Lightweight full function AR for night hunting

[smcfarland]

Folks,

Looking for some help. I've been down this rabbit hole before and keep adding too much shit to my AR, then start over again.
My needs:
5.56 that shoots 1MOA with Barnes 70gr (1:7 twist likely, have quite a bit stockpiled and has worked very well for me on piggies). Have some other shit laying around but this bullet has performed consistently on 200+ pigs and don't want to change. I LOVE this bullet and its terminal performance. I kill 75+ a year on my place in West Texas.
Current setup:
Sig MCX Virtus 11.5 pistol, MI 15" hand guard, Vortex Huey, Vortex Micro 3x magnifier, 1" riser picatiny riser mount, DBAL D2, SureFire Scout Light, SureFire Mini suppressor(Gen 1), and Magpul AFG hand guard. Also have an ARCA rail for clipping into tripod.
I'm pretty biased towards piston based on 1000's of rounds of experience killing shit, but would consider going back to DI to save weight.
Current setup is perfect for what I do, but this bitch is FAT. Currently sitting at 13.2lbs for a walk-around gun is too heavy in my opinion. Yes, I hit the gym regularly and make my living in the fitness/wellness industry, but I'm getting old (and soft) and would prefer something a little more sustainable.
Is it possible to set something up in the 7-8lbs total range?
Looking for input. Thanks in advance.

 

[roostercogburn98]

Seekins sp15p weighs 5.5 pounds just bare pistol, no accessories

 

[FunkyTownScout]

Should be able to build in the sub 4 lb range. Would need something like a 2a armament receiver set with a titanium bcg and super light buffer with gas turned all the way down, carbon fiber hand guard, stock , titanium little parts, etc... If you can build 3.5 lb AR, that would leave you 4.5 lb for your accessories.

 

[aslrookie]

Well you could knock 2lbs off your rifle pretty easily.

1) take the magnifier off when night hunting. You’re likely not using it anyway and it’s not something that needs to be zeroed when reinstalled.

2) the D2 is a chunky unit. A full power PEQ15 is almost half the weight of a D2.

3) ditch the stupid grip

4) move the white light to the 9 clock side and ditch the pressure pad for a clicky tailcap.

5) ditch the laser switch and just use the pressure pad on your new peq15.

6) optional: ditch the suppressor rail for a shorter one and bring those accessories behind the suppressor so less weight is hanging further away from the center of the rifle.

Doing those things would drop a noticeable amount of weight on your current setup and still be cheaper than buying/building a new gun.

 

[smcfarland]

Spent two months bidding/losing/searching on full power PEQ. Gave up and went with the DBAL which is good enough, available, and reasonable cost.

 

[aslrookie]

Spent two months bidding/losing/searching on full power PEQ. Gave up and went with the DBAL which is good enough, available, and reasonable cost.

Sent you a pm

 

[Backspace]

You still looking for a FP peq?

 

[rlsmith1]

I’d suggest finding a dedicated thermal sight if you’re really concerned about weight. You’ll see more animals with a thermal anyway. Pick your budget and there’s probably something that makes sense for you and will save a lot of weight (and move weight further back)

 

[Odysseus1911]

What NODs are you running?

 

[Mbaysinger89]

Change to thermal for sure. You can lose almost all the accessories. Maybe tape a candy stick battery somewhere. So you could be around 7 lbs easy.

 

[TheHorta]

I was in exactly the same boat and went with a do-it-all CQB gun for night yote hunting and bedside home defense. I scoured the web, spoke to Tier-1 dudes, and after a year of research, I totally nailed it, as I’m sure you’ll agree. Light, short, nimble, and — PRO TIP — shaved 0.063 ounces off the weight by using two screws instead of three on each of the Spuhr rings.

Behold, the answer to your prayers:

 

[rlsmith1]

And you saved weight cause you don’t have to carry flash bangs

 

[roostercogburn98]

I was in exactly the same boat and went with a do-it-all CQB gun for night yote hunting and bedside home defense. I scoured the web, spoke to Tier-1 dudes, and after a year of research, I totally nailed it, as I’m sure you’ll agree. Light, short, nimble, and — PRO TIP — shaved 0.063 ounces off the weight by using two screws instead of three on each of the Spuhr rings.

Behold, the answer to your prayers:

View attachment 7845768

Is this still available

 

[MCHOG]

Does anyone really need a dust cover for the ejection port? Or the forward assist? I bet you could get away with 2 gas rings on your bolt instead of 3.

Seriously though, what aslrookie said is on point.

But in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't make sense to spend thousands of dollars stripping down a rifle that you are otherwise happy with before you look at all your other gear. Chances are very likely that you can shed pounds off your "system" (from boots to head gear to the shit in your pockets) for a fraction of the cost of the rifle upgrades contemplated.

I saw the same thinking when working in a bike shop decades ago. Guys would come in and spend thousands of dollars upgrading components to shave ounces off their bikes. I was happy to sell them upgrades. But the whole time I was thinking they could just take a shit before the ride and accomplish the same thing. Or pack a credit card and ID instead of a wallet. Yes, ounces are pounds and pounds are pain. But people tend to overlook the low-hanging ounces.

 

[BamaSE]

I was in exactly the same boat and went with a do-it-all CQB gun for night yote hunting and bedside home defense. I scoured the web, spoke to Tier-1 dudes, and after a year of research, I totally nailed it, as I’m sure you’ll agree. Light, short, nimble, and — PRO TIP — shaved 0.063 ounces off the weight by using two screws instead of three on each of the Spuhr rings.

Behold, the answer to your prayers:

View attachment 7845768

Thank you for displaying the pub table in all its awesomness

 

[smcfarland]

You still looking for a FP peq?

Not right now unless you want to DM me a good deal on one.

 

[smcfarland]

What NODs are you running?

Katana DT NVGs.

 

[smcfarland]

Change to thermal for sure. You can lose almost all the accessories. Maybe tape a candy stick battery somewhere. So you could be around 7 lbs easy.

I’ve got a thermal scanner, just have typically preferred IR for PID over the years. Have tried the UTC a few times, even got to play with an INOD, but battery consumption and time to power up were drawbacks for my typical style of hunting (lots of driving large fields, common to have pigs jump out up close from cover). Some of the newer clipons look promising and may work one into the budget this year or next. Trying to keep it dual purpose day and night single weapon system, but may not be feasible the way things are going.

 

[TheOE800]

A KAC SR-15 CQB saves you at least 1.25lbs on the base rifle.

 

[Evintos]

For something around 7-8 total weight, you'd have to go back to DI for sure (pencil profile barrel and/or low mass) and you'd either assemble everything together from basically carbon fiber, titanium, or lightweight aluminum or buy a sorta turn key solution is something like 2A Armament Balios Lite Gen 2 pistol or something like the V7 Weapon Systems Enlightened. You'd be at about 8lbs (a little over or under depending on which one you go with) with all your accessories and most likely over 8lbs with loaded magazine.

You have over 3lbs worth of accessories alone.

For reference -
Here's a 16" DI with low mass and lightweight parts with over 4lbs worth of crap and loaded 30rd mag that comes in a total of 10.62 lbs.

 

[Odysseus1911]

You've got a 11.5" barrel.
Ditch the mall ninja suppressor-covering handguard and the foregrip.

10" handguard,
Place dbal just in front of Huey.

If you're running NODs and a dbal, do you really need the white light?

Do you really need the magnifier?

Low-hanging fruit.

 

[smcfarland]

Went back to original hand guard, lost the AFG (ARCA rail or tripod works fine for a handstop), and dropped another picattiney section that was on there. Down to 12.2 lbs but balances much better. Took it out this weekend hunting and DBAL D2 worked great at night, one less pig running around. Also did about a six mile hike/hunt with it in full gear and it was tolerable. Think I'm set for now, thanks for all the help/input.

 

[Da Jimmer]

A. I am new to all this.
B. I own nothing for this type of shooting yet.
C. I possibly eat crayons in my sleep...

But (don't shoot me if this is a dumb question, read A,B,C again) for a small lightweight, short range piggy plugger, could one just use a PAWL or X300 vampire or such pistol IR light/laser unit to cut some weight?
Also could go to a direct thread can perhaps.

 

[camocorvette]

A. I am new to all this.
B. I own nothing for this type of shooting yet.
C. I possibly eat crayons in my sleep...

But (don't shoot me if this is a dumb question, read A,B,C again) for a small lightweight, short range piggy plugger, could one just use a PAWL or X300 vampire or such pistol IR light/laser unit to cut some weight?
Also could go to a direct thread can perhaps.

You probably could. But i don't think you will get the range or durability of rifle designed optics.

 

[rlsmith1]

A. I am new to all this.
B. I own nothing for this type of shooting yet.
C. I possibly eat crayons in my sleep...

But (don't shoot me if this is a dumb question, read A,B,C again) for a small lightweight, short range piggy plugger, could one just use a PAWL or X300 vampire or such pistol IR light/laser unit to cut some weight?
Also could go to a direct thread can perhaps.

If you’re looking for a lightweight IR setup, a surefire Vampire and OTAL C with Unity Taps is a great way to do it. If you’re just hunting animals, you can use IR and then switch the head back to white light and set it by your bedside. Light and relatively cost effective too and durable

 

[smcfarland]

OTAL would work for what I do, but vampire sucks balls for illumination where I hunt. It’s pretty open terrain and need the full power to see at distance when needed. Have a Luna on my other rifle and it is impressive to say the least. Full moon last weekend and could dial it down to penetrate trees at 1k with a SIMRAD. But the mount sucks and constantly have to bend/push on if you keep centered where wanted. D2 illuminator was great at 600 but was struggling at 1k. Good enough for my purposes.

 

[rlsmith1]

If you have the budget, might be worth looking at the KIJI 3 if you want a more rugged version of the Luna (doesn’t focus near as tight though)

 

[Blaster7Romeo]

don't forget 20 round mags.. unless the shooting gets that crazy you need a full 30