No holds barred lightweight build

[BigBluePup]

The suppressor is going to more for killing paper and having fun then using it in the field. I'll use it for coyotes and ground squirrels and other stuff that you sit and wait for but dragging it through the brush doesn't sound to fun lol. That and we just got it legal last year to use suppressors in our state (WA)

I'm not expecting it to handle like a carbine because it's not going to be one. Take into consideration my hunting riffle that I use now. It's a Remington 700 Sendero chambered in .300RUM it has a 28" barrel with a center shot riffles "muscle brake" and Huskemaw optics scope.... she ain't no paper weight either, she comes in at just over 13lbs.

So all things considered, no... it won't handle like a swat team tactical barn burner, but I'm not building it to.
I want a SUPER light accurate hunting riffle that I can have some fun with.

I've considered 18" barrels but a friend of mine has a 20" and it shoots beautiful.

As far as precision long range and light weight, that's not entirely true. Typically yes sniper rifles and bench guns are CRAZY heavy but you have to ask yourself why? Well that's easy stability right? True heavy guns are more stable but that's only because they are EASIER to hold steady on a rest but not IMPOSSIBLE too.
At that points it becomes the shooter who is stable and not the gun.
For instance, my friend Cullen has a .338Norma fully trucked out BA mother effer. We ring steal with it all day at 1,200+ yards last year it took an 384-1/4" elk at 1,011yrds in one shot.
it weights 8-1/4lbs
So more is less sometimes when it comes to weight it just how you handle it and put it together that counts.

[BigBluePup]

You should be really careful about this. You're setting up to have something like a 50" long gun that's going to handle like holding a sledgehammer straight out from the stock.

How are you planning to get over brush and fences with that long of a gun? Pole vault with it?

Just joking about the pole vaulting, but the rest is pretty serious. What're you planning on hitting at 700 yards plus?

More then likely nothing with a heart beat, ringing steal and paper work mostly. After I get it and I'm comfortable at that range with that gun I think it has the energy to take deer and other mid sized game.

[BigBluePup]

I have a Holland brake on my 7mm Rem Mag...there is no port at 6 o'clock; ports at 9,12,3 o'clock only.

That's awesome that they're making them that way now, my girlfriends dad has a .338mag and my neighbor has a 30-378 weatherby mag both with holland brakes with 6 o'clock ports and its like a bomb goes off every time they pull the trigger lol.

[stokesrj]

My long range rifle is a Prairie Gun Works TI15 with a 28" PacNor 1:8" twist fluted #3 contour and sits in a McMillan Edge stock. It is chambered in 6.5 STW and is serial number two, Lane Simpson has serial #1. It shoots 140 grain Bergers at 3,475 fps and weighs 7.5 lbs. I had two brakes made for it one is a Vias and the other is a custom pepper shaker with ports at 10, 12 and 2 o'clock. The pepper shaker was made specifically to avoid throwing all the trash in the air when fired prone but was a miserable failure. It drives the rifle down into the bipod and then springs back up into the air. I finally gave up on using brakes for hunting. They are loud, a hazard to trash in the eyes and a potential for bore obstruction. More than once I've found a twig jammed into one of the ports and protruding into the bore.
Here is a pic of it with the Stone's sheep that completed my Grand Slam of North American Wild sheep.

[BigBluePup]

Before you give up on brakes completely try "Center shot rifles" their brakes are kind of a chevron style so you get no dust bomb when you shoot and they are extremely efficient.
My .300RUM shoots berger 185gr 3390fps and I have shot 20-30 rounds in one session and never been sore or even flinch from it.
My friend Corey loved mine so much he put one on his .270WSM and he loves it too!

[fanofflyn]

I have one Grendel with a 16 inch Satern Cut rifled barrel, but the last two inches are a turned flash suppressor, so the actual rifled part is 14 inches, and the flash suppressor is part of the barrel. It is ultralightweight, with the area before the gas block and after both fluted, and it is a mid length gas system. I bought this before Satern stopped making Grendel barrels, and now that they are making them again, I don't know if they are available. I've been waiting 8 months for my 6.5 Creedmoor AR`0 barrel which was supposed to be delivered in March, April, June, and July, but isn't here yet. That is the most ultralight barrel I've ever seen however.

[StoneTower]

I have been wanting one of those Satern ultralightweight barrel profiles in a 20" with a rifle length gas system. I think having the flash hider on the end like that is a waste. I think a 16" barrel that is threaded would be a better use of metal and if you did not need the flash suppressor you could just use a thread protector.

[traybill]

If you are looking for a light wieght lower the Plum crazy lower is fiber reinforced polymer the metal parts are limited to springs, pins, buffer tube, buffer, bolt catch/release. the triger on mine breaks cleanly at 4 lbs no discernable creap or over travel. the 6 position carbine stock it is supplied with is a little sloppy but functional. I picked mine up for 125 at a local FFL. The lower is manufactured in Lake Havasue City Az. I have no experiance with the Carbon 15 or the Cav Arms lower but I do recomend the Plum Crazy

[BigBluePup]

If you are looking for a light wieght lower the Plum crazy lower is fiber reinforced polymer the metal parts are limited to springs, pins, buffer tube, buffer, bolt catch/release. the triger on mine breaks cleanly at 4 lbs no discernable creap or over travel. the 6 position carbine stock it is supplied with is a little sloppy but functional. I picked mine up for 125 at a local FFL. The lower is manufactured in Lake Havasue City Az. I have no experiance with the Carbon 15 or the Cav Arms lower but I do recomend the Plum Crazy

Do you know if there is a difference in weight and how much? If it was lighter I'd look into it.

[Rambozo]

I don't know about the Plum Crazy, but I have a New Frontier LW-15 that I am, so far, quite happy with. It's way light, and said to be made of better material than the PC. Other than that, the two parts even use the same mold, I think. The trigger is much better than stock too.

[Essayons]

I'm late to the party, but I'll throw in my $0.02 having built a few lightweight ARs:

1. If you don't require a collapsible stock and insist on a polymer lower, then find a new or used Cav Arms Mk II lower as others have suggested. They have a solid track record.
2. Take a look at JP Rifles low mass operating system to mitigate felt recoil. I view the adjustable gas block, low mass bolt carrier and low mass buffer (if you use a rifle length receiver extension) as a system. They work well together that way. Together they permit you to build a lightweight weapon with just enough gas to cycle reliably with your preferred ammunition.
3. I like 9mm style upper receivers with no forward assist and no brass deflector. You can get 9mm uppers drilled for a gas tube from http://www.adcofirearms.com/
4. Last time I checked, Clark Custom Guns made the lightest forearm/free float tube--6 ounces in rifle length including the aluminum barrel nut. If you cut it to carbine length, it will weigh in right at 4 ounces.
5. I have a carbon wrapped barrel (an old ABS) and agree with other posters that you may be able to fine a conventional barrel (fluted or lightweight profile) with a lower overall weight. The CF barrels I've seen emphasized stiffness over weight reduction.
6. Don't underestimate the importance of balance. The AR I enjoy carrying and handling the most isn't the lightest one.

[LRRPF52]

Good points. There are non Forward Assist uppers now from Les Baer and Rainier Arms ready to go for a gas-operated AR15.

I personally would recommend vent holes in a carbon fiber handguard, as opposed to cutting the length down. I use rifle-length handguards on any gun with a 14.5" barrel and longer, as you get better control, more positional options for support, and better mounting options front sights, slings, bipods, and illumination if you choose. The fore end of the barrel is also protected from impact more than a carbine handguard set-up, which is really better for 10" guns in my opinion-the ones it was developed for with the Colt Model 607, then XM177E1. Once they went to the XM177E2 with an 11.5" barrel, a longer set of handguards would have been more appropriate, but they kept it with the carbine-length handguard cap and 6-hole circular handguards that had been made for the XM177.

Those carried onto the Colt Model 653 14.5" A1 carbine, and the Model 723 and 727, then M4, when there should have been a set-up like the Colt 605 back in 1963. SOCOM has finally come around to that configuration, only with a modern free-float handguard with the SOMPOD Block II guns, which is the trend now among the spear tip of development with the AR15 family for military applications, where lightweight is still important.

I agree that balance is more important than arbitrary numbers, and a rifle-length forearm carbine will provide amazing balance, especially with lightweight "pencil" barrels.

[traybill]

My plum crazy lower weighs in at 1lbs 4 oz with buffer and spring installed. I cant tell you what a standard aluminum lower weighs

sorry for the late reply been out of town

[BigBluePup]

Well,
The build is officially under way. last week I ordered my PROOF Research 20" rifle length barrel.
They will be threading it with a SUREFIRE 7.62 Suppressor QD muzzle break.
It's unfortunate that getting parts for an AR is a little tougher then finding depleted uranium at a garage sale in Iran.
But I'm gunna press through. I'm waiting to find a non forward assist upper and a bolt carrier group.
I sent a bolt to PROOF to be chambered with the rifle but have NOTHING else yet besides a lower (forged aluminum until I can find something better) and a Jewel trigger for it.

Still a little up in the air about a stock, and optics, (vortex or sightron probably)
I'll post some pics of my barrel as soon as I get it should only be a week or two out.

I wish JP would return my emails, I asked them over a week ago when they would have some low mass recoil systems in and if they'd work in this application but I've heard NOTHING from them yet.

[dvrod18]

Of the nearly 100 ARs that I've been involved in building, this gun that I built for my daughter was by far the lightest. It uses a pencil thin barrel and a full polymer Cavalry Arms lower. The Cav Arms lower integrates the lower, handgrip and buttstock into one, very lightweight, monolithic unit that saves weight by eliminating many of the bolts and other parts needed to hold separate comonents together. Its also very strong and takes abuse (think Glock). While this gun is built in 5.56, it could easily be done in 6.5 Grendel (and obviously it would not be required to be pink!). You could shave another 1 or 2 ounces by utilizing a different gas block that doesn't include a front sight.

I have handled a .300 blackout with this lower and was surprised at how light and sturdy it felt, didn't get to shoot it though.

[jurassic]

Ranier arms has the CAV lowers in stock I believe. I like the idea, but they are ugly. I have a New Frontier coming next week.

http://www.rainierarms.com/?page=shop/de...ct_id=3402

[BigBluePup]

Well this is what I have so far,

20" PROOF barrel,
SUREFIRE QD muzzle break,
PRI Carbon fiber hand guard,
DPMS "slick side" upper,
MAKO SSR-25 sniper stock,
JP Low Mass bolt carrier system,
JP Silent capture buffer spring,
JP Low profile .936 adjustable gas system,
Jewell trigger,
And a few different lowers to put it in just haven't decided yet.

Optics will probably be my Huskemaw 5-20X50 off my .300RUM and I'll replace it with a Sightron or Vortex 6-24X56 since I'm not worried about weight on that pig.
All parts have been ordered I'm just waiting on them to show up.

What I'm wondering is the stock I have is an A2 Style, does anyone know of a QD receiver plate for an A2 style stock?

[BigBluePup]

Just waiting on PROOF Research at this point. Everything is here and ready to go, I even picked up 60 rounds of AA 129gr Hornady for break in.


I'll be waiting.... and waiting.... AND. WAITING.

[LRRPF52]

You need one of these:

[Gamecock84]

What do you think the total weight will be not scoped?