Faxon Barrel Review

We picked up a FAXON Match Barrel in 18" with flame flutes. Black nitride. Nice looking Barrel, turns out it shoots good too. So we think the FAXON barrel is a good value on the market and worth considering. We directly compared it here versus a PROOF Research barrel, so you can understand what two good barrels performance looks like.

This article is out to do two things:
1) Show performance of FAXON Barrel.
2) Prove that faster burning powders in 5.56 work VERY well in 77 grain bullets. In fact, AA2230 and BM are just as accurate as pretty much anything in 77 grain bullets. The only thing is they are about ~50 FPS slower in velocity. However, the gun has less recoil, so its a trade off.

FAXON 18" Match

Now with an AR15, its simply not realistic to think that its going to group like a bolt gun. In an AR15, sometimes, not all the time, the first shot from the magazine, or the last shot from the magazine are slightly off. So we marked them so you can see what shots they are. We did 6 shot groups.

This is all at 50 yards, because the optics are only small magification, and its not crosshairs, its dot. And the dot is probably 2 MOA. So you cannot get super precise hold at 100 yards, even if you have young eyes. at 50 yards, its still not super precise, but margin of error might be .2MOA. The only group here that is over 1 MOA is the AR Comp if you don't count the flyer from the first or last shot.

Or a more general answer, that an AR15 is NOT a precision instrument like a bolt gun. An AR15 has a lot of motion and looser tolerances that can cause flyers, or different magnitude. Here is an example:
https://www.theboxotruth.com/4776-2/

FAXON barrel. A little over $300 and its flame fluted 18" Match. And look at it deliver!! 5 shots in a small .16" hole using Benchmark and 77 Grain Bullet? Ladies and Gentlemen...it is a MYTH that faster burning 5.56 powders like AR-Comp and Benchmark and Accurate 2230 are not good for heavies. Most of these loads in the 18" barrel chrono from ~2600 range. In 20" they are near 2700 FPS. Good enough?

We think the FAXON barrel is a good value, it looks good, installed easily, and shoots great. We recommend the company, just like we recommend WOA, PROOF and Rainier Arms.

We compared the FAXON barrel against a Proof Research Carbon Fiber barrel to see if it was comparable accuracy. Of course, the FAXON barrel is a better value, and you are not buying Proof Research carbon fiber barrel for sole purpose of accuracy. You are buying it because its durable, accurate, and light weight. I like the Proof Barrel better than any barrel I own, even though its not as accurate as some match barrels. The gun with it has great handling feel to it, and its MOA or better. Of note, you can probably see, that the FAXON barrel is marginally more accurate than the Proof barrel.