It is not a lightweight gun by any means. I need to weigh it again, and probably with a better more precises scale, but the bathroom scale said as pictured it weighed 10.5 lbs (unloaded w/empty mag). The same scale said my Noveske N4 light 16" AR with: T1 aimpoint, DD 9.0 omega rail, MS3 sling, tango down QD stubby VFG, troy rear BUIS, CTR stock, BAD lever, ASAP, and the same surefire, pictured was 8-8.5 lbs (w/ empty mag).
The same scale said my empty and stock 930 SPX was 7.5 lbs (although I used a slightly different method to weight it, holding the gun instead of placing it on the scale).
Like I said, not a lightweight, but its not too bad. It is notably softer shooting than another S12 I have that is just a basic PG conversion. Again the basic gun is a faster handling gun. It also lacks the advantages of a RDS and of course a light. So there's trade offs each way. One could build something that was in the middle ground too.
If I were wanting to lighten up the S12 I would do the following to start with:
Lose the top of the chaos quad rail. I would probably put an ultimak in its place over the gas tube. Although there are some other options too.
Instead of the aimpoint pro and its mount I'd use something like an RMR. (This and the above are what I most likely to do).
I'm sure there are lighter weight light options.
I like the fat tromix charging handle but it could be omitted.
On the more extreme end of things making it an 8 or even 10.5" SBS would lighten it a lot. Perhaps even cutting the barrel back and permantly attaching a flash hider to make the legal limit or the like would save some weight and get you a little shorter.
Another more extreme, but not ridiculously so, thing would be to remove the unused side rail mount. This does require some work though.
One issue is obviously not just the weight in pounds but where the weight is and the balance of the gun. AKs are front heavy. The quad rail and mounting a RDS up there and a light up there adds more forward weight. There are some approaches that could move the weight to rear and might make the gun feel a little lighter.
The same scale said my empty and stock 930 SPX was 7.5 lbs (although I used a slightly different method to weight it, holding the gun instead of placing it on the scale).
Like I said, not a lightweight, but its not too bad. It is notably softer shooting than another S12 I have that is just a basic PG conversion. Again the basic gun is a faster handling gun. It also lacks the advantages of a RDS and of course a light. So there's trade offs each way. One could build something that was in the middle ground too.
If I were wanting to lighten up the S12 I would do the following to start with:
Lose the top of the chaos quad rail. I would probably put an ultimak in its place over the gas tube. Although there are some other options too.
Instead of the aimpoint pro and its mount I'd use something like an RMR. (This and the above are what I most likely to do).
I'm sure there are lighter weight light options.
I like the fat tromix charging handle but it could be omitted.
On the more extreme end of things making it an 8 or even 10.5" SBS would lighten it a lot. Perhaps even cutting the barrel back and permantly attaching a flash hider to make the legal limit or the like would save some weight and get you a little shorter.
Another more extreme, but not ridiculously so, thing would be to remove the unused side rail mount. This does require some work though.
One issue is obviously not just the weight in pounds but where the weight is and the balance of the gun. AKs are front heavy. The quad rail and mounting a RDS up there and a light up there adds more forward weight. There are some approaches that could move the weight to rear and might make the gun feel a little lighter.
