Up close with Faxon’s flame fluting. (Photo: Faxon)
Faxon Firearms is adding a new match-grade series of barrels chambered for .223 Wylde to their popular line of AR-pattern barrels. Faxon’s barrels have a strong reputation for factory accuracy.
The company is launching with multiple .223 Wylde options with plans to release 6.5 Grendel, 300 AAC Blackout, 6.5 Creedmoor and .308 Winchester. Compatible with both .223 Remington and 5.56 NATO, .223 Wylde offers better all-around performance and reliability when mixing cartridges. It’s quickly becoming standard for top-tier AR-15s.
The barrels start at $225 and top out at $325, which is still very competitive. Faxon turned the AR barrel aftermarket on its ear with their excellent prices and solid performance just a few years ago. Now they’re looking to push the bounds with high-end barrels at an attainable price point.
Faxon’s Match series sport high-polish finishes and 11-degree target crowns. (Photo: Faxon)
Faxon is kicking things off with five models, three 16-inch barrels and two 20-inch versions. The 16-inch barrels have your choice of Faxon’s in-house Gunner profile, heavy fluting and flame fluting. The 20-inch barrels include just the heavy-fluted and flame-fluted profiles.
The 16-inch barrels sport mid-length gas systems and the 20-inch models have rifle-length gas systems. They all have a quench-polish-quench or QPQ nitride finish, NP3 nickel-plated barrel extensions and 5R button rifling.
Faxon offers matching factory-headspaced bolts with every barrel, ensuring the best possible accuracy. The bolts are serialized and laser-engraved to match their barrels. Along with matching bolts customers can buy matching bolt carriers including Faxon’s Gunner lightweight bolt carrier.
Lightweight bolt carrier groups can be used with adjustable gas blocks and tuned to specific loads for ultimate recoil control. As it happens, Faxon also offers several adjustable gas blocks from Superlative Arms and SLR Rifleworks.
See Also: Faxon Firearms Now Makes .308 Win. Barrels!
The BAD barrels deliver premium features at an affordable price point. (Photo: BAD)
Battle Arms Development is also offering a new line of barrels for AR builders. BAD is going the other way–while Faxon has traditionally focused on low-cost barrels, Battle Arms’ specialty has been high-end components.
Now Battle Arms is working on mid-range components with quality features. Like Faxon their barrels feature QPQ nitride finishes with 5R rifling. The barrels are 4150 chromealloy vanadium steel, are magnetic particle inspected and double heat-treated and stress relieved. BAD uses their own tapered profile for all their barrels.
BAD’s chromalloy barrels are available now in 9mm Luger, 300 BLK and .308 Winchester. Battle Arms is offering 16-inch 9mm barrels, 300 BLK barrels in 7.5-, 10.5- and 16-inch lengths, and .308 barrels in 16- and 18-inch versions. Prices range from $199 to $299.
If you have an upper receiver project that needs finishing, right now is a great time to do it. Prices and options have never been better.
I just installed a Faxon 16″ Match Grade Gunner 223 Wylde barrel with headspaced and laser engraved bolt on my new AR build. The fit and finish are outstanding. The Gunner profile is a great option for a well balanced, yet highly accurate AR rifle.
I also used the Superlative Arms .625 Mid-Length Piston kit for this build (This product not sold by Faxon at this time). The Superlative Arms Piston kit is the absolute best option on the market. A person will be super happy with both products.
It would be nice of these manufacturers to add 277 Wolverine and 7.62×40 barrels. These are both currently wildcats, but they are useful rounds based on the 223/5.56 parent case, and offer improved performance over the 300 AAC, particularly in supersonic applications. Similar to 300 AAC, the only part that requires changing in an AR15 for either of these rounds is the barrel, so they are fun projects.
The 277 WLV uses 6.8 mm bullets. It is an improvement over the 5.56 and 300 AAC in terms of energy, and nearly equals the performance of the 6.8 SPC without the requirement for a bolt change.
The 7.62×40 is similar to the 300 AAC, but has a 40 mm case instead of the 300 AAC’s 35 mm case, allowing more powder capacity. This is an improvement over the 300 AAC for those of us poor souls that can’t have cans and end up running the 300 AAC supersonic. (Illinois sucks). The 300 AAC is a great deer round with 125-150 grain bullets (dozens of dead deer can personally attest to its effectiveness…), so the extra powder capacity of the 7.62×40 will allow higher energy loads relative to the 300 AAC.