BCM ELW? DD? I already have a lower, so who makes the lightest upper or,if someone makes a complete gun that's very light weight, I'll take a look at that too.

Battle Arms Development had a scary light AR, I am forgetting the stats.

It was a "barely there" build.

I understand the market demand for ultra-light guns but at a certain, you have to cut features, and there are certain features that are requirements for me.

I like the DD V7slw. My friend got a 14.5" lightweight BCM, too. Both are damn fine rifles.

Im sure there are lighter ones out there. Ive just turned into a bit of a DD fanboy lately.

As LDD pointed at, any features a must have? If its just to say its obnoxiously light then battle arms or a home brew of their parts and that company (v7 I think) that does a bunch of titanium parts (down to the castle nut). I handled a sub 5 pound ar a few years ago and it was obscene (only had a rmr on it). Was neat, but lacked a lot that I need/want on an ar.

quote:

Originally posted by smpsmp:
As LDD pointed at, any features a must have? If its just to say its obnoxiously light then battle arms or a home brew of their parts and that company (v7 I think) that does a bunch of titanium parts (down to the castle nut). I handled a sub 5 pound ar a few years ago and it was obscene (only had a rmr on it). Was neat, but lacked a lot that I need/want on an ar.

I'd recommend reliability with the ammo you use as a must have.. I've seen homemade ultra light weights that just wouldn't function reliably (FTF,FTE/E). If you dig throught the history of the M16 (Black Rifle series of books) you'll see that they kept playing with the buffer weights, gas ports and other elements when they tried make the rifle smaller and lighter, yet maintain reliablity.

I've used BCM light weight and ELW built uppers with H or H2 buffered lowers with 5.56mm and some .223 (Wal-Mart special)and not had an issue. But neither rifle was an ultralite, it was a standard rifle with a light weight barrel.

BCM dose offer the Recce-16 kmr LW that's advertised as 5 lb 8 oz. You could probably get that a little lighter with a lighter stock and it would probably still be reliable. You could also pull the forward assist assembly and cap the hole, remove the ejection port cover, and switch to a skeletonized pistol grip without impacting function.

DD also has several nice looking light weights in there catalogue. They have a good reputation here and several sigforumites post good things about them, fairly regularly.

Intrestingly both BCM and DD advertise H buffers in their LW carbines.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: CD228,

Personally I would go with a Colt 6720, chop the fsb/gasblock to low-pro, add a BCM kmr alpha 13. Add a aimpoint t1/t2 in a DD mount and back up irons du jour. The Colt is very light.

I handled another members BCM ELW pistol when it came in, it was pretty damn light. We put it on the scale but I dont recall the numbers.

Ultimately you'll have decided how much weight you're willing to deal with. I was in a similar situation and I wrote down everything I wanted and went to the handful of AR companies I prefer and made a list of all the guns that fit my criteria. While I didn't get the lightest AR ever made, I got the lightest AR that had every feature I wanted.

Colt and BCM are both outstanding, tier-1 rifles.
Another legit, tier-1 option is Sionics:
http://sionicsweaponsystems.com/store2015/18-patrol

tp

I know it may be blasphemy to put this in an ar thread but the Keltec Su-16 with collapsible stock is insane light. I think it's sub 5 lbs.

I don't want an ultralight Skelton gun. I should have been more clear that I was asking about a solid quality, lightweight gun with standard features. Leaning towards another BCM, but I would rule out another colt or DD.

I 'll tap my inner fanboy and plug the DD V7 or V7LW upper. Comes in at 4lbs or jsut under for the LW. I personally would rather the heavier barrel for the 2oz penalty.
The similarly outfitted BCM comes in at the same weight.

I have a 16" BCM ELW with a 13" magnesium KMR rail. It's pretty dang light, though I don't have a scale that can read it. It's not something I would make general issue for the military, see the promotional video where they bent one. But it's good for my uses.

quote:

Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
I have a 16" BCM ELW with a 13" magnesium KMR rail. It's pretty dang light, though I don't have a scale that can read it. It's not something I would make general issue for the military, see the promotional video where they bent one. But it's good for my uses.

That's the Recoil TV one where they beat the rail against a wall? BCM has since released the KMR-A that is supposedly stiffer. I've got both, I like them, but I wouldn't abuse them. There was also some early finish issues that I believe were addressed.

I don't have a scale handy, but my "Thin Blue Line" AR, which uses a BCM ELW barrel and KMR-A handguard, along with a MFT Minimalist stock and Aimpoint Micro, is noticeably lighter than all my other ARs.

Mine's a 16" midlength with 15" handguard. A 14.5" carbine (with permanently attached flash hider) with a 13" KMR-A would be even lighter.

CAN FOLKS LIST ACTUAL WEIGHTS? opps, caps lock, sorry. S&W Tactical Sport 6.1 lbs, awesome quality and feels light, but not running 5 lbs like some have said.

quote:

Originally posted by jimb888:
CAN FOLKS LIST ACTUAL WEIGHTS? opps, caps lock, sorry. S&W Tactical Sport 6.1 lbs, awesome quality and feels light, but not running 5 lbs like some have said.

Upper: BCM, ELW-F 16" barrel, KMR (magnesium) 13", BCM Mod0 flash hider, BCM ambi charging handle, BCM BCG, standard arrangement for the dust cover and forward assist.

Magpul PRO sights and Aimpoint T1 in an ADM lower 1/3 mount.

Lower: Palmetto standard forged receiver, standard parts kit, Magpul plastic trigger guard, MOE pistol grip, ALG ACT trigger, Magpul STR stock (the only thing on the rifle that's not a lightweight, for balance).

No sling, no magazine, nothing not mentioned, it weighs in at 6lb 9oz (6.5625 lb).

Swap out a lighter stock, add a light or sling mounts, you're probably about even.

My other rifle, which is a 14.5" Lightweight DD upper, MBUS rear with front sight tower and MOE handguard, delta ring, etc, Aimpoint PRO, and a light is a full pount heavier at 7lb 9oz.

Its now wearing a MI QD RMR mount with RMR which shaved about 2oz from the H1/Geiselle mount. 6lb 8oz as shown

Surefire M300 with Arisaka mount. Spikes BUIS. About as no frill as it gets. I could likely shave more weight by taking off the foregrip and replacing the stock with something lighter but I already threw "super lightweight" out the window when I decided to go with an 11.5 standard profile barrel vs a lightweight profile 10.3.

I built an A1 Izzy clone with a pinned 14.5" M4 barrel that weighs 5#/14oz w/o mag or sling.

With no need to get a bunch of exotic parts or materials, go find an old Colt SP1 CAR15.

Light as hell, strong and proven.

The lightest AR is the one that doesn't have all the unnecessary crap hanging off of it.