I’ve been trying to come to terms with this for a while, and I suspect I’m not alone in that regard; but I’m amazed at just how much better carbine arrangements I come up with for my wife or a friend actually work, mostly because I’m not insistent on some marginal capabilities.
Example - my go-to rifles for myself are a pair of 16" Carbines with low powered variable optics, a flashlight, and a DBAL. This is way better than I had done before, where I was running really heavy rifles with tons of extra junk, but even this iterated things aren’t as enjoyable as the rifle I have set up for my wife.
Her setups: a pair of 14.5/14.7" lightweight carbines with fixed front sights, bare lightweight handguards, an Aimpoint H1, X300, and MOD stock on the back (EMOD/SOPMOD). I’ve had these for a while, and the first time I realized I liked hers better was when I realized I needed something closer (which led me to change to my current pair, but I still failed to pull that off).
What I’m trying to put my finger on is why I have much more clarity on prioritization of features when I’m not consciously making a rifle for myself. My do-all recce is a truly awesome carbine, the 1-6x optic and DBAL both add pretty impressive tangible function, and the match barrel with suppressor at least in theory are big improvements in capability, but the sum total is that her $2000 rifle for 95% of the time is actually slightly better than mine which I’ve piled 3x as much money into. As part of the outright simplicity, hers is completely ambidextrous (BAD Selector, X300 light at 12:00), and balances a lot better. The favorite aspects of my suppressed SBR are ones which I just gave up and decided to copy from her rifle (the above, plus the handguard), and not the ones I originally had in mind.
Is this mostly an inaccurate assessment of my own abilities, or just a bad assumption that because I’m trying to make carbines that span my entire capability range instead of making simplifying assumptions of the capability of others which end up in choosing more focused tools? I figure if I can better understand this phenomenon, I might be able to do a better job of spending my money on stuff that fits the mission instead of shiny crap that seems like it does that and more.
I noticed the same trend with my “primary” when compared to ones I’ve have assembled for others. My primary was built around the idea of a “do all” to meet nearly any need I might have. It was a fantasy gun built to operate in an imaginary SHTF situation. The end result was that it simply wasn’t great at anything.
Every other build I’ve done has had a more focused purpose for each one, from lightweight KISS defense rifle to bench precision. These were built without any fantasy situations in mind, and based solely on how they would be used. The lesson was learned, and I went back to rebuild my primary to suit how I used it.
The bottom line is that we all eventually learn the same lessons that have been learned in the past. Every weapon is a compromise. Tailor the weapon to the mission.
We always yearn for “capability” with our “do-it-all” carbines. What we occasionally forget is that complexity is the enemy of efficiency, weight is the enemy of speed and bulk is the enemy of deployability. The extra money spent on “capability” would probably be better spent on ammo and training in the pursuit of proficiency.
What is the ultimate do-everything hammer for a carpenter?
There’s not one. Guns are the same way.
If you’re wanting a “do-it-all” AR, you’re probably dreaming.
Ideally, I think a lightweight 14.5" or 16" middy (think KMR) with a lightweight 1-4x optic would be an ideal daylight gun–but throw on an X300 or WML for versatility.
Meanwhile a 12.5" upper with a DBAL, Aimpoint T1, and a Surefire with a vampire head, Surefire flash hider and can if you have one would be the perfect inside the house/night time gun.
I wouldn’t expect either system to do EVERYTHING, but if a guy wants two long guns to cover lots of territory, I think those two would get you close. If you want to shoot longer range, a bolt-action .223 or .308 and call it a day.
What I have done to solve some of the issues that come up, are build another gun for every need. You end up with 5 or 6 complete Ar-15 builds and a really light wallet… But in reality, Bolt Gun for long range or anything precise. SBR with a can for the house. And a 14.5 middy for most everything else. Spend all day going back and forth on optics and accessories, but at the end of the day like others have said… whats the purpose of the rifle and tailor accessories to that specific need.
Probably because for other people, you have a more honest and objective idea of what their actual use for the rifle is, and you stick to what is necessary to accomplish it. If you are like most of us, you are a bit of a gear whore… there is always the temptation when you see something cool to FIND a use for it, instead of letting mission dictate equipment.
I still wish it was smaller (like my Mk18 type SBR) and/or lighter (like my 16" LW Middy Daytime Carbine). Or I wish it was a bit more precise, like my 18" 5.56 and 7.62 rifles - in short, I’m about out of legitimate complaints, but it took me a lot of iterations where I’d have my ‘ideal’ carbine of carbines not do many things well.
hensch nailed the rest of it pretty much, it’s so hard to be objective about what actual use I have for a tool when there’s so many shiny things I can add which aren’t called for.
[eta] FWIW, my obsession with making an improved DMR has probably led to a lot of what in retrospect was poor decision making, but I’ve finally figured out that it’s truly possible to work out a better mousetrap in that regard.
Post pictures of your and your wife’s rifles! I’m curious.
In my opinion, a do it all carbine would be a 14.5" elw kmr bcm upper with a mini4 suppressor, vortex 1-4 in aero precision base, and a x300 with tape switch. Throw in some buis and vcas sling and call it a day. Use whatever lower, BAD and Geissele parts, A5, STR and K2 furniture.
Good thread, and a lesson I had to learn the hard way.
For example, at this point I have no good place to shoot out past 200 meters regularly. For this reason the bolt gun, and the SS barreled AR upper went bye bye. At this point I have 2nd lower sitting in my safe with no upper because I just can’t figure out/justify spending $1000-$1500 for another upper that might be able to do what my SBR does from 0-200 meters marginally better. My only thought is a gun that could travel across state lines on a road trip, but I have a 5.56 AK-101 clone that fills that role nicely. I can’t really afford to have any strictly range toys at this point, but I am considering liquidating part of my collection to buy a SCAR and/or a can knowing it would probably be a glorified range toy.
Part of the problem is accepting when a part is good enough. A heavier profile match barrel is known to be more consistent but it’s advantage over a standard or light profile barrel isn’t apparent until getting involved in competition shooting bughole groups way out yonder. A variable scope helps with target identification at a distance but an Aimpoint works very well out to 300 yards and shines inside 100.
I think we get caught up in the equipment race. Like you said in post #12, it’s easy to get distracted by shiny things. But the reality is, the KISS AR is really the smartest do-all configuration. It’s just not the coolest- or the shiniest.
Here’s my do-all carbine. The only thing I need to do to use it in a precision role is to swap the sights and maybe switch to a free float tube. It’s just another AR. Nothing spectacular, nothing special. It works but it’s boring
Between these two rifles, I think I’ve got just about everything covered that I want an AR to do. I could probably just stick with the 16" carbine by installing a FF tube and swapping the sights around but I want the flatter trajectory the added velocity of the 20" barrel gives
My wife bricked my good 32GB SD card, so I’ll have pictures once I work around that…
So far, I’m really amused/impressed with just how much M4C type rifles have convergent evolution going on with layout and functionality - they’re still different visually, but all the key hardware is hilariously similar, with only a couple good layouts for each intended role.
Posted before, but this is my KISS carbine that gets 95% of the AR work I do now. Noveske lower with Geissele SSA trigger, BCM 14.5" LW Middy with Aimpoint H1, 600 Scout light and VCAS sling. The BAD lever is gone now, but otherwise the build has remained in stasis since I put it together. It’s light, accurate, fast to use and maneuver in tight confines.
I’d say-
16" government profile barrel, 1:7, chrome lined, /FSB
Quality bolt
Full auto carrier w/staked gas key
Forged upper & lower receivers
Standard trigger
Milspec carbine RE
H2 Buffer
Adjustable stock
MOE handguard
BUIS
Sling
Common Variations
Government/M4/Pencil profiles or HBar profile
10.5 - 11.5" barrel, 16" barrel or 18" barrel. Sometimes 20" barrel
Stainless steel or chrome lined chromoly barrel
1:7 or 1:8 twist
FSB or low profile gas block
MOE handgaurds or FF tube
Milspec or A5 RE
RDS or variable scope
Standard trigger or G trigger
Weapon light
A2 flash suppressor or compensator/hybrid muzzle device
You end up with 5 or 6 complete Ar-15 builds and a really light wallet… 
But in reality, Bolt Gun for long range or anything precise. SBR with a can for the house. And a 14.5 middy for most everything else. Spend all day going back and forth on optics and accessories, but at the end of the day like others have said… whats the purpose of the rifle and tailor accessories to that specific need.
