Rifle Weight

[Striker753]

I tend to keep my ARs as light as possible; if I want to carry a heavy beast around, I'm bringing out the Vepr or the PTR-91. The main advantage of the AR is to be a light, modular platform and I want to keep it this way; that's why I've got a 6.3lb "light" AR (10" barrel, 5.56 or 5.45 according to what I want to shoot, an Aimpoint sight, and that's all). My other AR is heavier at 9lbs but that's because it's a 14" AR-10 with a heavy barrel and a scope, that I built to satisfy my battle rifle fetish.

[daddyusmaximus]

I tend to keep my ARs as light as possible; if I want to carry a heavy beast around, I'm bringing out the Vepr or the PTR-91. The main advantage of the AR is to be a light, modular platform and I want to keep it this way; that's why I've got a 6.3lb "light" AR (10" barrel, 5.56 or 5.45 according to what I want to shoot, an Aimpoint sight, and that's all). My other AR is heavier at 9lbs but that's because it's a 14" AR-10 with a heavy barrel and a scope, that I built to satisfy my battle rifle fetish.

Can you give some details on the 14" AR-10. I just started a similar build.

[Striker753]

It's a DPMS LR-308 with a Ballistic Advantage heavy barrel that used to be a 20 inch one but was shortened to 14 inches by a gunsmith after I got the papers to SBR it. Then I mounted a bipod that was at my local gun store and didn't look too crappy, and a Nikon M-308 4-16x42mm scope.

[Canonshooter]

Definition of a Carbine;

1. a short-barreled lightweight firearm originally used by cavalry
2. a light short-barreled repeating rifle that is used as a supplementary military arm or for hunting in dense brush

I very much subscribe to the KISS principle and "lightweight" attribute. Having tried many, many configurations (one of which weighed north of 10 pounds) I have decided that heavy is not something I want in an AR carbine.

For the role I want my AR to fill, I have settled on a BCM rifle that weighs 7 lbs./2 ounces unloaded. I'm using an A5 RE with an A5H2 buffer on a BCM lower, a 16-inch ELW BFH upper with a 13-inch KMR handguard, and a lightweight optic package (for my crappy old-age eyesight) comprised of a Leupold FX-II Ultralight 2.5x20mm in a Daniel Defense mount. Other than a sling and a QD WML set up that is attached when the rifle is stored (and removed for my normal recreational shooting activities), it is devoid of any other Tactical Timmy stuff.

The older I get, the more I appreciate simplicity.