Strangely, my Faxon Gunner also showed a preference for light bullets.
Andy
Strangely, my Faxon Gunner also showed a preference for light bullets.
Andy
Last edited by AndyLate; 01-09-21 at 10:08.
Colt, FN, Sionics, Criterion, Ballistic Advantage, Compass Lake. It all depends on your budget, I have a Criterion that shoots comfortably under moa, maybe .7, a pistol BA that would cloverleaf at 50 with 55gr pmc, and I've taken it out to 2-300 with no complaints. Faxons seems to be a bit hit or miss, I have a 7.62x39 that shoots between 2 and 3 moa with wolf, so I'm happy with that, but my brother had a 18 gunner profile that he was chasing sub 2 moa with, never really got there even with handloading. Rosco are another quality barrel on the budget end of things. Stag sells decent barrels, I don't think they oem, but still. BCM sells good barrels, they tend to not be the most accurate but still acceptable, I belive FN is the maker of their BFH,. Daniel Defense are pretty good all around, the sample size of one I've seen shoots well, and there aren’t many posts I've seen with complaints about accuracy. Compass Lake will set you up with a phenomenal barrel, its basically a semi custom barrel with your blank of choice, including top tier makers like bartlein and kreiger. Obviously the prices vary pretty drastically between them, but they tend to lean to different applications, and thats up to you to decide what your needs are vs wants, and balance that from your wallet
Colt, FN, Sionics, Criterion, Ballistic Advantage, Compass Lake. It all depends on your budget, I have a Criterion that shoots comfortably under moa, maybe .7, a pistol BA that would cloverleaf at 50 with 55gr pmc, and I've taken it out to 2-300 with no complaints. Faxons seems to be a bit hit or miss, I have a 7.62x39 that shoots between 2 and 3 moa with wolf, so I'm happy with that, but my brother had a 18 gunner profile that he was chasing sub 2 moa with, never really got there even with handloading. Rosco are another quality barrel on the budget end of things. Stag sells decent barrels, I don't think they oem, but still. BCM sells good barrels, they tend to not be the most accurate but still acceptable, I belive FN is the maker of their BFH,. Daniel Defense are pretty good all around, the sample size of one I've seen shoots well, and there aren’t many posts I've seen with complaints about accuracy. Compass Lake will set you up with a phenomenal barrel, its basically a semi custom barrel with your blank of choice, including top tier makers like bartlein and kreiger. Obviously the prices vary pretty drastically between them, but they tend to lean to different applications, and thats up to you to decide what your needs are vs wants, and balance that from your wallet
Just fitted a 18 inch Core by Criterion and gotta say it is very nice! Hope it shoots as well as it looks.
Having machined a Faxon barrel before, I can personally attest to their nitride being top notch. The problem is that to achieve the hard, rust proof types of nitride, it has to be done at extremely high temperature, and I can't imagine that's good for the barrel. It's like 1200 degrees for hours on end that these barrels get dunked in.
Now think of this. It's the heat that kills barrels, not the friction of the bullet going down the pipe. In a zero heat environment, a barrel could last indefinitely. Pistol barrels almost do, especially something like .45 ACP. Any finishing done to a pistol barrel is solely to prevent corrosion and make it look nice.
On a rifle barrel, though, the biggest factor in longevity is heat over time. And there are thresholds where you go much above a certain temperature and it's going to dramatically reduce lifespan, and obviously those thresholds are well below 1200 degrees.
I have a couple faxon barrels, neither is impressive. One is a "match" barrel. It'll shoot near moa with quality 55 grain ammo, but throws 69 & 77 smks all over the place. No idea why and I'm not spending the money to figure it out. That rifle is slowly getting stripped for parts for other projects. I won't touch faxon again.
The other faxon barrel has also been stripped out of service.
For less than $250, WOA are the barrels I would recommend if accuracy is a top priority. I've built several and they all shoot 3/4 moa or better with match ammo.
BA Hanson is a good all around barrel and can be found for around $150 - $200.
Those are the best "low cost" options I can recommend. I cannot recommend faxon to anyone.
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