How light have you gone?

Talk about the AR15 style rifles chambered in 450 Bushmaster.

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How light have you gone?

Postby 303hunter » Wed Jan 23, 2019 8:14 pm

Building a 16” 450, and have a Sig carbon fiber A1 length stock, and a 12” carbon fiber forearm. I’m estimating a 6 pound build, and wondering how the recoil will be with an AR that light? This will be mostly for hunting, and will not see a lot of range time. Thoughts?
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Re: How light have you gone?

Postby Al in Mi » Thu Jan 24, 2019 4:52 am

without a brake I'd say she thump pretty good but in most hunting situations you rarely feel recoil.

My 16" factory upper I've been going to see about lightening up some, lower has a ACE skeleton stock on it now, have looked at the Lancer carbon stocks, maybe a slim line handguard with a different gas block. The Trijicon TR20 in it's ADM mount weighs a good bit but hate the thought of changing that scope out.
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Re: How light have you gone?

Postby Buckeye45 » Thu Jan 24, 2019 7:05 am

After last deer season I decided to put my rifle on a diet as well. Your collection of parts sounds good for shaving weight. Like you this is primarily a hunting gun so recoil isn't that much of a limiting factor. A good brake can help but sure sting the ears. I think adding an adjustable gas block has helped settle my gun down. Even being light it shoots smooth and doesn't try to climb on the shot.
I'm willing to live with the thump as long as I'm not worn out by the end of the week from carrying.
Where did you find a carbon A1 stock? That sounds like what I've been looking for.
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Re: How light have you gone?

Postby Bmt85 » Thu Jan 24, 2019 7:40 am

I have been running numbers on parts for an ultra light lr308 I’m going to be building, and figured out my 18” Tromix is probably right around 6.5lbs, maybe a little more, no optics or mag. It’s actually one of my lighter AR’s. I’m running a Ross 4 port brake and LimbSaver CTR buttpad on it. Recoil is less than my 16” bushmaster factory upper build (weighs more than the Tromix), with Izzy brake and Magpul fixed carbine stock, no LimbSaver pad. I also run my 20” BHW upper on the same lower as the Tromix. The 20” is a semi bull barrel (probably twice the weight of the Tromix, if not a little more), target crown (no brake), BCA side charger upper (heavier still), and slightly heavier hand rail. The 20” has the most recoil (still not terrible) of any of my 450’s and it’s also the heaviest (actually heaviest AR I have).

Honestly, I’ve been thinking about doing a ultra light build using the Tromix barrel, maybe take it down to 5lbs, because that brake will keep recoil low. However, don’t shoot that thing without ear pro! Did that once in a blind (wood walls and windows), and my hearing was messed up for days!
Last edited by Bmt85 on Thu Jan 24, 2019 7:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: How light have you gone?

Postby 303hunter » Thu Jan 24, 2019 7:49 am

Buckeye45 wrote:After last deer season I decided to put my rifle on a diet as well. Your collection of parts sounds good for shaving weight. Like you this is primarily a hunting gun so recoil isn't that much of a limiting factor. A good brake can help but sure sting the ears. I think adding an adjustable gas block has helped settle my gun down. Even being light it shoots smooth and doesn't try to climb on the shot.
I'm willing to live with the thump as long as I'm not worn out by the end of the week from carrying.
Where did you find a carbon A1 stock? That sounds like what I've been looking for.

The stock is made by Lancer for Sig, and has the best cheekweld I’ve seen on an AR stock. They’re A1 length, but club foot style. I’d post a pic, but I haven’t figured out how to resize them to work here.
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Re: How light have you gone?

Postby TonyRumore » Fri Jan 25, 2019 9:55 am

It's pretty easy to build one under 6 pounds using the 16" Tromix lightweight barrel.
I put one together for a guy a couple of days ago, using that barrel and a 10.5" Midwest Industries G3 hand guard.
Standard bolt carrier, gas block, M4 lower, etc. It came in at 5.74 pounds.

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Re: How light have you gone?

Postby plant_one » Fri Jan 25, 2019 10:24 am

put a good gas block on it, adjust it so that you're at minimum cycle and you should be able to tame *much* of the recoil off it.

if this caliber can be handable in a RARR at 5.5 pounds (sans optic) - putting it in a lightweight ar should be gravy.

just my 0.02 USD
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Re: How light have you gone?

Postby 303hunter » Fri Jan 25, 2019 8:39 pm

plant_one wrote:put a good gas block on it, adjust it so that you're at minimum cycle and you should be able to tame *much* of the recoil off it.

if this caliber can be handable in a RARR at 5.5 pounds (sans optic) - putting it in a lightweight ar should be gravy.

just my 0.02 USD

I’ve got a SLR Sentry 6 gas block I may try on it. The 6.8 it’s on now doesn’t need it.
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Re: How light have you gone?

Postby 303hunter » Tue Feb 12, 2019 6:36 pm

Finished it late today, but haven’t shot it yet. Weight feels right around 6 pounds. It includes:

Bear Creek 16” barrel with their brand flash hider.
Aero XL upper receiver.
Delta Team 12” carbon fiber forearm.
Lancer carbon fiber A1 length stock with A2 extension.
PSA lower with Rock River NM 2 stage trigger.
Nikon ProStaff 3-9x40 scope with Redfield tactical mount. Image
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Re: How light have you gone?

Postby Hoot » Tue Feb 12, 2019 9:41 pm

303hunter wrote:Finished it late today, but haven’t shot it yet. Weight feels right around 6 pounds. It includes:

Bear Creek 16” barrel with their brand flash hider.
Aero XL upper receiver.
Delta Team 12” carbon fiber forearm.
Lancer carbon fiber A1 length stock with A2 extension.
PSA lower with Rock River NM 2 stage trigger.
Nikon ProStaff 3-9x40 scope with Redfield tactical mount. Image


Looks Nice.

I'm interested in how much weight factors into perceived recoil. Unfortunately, it's a subjective observation. One man's misery is another man's love tap. Do you have any other centerfire rifles with some punch that you could take with you and alternate between for immediate A/B comparison? Same clothing, same rest, as much the same as you can get from one to the other.

Thanks,

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In Theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In Practice, there is.
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