Ultralight Ultralight Rifles

[Hackleback]

Wilson UL barrel
Wiland 15” handguard
No plate and currently no detent for the rear pin.

 

[Thegman]

Did you have any trouble fitting the trigger in the lower? I always have to file a little from the sides to get them to fit in the rear slot in TN Arms lowers.

 

[Hackleback]

Did you have any trouble fitting the trigger in the lower? I always have to file a little from the sides to get them to fit in the rear slot in TN Arms lowers.

Yes, the “plate” above the trigger was too wide(fat) for the slot in the lower, I had to file a bit off the sides to make it fit. Took me a while to figure out what the prob was as I haven’t put very many LPK in before. Building the lower was the hardest(annoying) part of the whole build.

 

[left hunter]

I’m sure I missed it along the way but what light weight folding stock options are there for these builds? And are there other non buffer tube functioning carbon fiber options similar to the Taccom buttstock since it will apparently never be in stock

 

[StupidLightweight]

This is the one I'm rocking on my folding straight pull AR. It may not be the lightest, but it works great with a bolt carrier chopped behind the firing pin.

AGP RIFLE AR-15 Folding Stock

Best Price and Service on Firearms Accessories

agparms.com

 

[lungpuncher1]

I’m completely ignorant to these builds. Are you guys still running some type of spring in replace of the buffer assembly in order to have some type of resistance when you manually cock the BCG?

 

[_S_R_]

This is the one I'm rocking on my folding straight pull AR. It may not be the lightest, but it works great with a bolt carrier chopped behind the firing pin.

AGP RIFLE AR-15 Folding Stock

Best Price and Service on Firearms Accessories

agparms.com

This is the one I'm rocking on my folding straight pull AR. It may not be the lightest, but it works great with a bolt carrier chopped behind the firing pin.

AGP RIFLE AR-15 Folding Stock

Best Price and Service on Firearms Accessories

agparms.com

Save few oz

Dual Folding Stock

The Strike Dual Folding Adapter – Stock is a versatile and innovative patented system that offers unparalleled convenience and flexibility. With its intuitive folding mechanism, you can fold the adapter to either the left or right side without any flipping or reconfiguration, and the positive...

www.strikeindustries.com

 

[StupidLightweight]

I’m completely ignorant to these builds. Are you guys still running some type of spring in replace of the buffer assembly in order to have some type of resistance when you manually cock the BCG?

Great question, and it's one I wondered about too. With the magazine in place and the bolt locked, there's enough resistance on the carrier to keep it from sliding back. With the hammer down, it's even more secure. But it's not the same level as a standard AR with spring and buffer providing pressure on the carrier.

 

[Hackleback]

There are so many different parts for the AR platform, to the point where it can be overwhelming. The options are endless and a bit of a rabbit hole for options and can be hard on the pocketbook.
For a build, you really only need a couple "specialty tools" and are an upper block or vise, barrel wrench, and for some ,a buffer tuber spanner wrench. A torque wrench is also nice, but with the barrel nut spec of 35-80 ft/lbs, it could be done by feel (my opinion). Everything else are tools that I already had in the garage for doing general repairs around the house and autos.

As I mentioned above, the most challenging part for me is to put the lower parts kit (LPK) in the lower- lots of small springs and parts, plus aligning several items while trying to push a pin through. There are several youtube videos on installing a LPK that I have found very helpful, some better than others.

I am very new to the AR platform, but as a whole find it rather easy, tinker-toy like to put one of these together.

There are several here that have a lot of experience and have been good about sharing their knowledge. Thanks all!

 

[packgoatguy]

Loving this thread! Lots of good info. If someone hasn't already, a Google Sheet spreadsheet should be made with various options and costs and stores with the best prices.

I haven't gone the uberAR route yet... but this is as close as I've come to an uberlite build: thompson contender g2 frame and 223rem barrel I got from a fellow rokslider. Modified the stock a bit. 3lbs 11.5oz bare. Eventually hopefully going to get it under 5lbs suppressed with the swfa ultralight 2.5-10x32 bdc, or under 4.5lbs suppressed with the trijicon sro 1moa red dot instead. Soon it will also have a 22arc and a 6arc barrel. One huge plus I've found is how short it is. Makes a very compact package.

Getting a second shot with a break action "single shot" isn't as fast as a bolt action by any means, but with an ammo holder in a convenient place on the gun, it can be done rather quickly with practice.

 

[StupidLightweight]

That's the lightest TC build I've seen. Great work. Single-shots are so short and handy. Unfortunately, when I miss, I like to miss more than once. What this thread demonstrates is that ARs are the king of the hill when it comes to ultralight hunting arms. And, perhaps most importantly, they are far cheaper and easier to build than custom bolt rifles. It's not even close.

Below is my straight-pull 6mm ARC folding mountain rifle that weighs 4 pounds, 13.6 ounces as shown. Truth be told, I didn't build it to be an ultralight. The BSF barrel, folding stock, half of a steel carrier, and the ARCA rail all add unnecessary weight. Despite that, it came out only 3.6 ounces heavier than my full custom, ultralight switch-barrel Kimber that took over three years of gunsmithing and thousands of dollars more. With the 6mm CM barrel and Burris 4X mini scope, the Kimber weighs 4 pounds, 10 ounces.

 

[Hectocotylus]

That's the lightest TC build I've seen. Great work. Single-shots are so short and handy. Unfortunately, when I miss, I like to miss more than once. What this thread demonstrates is that ARs are the king of the hill when it comes to ultralight hunting arms. And, perhaps most importantly, they are far cheaper and easier to build than custom bolt rifles. It's not even close.

Below is my straight-pull 6mm ARC folding mountain rifle that weighs 4 pounds, 13.6 ounces as shown. Truth be told, I didn't build it to be an ultralight. The BSF barrel, folding stock, half of a steel carrier, and the ARCA rail all add unnecessary weight. Despite that, it came out only 3.6 ounces heavier than my full custom, ultralight switch-barrel Kimber that took over three years of gunsmithing and thousands of dollars more. With the 6mm CM barrel and Burris 4X mini scope, the Kimber weighs 4 pounds, 10 ounces. View attachment 641080

That 6arc is exactly what I want to build. I’m very clueless in the building department though. Where did you source a bolt face for the 6arc? Solo seems to only have 223 size bolt face on their site or am I looking in the wrong place?


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[StupidLightweight]

6mm ARC bolt face is common. It's the same as 6.5 Grendel and 7.62x39, but due to a few depth differences with the x39, go with a bolt that says Grendel or ARC.

Building ARs seems complicated at first. Once you figure it out, it's so simple as long as you stick to the AR-15 platform. When you go AR-10 (.308 class), all bets are off.

 

[Hackleback]

That's the lightest TC build I've seen. Great work. Single-shots are so short and handy. Unfortunately, when I miss, I like to miss more than once. What this thread demonstrates is that ARs are the king of the hill when it comes to ultralight hunting arms. And, perhaps most importantly, they are far cheaper and easier to build than custom bolt rifles. It's not even close.

Below is my straight-pull 6mm ARC folding mountain rifle that weighs 4 pounds, 13.6 ounces as shown. Truth be told, I didn't build it to be an ultralight. The BSF barrel, folding stock, half of a steel carrier, and the ARCA rail all add unnecessary weight. Despite that, it came out only 3.6 ounces heavier than my full custom, ultralight switch-barrel Kimber that took over three years of gunsmithing and thousands of dollars more. With the 6mm CM barrel and Burris 4X mini scope, the Kimber weighs 4 pounds, 10 ounces. View attachment 641080

what upper are you using for the AR build? The SOLO 300 upper is great for the southpaws (like myself) but this would be nice for the righties. Also weight of the upper?

 

[Thegman]

That 6arc is exactly what I want to build. I’m very clueless in the building department though. Where did you source a bolt face for the 6arc? Solo seems to only have 223 size bolt face on their site or am I looking in the wrong place?


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Like StupidLightweight said, once you figure them out, ARs are actually really simple if you're moderately mechanically inclined. It's getting an understanding of the whole thing, and how it all operates together, that's the big first step. Once that's in your head, it all starts making sense. Without that, it's kind of like someone is speaking a foreign language.

I would suggest, before you try building anything, strip one down as far as you can, learn all the names of the various parts and get an idea of how they interact together. If you don't have one (which it sounds like you don't), try to hit up a friend and see if they'll break one down for you. Once you've pulled one apart, it's 100x easier to see how everything is going to work.

 

[Thegman]

I'm right handed and the Solo works great for me. The bolt on the left actually seems faster and easier now than my right bolt straight pull.

Right hand stays on the grip and trigger, left straight back from forearm, bolt back, bolt forward, left hand continues forward back to forearm. Much more inline motion that my right hand pull. Wouldn't be easy if it were a turn bolt, but being inline, it's really easy.

 

[Thegman]

I’m completely ignorant to these builds. Are you guys still running some type of spring in replace of the buffer assembly in order to have some type of resistance when you manually cock the BCG?

And additionally to StupidLightweight's points, the Solo 300 has a modified part where the gas key normally goes, (I refer to it as the "detent key") . It's a piece with a spring loaded ball bearing that extends into and grabs the cam pin cutout in the upper receiver when the bolt is closed.

 

[BBob]

And additionally to StupidLightweight's points, the Solo 300 has a modified part where the gas key normally goes, (I refer to it as the "detent key") . It's a piece with a spring loaded ball bearing that extends into and grabs the cam pin cutout in the upper receiver when the bolt is closed.

I was just going to post a picture of that and ask if that was what it was for. I figured as much

 

[StupidLightweight]

I've never messed with the SOLO 300 upper, so the detent key is new to me. That's a great addition. The upper I used on this build is a simple forged upper with no forward assist or shell deflector that my gunsmith buddy machined a slot in for the charging handle. As for left- or right-side charge, as Thegman says, left works great for righties and is likely faster to operate. My 2.5-pound pistol is oriented that way. I built the 6mm ARC as a backpack rifle with the goal of being protrusion free on the left side. The charging handle on the right is captured by the folded stock.

 

[UnckleBob]

6mm ARC bolt face is common. It's the same as 6.5 Grendel and 7.62x39, but due to a few depth differences with the x39, go with a bolt that says Grendel or ARC.

Building ARs seems complicated at first. Once you figure it out, it's so simple as long as you stick to the AR-15 platform. When you go AR-10 (.308 class), all bets are off.

If a mechanical idiot like me can build a 6ARC upper, anyone can.