Putting Ruger 556 on a diet?

[Chainsaw.]

Bought my wife a ruger 556 a few years back for her own castle cannon. No I didnt buy her the latest and greatest wizzbanginist AR, she hardly ever shoots and the thing runs. To my issue. She a smaller girl, 5'4" and a buck twenty, no she is no slouch, she works out alot and has the "guns" to prove it, but, that Ruger wears her out after a short bit of shooting. Im wondering if anyone has put a Ruger on a diet? Or should I just have her get used to the rifle as is?

Maybe Ill borrow a garand and let her shoot that for a bit then turn her back onto the ruger?

[Scorch]

Swap out the quad rail for something lighter, you will drop about 2 lbs right off the bat.

[hdwhit]

If you "put a Ruger on a diet" then all that is achieved is to reduce the weight of the rifle which will have the effect of increasing perceived recoil.

[Venom1956]

Build her a 10inch pistol with kak brace. I got my upper from PSA it's light and flickable. Makes my piston dissy feel like a boat in comparison

[NateKirk]

Not really much you can take off that gun.

[B-Shot]

Does she shoot from standing only? Maybe try different shooting positions. It would cost a good chunk of change to lose a pound off the ruger. The more she uses the rifle the less it will wear her out. Imo

[Mobuck]

"no she is no slouch, she works out alot and has the "guns" to prove it, but, that Ruger wears her out"

Maybe she's working out in the wrong areas.

[T. O'Heir]

Should have taken her shopping and not just buy something. Does sound like she just doesn't want to shoot. However, if she picks out the rifle, that might change. Then you'll get PO'd about how she out shoots you.
Which Ruger 556 did you buy? There's a 6.5 pound, 16.1" barreled thingy and the SR Takedown at 7.1 pounds with a 16.12" barrel. No place to remove any weight from either of 'em. And the short barrel will cause a bunch of muzzle blast and noise, even with .223 as well. Most likely the issue.
Her size makes no difference at all. Had a 5 foot nothing, 100 something pound, female Army Cadet(teens), years ago, who could shoot circles around most of the big teenage guys with a 12 pound, 7.62NATO, C1A1(FAL) or a No. 4 Lee-Enfield.

[Chainsaw.]

Make no mistake, she lacks not for desire to shoot, nor for marksmanship. Mobuck I think you are near the mark, perhaps getting the rifle in her hands is the biggest component of this.

[Fishbed77]

10 or 20-round mags will save weight.

Beyond that, there's not much you can do with a stock AR-556 (I assume you are not talking about the piston-operated SR-556).

[Chainsaw.]

No, the gas gun, not the piston gun.

[bamaranger]

I doubt your lady is physically worn out. My guess is the muzzle blast and mental stress of handling a full power carbine is psychologically wearing her down. Does she come from a shooting background? Does she do any other shooting?

I'd do a lot of SAFE, dry practice. There will not be the stress of live ammo. It will build confidence with the rifle, and if there is a physical issue, tone the muscles involved.

If it is a mental thing (meant in a postive way) try shooting something way more simple, like a plain .22 lr for a while. Make practice sessions short, and vary your targets, (ballons, paper, cans, etc) keep distances short and simple to ensure hits and positive feedback.

Practice outside, under good conditions. An indoor range with other shooters is intimidating to a lot of folks, and often too hot or too cold, and can be VERY noisy.

[Chainsaw.]

My wife is a former (very recently removed) federal agent, she has shot ALOT of guns. I thinks shes just rusty.

[Dragline45]

Cut down the front sight post to a low profile gas block, throw on a lightweight handguard, use Magpul MBUS sights, switch to a 20rd mag, swap out the adjustable buttstock to something like the Magpul FCS or a lightweight adjustable buttstock.

Alternatively you could pick up a new upper for it. Go with a 14.5" lightweight barrel, which would need to be pinned to bring it up to 16", but it would still be lighter than a 16" with an A2 flash hider.

[Chainsaw.]

Actually just a light weight upper is not a bad idea.

[G.barnes]

Your only going to get so light. I have a lightweight 14.5" ar and just over 6 lbs is as light as i can get. Had a 6.8 with DD s2w barrel and 15" handguard. Wasn't even 1lb difference.

[Reloadron]

While all rifles are going to have some free recoil energy the felt recoil will vary from shooter to shooter. The 223 Remington cartridge when fired in a gas gun like an AR type rifle is really as light as recoil gets. You may want to note how she is holding the rifle, is she holding it tight in her shoulder? That is important, very important. When a rifle "bites" the shoulder of a new shooter to that rifle they tend to want to hold the rifle out further from the shoulder. Even the light recoil AR will begin to beat up the shooters shoulder. Just something else to observe.

Additionally with a small frame and weight is her reach adequate on the rifle to support it correctly and manage the rifle? My sister is 4'11" with a small frame and short arms. real short arms. She simply can't manage and support even a short stock rifle correctly. She needs literally a small child stock with a short reach.

Ron

[Chainsaw.]

it's not a recoil issue

[agtman]

it's not a recoil issue

Well, I'm glad that's clear. Probably should've put that first in your initial post.

[Reloadron]

that Ruger wears her out after a short bit of shooting.

OK, then if recoil is not the issue the Ruger 5.56 weighs in at about 6.5 pounds making it a light rifle to support. The LOP (Length of Pull) ranges from about 10 1/4" to 13 1/2" making for easy support even with short frame arms. So what exactly is "wearing her out"? Wears her out after a short bit of shooting really doesn't say much, is it fatigue or what? Does she correctly hold and support the rifle? How does the rifle fit her frame? Can she easily work the trigger?

Ron