Maverick223
Member
After buying almost all the firearms that I'm interested in (save for a few more transferable machine guns that I just don't have the money for) I've honestly gotten bored enough to build a few ARs. They're great, but most are kind of boring...which is why I built a GAU-5A clone amongst others, which was a bit heavier than I found to be ideal. This is largely due to the Cry Havok bbl swap kit (which is great, don't get me wrong), which not only weighs a decent amount, but also places the center of gravity a bit farther forward thus throwing off the balance. I went to swapping parts to save weight (mainly heavy core components like the upper and lower replaced with Battle Arms Dev. lightweight receivers, Ti bolt, Ti gas block, a Ti/Al flash hider (one of each on the two bbls that I've built for the kit), CF buffer tube, Battlelink Minimalist stock, & pencil bbls, which substantially reduced the weight (more than making up for the Cry Havok kit).
All of this led me down the rabbit hole to just how light I could go if I really wanted to go super light. My goal is to build a unloaded sub-3lb 16" bbl AR-15 that is still shooting 5.56NATO (so it will still require a full gas system unlike a blowback operated pistol caliber and buffer system unlike a .22LR conversion). It's a fairly challenging goal, but I think it's doable given the precise combination of components (I've now ordered everything, but several parts are still backordered). These include some sub-optimal components from a durability/longevity standpoint (this will not be a SHTF/defensive carbine and will definitely never see any full-auto), such as a skeletonized aluminum bolt carrier, polymer upper & lower, all-polymer lower control group (save for springs and a skeletonized bolt hold open; which isn't absolutely necessary, but I wanted one), gutted buffer, and probably most of all an aluminum gas block (yes I know all the stories about erosion and thermal expansion, but again, this is not a build for rapid fire or long days at the range...it's just a fun little rifle). I almost spent $350 on a custom Ti block from Jacob Gray, but in the end they just wanted entirely too long to produce one, so I dropped the idea (I may revisit it later, but I just couldn't see waiting 4mo and spending so much for a 9 gram part that wasn't even adjustable, so I'd still need the adjustable gas key). So far I have everything on the back end of the rifle complete including the complete lower as well as the upper which is only missing the charging handle (Strike Ind. latchless), barrel (Faxon 16" pencil with integral flash hider), handguard (7" Brigand Arms Blade), & sights (Shield Mini Red Dot with polymer riser). By my calculation I should be about 0.5-1oz lighter than the goal when all of the other parts arrive! As best as I can tell this will be the lightest one ever built (at least one that's not a .22LR) and almost certainly the lightest with a 16in.+ barrel.
I'm excited to hear what everyone thinks about what will probably prove to be the most costly, pound for pound semi-auto AR-15 in existence. If anyone has any advice I'm also very interested in hearing it (I make no promises to follow it, but I'll at least hear you out). Also please reference something equally light or lighter if you have any information on it.
All of this led me down the rabbit hole to just how light I could go if I really wanted to go super light. My goal is to build a unloaded sub-3lb 16" bbl AR-15 that is still shooting 5.56NATO (so it will still require a full gas system unlike a blowback operated pistol caliber and buffer system unlike a .22LR conversion). It's a fairly challenging goal, but I think it's doable given the precise combination of components (I've now ordered everything, but several parts are still backordered). These include some sub-optimal components from a durability/longevity standpoint (this will not be a SHTF/defensive carbine and will definitely never see any full-auto), such as a skeletonized aluminum bolt carrier, polymer upper & lower, all-polymer lower control group (save for springs and a skeletonized bolt hold open; which isn't absolutely necessary, but I wanted one), gutted buffer, and probably most of all an aluminum gas block (yes I know all the stories about erosion and thermal expansion, but again, this is not a build for rapid fire or long days at the range...it's just a fun little rifle). I almost spent $350 on a custom Ti block from Jacob Gray, but in the end they just wanted entirely too long to produce one, so I dropped the idea (I may revisit it later, but I just couldn't see waiting 4mo and spending so much for a 9 gram part that wasn't even adjustable, so I'd still need the adjustable gas key). So far I have everything on the back end of the rifle complete including the complete lower as well as the upper which is only missing the charging handle (Strike Ind. latchless), barrel (Faxon 16" pencil with integral flash hider), handguard (7" Brigand Arms Blade), & sights (Shield Mini Red Dot with polymer riser). By my calculation I should be about 0.5-1oz lighter than the goal when all of the other parts arrive! As best as I can tell this will be the lightest one ever built (at least one that's not a .22LR) and almost certainly the lightest with a 16in.+ barrel.
I'm excited to hear what everyone thinks about what will probably prove to be the most costly, pound for pound semi-auto AR-15 in existence. If anyone has any advice I'm also very interested in hearing it (I make no promises to follow it, but I'll at least hear you out). Also please reference something equally light or lighter if you have any information on it.
