Help me build my wife's LIGHTWEIGHT...

AR/M4 Custom Build Forum
1

DATA:
Wife: 4’11" and 115 pounds or so. Factor short arms and small body mass. Not highly trained, so KISS applies.

I want to build an AR that is ideally suited for her frame, weight and experience.

My thoughts:
A1 upper with PENCIL barrel, FSB.
—I’d like to get a 16" MID-gas barrel. The 20" barrels seem to long for her… like a kid with a full-size Colt. I’m thinking MID to lessen the recoil of the CARBINE gas system, even though I can get a 14.5" barrel in this. Am I wrong in this thinking? Who makes what I am looking for? I have been recommended the barrel Bushmaster uses on their Carbon-15…
—Should it have a “F” FSB or a standard (never really understood the difference)?
—A1 FSB or A2? Maybe a TRITIUM front sight post?
—Standard handguards

CAR stock to overcome short arm reach… A1 stock maybe?

Anything I missed?

It would be nice to give her a dot sight but I think the complexity might be too much in STRESSFUL situations and it may not get turned on properly when needed quickly. Overlooking the drawbacks, that is what I loved years ago about the Trijicon REFLEX sights on the gooseneck mount. Always ON and super-fast acquisition… Any always on DOT sights I should consider? A full Aimpoint is heavier than I would want on there… This is the one area that has flustered me on this future build, which is why I fell back to the butt-a$$ simple A1 upper system.

Any help would be greatly appreciated…

Rmpl

2

My wife is the same size and I have trained several other women in the 4’11" - 5’03" range.

My experiences are as follows. Most of small statured women hate long guns no matter how light they are because they feel long and heavy to them. In fact most small statured women that I’ve delt with don’t care for medium to large framed pistols (consider her size, strength, etc)

My suggestion would be to get the shortest / lightest carbine possible.

I would skip the mid-lenght and go for a 14.5" lightweight carbine.

Women often have a hard time with buttstocks. I would suggest something that is stable and has a rubber buttpad (ie. LMT SOPMOD, Magpul CTR with rubber buttpad, etc).

Just my opinion, before you sent out spending money on this project, I would get the wife out to the range at least a half dozen times to ensure she likes long guns (and she just isn’t telling you what you want to hear).

Many small statured women don’t care for long guns and feel much more comfortable with a pistol. I would rather spend time and money on pistols / pistol training for my wife if I knew she would be more apt to use it because she didn’t like or felt acquard with a long gun.

Remember to leave you opinions at home and let your wife tell you what she likes and doesn’t like and encourage her to be honest. Keep this in the back of your mind when teaching a loved one about firearms: Remember what it was like when you were 10 years old and shot your Dad’s shotgun for the first time…remember how big that gun felt…remember how heavy it was…remember how you shot the first round and didn’t want to shoot it again due to the hard recoil…but you kept shooting it because you didn’t want to let down your father…

In short equip her with something she feels somewhat comfortable with and is likely to use to defend herself and your children.

Just my opinion based on my first hand experience. Your milage may vary.

-Jeff

3

Use one of CMMG’s 14.5" lightweight midlength barrels, or their new 16" lightweight midlength barrel. Assemble the rest of it as you see fit. The 14.5" will be just a tad shorter and a tad lighter, but will be limited a bit in rails due to the necessary perm. attached flash supressor. Not a big issue, but one to take note of. I have been VERY happy with my 14.5" lightweight midlength build.

4

Does she alread have and carry a handgun??? If not I would start there!
Handgun w/night sites…

I am guessing this is for home defense!

If so, I would instruct everyone in the household to become familiar with and use the exact same carbine/rifle/shotgun, that way there isn’t more than one weapon with different features whicth could become confusing under stress

5

As for 14.5" mid-length gas systems, I thought I had read that this setup is somewhat trouble-prone, that the 16" is a sure performer due to the additional length after the gas vent?

6

My 14.5 mid lightweight (CMMG barrel) has been flawless from day one.

7

If she’s ready to go and wants and AR, good on both you and her.

I see many guys who try to push guns off on their wives (who often times aren’t interested).

I wouldn’t go the 9mm route. If she or you are going to mount a gun in your shoulder, it should be shooting a rifle round. If it’s for home defense, a .223 penetrates wall board, framing, etc less than a 9mm.

I would look hard at getting her a 14.5" M4 (gov’t profile) or a 14.5" lightweight (pencil barrel). This will feel the most compact and light weight to your wife.

Keep in mind that things that you find “important” are not always what a woman finds “important”. Of all my AR’s my wife likes me 11.5" SBR the most…Why? Because it’s compact and lightweight (at 4’11" / 115 lbs. remember that your wife’s limbs are shorter than yours, with a frame that small she can’t bear as much weight for as long as you can, etc, etc, etc)

I would go with a standard back up iron sight (ie. non - folding) like a LaRue or a LMT. This leaves you the option of adding a electronic red dot sight at a later date.

Throw a light weight light on the gun and you have a light weight / compact package that she will comfortable with.

Remember women are no different than men when it comes to comfort. Ever had a gun that wasn’t comfortable or didn’t fit you right? Did you shoot it much, or did you spend most of your time shooting something that was comfortable or “felt right”?

The problem with most of us men (and I’m just as guilty as the next guy), is when we set out to help a woman select a firearm, we try to direct her toward things we like and things that work well for us. What may work well for a 5’09" / 165 lbs male, doesn’t always work so well for a 4’11" / 115 lbs female.

Just some food for though.

Take care and stay safe,
Jeff

8

Who makes a 14.5" lightweight? All I see out there is gov’t profile M4’s…

I also thought about the SBR route but honestly I am saving up (until this new request, that is) to get my .gov sanctioned suppressor, so I really want to get through first…

Rmpl

9

AR15barrels.com can take a HBAR countour barrel down to lightweight profile for you and his prices aren’t that expensive. If it’s a 16", he can shorten it to 14.5" or 14.7" as well.

I think CMMG may also carry 14.5" lightweight barrels.

-Jeff

10

CMMG has both 14.5" and 16" lightweight barrels, both with midlength gas systems.

11

That sounds like just the ticket… Thanks.

Any vendors reading this carry such a barrel and want to build an upper soon?

Rmpl

12

I agree with most everything already posted. Especially the part about using a 16" lightweight barrel if you can find one so you can add a rail down the road if she either wants one or if the gun reverts to being yours. Believe it or not a Daniel Defense 7.0 M4 railed handguard is no heavier than M4 handguards and a barrel nut/delta ring assembly.

This is CMMG’s 14.5", carbine gas system, barrel. I believe they will even build you an upper with it and put the 7.0 DD on it right from the start so you don’t have to worry about it.

My “lightweight woman gun” would probably look like this
CMMG 14.5" lightweight barrel w/ carbine gas system
Daniel Defense 7.0 handguard w/ Ergo rail covers(substitute Colt double-shield handguards if cost is an issue)
flattop upper
LMT, Larue, or chopped carry handle rear sight
stock Colt 6 or 4 position stock (6 preferred)
rubber buttpad for stock
A1 pistol grip with gapper (or duckbill grip)

Then put a fixed side sling adapter like the GG&G and you can use the stock GI web sling to make up a two-point that weighs almost nothing and doesn’t look like an itimidating mess of buckles and straps.

13

The one I built a few years back went as follows.

Colt post ban 6530. 16inch light weigh barrel.
Removed the Upper and put a flat top on it.
Removed the A2 stock and replaced it with a Rock River Entry stock along with a Knights 1in QD sling spacer
GG&G Mad BUIS
EO-Tech
Removed the stock handguards and put a SF 500A on it.

It got a little heavier, but all in all it is still a light gun. With the stock it’s about like the first position out on a 4 position slider.

I had not shot it in a while, so I used it in a match last year. It is a little bouncier than the M4 profile 16inch guns I have been using. I knew that but sorta forgot.

Here is a pic of me using the Colt, and GG26 using a Pink Cav arms. The Cav gun has a standard M4 barrel with a flat top, ARMS 40, and a two power Aimpoint. It’s light and some people like the Pink gun.

14

Love it!

A couple training together… Good job!

Thanks for the info…

Wife and I had a pow-wow about this build and she really likes the simplicity of the iron sights… She doesn’t want an optic on it at all, and since she has great vision, I don’t blame her. I wish my eyesight was as good…

She also wants the rifle uncluttered with stuff, although she acknowledged the benefit of having a LIGHT grudgingly. So I don’t think the expense of a RAIL system will be useful for her. Might just keep standard guards on there…

So we are looking more and more at a SP1/A1 type carbine with a lightweight or M4 Gov’t profile barrel and standard guards, CAR stock and some kind of grip (will tackle the best one for her later).

Rmpl

15

Here is my 14.5" lightweight midlength gas system gun when I was first putting it together. Had it in an A1 upper. Worked really well, but I found I was better with an Aimpoint.
Based on what you have said that your Mrs. wants, this rifle would be perfect for her. Two thoughts though… In this particular A1 upper, I had put in an XS same plane rear sight. I HIGHLY recommend them for iron sighted guns. Also, if you order the barrel from CMMG, ask them to install a STANDARD front sight, not an F marked one. With an F marked one and the A2 rear, you’ll have to do a lot of elevation adjustment with the front sight post. Its not an “issue” per se, but would be simpler with a standard FSB.

As a comparison, here is how I have it set up now.

16

I have to say, I would strongly consider getting a flattop upper and a fixed rear BUIS like the LMT just in case you want to add an optic later on. If you don’t, it won’t hurt to have the rail space there unused.

17

If I go that flattop route, would I then need the “F” marked FSB to match up with a BUIS mounted on the top?

Rmpl

18

My wife is about the same size and shoots everything up to my M1A. I will be giving her my Lauer/CMMG M4A1 build once I get my SPR built. She hates pistols so that is out of the question for me.

19

For a Larue fixed rear (my favorite of the fixed ones) or a flip up such as a Troy, Arms, etc., then yes. F marked.

And I would have to agree with RobS. Go with a flat top and a fixed rear like a Larue. You dont loose anything, but you keep future options open.