AR 10 styled rifle vs. AR15 weight comparison.

After reading the "British army bashes the 5.56" thread there was a post about the weight of 7.62x51 vs 5.56 so I thought I would compare my two similar equipped AR styled rifles.

Here are the Specs:
Stock RRA LAR8 -8.1 lbs
My LAR-8 without mag -13.5 pounds
Troy AR10 FF quad rail -4lbs
20 round loaded FAL mag -1.7lbs
30 round loaded FAL mag -2.2 lbs

Stock Armalite M15 -6.5
My M15 with loaded 30 round mag -10.7lb
MI FF quad rail -11 ounces

Well my LAR 8 is definetly too heavy for patrol/daily humping it comfortably use. I had purchased my LAR in hopes of building a great 5 to 500 meter rifle but man is it heavy.

Here is a pic for comparison, all my weights include the accessories.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y24/hossdelgado/100_0803.jpg
And here is a pic just for fun even though the rifle is pretty heavy 15.2lbs loaded with 20 rounds and 15.7lbs loaded with 30 rounds as shown.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y24/hossdelgado/100_0806.jpg

OK, Mags, please help me/us clarify here:

Your AR 15 with all accessories and loaded 30-rounder is 10.7 lbs - got that.

But your RRA AR10 type with all accessories and a loaded 20-rounder is 15.2 lbs.

So what exactly is 13.5 lbs that you mention? -- is that the AR10 type with all accessories but withOUT the loaded mag in?

P.S. FWIW, my DPMS LR-260L in .260 rem is right around 9.5 lbs with all accessories (including sling), but withOUT any mag/ammo in. This rifle is touted to be 7.9 lbs bare, bare from DPMS, supposedly - L on the end standing for "light" - 18" bbl, CF handguards, etc.

Mine, However, is about to get a *little bit* heavier when I add a 5-slot alumimum P-Rail the CF handguard and attach P-grip/flashlight combo, as I plan to.

So what exactly is 13.5 lbs that you mention? -- is that the AR10 type with all accessories but withOUT the loaded mag in? Yessir you are correct.

OK, weren't sure if you meant with ALL accessories except mag/ammo, or just some of the accessories.

Simple solution: remove all that heavy stuff you put on your LAR-8. I mean, a rifle length quadrail, light, magnifier for the dot, VFG, 30rds of .308... if you need all that stuff for someplace you're going, you really need an MG-42 or maybe a Mk19. :)

The majority of the weight comes from the quad rail (4lbs) but the main point was to show how heavy a defensive carbine in 308 set up to an equivalent military issued M4 weighs. My AR 15 wears the same accessories that my issued M4 wears. So if the military went with a 308 why would the rifle wear less than the current issued M4? The only additional item that is not comparable to military issue gear on my LAR-8 setup is the magnifier and that doesn't weight that much and is very functional. As for the flashlight it is more useful than I hope you will ever know. So to sum up 308 ammo is heavy and a rail system capable of supporting the 308 is also heavy. This isn't about how can I make my rifle lighter, my rifles have every thing I will need. Don't worry about my reasons to be honest why I want something on my rifle is none of your business if you don't think it is neccessary as your mind on these items is already made up.

Quite defensive aren't we!

Just going to your stated point, I don't think it is apples to apples because:

-you are comparing a .223 with a carbine length quadrail to a .308 with a rifle length quadrail. If your .308 quadrail weighs 4lbs, I'll bet the carbine length version of the same thing weighs about 2lbs.

-Your M4 (as well as any M4 by definition) has an M4 barrel profile, light under the handguards, medium past them and with a notch for the M203. Your LAR-8 appears to have a medium or heavy contour barrel for its entire length.

So, it appears that you are comparing a .223 with a short quadrail and lightweight barrel to a .308 with a twice-as-long quadrail and a medium or heavy barrel. It looks to me like a perfect comparison of M4-styled rifles would show the LAR-8 as about 3lbs lighter than yours.

Of course, the ammo weight is unavoidable, and a major reason why various armies switched from .308 to smaller calibers.

My 2 thoughts

1) not quite apples to apples but I get your point

2) that Troy rail is a PIG...get rid of it. 4 lbs? You gotta be kidding me.

Well some people like to argue why I need something I have deemed a neccessity, it looked like that was what you were doing. You make very valid points on the barrel and quad rail weights but they will still obviously weigh more than the 5.56 offerings as you pointed out. What do you think the difference in weight is between the SCAR in 5.56 and the SCAR in 7.62? As for the Troy rail at the time it was the only one that fit the RRA however after shot show RRA has released all sorts of parts and variants for their LAR8.

No idea on the SCAR weights. Not sure it's the best comparison. Here's some others to consider:

Armalite 16" carbine, midlength gas, flattop and picatinny gas block, plastic handguards
.223 stated weight 7lbs
.308 stated weight 9lbs

Rock River Arms 16" carbine, midlength gas, flattop and picatinny gas block, plastic handguards
.223 stated weight 7.1 lbs
.308 stated weight 8.1 lbs

http://www.rockriverarms.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=255

I don't care what accessories you put on the thing. However, I think it's important to note that a quadrail, a light and some optics adds a lot of weight to any rifle, .223, .308 or whatever. And quadrails can add so much weight that it's critical to compare apples to apples, and from the user's perspective, IMHO, add a quadrail only if you really need that much rail space. (Again, that's for whoever to decide.)

Thanks, anyone wanna Troy rail I will trade for a lighter LAR 8 ff. :)

Well, Troy has that "medieval" thing going, why not advertise it as the "Troy Medieval quadrail club bludgeon"?

I mean, there are perfectly functional rifles that weigh less than that quadrail!

In any event, real nice looking rigs. Now I have a Nikon Omega 3-9x40mm on my DPMS.

What do you think the difference in weight is between the SCAR in 5.56 and the SCAR in 7.62?

According to FN's 2010 Catalog, the SCAR 16S (5.56) weighs 7.25lb with an empty 30-round magazine and the SCAR 17S (7.62) weighs 8.00lb with an empty 30-round magazine. Both barrels are 16.25" long. Remington's ACR in 5.56 with a 14.5" barrel weighs 8lb with no magazine.

:)