Reviews & Ratings for Faxon Firearms 5.56 NATO Gunner Rifle Barrel — 66 reviews — Page 1

This is a pretty wild barrel with the short overall length and long gas system. I paired mine with an Aero Precision adjustable gas block, and with about 5 minutes tuning on the range found a reliable gas setting for shooting unsuppressed. My AR pistol shoots great, and I imagine it'll shoot even better suppressed.

I have 7 of these barrels installed on different style AR15's and I really like the look of these barrels.

I'm still in the process of the build but having inspected this barrel with a borescope I'm impressed with the machining. The rifling is cut clean and uniformly, the barrel lugs are crisp and clean and the muzzle crown is cut to perfection. I'm very impressed with the machining on a barrel at this price point. I see no reason it won't be a shooter.

Purchased the gunner match in 223 Wylde. 3 moa on multiple factory rounds. Criterion 11 inch same ammo sub moa. Asked customer service for assistance, reponse was " will send you a new one when we build some".

This is my first time using this type of barrel but not my first Faxon barrel. Their quality and consistency are always always on point and they are my go to barrel and bolt combo for almost all of my builds.

works pretty good with my aero upper. Very lightweight.

I have 2 of these barrels a 16” mid and a 11.5 mid . I’ve had nothing but a good experience with them both the 16 keeps sub moa groups, and I see very little open up as it gets warm. It’s extremely light but I do wish they made is slightly thicker. I get a consistent 1 moa straight down drop with a suppressor.

interestingly I have a 20" gunner (.750 journal) and been working through incomplete cycling with 62g ammo going to the 430-500 angle, this I interpreted as UNDER gassed. Mike reported this on his 16" as OVER gas. but when I measured my port hole diameter I am well under the 0.093" spec, only getting a 5/64 bit into the hole (0.0781") vs a 3/32 bit which could be over (or at) spec at 0.0937". Apparently there are 6 ANSI drill sizes between the two bits, (#42 to 47) so some proper pin gauges are in order. I've always thought OVER gas ejected fwd, not back.

Presuming these barrels are all supposed to be spec, but it would be nice if the port hole diameters where included on the product specs and that ranges of these gas port sizes were offered by barrel manufactures.
common standard barrel port sizes
10.5" Carbine .073
11.5" Carbine .071
12.5" Carbine .068
14.5" Carbine .0625
16" Carbine .0625
13.7" Mid .0785
14.5” Mid .077
16" Mid .076
18" Rifle .0995
20" Rifle .093

I ordered the 18 inch model w/rifle-length gas system and really like it. The gunner profile is really light and handy, and it is great as a general purpose rifle barrel. My particular model had a good tight head space (just barely closed on a 5.56 NATO go-gauge with my bolt), and it came drilled with a .098” gas port (measured with a pin gauge), which should be more than enough for this barrel length and gas system combo. The finish is also really nice. I like this purchase. No regrets!

I really like this profile. It’s the perfect one for a lighter weight AR. Also, the barrel extension is not nitrided. This preserves its hardness, which the high temperatures of nitriding could diminish.