I love my AR, but....

thegrandpoohbah

thegrandpoohbah

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
100   0   0
Location
Terrace, BC
... she needs a diet.

I just weighed my Colt Canada IUR and as pictured she is a whopping 9.4 pounds. I love the way it shoots and looks but I am thinking it is time to start planning AR #2 and seeing what I can do to cut some weight. I am thinking to save money maybe just keep this upper for range fun and build a lighter weight upper for 3-gun use. Any suggestions for a cost effective and relatively light weight complete upper? Keep in mind I do not have the tools needed in order to assemble one on my own. Thanks.

J7KcvJzh.jpg
 
Last edited:
Pretty much gotta go with slim or lightweight barrel and carbon fiber handguard.

I did that and got my rifle from 9 lbs down to 7.5.

Short barrels can help too but in 3 gun pretty much 18" barrels are standard

Stocks can eat up some weight too... But those are easy and cheap to convert
 
Get rid of the IUR. As Onagoth said, a pencil barrel will also help. However, if you shoot a lot and quickly at one time, the lightweight barrel will heat up quicker and you may have accuracy issues at distance. It's always a compromise when it comes to weight.
 
Look for receivers that are made for lightweight, extra billing work and removed forward assists. Battle arms development and V7 make some great receiver sets. You don't have to go pencil thickness for barrel to get light, can go medium with fluting also. For a stock the MFT minimalist is the only thing I would use. For rail systems go with either keymod or mlok as 1913 pic rails are extra un needed weight. If you're really trying for light you can get a lightweight bolt carrier but you'll only be cutting a few ounces with it.

My current rifle is 5.5 LBS but when you go light you definitely start getting into the expensive costing builds.

Also when I built my rifle I never had any AR tools as well but for free-floating rails the company usually supplies their own barrel nut that can be tightened with household wrenches along with muzzle devices. Only thing you would need the proper tool for would be the stock castle nut. But for the upper you can do everything with household tools.
 
Last edited:
RogyBear said:
Look for receivers that are made for lightweight, extra billing work and removed forward assists. Battle arms development and V7 make some great receiver sets. You don't have to go pencil thickness for barrel to get light, can go medium with fluting also. For a stock the MFT minimalist is the only thing I would use. For rail systems go with either keymod or mlok as 1913 pic rails are extra un needed weight. If you're really trying for light you can get a lightweight bolt carrier but you'll only be cutting a few ounces with it.

My current rifle is 5.5 LBS but when you go light you definitely start getting into the expensive costing builds.
Click to expand...

Do you mind if I ask what the 5.5 lbs build cost you? Feel free to PM me if you don't want to disclose it publicly.

I'm guessing my weight savings will be limited by just going with a new upper and barrel right? The Colt Canada lower is probably not the lightest either.

I looked at the MFT Minimalist stock and it does look interesting and would save me 6.5 ounces, but that would really unbalance my rifle unless I deal with the upper first.
 
thegrandpoohbah said:
Do you mind if I ask what the 5.5 lbs build cost you? Feel free to PM me if you don't want to disclose it publicly.

I'm guessing my weight savings will be limited by just going with a new upper and barrel right? The Colt Canada lower is probably not the lightest either.

I looked at the MFT Minimalist stock and it does look interesting and would save me 6.5 ounces, but that would really unbalance my rifle unless I deal with the upper first.
Click to expand...

I'll pm you as to not clutter up your post with uneeded info.
 
There's a lot of weight in the Burris/PEPRE mount setup on that rifle as well. Good stuff at a decent price point but not light. Especially the mount.
 
A 14.5" stock Norc AR15 with a red dot is quite light. It'll shoot 3moa. But at the current price it isn't such a great deal anymore.
 
Yes, I am aware the scope and mount weigh 1.5 lbs. A necessary evil due to my poor eyesight I'm afraid. Basically I am now looking for ways to offset that weight gain. Looks like I could swap a new Colt MRR upper on there and the MFT Minimalist stock and knock about 2 lbs off, but at a very signifcant cost. Like CombatMedic said, I'd be better off spending that kind of money on ammo.

Of course, I could always just buy a set of dumbbells and start working out. But where's the fun in that?
 
Onagoth said:
I've been lifting weights for 8 months now.... And I still appreciate a lightweight ar
Click to expand...

For sure it doesn't matter how fit or strong one is because once you compare the two it becomes obvious which is the preferable item that being the lighter weight version.

This can be said for most anything in competitive sports whether it's a bicycle, Moto-X bike or badminton racquet; lighter weight equipment is almost always preferred.

I would look into a SBR set-up and while it doesn't have to be a CC MMR (that would be my choice/recommendation for this set-up) as any short barrelled upper should help in making the rifle not only weigh less, but feel quicker shooting too. Perhaps something from DD?

As for the scope and mount(s) those items could be improved upon regarding weight, so that alone could be looked at instead or combined with.

Any possibility at improving your eyes via a new eye glass prescription or eye surgery? A buddy of mine does not even need eyeglass' anymore after paying approx. $2,000 for eye surgery a couple years back. Eyeglass' were a requirement for hi to hunt even with a scope and now they are no longer needed for shooting or driving...
Really was an incredible change and they're doing more amazing things via eye surgery all the time. Just a thought...

If it were me in need I'd scope out the EE and grab a deal there either on a whole rifle (can always sell what you do not need or perhaps buy a while SBR for what you thought you might spend on just an upper) or just an upper to your liking.

Cheers D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom