Located just north of Cincinnati, Faxon Firearms is a family-owned company that specializes in manufacturing custom rifle and pistol barrels, specialized parts and complete firearms. Though I’ve known of Faxon for a few years, I was not aware of how much the company expanded. My friend Emily Stuchell recently joined Faxon Firearms, so we arranged a tour.
The Faxon plant, located in a large, modern building, is impressive. Everything is built or made on-site, and CNC machining and modern equipment abound. In addition to AR-15 variants, Faxon manufactures a wide variety of parts and accessories for rifles and handguns.
Attention to detail is ensured through careful hand assembly and inspection. Two talented men do the work and personally test-fire completed guns in an enclosed bullet trap located adjacent to their assembly benches. Each man builds the various guns from start to finish.
Flame-Fluted Match-Grade Pistol Barrels
I was shown a variety of Faxon products, but the flame-fluted, drop-in stainless steel, match-grade pistol barrels drew my attention. The flame fluting design is cut into the barrel and provides a unique indented pattern. But it wasn’t the flame fluting that caught my eye. It was one of the three color choices.
Faxon offers a sharp gold flame-fluted barrel with a physical vapour deposition (PVD) coating and a black flame-fluted barrel with a salt bath nitride coating. But the one that stood out to me was the “chameleon” barrel with PVD coating. The chameleon barrel’s finish is a unique mixture of purple, blue, gold and green. This mixture of colors makes the flame fluting stand out better than the single-color options. No two chameleon barrels come out exactly alike.
Faxon Firearms Barrel at the Range
I requested a threaded chameleon test barrel for my 9mm S&W M&P 2.0 Compact with a 4-inch barrel. Its appearance is awesome! Faxon advertises the match-grade pistol barrels as drop-in but machines them with tighter tolerances for better lock-up than standard barrels. While a claim of drop-in isn’t always true it was quite accurate for my Faxon barrel. The barrel dropped right in and fit perfectly.
Here are the Faxon Barrel Specifications:
- Caliber: 9mm
- Profile: Flame fluted, drop-in
- Material: 416-R stainless steel
- Barrel twist: 1:10
- Muzzle thread: 1/2×28
- Crown: 11-degree target crown
- Rifling method: Button
- Rifling type: Conventional
- Inside finish: Salt bath nitride
- Outside finish: Salt bath nitride & chameleon PVD
After I applied a small amount of oil to the Faxon barrel, I cased it up and headed to the range with some SIG Sauer Elite 124-grain FMJ and V-Crown Ammo.
The barrel that came with my M&P is also rated as being match grade and shoots very well. I was unable to perform a side-by-side test without a bench and pistol rest though. As my M&P isn’t a competition bullseye pistol, I wasn’t concerned testing for more than basic accuracy and functional reliability. And I wasn’t disappointed.
From a range of 25 feet using two hands, we easily managed groups in the 2- to 2.5-inch range. I experienced no malfunctions with either round used and was totally satisfied with the performance of the Faxon barrel. Its threaded end gives me more flexibility. MSRP is $225.
Wrap Up
Faxon Firearms is a quality manufacturer. It is obvious the employees really enjoy their jobs and take great pride in what they do. If you are looking for innovative accessories and parts to upgrade existing guns (as well as complete AR-15s and 9mms), check out Faxon Firearms.
