Ideal AR-15 Weight

[Maverick44]

What do you guys think is the ideal AR-15 weight for general use? Most of the ARs I've built tend to be a little on the heavy side except for my 7.62x39 pistol build (for obvious reasons). I think between 5-6lbs would probably be the perfect balance of being light weight, but not so light weight that the ruggedness and reliability of the gun is compromised. Those super light weight skeletonized gamer guns look cool, but I doubt they would function very well in even remotely adverse conditions. They're not very practical.

 

[jordanmills]

I'm gonna go with zero.

 

[popper]

About 7 loaded, heavier, get an ar10.

 

[popper]

Sorry dB post

 

[studenygreg]

Depends on what you are doing with it. Are you carrying it 12 hours a day while running,climbing, jumping, etc? Are you just taking it to the range? It also depends on what range you will be shooting. You can use irons or light weight optics for home defense. Large magnified optics and mounts weight more. I prefer light weight AR setups. 8lbs or less.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[kenboyles72]

Like was mentioned before, depends on what you use it for. My son's AR with light weight free float rail, BUIS and RDS, is 7.5 lbs. My AR with light weight free float rail, BUIS and scope is 9.2lbs. Both rifles are pretty much stock except for the hand guards.

 

[Dawico]

Can't say I've ever weighed one.

I have a few that are lighter and a few that are heavier, mostly depends on the barrels and optics I suppose.

I think balance is more important than just weight.

Heavy barreled long range rigs don't carry well and feel awkward. Too light of a barrel and they don't swing correctly. Guess that feeling comes from bird hunting with a shotgun.

If it feels right the actual weight doesn't matter to me I suppose.

 

[Riksors]

Zero or as light as possible without sacrificing the integrity of the weapon.

Realistically for a carbine, 6-8lbs with full mag and optics. YMMV.

 

[toddnjoyce]

Not to heavy for a 50K ruck with a full combat load is the perfect weight.

No matter how gucci, there’s a min weight for the chunks of metal. Balance is much more important in my opinion.

 

[Darkpriest667]

Sorry the question isn't detailed enough for my answer to be accurate.

- With or Without Optic?

- Full magazine or empty magazine?

currently voted 4 to 5 but that's without optic and no magazine.

 

[Maverick44]

I kept it vague for a reason. It's general use. You might use it to hunt, you might use it for fighting/defense, or you might just use it to punch holes in paper. It needs to be able to do all of these roles in the most practical way possible.

The weight is of the gun with optics and an empty mag.

 

[Big Green]

I prefer a heavier AR. I really like 18” barrels and a sturdy handguard. I was NOT a door kicker but I always took a 20” M16A4 to the range and all my humps in boot and MCT were with 20” variants. I have shorter models and they swing well, but I’m not high speed and I prefer a little more FPS. My current build has an 18” A2 profile and will soon be debuted here when I ask about stock options.

That being said, I have a suppressed 12” SBR 300BLK that is a blast and handles really well.

I personally like 18” barrels with a rifle, or possibly an intermediate, length gas system.

 

[baboon]

I thought the big draw to the AR platform was its modularity. I have everything from an old school commando to a heavy IAR upper and everything in between.

 

[Pistol Pete]

Most are too heavy. Brownnells ever gets right on their pricing I want the XM16 version, what I had in Nam...... Not paying 1100.00 for a 500.00 gun tho.

 

[Axxe55]

I don't care for having a bunch of crap hanging off my AR's. I like simplicity in my guns. But, I want as lightweight as possible too, but never at the expense of reliability of the gun.

 

[EZ-E]

I think most my ars are 6-7lbs unloaded with 16" barrels & flip ups. Most scopes will add a 1lb or so to the rifle. I sighted in my 6.5 grendel yesterday with my night vision. That scope added atleast 2lbs to the rifle. I bet its close to 10lbs now.

 

[EZ-E]

Just weighed 2 if my favorites.... unloaded.
One has 16" barrel & 8" quadrail with red dot... weighs 8.2lbs.
The other has 16" stainless barrel, 10" freefloat weights 7lbs... with night vision its 10.2lbs.

 

[Txhillbilly]

My lightest AR's have 18" SPR profile barrels on them,the rest are 18" H-bar profile or 20" Bull barrels.
I don't like light weight rifles,most of my bolt actions are at least 10 lbs and up to 17 lbs. Using a good sling,it really doesn't matter how much they weigh.

 

[Lonesome Dove]

Not a fan of the AR but I’ve owned two. I believe 5-6.5# would be good. Mine were 7.5 and 9# latter was heavy varmint barrel.

 

[Texas42]

I’ve never carried a rifle and though, “Man, wish this sucker was heavier”. It’s not like .223 Remington kicks much.