And that is a pretty light rifle, I agree. I think that, because the AR platform in carbine configuration tends to be relatively light compared to say AK rifles, or bolt guns, people tend to underestimate their carbine's actual weight; and they would be surprised if they actually weighed it to see what they're lugging a round. (FWIW, I think that most people with AKs and other most other rifle platforms probably make the exact same mistake.....your average rifle weighing a LOT less from the truck to the deer stand than it does from the deer stand back to the truck!)74novaman wrote:I agree, and while I mentioned a "stripped down" weight in response to your initial comment, the last picture and weight in the OP was not stripped down. Rifle was weighed with a loaded magazine, optic and light on it. Under 7lbs, ready to go with everything I need on the gun.The Annoyed Man wrote:flechero wrote:The Annoyed Man wrote:
Exactly. Not criticizing the OP at all, but weighing the rifle with everything stripped off of it only gives you some kind of baseline.
If I take the light off, put the 5x prism scope on, sling, and use a 30 round magazine it still weighs under 8 lbs (7 lbs 14 oz)....which is how I'll use it for CW this year. That's 3 lbs lighter than the gun I used last year, which I think will make a difference.
Your average AR15 carbine is going to come in at right around 8 lbs or more. I remember when I got my SCAR 17, one of the selling points was that it "only" weighed 8 lbs - stripped - which is pretty light for a .308 battle rifle. But......add a 20 round mag of 150 grain ball, an optical device, maybe a sling, maybe a tactical light, maybe a suppressor, and all of a sudden its weight is well north of 10 lbs. Ammo weighs a LOT, which was just one of the considerations in our military's original decision to switch from 7.62 to 5.56 caliber for the individual infantry rifleman. According to Wikipedia (so it must be true) the "official" weight for a military Colt M4-A1 with a 30 round mag included (but no optic) is 7.5 lbs, which I'm not inclined to take at face value. I wouldn't want to bet my last dollar on that........and sure as heck not after the guy using it has kitted up with everything else he's going to put on that carbine, plus carry in his pack or on his vest.
AAC lists the weight of my suppressor shown in my pictures above as 20.0 oz. There was a 48.5 oz difference between the weight of my SBR with and without the can and the mag. Subtract the 20.0 oz can, and that mag-full of thirty 208 grain subsonics weighs 28.5 oz, or 1.78 lbs. It will be a bit less if the ammo is 55 grain 5.56 NATO. Thirty 208 grain bullets weigh approximately .8914 lbs. Thirty 55 grain bullets weigh approximately .2357 lbs......a difference of about .66 lbs, or about 10.5 oz. Subtract 10.5 oz from the 9 lbs 13-1/4 oz of my SBR all up, and it still weighs over 9 lbs with a magazine inserted.....and it has a 10.5" barrel. Add 6" of barrel, even with a smaller caliber, and the weight goes up even more. My 5.56 carbine barrel weighs 7.1 oz more than my .330 Blk SBR barrel.
Anyway, my point is that people should, just out of intellectual curiosity if nothing else, weigh their AR15 so that they can know how much they're actually carrying around........if it ever comes down to carrying one around. I think most people would be very surprised, and a number of them would begin to put their rifles on a diet, like 74novaman has done.