3.65 lbs! That is an unbelievably low weight for an AR-15 style rifle. Actually, some handguns weigh more than that. What makes the Master of Arms ENYO rifle even cooler is that despite its unusual look and light weight, it should be a perfectly suitable rifle for a wide variety of applications.

Images from www.masterofarms.com

The choice of materials and manufacturing technologies is what allowed them to make this rifle so lightweight even without a use of skeletonized parts (well, except the stock). The upper and lower receivers are made of a material called Tennalum which is a lightweight aluminum alloy. The manufacturer claims this material to be also very strong. Titanium made parts include the bolt carrier, adjustable gas block, ambidextrous safety selector, magazine catch/release as well as the takedown and pivot pins. The handguard and buffer tube/stock of ENYO rifle are made of carbon fiber.

The barrel is made of stainless steel. It has a custom profile and mid-length gas system. They also use a proprietary handguard tensioning system where the carbon fiber handguard applies tension to the muzzle as seen in the image below. According to the company, this system doesn’t allow the barrel to move during the extended firing sessions. Note also that instead of a threaded muzzle it has a star-shaped machined out cavity which probably works as a flash hider.

The installation of this barrel into the handguard is also an interesting process. I’ll quote the Master of Arms’ website to avoid misinterpretation:

We utilize a proprietary tensioned handguard system to ensure that our custom profiled barrel does not move during extended firing periods. In order to achieve this accuracy the barrel is heated during installation to allow the barrel to grow. Once the barrel has reached its maximum growth, we assemble the upper and torque the nose cone nut to ensure that when the barrel cools the handguard resists the barrel from shrinking, keeping the barrel in tension.

Whether that works in real life or not, I can’t tell you. Without having tested this rifle, we can only rely on the manufacturer’s statements and our theoretical conclusions.

The company also uses metal 3D printing technologies which allow building complicated parts that would otherwise be impossible or difficult to machine. For example, the red dot riser mount shown on the rifle and in the image below is made of 3D printed titanium and weighs 0.6 oz.

If the components, materials and design solutions of this rifle work as advertised, then this is a really interesting and innovative rifle. And of course, this kind of space-age technologies and materials come at a price. The MSRP of Master of Arms ENYO rifle is $3,200.