Originally Posted By: sqrlgtrVASCAR2,What do you think about the shilen and faxon barrels?I guess what I'm asking is which do you prefer thinking of building another upper and trying to decide what barrel to go with.I wanted to go with the shilen on my last one but couldn't find one everybody was out of stock but noticed they are available now lol...
I really like both barrels and I think I bought the Shilen in 2012 when there weren’t many choices. The Shilen has proven accurate and reliable but a little on the heavy side. For how I use my Shilen it is great, low recoil, excellent accuracy and just fun to shoot. The only downside to my Shilen might be the 1:9 twist. The heaviest bullets I’ve shot are 123 grains which are gtg in 1:9 twist. Most new 6.5 Grendel barrels are 1:8 or 1:7.5 which might be better with longer or heavier bullets. Some users might be turned off because my Shilen is not threaded. I don’t like muzzle breaks and I didn’t need a flash hider so the plain muzzle was a non issue for me.
I have two Faxon 6.5 Grendel barrels, one 16” and one 18” and I really like them both. Both barrels are lighter profile Nitride 1:8 5R but plenty accurate for my use. I put 20 MOA scope mounts on my 6.5 Grendel since the cartridge is capable of staying super sonic past 1000 yards depending on elevation. The mounts are roughly the same cost so I just buy canted mounts for the 6.5 Grendel. A Friend has farm ground where we can shoot 1000+ yards if the corn is not to high.
I’m not the best shooter as age is catching up to me but any of my 6.5 Grendel AR-15’s will stay close to MOA or better depending on ammo. I feel confident trying to shoot steel targets with my 6.5 Grendels to at least 800 yards at 450’ ASL. My biggest issue shooting at 1000 yards it is hard to spot our misses with all the foliage.
The only downside to the Faxon is 5R rifling generally is not very accurate with Wolf Steel case bimetal FMJ ammo. I rarely shoot Wolf steel cased ammo so this is a non issue for me. For target accuracy the Shilen is my bench gun but for quick handling the Faxon are great. The 18” Faxon has a lot of versatility whether hunting, target shooting or defense.