+1
Weight is relative and even the lightweight ARs aren’t all that light. 5lbs is the lightest I’ve seen advertised and those were all skeletonized (tons of material cut away, a perfect way for debris to get in) and rather expensive.
If I wanted a firearm that was easy to hike with and “lots of firepower”, I’d get a 10mm Glock and carry spare mags.
I’d have to agree. Mind you, I love my shorty AR and put another 100 rounds through it yesterday. It makes ringing steel at 200 yards easy offhand and is one of the handiest firearms you could hope for. But, it would not be my first choice to go hiking with unless the hike was at 2am in Detroit.