Weight of your carbine

[wes007]

A couple of weeks ago a thread was posted about changes to your carbine after receiving formal training.

A small discussion then pursued about how weight affects the operator, but I really dont feel as though the discussion reached its full potential.

People were chiming in with great responses and one user had mentioned that it is the #1 issue that is completely overlooked.

With that being said, what are your thoughts and concerns?

[GMZ]

I have a KISS 16" middy with irons only that is very light (dont have exact #), after taking a class I felt that the added weight for my Aimpoint would be worth it.

[rob_s]

I have been at both ends of the spectrum. I have added a whole lot of accessories and gear and wound up with a very capable rifle that weighed a ton, and I have kept to a streamlined approach and wound up with a rifle that is light weight and still every bit as functional.

To be clear, these discussions often deviate into "KISS" which is NOT the point here. I'm talking about maintaining function while making choices that help to keep the overall weight of the carbine down. Aimpoint H-1 instead of an ML3, Surefire X300 instead of an M961, DD Lite rail system instead of Troy MRF, hell Magpul MOE handguards instead of any rail, MOE stock instead of UBR, etc.

I believe that every "fighting" carbine should have an optic, light, and sling. You can achieve that without winding up with a boat-anchor of a gun.

I went from this


to this


I would not call the original version "heavy" by any means. In itself that carbine was intended to be lightweight. After my original ban-sunset carbine that tipped the scales at close to 10 lbs, every subsequent carbine I've owned has been lightweight, and every time I've chosen an accessory I have used relative weight as part of the criteria for choosing between two options. I find myself to be one of the least fatigued of students on TD3 and the same folks that snickered at my boring gun are staring at it jealously by the end of the class.

[Failure2Stop]

If the user is not accustomed to carrying a rifle all day, or performing 200 presentations and manipulations a day, the weight is going to make a big difference. After that, how that weight is distributed is going to make a difference as well.

[Rmplstlskn]

Add the weight of the sling to pic #2 to equally compare to #1...

I can't see how you could get much lighter than that... Now if we could just figure out how to do LASERS or power pulses and drop the HUGE WEIGHT of AMMO...

I have been at both ends of the spectrum.

Rmpl

[BushmasterFanBoy]

My current beast weighs in the 10-12lb range. It's a bitch, but I'm not willing to part with anything on it.

FWIW, I very much prefer lighter guns, but the hard part for me is trimming down what I want. I like a redi-mod, I like a BAD, I like a 30mm RDO, I like a long rail system, I like a VFG, I like both my BUISs, I like a solid stock (UBR), I like a light. I could trim a good bit, but I'd end up with a different gun.

[Erk1015]

One of the things that was beaten into us was "ounces equal pounds and pounds equal pain." They were referring to carrying a bunch of useless crap in your pack, but I think the same applies here. Of course it depends on why you have all that stuff, I used to carry a 203, peq2 aimpoint and buis, but it was part of the job and I was accustomed to the weight like F2S said. Now I have a T-1, buis and a light and it works for me for pretty much any thing I can think of.

[wes007]

To be clear, these discussions often deviate into "KISS" which is NOT the point here. I'm talking about maintaining function while making choices that help to keep the overall weight of the carbine down. Aimpoint H-1 instead of an ML3, Surefire X300 instead of an M961, DD Lite rail system instead of Troy MRF, hell Magpul MOE handguards instead of any rail, MOE stock instead of UBR, etc.

I believe that every "fighting" carbine should have an optic, light, and sling. You can achieve that without winding up with a boat-anchor of a gun.

Its funny the accessories you mentioned are essentially the setup I am running.
Im running an ML3 with an M951 with KAC's and a vfg. Weighing in at approx 8.2lbs I definetly cant say its light but cant say its too heavy either.

You are exactly right about your fighting carbine principle.
and it most definetly can be achieved without your gun weighing like mine.
Part of my setup is due to the fact that I was an arfcommer before I came into the light.

Another point I wanted to bring up was in the other thread, someone had mentioned that people were getting killed as a direct result from their rifle weighing to much. Anyone have any thoughts on that?

[Shawn.L]

to this

I see the mount on your FSB.
Got a pic of hand position when you work that light?

I have this:


I have a RRA Mid-length half quad FFT on my other AR. It was HEAVY (esp with the HBAR SS 16" bbl....... lol) and Im used to having more space, a longer reach out, and the light forward of where my FSB is on this one.

[JSGlock34]

I've become increasingly conscious of my carbine's weight over time. My 'go-to' carbine weighs in under seven pounds. It had originally been equipped along the lines of a Mk18 (LMT BUIS, SOPMOD stock, Aimpoint M3)...switching to a folding Troy BUIS, MagPul CTR and Aimpoint T-1 shed an entire pound. The rifle is much handier and I gave up nothing in capability.

Though I don't need another upper, I keep opening the threads on the BCM lightweights coming out early next year. I keep thinking that a BCM lightweight, Troy/VTAC TRX Extreme rail and an Aimpoint T-1 or EOTech XPS would be a great lightweight setup...

I saw this picture recently and it made me think of these threads...ounces equal pounds and pounds do indeed equal pain. It isn't much of an exaggeration to say I know some guys who would drill holes in their toothbrush if they thought it would save weight...people often forget that Soldiers and Marines carry far more than their weapon and spare ammunition. Hopefully the trend towards lighter optics and rails will filter down to the troops...