A couple AR questions

[M.Link]

I'm looking to make my "M4" as light, durable, and reliable as possible. What do you guys recommend? It's a Bushmaster XM-15 E2S. I was thinking about a short rail on the factory handguards cause the most I'll ever put on it is a light, maybe doing a flip up rear sight instead of the carry handle, to save a bit of weight, and adding Night Sights, possibly a different grip and stock, but it had a Houge already and I don't see a need for a different stock. Is there anything internal I'm missing? 4 or 5" 100yd groups are fine with me in all honesty, I'm not in competition. Also, how are the Magpul BUIS rear sights, kinda like the price...

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[spengo]

I recommend the new Troy TRX extreme rail, it's very light weight and gives you a nice long top rail. If you want to swap out barrels, get a daniel defense or bcm 14.5" or 16" lightweight (pencil profile) middy (and a low profile gas block so you can get a longer troy trx rail). Best lightweight stocks are either the Magpul CTR or Vltor EMOD imo. Best tiny lights would be either a surefire x300 pistol light or one of those surefire scout lights. I would either mount it in front of the front BUIS (if you decide to go low profile gas block and longer troy rail) or on a DD offset mount (if you decide to keep your current barrel with the A2 front sight).

Probably swapping out the barrel would give you the most weight savings over anything else.

Here's a pic of what I'm thinking of: (14.5" pencil profile middy barrel with 11" troy trx)

Like this, but with the front BUIS moved back a bit and a surefire x300 in front of it. Yeeaaahh that would be *perfect*

As for the magpul sights, I haven't used them but I have heard good things. I've played around with them a bit and they seem solid. I like how they are spring-activated, it's cool. My Troy BUIS seems a lot lower profile, not sure how well the magpul ones will fit under some scopes. That probably isn't a concern for you though.

 

[M.Link]

I really don't want to spend the money on a rail set up if all I will ever put on it is a light that takes up 2" of rail space.

 

[coctailer]

I'm looking to make my "M4" as light, durable, and reliable as possible. What do you guys recommend? It's a Bushmaster XM-15 E2S. I was thinking about a short rail on the factory handguards cause the most I'll ever put on it is a light, maybe doing a flip up rear sight instead of the carry handle, to save a bit of weight, and adding Night Sights, possibly a different grip and stock, but it had a Houge already and I don't see a need for a different stock. Is there anything internal I'm missing? 4 or 5" 100yd groups are fine with me in all honesty, I'm not in competition. Also, how are the Magpul BUIS rear sights, kinda like the price...

Light and reliable.
You are on the right track here. Keep it stock.

Night sights? Add a Tritium front sight. You can get a Troy BUIS with Tritium dots if you want.

You are done.

 

[spengo]

I really don't want to spend the money on a rail set up if all I will ever put on it is a light that takes up 2" of rail space.

The real benefit of the troy rail with a low profile gas block is not the rail space, it's that it enables you to get a better grip further out on your gun to give you better control over muzzle rise and faster transitions between targets. It is also, interestingly enough, lighter than comparable-length plastic handguards. Saves you weight *and* gives you a place to stick your light!

Swapping the barrel to a lightweight/pencil profile one is what's going to save the most noticeable weight over anything else. It removes weight in exactly the spot that hurts the most--on the very very front of your gun.

Alternatively, if you decide to stick with an A2 front sight post, the magpul MOE handguards are also lighter than the stock handguards, will offer you a place where you can attach a rail bit so you can put a light on, and only cost like 30 bux or something. They don't quite beat the troy TRX for sheer weight savings, but for the price, can't complain!

 

[M.Link]

Cocktailer, that's kinda what I was thinking. And I am going to order a Trijicon front sight post and maybe I'll do the dots on the rear.

Spengo, thanks for the advice. I didn't know that metal would be lighter than plastic...I'm trying to stay on the cheap side too, maybe I'll wait on a barrel till it needs it. I haven't had an X300, but loved my X200! Surefires are my favorite. I might go with a Insight M3 or M6 though, unless I get rich or find a good deal on a Surefire.

 

[spengo]

Cocktailer, that's kinda what I was thinking. And I am going to order a Trijicon front sight post and maybe I'll do the dots on the rear.

Spengo, thanks for the advice. I didn't know that metal would be lighter than plastic...I'm trying to stay on the cheap side too, maybe I'll wait on a barrel till it needs it. I haven't had an X300, but loved my X200! Surefires are my favorite. I might go with a Insight M3 or M6 though, unless I get rich or find a good deal on a Surefire.

A cheaper alternative to the x300 is the streamlight TLR-1. It isn't quite as bright or durable, but it's still a damn nice light and only costs $100. It will probably be brighter than your ol' X200 too.

 

[coctailer]

A cheaper alternative to the x300 is the streamlight TLR-1. It isn't quite as bright or durable, but it's still a damn nice light and only costs $100.

I think the TLR-1 is everything one would need in a Tac-light.
Pistol, rifle, or shotgun.

I think there is a diminishing rate of return on brighter(more expensive) lights.

 

[spengo]

I think the TLR-1 is everything one would need in a Tac-light.
Pistol, rifle, or shotgun.

I think there is a diminishing rate of return on brighter(more expensive) lights.

Yeah, you pay a lot just for the surefire name on the side. I guess it's made out of a 1-piece shell and is waterproof to the bottom of the puerto rico trench but OP probably isn't going to be doing any tactical scuba entries anyway so whatever lol. I still pay the extra for the surefire mostly because I like the way the controls operate better. X300 is both directions on the switch are toggle-on and push forward is momentary-on. TLR-1 is one direction for toggle and the other direction for momentary.

One thing I've noticed is that the beams are a bit different too. The x300 has a longer throw and brighter center spot but less outer beam. TLR-1 has a bigger and less intense center spot and more outer beam.

 

[coctailer]

I got inspired from this thread and put my TLR-1 on my AK SBR.

Perfect!!!

 

[spengo]

I got inspired from this thread and put my TLR-1 on my AK SBR.

Perfect!!!

Oh come on, you know you can't just do that!

 

[M.Link]

Lol I want an SBR AK!!!! I'll probably stick with Surefires as well, I've never had an issue. My streamlight flashlight has had it's fair share. And you're right, I will NOT be scuba diving, with or without my gun!

 

[coctailer]

Oh come on, you know you can't just do that!

 

[jordanvraptor]

If you don't want to do a rail then go with the Magpul MOE carbine length handguards. They are light and you can add just a fore grip and light if that is all you want. My buddy likes the Magpul rear sights and they seemed pretty durable to me. I personally like the Streamlight M3 and M3X. I have both and that M3 got beat up to all get out for 5 years on my service M4 including being bounced around the humvee turrets in Afghanistan. Still works fine albeit a bit looser than brand new. Its on my home defense carbine (STG-556) in the safe right now. Its also very light weight since you were concerned about that.

For my personal M4, I'm going to eventually put on a Daniel Defense rail as I want it to at least resemble my service M4. On my other rifle, I have had a set of Trijicon front and rear Tritium night sights installed since the late 90's and you can still see them just fine in the dark. I think I will go with the Big Dot tritium for my M4 though since I am going for more of a close range reference point and shoot method with the M4 if I ever had to use it. The Trijicons are very small and would be better for precision aiming where as I think the Big Dot would be kind of like a fiber optic and easier to acquire by just shouldering the carbine and putting the Big Dot on center mass.

 

[madcratebuilder]

as light, durable, and reliable as possible.

Here's a weight chart of many AR parts and accessories.

<broken link removed>

I would add a single rail to your oem HG and a Troy rear sight, KISS.

 

[spengo]

>RPK stock on SBRed AK

Haha, it's like a hipster AK. All ironic and stuff!

I like it

 

[The Cheese]

One thing I've noticed is that the beams are a bit different too. The x300 has a longer throw and brighter center spot but less outer beam. TLR-1 has a bigger and less intense center spot and more outer beam.

One thing I noticed when shooting at night (dark and outside) is that the tighter the beam, the faster you can reacquire the target for a follow up shot. I made a light that focuses down super tight with no spill, and i also put a 350lm flood on the same gun and the flood was great for close in target acquisition, but once you pop off a round you went blind. It wasn't nearly as bad with the über tight beam, but searching for targets became more difficult. In summary, tight beam for outside, flood for inside. The TRL seems like a decent light for inside 50yds, and for the price it aint bad at all.

 

[spengo]

One thing I noticed when shooting at night (dark and outside) is that the tighter the beam, the faster you can reacquire the target for a follow up shot. I made a light that focuses down super tight with no spill, and i also put a 350lm flood on the same gun and the flood was great for close in target acquisition, but once you pop off a round you went blind. It wasn't nearly as bad with the über tight beam, but searching for targets became more difficult. In summary, tight beam for outside, flood for inside. The TRL seems like a decent light for inside 50yds, and for the price it aint bad at all.

Those were my thoughts as well. Surefire x300 is better for practical rifle night competitions. For indoors/home defense either would be fine.

 

[G1GRANDEUR]

You are not paying for Surefire name, If you look at the parts, how they are built from the scratch, you will know surefire is well worth it.

And I believe you have Front Post Sight. One of most popular setup would be Magpul Hand guard with Mount-N-Slot light mount.

For rear sight, Troy Inc would be great add on. Lower profile then Magpul and more durable.

 

[M.Link]

I agree, Surefire is worth the money. I've decided I'm going to save up and put a 2.5" rail on the stock handguard and get a X300.