AR-180B has a bigger problem--Armalite is currently backordered to February. The rep at the BRC said it will probably be about three years before dealers have stock sitting on the shelf. Other than that, an excellent rifle at a great price.
I think what you want, Shin-Tao, is the Olympic Arms "Plinker" model. It uses a cast upper and lower receiver, so the finish is not as nice as the forged ones, but it costs right around $500-$550. As near as I can tell, the only real difference is the finish. The castings might not be as robust as forgings, but with aluminum pieces under no more stress than that, I imagine it's a negligible difference. I only found out about it this week, but I think that's what I'm getting. I had a little AR sticker shock too!
The Cav Arms guns are very nice from what I've seen (I only saw 'em at the BRC) and Cav Arms is a great company of great guys. I'm not sure what the weight savings would be over an ordinary lower, but it would have to be some.
I didn't know Hesse offered carbon fiber, but I've heard really bad things about their "kevlar" models. People say the stupid things shrink and expand during manufacturing and end up way out of spec. With everything I found while looking into the .50, I would never spend money on a Hesse product.
