weight, and they will feel better about themselves.

C-dub wrote:You made me do it.

My under 7 lb carbine trips my bathroom scale at about 10.2 lbs with a 40 round mag, light, VFG, and ACOG. I had no idea it was that heavy.

Maybe I'll put the adjustable sling back on to help with all that weight. OMG, the weight just went up to 10.5.

Crazy, isn't it?

The "go to" rifle before I built this one weighed over 10 lbs as well. That's why this one got built.

It's amazing how much adding accessories drives up the weight of a gun. I built this 10.5" SBR below. All up, it's 9 lbs 13-1/4 oz with a 30 round mag of 208 grain subsonics, a suppressor, and a weapon light.



Take off the suppressor and the magazine, and the weight drops to 6 lbs 12-3/4 oz.



Take off the weapon light, and the weight drops to 6 lbs 7-1/2 oz.



I really like the light weight. It could be a little lighter with a different handguard (BCM KMR "Alpha" 9"), a less beefy receiver set (Spikes Gen II Billet upper and lower), and a lighter barrel (Rainier Arms Select 300AAC Blackout Barrel - 10.5), but it's still pretty light at just under 6.5 lbs. BUT...... I want the suppressor on it because it's a home defense weapon, and I want a 30 round mag charged with subsonics because it is designed for shooting inside the house when ear pro may not be quickly available, and I want a weapon light on it so I can see who/what I'm shooting at so that my RDS will be effective.

Still, it's crazy that losing the can, mag, and light drops more than 3 lbs off the rifle.

The Annoyed Man wrote:
Still, it's crazy that losing the can, mag, and light drops more than 3 lbs off the rifle.

Yep.

Rifle weighs only 5 lbs, 5 oz if I strip it down and just put Magpul MBUS sights on.

But with an optic, light, loaded 20 round mag and sling, it weighs just under 7 lbs (6 lbs, 14 oz).

The motivation for this was shooting my previously mentioned 10 lbs+ rifle at a Cola Warrior event last year. Last rifle target was a small one at 250+ yards and could only be engaged standing. This was after the obstacles/peeps/run and I was gassed. I struggled to hold up the rifle, find the target and make hits. Part of that was I could stand to be in better shape, and part of that was I was doing it with a rifle that weighed almost 11 lbs.

I've been running/lifting to solve the me problem, but I wanted to solve the rifle weight problem too.

The weight doesn't bother me very much, since, my rifle tends too eat a lot of ammunition.

The Annoyed Man wrote:
Take off the suppressor and the magazine, and...

you have a non-ergonomic BAT!

My carry gun gained a lot of weight in recent months. However that is because all of you 1911 lovers convinced me to give it a try. Lol, that steel frame is just a tad heavier than my glock 19.

Deitz83 wrote:The weight doesn't bother me very much, since, my rifle tends too eat a lot of ammunition.

That's...nonsensical.

flechero wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:
Take off the suppressor and the magazine, and...

you have a non-ergonomic BAT!

Exactly. Not criticizing the OP at all, but weighing the rifle with everything stripped off of it only gives you some kind of baseline. But that "baseline" is almost meaningless in a life application context because, once you add the all-important ammo, aiming device(s), an other "accessories" (which are actually all necessary to the use of said rifle), it is going to weigh up to several pounds more. I didn't even include a sling in the all up weight for mine, even though It has one, for the simple reason that it's an infinitesimal amount of weight more. But, and this is just my personal opinion, the only weight figure that really matters is the one describing the configuration at the time of use - because THAT is how much you're going to be lifting. Obviously, if it is an issue......for instance in the case of the Cola Warrior competition.....then build as light of a rifle as you can, but just know that when you have it in its all-up configuration, that's the real weight.

I have never given a lot of consideration, to the weight of any gun I won't have to, or at least don't anticipate, carrying great distances. For range use, target practice etc., weight is at best a secondary consideration.


I haven't been deer hunting in several years, but hiking to and from deer blinds, with a scoped rifle, was sometimes quite a workout. If I am just walking from my vehicle to a shooting station, usually with my gun in a case, the weight doesn't matter that much to me.

Besides, like I said, my guns are too embarrassed for me to post their weight on a public forum.

The Annoyed Man wrote:

flechero wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:
Exactly. Not criticizing the OP at all, but weighing the rifle with everything stripped off of it only gives you some kind of baseline.

I agree, and while I mentioned a "stripped down" weight in response to your initial comment, the last picture and weight in the OP was not stripped down. Rifle was weighed with a loaded magazine, optic and light on it. Under 7lbs, ready to go with everything I need on the gun.

If I take the light off, put the 5x prism scope on, sling, and use a 30 round magazine it still weighs under 8 lbs (7 lbs 14 oz)....which is how I'll use it for CW this year. That's 3 lbs lighter than the gun I used last year, which I think will make a difference.

Jusme wrote:I have never given a lot of consideration, to the weight of any gun I won't have to, or at least don't anticipate, carrying great distances. For range use, target practice etc., weight is at best a secondary consideration.

For a gun intended for home defense, weight should be a consideration for several reasons.

1) If your heart rate is up and your are stressed, and if you've done anything physical at all before needing the gun (like carrying a kid back to your bedroom because someone was kicking at your front door, for example)....a lighter gun is easier to handle and keep on target for extended periods.

2) My wife is 5' 1". If I want her to be able to use a rifle, it better not weigh a ton.

YMMV, but I think weight is a consideration for a rifle intended for home/self defense.