Hey it seems to me that there has been a recent trend to get rid of all the crap on the AR’s and get them lightweight and practical. I’ve had my S&W M&P15OR for about a year now and have made a bunch of changes:
DD Lite Rail 9.0
Magpul CTR Stock
Magpul MOE Grip
Magpul MBUS Sights
PWS 556 Comp
Trijicon ACOG TA33R-8
I plan on sending in my barrel to ADCO to have it re-contoured to a pencil barrel and cut down to 14.5" then having the comp permanently attached. I may have left a few marks on it getting the original gas block off which is another reason for doing this.
So do you guys notice this trend too? I feel like my rifle is pretty lightweight, do you guys have any ideas to get it even lighter while maintaining reliability and usability?
Feel free to post pics or specs of your lightweight rigs, I’d love to get some ideas from the experts.
Handguards grew rails and people started putting all kinds of crap on them to be ninja, when they didn’t really need the stuff. So you add rail covers. Now people are coming out with slicked up forends with out rails. We’ll end up with A2 round handguards again before this is all over.
Yes, the trend has come back into fashion. I think the reason why it left was the “sexyness” of the M4 profiled barrel. People are now bored with that look and have moved onto something else.
When I first started out, I ran a SS HB barrel, LT 9.0 rail, PRI flip up sight, Magpul UBR (old style), SF M962SU07, TD VG and a US Optics SN-4. Man did that thing weigh a ton!
As I have progressed in my training, I have down sized considerably (as technology has changed). I now run a 10.5 SBR with a Troy TRX rail, Aimpoint Micro with DD Micro mount, DD fixed Sights, SF X300 and either a CTR or the LMT SOPMOD.
I hate heavy/cumbersome rifles. It’s all KISS for me and always has been. My new 16" BCM midlength will have an Aimpoint T1 on it (4 ounces!) when the budget allows (irons for now) and a Troy battlesight on the rear and that’s it. Standard CavArms C8 handguards tops it off. With collapsible stock and a simple 2-point sling it’s light and compact.
I don’t think “lightweight” is a trend. The M16/AR was designed as a lightweight rifle. It was M4 barrels and slapping octo-rails with 20lbs of crap on them that is the trend. A trend that seems to be dying off for the moment and luckily the market is starting to put out some nice lightweight goodies again!
I have a compact ACOG on the handle and a flashlight on the front. The barrel is M4 contoured and I wish it were a lightweight. Sometimes less is more.
OK, so tell me what this “whizz bang stuff” exactly is?
Furthermore you do realize that the “whizz bang stuff” on a “Buck rogers carbine” is an absolute necessity on a modern battlefield, right? Thing like IR lasers, powerful white and IR flashlights, M68 red dot sights, rail systems, combat slings, suppressors all have an indispensable place on a real world, no shit use carbine.
Now, now that I am a joe civilian, do I need all of that on my home defense AR? Nope. I run an LMT 10.5 with a TLR-3 light, Aimpoint T1 in a LaRue mount, basic KAC rail system, and LMT sopmod. This is what I would consider a “basic” carbine which fully allows you to exploit the inherent advantages of a carbine. Similarly the pistol I keep in my night stand is an M&P45 stoked with 14 rounds of 230gr Ranger-T ammo, with a CTC laser grip, and Procyon weapon light. It is very “whizz bang” but when utilized properly it gives me a distinct advantage.
People please let us not not use the lightweight AR fad as an excuse to slide down the slippery “KISS” slope to A1 style rifles with irons and no white lights.
This is the golden age of commercial training, and everyone and their mother is getting out there and taking classes from everyone and their brother. Regardless of how worthless some of that training may be, it still requires spending the better part of your day standing around with a gun. A given the proliferation of fatbodies and generally out of shape people, ounces start to become pounds. So even a guy taking a totally bogus class will start to appreciate a lighter weight gun and gear.
Then you have the “me toos” that see the trend of even to bogusly-trained and feel like mimicking that.
Personally I’ve been on the light-is-right kick since my very first carbine turned out to be full of whiz-bang and weighed a ton. LMT 14.5" M4 upper with 12.0 Larue Rail, Magpul M93 stock, etc. I wish I could find a pic of that beast.
Exactly; there’s a “limit” where one trades reliability or efficiency for weight reduction.
We finally got approval for personally owned patrol carbines, and the department is letting us buy Colts out of payroll deduction. I’m keeping mine fairly simple and lightweight. It falls into the category of having to be lightweight to the point that I won’t mind having it slung on my shoulders all day, yet accessorized appropriately for my given assignments.
the good news is that we don’t have to make near the compromises that we used to. A1-profile barrels instead of HBAR, T-l instead of M2, Troy Extreme instead of Larue (or god forbid the AMRS SIR), the Surefire min-Scout instead of the M961… Making all those changes will save you at least a pound, if not two, and are equal in functionality in every way.
I would not, at this juncture, go with an A1 upper, etc. simply for the sake of saving weight (although I do think there are sometimes other justifications for going that route).
