My next barrel will be either a Faxon or a Ballistic Advantage.  Bob Faxon + Nathan Schueth are awesome guys at Faxon and Clint Hanson at Ballistic Advantage is also an awesome guy. I would be happy to give my money to either one of these companies.

I would be going with a 16" 4150 QPQ 5.56 barrel. Probably a Hanson 16" if I go BA and probably a 16" Gunner if I go Faxon. I know, both are great companies. Both are awesome barrel for the money. Both will be <$200.

Do I flip a coin? I have a hard time deciding between which one.

Over on AIM's website the Gunner with pinned FSB is $30 less than the Hanson. The Hanson is over the $200 mark. I have 3 barrels from Faxon and one from BA. Other than the fact of the BA barrel being a 9mm and needing the feed come reshaped (which is affecting most barrel makers) all the barrels work great.

Gunner on AIM

Hanson on AIM

Thanks. On Granite Ridge Outfitters, the Hanson is $185 shipped (this is also with the low profile gas block already mounted and pinned). So the price is the same.

Since you have the Faxon + BA, if you were blind folded could you tell a difference between them? Do I just flip a coin and go with whatever I can gt the better deal?

I don't have a BA Hanson but do have BAs and have the Gunner and prefer the Gunner.  The thing I love about the Gunner barrels is even though they are a lightweight profile it doesn't tend to shift its point of impact when hot like other lightweight barrels do.  This is the biggest selling point for Faxons lightweights to me over others like BA.  I haven't shot any of the BA lightweights so they may not shift impact when hot either, but it seems like the Gunners are exceptional in this area. Also the Gunners tend to be lighter then most/all of the Hanson profiles. Other then that I figure the accuracy is about the same between both barrels and they are both from great companies.  

The Gunner is cheaper so for me it would be an easy choice... same price then I could see a little more hesitation but would still go with the Gunners.  RightToBear has a great deal on them right now stripped if you plan on adding your own GB or FSB.  I prefer the Gunners because I always run a fixed FSB on my builds and the Hansons and the Faxon Pencils have too small of a journal to fit the standard FSB.  Both will make great barrels though!

You can get an additional 10% off the faxon at aim with the code aim20years if that makes any difference. I just bought a 14.5 myself.

The two barrels I would be considering are listed as the same weight. I don't have any in person to very if their weights, but there is no difference from listed weights.



BA Hanson Midlength 16" 5.56 = 22 ounces (1.37 lbs)
http://ballisticadvantage.com/16-inch-556-hanson-625-mid-cmv-performance-barrel.html


Faxon Gunner Midlength 16" 5.56 = 1.37 lbs (22 ounces)
http://faxonfirearms.com/16-gunner-5-56-nato-mid-length-4150-qpq/


Same listed weight.

I thought the Hanson weighed a little more, I think on most of them they do.  Either way I would still go with the Gunner for my other mentioned reasons but either way you go you should be happy.

I have both BA, Faxon and a couple other different manufactures barrels.  No way I could tell the difference if I were blind folded and I highly doubt anyone could.

For what 99% of people will do with their AR's either a Faxon or BA Barrel will work great.

For what is being talked about, both of them are great barrels, I shoot Ballistic Advantage barrels and my buddies shoot Faxon, none of them shift point of impact when they warm up and they shoot fine

I have owned/shot both. I would say it is a draw, personally.

Both grouped well, with an edge to finish on the Faxon.

I just wonder how many of these exact same threads we are going eventually have, I have seen several in this section, a couple of them started in the Discussions thread and have seen a few in the GD section!

Several.

Been running an 18"/rifle gas Faxon GUNNER on my primary 3-Gun stick.  I'd also echo the comments that others have had about no POI shift when the barrel warms up.  This was of paramount interest to me.

I couldn't be happier with this barrel.  Highly recommended.

In fact, I purchased a few more for future builds.

I have a Faxon barrel it is great, I cannot opine on Ballistic Advantage though.

Well the BA is a 5.5" 9mm for my SBR and the Faxons are all 5.56 with the shortest one at 10.5 for my other SBR, so yes I could tell the difference blind folded.

If I had a Faxon and a BA with the same length/profile, the only way I could tell a difference is that the BA barrel does not have relieved muzzle threads where the Faxon does. This would be an issue if you have a direct thread suppressor or suppressor QD muzzle device that does not have relieved threads. I have SiCo ASR and GA taper flash hiders and they have relieved threads so I personally haven't seen this yet.