DD 12.0" Lite lighter than KAC URX 3.1 13.5"

[TehLlama]

I have a 12" DD Lite rail, and I've been looking seriously at building a recce upper with the KAC 3.1 URX, but per the Knight's catalog it looks like that even without the rails, or integral front sight, the URX is still heavier than even the 14" lite rail.

Does anybody have a correct weight for the 13.5" URX 3.1, or is 20oz the actual installed dry weight?

[bp7178]

Per this thread, the URX 3.1 is 398g, which is 14 oz. The KAC spec may be with rail covers and all the hardware.

http://www.ar15.com/mobile/topic.html?b=2&f=381&t=215640

I wouldn't pick the URX naked rails just for weight alone. I like the profile of the URX-III MUCH better than the DD Lite series. The DD Lite just feels very oval. The DD RIS-II solves this problem, and includes a removeable bottom rail like the DD Lite, but is heavier than the URX. Another advantage of the URX, it is very light but retaines the removeable bottom rail. Not a huge deal, but come time for cleaning it comes in handy.

If weight is your goal, I would take the URX III which includes a front sight. The stock KAC front sight post is very slim, and mates well with the 200m-600m rear.

IMO the advantage of the naked rails is in part their up-front weight loss, and their low profile. The back end advantage is there are no rails to cover up. There was this odd trend for a while where guys wanted massive rail systems, only to cover all of the rails.

The DD RIS-II was one of my favorite rails that i've owned. The quality of the machining was amazing. Without a doubt I would recommend it over the 12.0 Lite, which I also owned. The slight weight penalty for the bottom removeable rail is worth it, and the profile feels much better in the hands.

Just my .02....

[jonconsiglio]

The RIS II is a hell of hand guard. Very robust and a good profile. I prefer it to the Lite rail. It's a couple ounces heavier, I think 17 with the barrel nut, but it's just fine and if I need to swap the barrel, I don't need the URX wrench… though I did hear of a price reduction on the wrench.

[bp7178]

I paid about $105 for my URX wrench. My DD bolt-up wrench was $10...

That being said, I thought I read somewhere that the DD ones were moving up in price and were going to be made out of steel.

[TehLlama]

I have a DD RIS-II (and the Mk18 one), and while I like them, I've moved them to airsoft guns because I actually prefer the very oval feel with LT Index Clips, and the low hanging bottom rail works well with only a hand stop.

That 14oz for the 13.5" seems a lot more in line with the rough weight I figured out for my URX-LW, and now I'm stuck trying to decide how much that added length and reduced weight is really worth.
What's still worrying me is if those weights are with the barrel nut, since the listed URX-II Mid weight is also around 6oz short of the listed weight, and the weight cited by Rob_S

This upper will get the 45* offset sights anyway,

[bp7178]

A URX barrel nut is maybe an ounce. It's Aluminium and very very light. The DD ones are more significant, as they are steel.

All of the hardware in the DD system is more significant in terms of weight, longer steel screws & more of them, combined with the steel barrel nut.

I suspect the URX is lighter. You can always remove the heat shield. My URX-III didn't come with one from the factory for whatever reason, and I don't miss it. My hand is never near the chamber end anyway.

Again, the weight differences are little if any. I doubt you could pick both up and actually tell the difference between ounces by your hand alone.