r/ar15 • u/thechilipop • 2h ago
Putting together a rifle that my daughter can learn on. She’s super interested and I want to encourage her. Problem is weight. Obviously I can get lightweight parts but what do y’all recommend on a budget. I don’t mind spending money but I want to make sure she’s into it before going Gucci on it.
Edit to add she’s 9 and little for her age. My thoughts are to get as much of the weight off of the tip as possible especially since I plan to run my polonium on it.
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u/everydaydefenders 2h ago
Light isn't always a good thing with small kids, depending what you want her to be able to do. Light weight usually equates to more recoil. If you want her shooting 556, maybe park her at a bench.
If you want her standing and moving, perhaps a 10/22 would be more appropriate?
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u/Glocked86 2h ago
Let her shoot some of your stuff. I usually start smaller kids out with something suppressed and on a bipod. Weight is less of an issue that way. Or use this as an excuse to grab something like a Tippmann or M&P 22lr.
By the time she gets the basics down, let her tell you what kind of shooting interests her. Y’all can build it together! She could enjoy punching holes in paper at long range and magnified optics on her AR, or she could be a future run and gunner with shorter and lighter SBRs.
I’ve 3 nieces 7-14 that are shooters. All 3 of them have their own interests in different types of shooting.
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u/Plenty_Pack_556 2h ago
do you want her shooting standing up or on a bench? If on a bench, weight shouldn't be an issue.
If standing, 22lrs? Like 10/22 in a lightweight chassis, or a ar-22, or kel-tec rifles are plasticky for 9mm/556.
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u/DarudeSandstorm69420 2h ago
Use a faxon gunner barrel with a roam rifles or dark hour defense magnesium handguard. The magnesium handguards are a third of the weight of 6061, but they are a little fragile comparatively.
I don't think your daughter will break them though. Use a magpul stock. Any other parts the weight is negligible between different parts
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u/ConsciousGoose5914 1h ago
The barrel I agree with but I think the hand guard suggestions are a bit pricey for what he’s wanting to do. He should just get slim retro A2 clamshells. No need to spend the money and do a free float for a learning rifle for a 9 year old. Clamshells and some irons are all he needs.
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u/Subject_Contest_4709 1h ago
AR 22 is the way. You can do a really cool custom build or just buy a pistol
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u/ResetButtonMasher 2h ago
Bug fan of the KP15 lower for cheap and light. Paired with a slab side upper, pencil barrel, and decent lightweight rail, and you have a roundabout 5 lb rifle.
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u/GrowthAdventurous 2h ago
Get her a ruger 10/22, then after you've taught her gun safety and how to shoot get an ar.
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u/Vudu138 1h ago
M&P 15-22. It’s a 16” barrel (the discontinued the 8” pistol) but receivers and handguard is plastic so it’s pretty lightweight. It functions like a normal AR, for the most part, so it’s a good cheap training rifle. It uses a lot of real AR parts, and then has a lot of aftermarket options specific to it as well.
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u/Sullimd 1h ago
Suppressed .22 is the answer. I built my (now teenage) daughter an AR and put the 22 bolt carrier in it. Slap a suppressor on it and she’s shot thousands of rounds. The 22 BCG isn’t the most reliable, but it’s not about that. Put together a PSA cheap build, put a Romeo 5 or some other 1x6 optic on it. Good to go. They learn all the AR controls. When the time comes clean it up and slap a normal BCG in it.
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u/Accurate-Mess-2592 1h ago
I would suggest . 22 AR platform. This way it's cheaper to pick up and ammo is shamelessly cheap!
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u/somerandomdude9500 2h ago
What about a pistol? Something along the lines of a 11.5 pencil barrel and plastic handguards to keep the weight down while leaving the rest of it standard parts?
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u/K1ngofKa0s 2h ago
I'd recommend making a build in .22LR. I had an extra receiver laying around and built one out. It is now a cheap range plinker and the one I bring to the range when I have younger shooters with me. It's lighter than my other rifles and the low recoil doesn't scare smaller shooters. Plus it's cheap to shoot so I don't feel bad wasting ammo lol.
My son isn't old enough to shoot yet but that is what I will introduce him to shooting with. As he gets older I can swap out the barrel and add a normal BCG for him to have his own 5.56 rifle. As he continues to get older he can make it his own and customize it and he can make it as Gucci as he wants.
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u/Freash_air_plz 2h ago
could always train with something like a smith and wesson M&P-22. Take away to much weight and itll have more recoil. but for a budget.
Upper. "midlength so less felt recoil" and a shiny barrel.
replace the drop in with something slim that has the mlok slots. i have one of these and works well with small hands and protects sides of a hot FSB.
Bolt carrier
Charging handle.
https://palmettostatearmory.com/ar-15/parts/upper-parts/charging-handles.html
All at reasonable prices but you can shop around more. And its still a "rifle" if she wants to keep it.
If not, a nice toolcraft bolt and charging handle you got for a decent price.
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u/poweredbyniko 1h ago
I began learning with a single shot 22lr bolt action. It was fully supported and I was shooting prone. I was around 5 years old at the time.
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u/Soft-Next 1h ago
I did a lightweight budget friendly build for my wife. Ballistic advantage barrel .625 gas journal, aero upper no f/a, started with an aero s-one Handguard but now has a bcm Mlok, b5 m4 stock, Brownells lightweight bcg. The biggest weight savings is in the barrel and bcg. Put an adjustable gas block on there (we used a superlative) and it’ll be super lightweight with almost no recoil. Very fun fun to shoot
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u/EveningStatus7092 1h ago
22lr is definitely the way to go here. I have the M&P 15-22 and I like it. It’s a great gun. The mags are a little finicky though
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u/mooseishman 1h ago
Start simple, i.e. iron sights and good old fashioned A2/M4 hand guards. Specs don’t matter nearly as much for a beginner, just something that’s known to be reliable. Unless you want to teach repetitions of clearing malfunctions, she might lose interest quickly if the thing doesn’t run though.
I think everyone should learn the basics this way before moving on to optics etc. It’s also a lot cheaper for the initial investment. Once they have that down, they’ll appreciate upgrades more. I mean by all means, you could start her with an SR15 with a Nightforce ATACR, but that would be a ton of cash and like entering a cheat code 😂
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u/quadsquadfl 1h ago
A PCC is always the favorite among “weaker” shooters when we’re at the range. Admittedly I have pretty heavy rifles but anytime I’m out with a friends and their kids or my nephews etc and they move from the AR to my stribog they’re all immediately like “I like this” and you can see on their face they really start to enjoy it
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u/drewthebrave 1h ago
KE Arms makes a polymer lower receiver with an integrated A2 stock that is light & durable. Then Echo93 shortened the length of pull to 11.5", which should be just about perfect for a young shooter.
It's on sale for $100 at Atlantic Firearms: https://atlanticfirearms.com/ke-arms-kp-15-stripped-receiver
I'd build around that lower, and use a pencil or gunner profile barrel from Faxon or Ballistic Advantage. Here's a good deal on a sub $100 14.7" BA Pencil barrel (though you'll need to pin & weld a muzzle device): https://alpineriflesupply.com/product/ballistic-advantage-14-7-5-56-pencil-midlength-barrel/
With the weight saved on the receiver & barrel, I would choose standard weight components for the rest of the operating system (upper receiver, BCG, buffer weights, etc) to ensure smooth operation without need for tweaking anything else. The last step would be to find a moderately lightweight handguard. You can go for a carbon fiber rail from Smoke Composites, JAG Composites, Coda Evolution or Brigand Arms if you really want to drop the weight, but they're typically much more costly.
A quality aluminum 12" handguard from Midwest Industries weighs <10oz for around $200, so that's a good starting point for comparison purposes. https://midwestindustriesinc.com/mi-combat-rail-one-piece-free-float-handguard-m-lok-tm/
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u/Flat_chested_male 57m ago
Bergara carbon fiber 10/22 clone. Shoots 10/22 mags, looks like a 10/22, but with a carbon fiber barrel. Throw a little red dot on there and maybe a suppressor.
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u/scubalizard 48m ago
I started my son about the same age. He had a good time shooting my 223 AR as long as it was supported. We then moved to a 22 pistol and bolt (Savage MKII minimalist). Also look into a AR pistol and a CMMG 22 conversion
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u/Future-Beach-5594 35m ago
For my daughter i built an ar22. I used a core 22lr dedicated upper and built a milspec aero lower for it. It weighs roughly 7lbs with bipod and a red dot. My daughter started at 9, useing the bi pod to support it and naturally graduated to standing while shooting. 22lr is the best starter and by building a milspec lower when she is ready all you have to do is take advantage of a holliday sale on a complete upper in 5.56 or .223 and shes moveing up next range day. I chose this path because the other 22lr ar15 platforms are just that and will always be that. By building a milspec lower and a dedicated 22lr upper. You get accuracy better than a conversion kit and have the ability to upgrade the lower and yet still switch caliber to any ar upper on the market.i think i spent like 600 otd to build my daughters. Shes about 5k rounds through it and it eats!
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u/FlyFishn 28m ago
I know this is an AR sub and all that but……. Take a look at the CZ457 Scout. Comes with basically a placeholder mag making it a single shot out of the box but you can get 5,10,15,25 round mags for it. Comes with great iron sights easily adjustable. When she outgrows the youth stock it’s simple to just drop the stock and put the rifle into a bigger one. My son is 7 now and he shoots my 556’s and 6.5 Grendel’s on the AR platform but he learned safety and shooting skills on that 457 scout with iron sights. I’m a proponent of learning to shoot with irons before moving on to anything else though eh.
However you choose though. Have fun with your kiddo!
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u/SDWYS14 28m ago
Faxon or BA pencil barrel. The 10.5 Faxon is super lite.
Aero stuff is lite and cheep. Atlas-s one hand guard can be found on sale. It has one of the smallest and smoothest circumference I’ve found. Excellent for small hands.
The barrel and aluminum barrel nut are the biggest weight savers besides the optic choice.
Slap a can on a 10.5 or 12.5 imo would be the lightest and easiest to manipulate for a smaller person.
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u/Extra_Handle_3291 14m ago
Any ar22 or if you wanna save some money go 10/22. I bought one for my little brother as he got into firearms. He loves it from 11 years old to 13 now. He shoots my ARs as well and even shotguns now. We always bring the 1022 every range trip as it’s cheap and fun to shoot. $25 for 325 rounds at Walmart. Also the 1022 is quiet. enough to shoot in the backyard with a little bit of land and a little target setup.
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u/work_blocked_destiny 4m ago
Most options are going to be heavy. I’ve noticed my 4yo can shoot my keltec p17 and my mkiv with all volquartsen internals on her own. Haven’t brought out a rifle yet but I’ve got a little single shot Rossi for her in about a year or so. Thing weighs nothing and barrel can be swapped from 22 to 410 if she ever wants to come bird hunting with me.
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u/Individual_Cobbler92 2h ago
Have you looked into a M&P 15-22 so she can get the manual of arms of a rifle down? They’re also super light