There is an ever-growing abundance of Glock after-market parts available for consumers. The Glock pistol, whether you love it or hate it, is embraced by the entire world in varying capacities. It is the Lego set of pistols. The tinker toy of handguns. Like an AR-15, they are interchangeable and endlessly customizable. With so many companies that already are in the saturated market of Glock parts, why would anyone new try to step into the foray? Well, to make a long explanation short, they are more than experienced and capable enough to produce top tier products at an affordable and competitive price. Who is they you might ask? They happens to be Faxon Firearms.

Faxon Firearms introduced a prototype barrel of theirs at SHOT Show 2017 which was their first unveiling to the public. An Instagram user who posted this specific photo left a caption of: “Faxon Firearms bringing sexy back” which can be seen to the right.

In regards to curb appeal and cool factor, Faxon Firearms hit the nail on the head. What is equally important though is performance. I will be the first person to throw manliness aside and admit no one wants an accurate gun that is ugly, but similarly I believe no one wants an attractive gun that shoots like crap. So that is what this review is for. To see if Faxon Firearms created a Glock pistol barrel that has accuracy, reliability and performance to match its eye-catching appearance.

The technical specifications for the exact Faxon Firearms’ Glock barrel that was tested, which was a G17,  are as follows:

• Barrel Caliber: 9mm
• Barrel Profile: Flame Fluted, Drop In
• Barrel Material: 416-R Stainless Steel
• Barrel Twist: 1:10″
• Muzzle Thread: 1/2″ x 28 T.P.I.
• Crown: 11° Target Crown
• Rifling Method: Button Rifled, Fully Stress Relieved
• Rifling Type: Conventional
• Inside Finish: Salt Bath Nitride
• Outside Finish: Salt Bath Nitride & TiN PVD

Some of the features that Faxon Firearms touts on their website as to why their barrels are superior to competitors go as such:

• 4150 or 416-R Stainless – Only the Best Steels for Durability, Longevity & Accuracy
• 9mm SAAMI Chambers – Superior Accuracy w/ complete SAAMI Compatibility & Boring Reliability.
• Tighter Tolerances – Drop In yet Better Fitment & Lock-Up
• Conventional Rifling – Fully Compatible w/ Cast Bullets
• 11° Target Crown

So those are the stats of what Faxon Firearms is bringing to the table with their new aftermarket barrels. Now, to delve into what went into the testing of this barrel.

While shooting this barrel at the range I brought along 6 different flavors of ammo in hopes of truly putting the barrel through its paces while only shooting 300 rounds. As you can see from the photo, it is a pretty diverse assortment of ammunition.

• TulAmmo 9mm 115 Grain FMJ (Steel Casing)
• Brown Bear 9mm 115 Grain FMJ (Bi-Metal Casing)
• Fiocchi 9mm 115 Grain FMJ (Brass Casing)
• CCI Blazer Brass 9mm 115 Grain FMJ (Brass Casing)
• CCI Blazer 9mm 115 Grain FMJ (Aluminum Casing)
• PMC Bronze 9mm 115 Grain FMJ (Brass Casing)

With this assortment of different casing types – aluminum, brass, steel and bi-metal – I hoped to get this barrel to fail or have any issues rise to the surface, if any may be present at all.

While simply field-stripping my Glock Gen4 and adding in the Faxon Firearms barrel everything went smooth. There was no binding, funkiness, nothing out of the ordinary. It dropped in like you would fully expect it to do.

I removed the thread cap to the barrel and installed my Silencerco Hybrid .46 Cal silencer which is a beefy silencer for a handgun, but that is unrelated. The threading of the barrel showed no visual defects, no tightness while removing the thread cap or installing the suppressor. Once again, everything worked as expected which is all you can ask for.

I shot roughly one magazine of ammo through the silencer and everything fed, ejected and extracted perfectly. I only attempted to shoot one magazine to prove that it would function fine because I did not have a lighter recoil spring with for this trip to the range. If you shoot suppressed extensively, Faxon Firearms recommends you use a lighter recoil spring to match the lighter recoil impulse of a suppressed firearm.

Now… on to the mini torture test! I brought with a handy-dandy Maglula Uplula speedloader to the range so I could reload mags as fast as possible while not attempting to cool the pistol or clean it for that matter. Within approximately 30 minutes time all 300 rounds that were brought with were deposited into the bank at the end of the range. This is the progression of “dirtiness” that occurred while shooting all 300 rounds of ammo.

As you can see, after about 100-150 rounds of ammo the barrel did not get much dirtier. That is likely the Salt Bath Nitride & TiN PVD finish doing its job. A barrel that does not get excessively dirty is definitely a win in my books!

In regards to the functioning of the barrel throughout those fast 300 rounds… it worked perfectly. It might be mundane and boring to report, but the barrel worked flawlessly; I have no complaints. I do have some gripes about the ammo though. In a box of 50 rounds of Brown Bear I had 5 rounds not go off. That is a 10% failure rate. That is horrific by anyone’s standards! I gave the 5 rounds to a guy next to me at the outdoor range thinking maybe it is the barrel’s fault or maybe it is Glock’s fault. Well, the person at random next to me who answered the call of duty to try and shoot them was holding a Wilson Combat 9mm. They still never went off.

The CCI Blazer (aluminum casing) was also very smokey. I should have had the silencer on for those rounds so there could be a powder issue with that ammo.

All in all, the Faxon Firearms Glock Match Series Threaded Barrel passes my Mini-Torture test and review. It mated perfectly with a Glock at random… no firing issues… and the coating on the barrel kept it much cleaner than what a traditional barrel may have exhibited for that type of range use.

One thing I never discussed in this review is raw accuracy. Faxon Firearms is advertising a Match series barrel so it better be more accurate, right? Well, I can tell you that it is, but I was not about to bring a micrometer to the range and start calculating standard deviations of accuracy. There are too many outlying factors that could affect and hinder the accuracy that prints to paper. Moreover, I was shooting steel and the shooter (absolutely me) is a much greater limiting factor in accuracy than any barrel or ammo could be.

So with anecdotal evidence I can tell you the barrel is more accurate than a factory Glock barrel. How much more? Well, that would need to involve an entirely separate trip to the range with a rest.

If this barrel is tripping your trigger and you feel inclined to add one to your arsenal, they are available on Faxon Firearms’ website for $219 in an assortment of finishes and styles.

This Faxon Firearms Glock Match Series Threaded Barrel has my stamp of approval!

Hats off to Faxon Firearms and thank you for producing a great product for the shooting community.