Faxon Firearms AR and Barrel Review

Faxon Firearms Review

Editor: Cameron

Faxon parts purchased:
1.) Faxon 14.5 gunner barrel
2.) Faxon Nitride BCG
3.) Faxon low pro gas block
4.) Faxon 13.5 mlok rail

My Story:
Faxon firearms in my opinion have taken the gun industry by storm in the last few years. I first found out about Faxon years ago when they came out with the ARAK 21 rifle. Since then they have turned into one of the best barrel makers in the industry. They make a lot of OEM barrels for other companies; they also have a wide array of barrels available direct to consumers.
When I was looking at parts to build my AR -15, Faxon was at the top of my list. I already had a stripped lower, stripped upper receiver and a rainier arms flash hider. I ordered a lower build kit with Magpul furniture to compete the lower. I also added a BCM VLTOR Gunfighter mod 4 charging handle and a set of Magpul pro folding sights. To top the entire build off I purchase a Trijicon MRO.
Now, to get the parts from Faxon, which were the parts that make up the guts of an AR-15. I knew I wanted a 14.5 barrel, I wanted as short of gun as possible without jumping through the NFA hoops. The reason I settled on the gunner was the profile of the barrel. I don’t really like the M4 or Gov’t barrel profiles; I think they are too front heavy. I normally like a medium profile barrel, I believe they are more accurate especially when they get hot. The gunner profile was interesting and caught my eye; it uses a .625 gas block which is normally found on pencil weight barrels. But the gunner is a little thicker behind the gas block and is more like a pencil barrel in front of the gas block. This makes the AR handle extremely well and is extremely well balanced.
I opted for the Faxon black nitride BCG, the price was good and the bolt, carrier and barrel all have matching serial numbers. They are also headspaced to match one another. I find this to be a nice service that they offer. Nitride is also the new hotness and it looks amazing. It appears to have a more lubricous service than a mil-spec phosphate coating. Any carbon build up wipes right off with ease. The gun feels very smooth after I got it broken in. This has part to do with my upper receiver being a nickel Teflon coating and the BCG being nitride coated.
The last piece that makes up the guts of the AR-15 that I bought from Faxon was their low pro-file gas block. This gas block is not able to be pinned to the barrel but it does have three set screws in the bottom of the gas block. In order for me to get the most reliable and bomb proof instillation for the gas block, I took it to a friend and used his mil to dimple the barrel where the set screws touched the barrel and torque them down with high temp rock set. The fact that the gas block has three set screws, help keep the gas block held to the barrel more securely.
I decided on a Faxon rail for this build. There were three main reasons I went with this rail:
1.) It is Mlok compatible. I prefer this mounting option over picitanny rail of keymod.
2.) It is lightweight and narrow in the hand. It is very comfortable to hold onto.
3.) Price, this rail is one the cheapest rails on the market.

When I say cheap I mean best value on the market. One of the main reasons I believe it is the best value on the market is because it is a simple rail. It has to be the most efficient rail to machine. It has a simple low profile barrel nut that doesn’t require a stock barrel wrench. It has standard wrench flats, so it is easy to attach a torque wrench. It also has anti-rotation tabs on the top of the rail which aids in keeping the rail straight to your upper receiver.
The last unique issue I had with this build is making it a legal 16 inch barrel. To do this I had to pin and weld the Rainier Arms flash hider to the barrel to make it permanently attached to the barrel bringing the barrel to over a length of 16 inches. Luckily I have a friend with a nice mill and we were able to drill through the flash hider into the barrel. After breaking an end mill bit and two drill bits we finally drilled through the Nitride coating, dropped the pin in and welded it to the barrel.

Zeroing and Shooting:
I zeroed the rifle at 50 yards. I will be using this for home defense and plinking on the weekends. I am hoping to also take a carbine class in 2017. Now I cannot really speak to the accuracy of the barrel. I did not put a magnified optic on the gun and shoot groups. My final group at 50 yards with the Trijicon MRO was just over an inch. Take me not being a great shooter and shooting from the prone resting on the magazine I will take that all day long. I was also shooting standard 55 grain ball. I believe it was federal XM193 ammo.
In conclusion, I am extremely pleased with the gun. It is exactly what I wanted and I feel in terms of value I could not have made a better choice than to go with Faxon. I highly recommend Faxon firearms and to be perfectly honest I purchased all the parts from Faxon. Stay tuned, my next project I am planning on building a SPR with a 18 inch 416R Heavy fluted barrel from Faxon.

What they could do better:
Faxon is spot on. GREAT PRODUCTS!