Axxe55
Retiretgtshit stirrer
Making sure you fit pictures of the Ferrari if it ever did really exist
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AR Lightweight Budget Build Challenge: See my results!
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I can send a picture of a Lamborghini Huracan, but I'm driving a Subaru while it's in the shop.
That was ONE of many. There were multiple including a 911 Carrera S, Ferrari F430, Nissan GTR, and Porsche 911 GT3. I'll indulge a little history for my fan club here.
There was a time when I thought sports cars were very important, and that changed. I used to spend a lot on cars, but not so much anymore. Though the itch still exist a bit. I went shopping for a C8 Corvette a week ago.
edit: here's one of my old purchase stickers I managed to find from my archives, a Porsche Carrera 911 S. Picked up from my local Porsche dealer in SoCal. At the time it was the most optioned 911 S they had on the lot.
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30-06 is aight, I just don't stock it.
I'm mostly trying to see who gets the most offended when it's called a "boomer" caliber.
Lonesome Dove
A man of vision but with no mission.
If he owns a "Fur ari" he fits right into yuppi liberal, demtard Austin.
When in California you avoid Los Angeles, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Orange county and I'm sure there's more. When in Texas you avoid Austin, Dallas and Houston at all costs. Texans other than natives to the areas don't relocate to these places. Do they?
When in California you avoid Los Angeles, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Orange county and I'm sure there's more. When in Texas you avoid Austin, Dallas and Houston at all costs. Texans other than natives to the areas don't relocate to these places. Do they?
That's the whoopee sticker off of an over-priced VW that the locals in Tarzana buy their kids, as a high school graduation present, or their girlfriend for a decent blow job. Your " archives" from 2012. Rattling off a list of a Kalifornia teenager's dream cars is just too precious.
I'll take that. One thing you learn when you drive nice cars is most of the nice comments come from other dudes (young or old).
I'll take that. One thing you learn when you wear pink crocs is most of the comments come from other dudes (young or old).
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Axxe55
Retiretgtshit stirrer
you never fail to go out of your way to see how big of an arrogant prick you can be do youThat was ONE of many. There were multiple including a 911 Carrera S, Ferrari F430, Nissan GTR, and Porsche 911 GT3. I'll indulge a little history for my fan club here.
There was a time when I thought sports cars were very important, and that changed. I used to spend a lot on cars, but not so much anymore. Though the itch still exist a bit. I went shopping for a C8 Corvette a week ago.
edit: here's one of my old purchase stickers I managed to find from my archives, a Porsche Carrera 911 S. Picked up from my local Porsche dealer in SoCal. At the time it was the most optioned 911 S they had on the lot.
View attachment 351403
Several random thoughts since I've built a bunch of reasonably lightweight AR's over the past couple years. Also experimented with a bunch of ultra light titanium parts. Not for any purpose except just to do it for fun and check stuff off the list.
Areas to Focus
Most of the weight in an AR is in the barrel, handguard, and stock. You have a few ounces elsewhere you can manipulate without substantially affecting performance and reliability. However, you can save the most weight and money focusing on those 3 areas.
In general, you probably have ~6-9oz of potential savings in the barrel + GB (over a standard M4 profile). You have anywhere from 4-8oz+ of weight savings with the handguard + barrel nut. There's also potentially 3-6oz in weight savings with a stock. Overall, in these three areas if you choose carefully, you can avoid breaking the bank and shave ~1-1.5lbs of weight off a standard M4.
Stocks
A CAR-15 repro stock is a great cheapo option. Most of the repros are ~4-4.5 ounces, so you're saving 3-6 ounces off of most collapsible stocks for about $30-40. It also makes you "old school cool", at least as far as anything without wood furniture can be.
I like these stocks a good bit in that they're very lightweight while still functioning decently as a stock.
Unless you're going super lightweight for a specific purpose, definitely keep in mind the usability of the gun. Sacrificing 3-4oz of weight at your shoulder isn't a huge deal. There are a ton of comfortable stocks around the 7-9oz range that will work well for you. I would say the CAR-15 stock is on the edge of that, but that's just my opinion. Some of the extreme lightweight stuff out there is pretty janky IMO.
Barrels
As far as the barrel, tapered profiles are ideal. For example, BCM's ELW barrels or Criterion's core series. There are many others of similar profiles. Generally it'll shave ~3-5oz overall (using 16" as an example) while also shifting I'd guess 2-4oz closer to the middle of the gun. This makes a noticeable difference in handling.
Faxon and Ballistic Advantage are some of the cheaper options. They can be good, but they're known to occasionally have some fluctuations in QC. If it was me, I'd pin gauge the gas port to verify size, check the chamber, check the crown, and if you have a borescope, check the throat. If you get a good one, well you saved ~$100-140 over some of the other popular options.
Don't cheap out on the barrel.
Gas Blocks
Over an FSB, a low profile gas block (GB) will save you another 1-2oz. Overall, between a light/midweight barrel plus GB, you're looking at ~6-9oz of weight savings that's far out on the gun. It does make a measurable improvement in target transitions.
Dimple, drill, and pin your gas block. Better safe than sorry. Plenty of reputable gunsmiths you can pay to do it too for ~$40-80.
Do More Reps
Don't get me wrong, a 7-8lb AR isn't a huge deal to shoot. As many have pointed out, it could be worse. That said, with modern, quality, reliable parts, you can shave 1-1.5lbs off of that without negatively affecting anything and without breaking the bank. That weight isn't nothing, so why not do it if you can?
Titanium
Unless you're building for competition where every bit counts, most titanium or other "lightweight" alloy parts don't actually save you that much weight. They cost a TON of money too. Here's an example.
V Seven makes excellent quality parts. If you were to buy all of their titanium lower parts (bolt catch is lightweight steel but I'm including it) it would set you back ~$322 + tax and shipping. Those parts would weigh in at about 1.984oz while the milspec versions would be ~3.455oz, meaning you'd only save just under 1.5oz...
If you're building a race gun and competing seriously, or you're doing it just to do it, great. If not, probably invest elsewhere like a quality optic, bolt, barrel, and trigger.
Receivers
Aero lowers and Aero slick side uppers are a great option for something that's still quality but cheap. You can occasionally find the lowers on Gunbroker for under $100 if you watch it like a hawk. My last batch I think I got them for ~$59 each, but usually they're more like $80.
The slick side upper will shave another ~0.4oz off weight of a milspec upper plus 0.7oz without the forward assist (1.1oz total). If you look around you can occasionally find them around $60-75 with the port door.
Spend another $50 with V Seven or another company and you can shave another ~0.4oz with a lightweight port door and rod. So for ~$120-130 total you'd end up with an upper that's 1.5oz lighter. Again, question whether the extra $50 is worth it to you, or would you be better off putting in some more reps.
Handguards
Handguards, I won't say much because that's a rabbit hole. The ones I've liked and that have mostly been pretty lightweight:
Areas to Focus
Most of the weight in an AR is in the barrel, handguard, and stock. You have a few ounces elsewhere you can manipulate without substantially affecting performance and reliability. However, you can save the most weight and money focusing on those 3 areas.
In general, you probably have ~6-9oz of potential savings in the barrel + GB (over a standard M4 profile). You have anywhere from 4-8oz+ of weight savings with the handguard + barrel nut. There's also potentially 3-6oz in weight savings with a stock. Overall, in these three areas if you choose carefully, you can avoid breaking the bank and shave ~1-1.5lbs of weight off a standard M4.
Stocks
A CAR-15 repro stock is a great cheapo option. Most of the repros are ~4-4.5 ounces, so you're saving 3-6 ounces off of most collapsible stocks for about $30-40. It also makes you "old school cool", at least as far as anything without wood furniture can be.
I like these stocks a good bit in that they're very lightweight while still functioning decently as a stock.Unless you're going super lightweight for a specific purpose, definitely keep in mind the usability of the gun. Sacrificing 3-4oz of weight at your shoulder isn't a huge deal. There are a ton of comfortable stocks around the 7-9oz range that will work well for you. I would say the CAR-15 stock is on the edge of that, but that's just my opinion. Some of the extreme lightweight stuff out there is pretty janky IMO.
Barrels
As far as the barrel, tapered profiles are ideal. For example, BCM's ELW barrels or Criterion's core series. There are many others of similar profiles. Generally it'll shave ~3-5oz overall (using 16" as an example) while also shifting I'd guess 2-4oz closer to the middle of the gun. This makes a noticeable difference in handling.
Faxon and Ballistic Advantage are some of the cheaper options. They can be good, but they're known to occasionally have some fluctuations in QC. If it was me, I'd pin gauge the gas port to verify size, check the chamber, check the crown, and if you have a borescope, check the throat. If you get a good one, well you saved ~$100-140 over some of the other popular options.
Don't cheap out on the barrel.
Gas Blocks
Over an FSB, a low profile gas block (GB) will save you another 1-2oz. Overall, between a light/midweight barrel plus GB, you're looking at ~6-9oz of weight savings that's far out on the gun. It does make a measurable improvement in target transitions.
Dimple, drill, and pin your gas block. Better safe than sorry. Plenty of reputable gunsmiths you can pay to do it too for ~$40-80.
Do More Reps
Don't get me wrong, a 7-8lb AR isn't a huge deal to shoot. As many have pointed out, it could be worse. That said, with modern, quality, reliable parts, you can shave 1-1.5lbs off of that without negatively affecting anything and without breaking the bank. That weight isn't nothing, so why not do it if you can?
Titanium
Unless you're building for competition where every bit counts, most titanium or other "lightweight" alloy parts don't actually save you that much weight. They cost a TON of money too. Here's an example.
V Seven makes excellent quality parts. If you were to buy all of their titanium lower parts (bolt catch is lightweight steel but I'm including it) it would set you back ~$322 + tax and shipping. Those parts would weigh in at about 1.984oz while the milspec versions would be ~3.455oz, meaning you'd only save just under 1.5oz...
If you're building a race gun and competing seriously, or you're doing it just to do it, great. If not, probably invest elsewhere like a quality optic, bolt, barrel, and trigger.
Receivers
Aero lowers and Aero slick side uppers are a great option for something that's still quality but cheap. You can occasionally find the lowers on Gunbroker for under $100 if you watch it like a hawk. My last batch I think I got them for ~$59 each, but usually they're more like $80.
The slick side upper will shave another ~0.4oz off weight of a milspec upper plus 0.7oz without the forward assist (1.1oz total). If you look around you can occasionally find them around $60-75 with the port door.
Spend another $50 with V Seven or another company and you can shave another ~0.4oz with a lightweight port door and rod. So for ~$120-130 total you'd end up with an upper that's 1.5oz lighter. Again, question whether the extra $50 is worth it to you, or would you be better off putting in some more reps.
Handguards
Handguards, I won't say much because that's a rabbit hole. The ones I've liked and that have mostly been pretty lightweight:
- Centurion C4 and C4 MLOK (great quality but they are pricey for what they are)
- CMT UHPR MOD 1 HDX (excellent quality)
- Any ALG EMR rail (basically unobtanium now and seems like they may never come back unfortunately)
- Troy MLOK and Troy SOCC MLOK (great bang for the buck and the SOCC is extremely light)
- Expo Arms Combat Series (not super lightweight but excellent quality, best bang for the buck, and built by CMT)
- F-1 H7M (really nice, very light, and Texas-made!)
2WD. Meh.That was ONE of many. There were multiple including a 911 Carrera S, Ferrari F430, Nissan GTR, and Porsche 911 GT3. I'll indulge a little history for my fan club here.
There was a time when I thought sports cars were very important, and that changed. I used to spend a lot on cars, but not so much anymore. Though the itch still exist a bit. I went shopping for a C8 Corvette a week ago.
edit: here's one of my old purchase stickers I managed to find from my archives, a Porsche Carrera 911 S. Picked up from my local Porsche dealer in SoCal. At the time it was the most optioned 911 S they had on the lot.
View attachment 351403
Axxe55
Retiretgtshit stirrer
you mistakenly think you have friends in the fan club here you don'tThat was ONE of many. There were multiple including a 911 Carrera S, Ferrari F430, Nissan GTR, and Porsche 911 GT3. I'll indulge a little history for my fan club here.
There was a time when I thought sports cars were very important, and that changed. I used to spend a lot on cars, but not so much anymore. Though the itch still exist a bit. I went shopping for a C8 Corvette a week ago.
edit: here's one of my old purchase stickers I managed to find from my archives, a Porsche Carrera 911 S. Picked up from my local Porsche dealer in SoCal. At the time it was the most optioned 911 S they had on the lot.
View attachment 351403
Just Noreen offers a 270win in an AR and I shoot a few, but an AR 270win would just add to my AR collection! No belt like rem and win on magnums, so going beltless in an AR wouldn't beat up the belts.
Axxe55
Retiretgtshit stirrer
Y or not its good to see the AXXE up and around, but darn good catch.
I don’t know about anybody else but I have three 30-06 rifles.
But I am thinking of rebarreling one in a 7mm AI.
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