People have the tendency to pick up my AR and go “Wow, this is light!”. Yes it is and it’s going to stay that way. Having a light rifle is extremely important to me since running and gunning is a lot of work and I’m a little girl. I don’t need a front heavy rifle weighing me down when it’s not necessary. I am trying to design a rifle that is easy to carry around, easy to shoot, reliable and accurate. Given that quality parts will keep it reliable and I’m not going to be able to out-shoot what I have now for a long time I am focusing on keeping my rifle light and making it easy to shoot.
Right now my AR is nice but very basic. The “West Coast Armory” stamped Tactical Machining lower was a birthday present from work and the Daniel Defense upper a gift from the infamous SamFromWades, I have a Colt bolt group (another birthday gift) from a coworker and gunsmith Jim Corollo from West Coast Armory did a really nice trigger job for me. After that I threw on a used 14.5″ light weight Colt barrel bought off a friend, a hand-guard, an extended charging handle, a Bushmaster stock and a Magpul sling mount. It all kind of fell together over the period of a week.
My future plans are to pick up a Noveske 14.5″ Afghan and have it dimpled then have Sparky, my AAC Blackout flash hider, pinned on. I am then considering picking up the Daniel Defense 10″ Lite Rail on which I plan to put a Crimson Trace MVF. Then I’ll put a Trijicon RMR on top and a Magpul CSR stock on back and call it good. I will have a good looking, reliable gun with a reflex sight, a laser and a flashlight that will hit where it’s pointing. What more could I ask for?
Very nice , its refreshing to see someone going for practical and need instead of bells , whistles and greed .
Were it mine, I’d add an Aimpoint Micro for the optic, but you’ve got some top quality parts there. Quality only hurts once.
In the last carbine class I took, I used an M1 Garand (I use one as a car gun). A couple of the other students looked it over then commented “This is lighter than my AR!”.
Yeah. Think about that.
“What more could I ask for?”
A suppressor
What kind of AAC fan girl would I be if that wasn’t on my list? There’s more than a couple reasons I went for the Blackout 😉
““What more could I ask for?”
A suppressor”
Good Answer!
I was thinking more like a crate of ammo myself…….
It’s nice to see an AR that still looks like an AR and not an oversized Swiss army knife gone horribly wrong.
What’s that up front on top of the hand guards? Looks like a useful mini-rail setup but I’ve never seem anything like that before.
That’s exactly what it is, FAB Defense makes them: http://www.fab-defense.com/en/category-rail-systems-and-mounting-solutions/id-18/double-picatinny-rail.html
It attaches directly to the handguard and is a really convenient place for a flashlight mount.
“Having a light rifle is extremely important to me since running and gunning is a lot of work and I’m a little girl.”
I have to keep reminding myself that Caleb doesn’t do all the writing here, anymore. Lines like that are hilarious if you don’t check the byline before reading.
I have to do the same thing, sometimes I’m reading posts on the site that she wrote and think “what the hell” – then I remember.
If you are trying to keep weight down, then why the goofy stuff like the forward assist and the thick barrel?
Have you had a look at the Katana upper?
http://www.redjacketfirearms.com/about/about.html
No goofy extra mechanical forward assist, no silly thick barrel, and the light mount is simple and stout.
Lightness is everything, but there’s an exception to every rule.
I was turned on to 14.5″ barrels with pinned muzzle devices recently. It’s amazing what 1.5″ of missing steel from the far end of the gun will do for the balance of the weapon.
The exception to this is handguards, IMO. A high quality mid-length or rifle-length free float rail may add a few ounces, but if you practice with the MagPul/VTAC style grip where your support hand is at or near extension, you will more than compensate for the added weight with increased control.
Given that you’re female and probably a lot smaller than I am, you might only need a carbine or mid-length rail system to accomplish this hold. For me, it’s a rifle-length.
I just bought a 14.5″ Afghan to finish off my home defense/SHTF rifle and have been debating for 2 days whether or not I want to send it off to be lightened (fluted, dimpled, or recontoured). For the most part, recontouring is out, since a fluted barrel will be more stiff than a LW contour with a smaller O.D..
Anywho, my question is, have you spoken to John Noveske to get his take on this? Are you worried about the potential drop in accuracy from removing removing material from the barrel? Who would you be sending the barrel to for the work?
– Alex
Thought minimum barrel length for rifle in WA State and by Federal law is 16″ How do you carry 14.5″?
You can have a 14.5″ barrel as long as a flash hider that is at least 1.5″ long is pinned and welded on (making the barrel 16″ total length and therefore legal in WA State)