Project: Lightest AR build... Suggestions?
- Thread starter xopher
- Start date
Should be fairly light, even after I add a few things. Keeping to irons on my soon-to-come NEA.
7lb on the bathroom scale. More than I expected. I'll have do pushups to get from the trunk to the bench now
.Due to my limited budget, i might just build an upper instead of a new rifle
Im looking to put together:
Blank Upper (no idea on the brand yet..leaning towards getting a stag upper to go with my lower)
JP Vtac forend (or something equivalent)
14.5 inch midlength gas light weight profile/ pencil barrel (either daniel defense if they ever get across the border or an ATRS one)
muzzle break (model/brand TBD)
low profile gas block, Barrel nut,gas tube + essentials
I did a quick estimate and it came to around ~1300
With the money saved from not building a lower, i may upgrade my existing trigger with a geissele or something equivalent.
Most of the cost of this project is associated with the barrel because ATRS has to make it from barrel blanks. If anyone knows of any dealers with mid length pencil barrels please let me know!
UPDATE:
I just checked the specs of the JP Vtac handguard and my daniel defense Omega 12... the omega is lighter at 13.4 oz compared to the 15 oz of the Vtac... go figure...
Im looking to put together:
Blank Upper (no idea on the brand yet..leaning towards getting a stag upper to go with my lower)
JP Vtac forend (or something equivalent)
14.5 inch midlength gas light weight profile/ pencil barrel (either daniel defense if they ever get across the border or an ATRS one)
muzzle break (model/brand TBD)
low profile gas block, Barrel nut,gas tube + essentials
I did a quick estimate and it came to around ~1300
With the money saved from not building a lower, i may upgrade my existing trigger with a geissele or something equivalent.
Most of the cost of this project is associated with the barrel because ATRS has to make it from barrel blanks. If anyone knows of any dealers with mid length pencil barrels please let me know!
UPDATE:
I just checked the specs of the JP Vtac handguard and my daniel defense Omega 12... the omega is lighter at 13.4 oz compared to the 15 oz of the Vtac... go figure...
A midlength Omega is 9.8oz. You'd have to add the weight of the barrel nut and slip ring to that as well.
The Daniel Defense M4 9.0 rail weighs 10.8oz total, that includes the barrel nut and indexing pins.
The PRI intermediate free float I mentioned weighs 14oz including barrel nut but wouldn't need any rail cover panels, not sure how much they weigh but you'd be surprised how quickly it adds up.
Clark lists their carbon fibre tube as 6oz, I'm assuming that that's with barrel nut. Again you wouldn't need any extra panels, it's not exactly meant to be replaced though as the tube is epoxied to the nut after it has been tightened.
For an upper you could save a bit of weight by going with a Rock River Arms 9mm upper since it doesn't have a case deflector or forward assist. You'd have to drill a hole for the gas tube and mill the clearance cut for the cam pin. Another option which I'm not sure if it's available up here is to with a Les Baer or Rainier arms upper that doesn't have the forward assist. They still retain the case deflector so they're more lefty friendly.
If you're only using 55grn then another option would be to pick up an old SP1 carbine. You could shoot it as is or swap out the upper for a flat top from Daniel Defense, should weigh around 6lbs, perhaps slightly less.
Does ATRS do chromoly barrels? I was under the impression that they only do stainless. I've also heard that stainless doesn't do well as a lightweight profile but have nothing to back that up. Hasn't stopped Oly from doing stainless lightweight profiles for decades. For the price I think you could do better with some of the other gunsmiths out there.
The Daniel Defense M4 9.0 rail weighs 10.8oz total, that includes the barrel nut and indexing pins.
The PRI intermediate free float I mentioned weighs 14oz including barrel nut but wouldn't need any rail cover panels, not sure how much they weigh but you'd be surprised how quickly it adds up.
Clark lists their carbon fibre tube as 6oz, I'm assuming that that's with barrel nut. Again you wouldn't need any extra panels, it's not exactly meant to be replaced though as the tube is epoxied to the nut after it has been tightened.
For an upper you could save a bit of weight by going with a Rock River Arms 9mm upper since it doesn't have a case deflector or forward assist. You'd have to drill a hole for the gas tube and mill the clearance cut for the cam pin. Another option which I'm not sure if it's available up here is to with a Les Baer or Rainier arms upper that doesn't have the forward assist. They still retain the case deflector so they're more lefty friendly.
If you're only using 55grn then another option would be to pick up an old SP1 carbine. You could shoot it as is or swap out the upper for a flat top from Daniel Defense, should weigh around 6lbs, perhaps slightly less.
Does ATRS do chromoly barrels? I was under the impression that they only do stainless. I've also heard that stainless doesn't do well as a lightweight profile but have nothing to back that up. Hasn't stopped Oly from doing stainless lightweight profiles for decades. For the price I think you could do better with some of the other gunsmiths out there.
Questar sells a Carbon/aramid Lower
VUL-AV15-COMP
Vulcan - AV15 Carbon/Aramid Lower Receiver w/ RRA lower parts kit & Questar M4 6 position stock.
$269.99
That should be fairly light and you should be able to order the stripped lower for less money since you don't sound like you need the trigger group and the rest of the parts.
Good luck with the build.
VUL-AV15-COMP
Vulcan - AV15 Carbon/Aramid Lower Receiver w/ RRA lower parts kit & Questar M4 6 position stock.
$269.99
That should be fairly light and you should be able to order the stripped lower for less money since you don't sound like you need the trigger group and the rest of the parts.
Good luck with the build.
For a stripped upper I'd go with the aero at armseast (not sure about stock tho). I got one for my build and I'd get another one without hesitation, it was a perfect fit to my aero lower. You pretty much get both for the price of only a stripped lower from most other brand.
My AR was a lightweight project similar to yours, turned up ok but the Questar 11.5" match kinda killed it I would have preferred a DD lw 11.5 But availability being what it is, the Questar was the best barrel I could find... Heavy, but too good to pass.
I assume you are looking at rails cause the free floating is a must for you... cause if you can live without and don't need the rails I think it would just ad weight, hurting the lightweight goal (kinda like I did)
My AR was a lightweight project similar to yours, turned up ok but the Questar 11.5" match kinda killed it
I would have preferred a DD lw 11.5 But availability being what it is, the Questar was the best barrel I could find... Heavy, but too good to pass.I assume you are looking at rails cause the free floating is a must for you... cause if you can live without and don't need the rails I think it would just ad weight, hurting the lightweight goal (kinda like I did)
Robb Jensen is considered by some the god of featherweight builds...
Personally, I'm working on a project in which I'll custom mill out the lower, taking a little more than normal in certain area's and milling a custom design into the magazine well.
I'll then get a 14.5" barrel turned down to ~.58" + a pinned FH, use a sporter flat top (no dust cover/forward assist), Troy TRX Extreme 11", JP BCG, etc... I suspect I can get the gun in the 5lb 3-4oz range including irons.
There's actually a spreadsheet floating around the net with weights for a bunch of stuff you'll probably find interesting.
Personally, I'm working on a project in which I'll custom mill out the lower, taking a little more than normal in certain area's and milling a custom design into the magazine well.
I'll then get a 14.5" barrel turned down to ~.58" + a pinned FH, use a sporter flat top (no dust cover/forward assist), Troy TRX Extreme 11", JP BCG, etc... I suspect I can get the gun in the 5lb 3-4oz range including irons.
There's actually a spreadsheet floating around the net with weights for a bunch of stuff you'll probably find interesting.
