Spike's Tactical Billet .308 set

EngrBob · February 28, 2016

No, they have never had it on their site. I got my set last summer and the finished product put three whitetails in the freezer. Add a Faxon 18" barrel, slash's buffer and spring and a MechArmor trigger and it is a wonderful performer. I put a Miculek brake on and it has very little recoil.

GRA · February 29, 2016

Memo for reminder ... this latest post of mine IS for the billet set Spikes now offers.

EngrBob · February 29, 2016

You are correct GRA, mine is a forged set. The billet set is still not on their site which seems very interesting.

GRA · February 29, 2016

Mine is forged also. JoeBob's advertises the billet set. Must be very, very new.

EngrBob · February 29, 2016

And they (Joe Bob) are still advertising the forged upper.

GRA · March 2, 2016

I'm sure Spike's sold enough of the forged sets to justify selling both the forged and billet sets.

I've never regretted buying what I bought. I just never get any real range time.

EngrBob · March 2, 2016

I have no regrets either, mine fits solidly and it is a tack driver. Going another direction on the next build; however, I am gathering tools and have an 80% 308 lower on order to finish an 80% DPMS Gen 1 lower. From what I can tell the Aero Precision upper should mate with it but it looks as if the lower is at least six weeks out. Still trying to figure out where to go, a 16" lightweight or a 20" for longer range. I have lots of time to figure it out, but it will have a MechArmor trigger and charging handle.

GRA · March 2, 2016

I just ordered the 20" medium tapered barrel offered by Faxon. I'm pulling the 16" DPMS AP4 barrel off my Spikes and replacing it with the 20" barrel. Anxious to see how this will all work out. Been having a real hard time getting out to the range the past 1.5 yrs. but in a couple of months this will change.

FaxonNathan · March 11, 2016

I just ordered the 20" medium tapered barrel offered by Faxon. I'm pulling the 16" DPMS AP4 barrel off my Spikes and replacing it with the 20" barrel. Anxious to see how this will all work out. Been having a real hard time getting out to the range the past 1.5 yrs. but in a couple of months this will change.

Thank you! We're honored.

GRA · March 12, 2016

Thank you! We're honored.

Thanks for your response. I'm very pleased with the purchase and am anxious to get this going. This is the second Faxon barrel I have purchased and I am very pleased with your products.

Here's a heads-up regarding shipping;

The .308 barrel I just purchased was received on the 3rd. I appreciate the fact this was shipped in a tube and with such speed.

Please be advised that one end of the tube (white plastic cap that was stapled) had been either cut with an "X" or had been broken. Upon first examination I could see a small piece of pink plastic foam that either prevented the barrel from coming through the cap or made it difficult to do so. This was on, and/or protecting, the threaded end of the barrel. The barrel was NOT damaged and the threads were good and the barrel appears straight however this would've needed a somewhat heavy drop to bust that plastic.

I don't know if this happened from the tube being intentionally opened in transit or from being dropped during shipping, landing with such a blow to force the smallest end of the barrel through the plastic cap BUT if this was the case the only thing that saved it was the foam so please make sure when you ship a barrel both ends are foam protected. You might want to slip a couple of appropriately sized foam or hard styrofoam rings around the middle of the barrels before slipping them in the tube just to make sure the tube doesn't collapse very easy.

These items we buy online and have shipped mean a lot to both the buyer and seller but to the carriers it's just another package.

Edited March 12, 2016 by GRA

EngrBob · March 12, 2016

Interesting. The same thing happened to the first barrel I bought directly from Faxon. Turned out to be OK, but I was concerned.

jtallen83 · March 12, 2016

Had the same issue with a X-caliber barrel. It was very well packed but they managed to bugger up the threads a touch anyway. I think it is more of a poor handling issue with carriers than a packing issue. I always let someone know and encourage them to complain to the carrier when an item takes a beating though.

FaxonNathan · March 12, 2016

Thanks for your response. I'm very pleased with the purchase and am anxious to get this going. This is the second Faxon barrel I have purchased and I am very pleased with your products.
Here's a heads-up regarding shipping;
The .308 barrel I just purchased was received on the 3rd. I appreciate the fact this was shipped in a tube and with such speed.
Please be advised that one end of the tube (white plastic cap that was stapled) had been either cut with an "X" or had been broken. Upon first examination I could see a small piece of pink plastic foam that either prevented the barrel from coming through the cap or made it difficult to do so. This was on, and/or protecting, the threaded end of the barrel. The barrel was NOT damaged and the threads were good and the barrel appears straight however this would've needed a somewhat heavy drop to bust that plastic.
I don't know if this happened from the tube being intentionally opened in transit or from being dropped during shipping, landing with such a blow to force the smallest end of the barrel through the plastic cap BUT if this was the case the only thing that saved it was the foam so please make sure when you ship a barrel both ends are foam protected. You might want to slip a couple of appropriately sized foam or hard styrofoam rings around the middle of the barrels before slipping them in the tube just to make sure the tube doesn't collapse very easy.
These items we buy online and have shipped mean a lot to both the buyer and seller but to the carriers it's just another package.

The way you phrased it as an "X" leads us to believe it was intentional tampering. We started stapling the end caps after ENGRBOB had issues with the taped packing method and those caps are quite robust. Glad it make it through!

Sadly, theft occurs in about .05% of shipments, meaning 1 in every 200 is buggered up.

GRA · March 12, 2016

I agree. It's kind of a "ragged" X and it's really hard to tell. If I can ever figure out how to post or send photos with this Apple laptop I'll send a photo.

It has arrived in good shape regardless.

GRA · March 12, 2016

If I were to ship a barrel, I'd use a thick tube and would place some sort of PVC plastic over each end backed up by a piece of foam. Faxon shipped with a small piece of foam for protection and this obviously helped save the threads.

Since the plastic tube end caps were stapled the caps were intact. I simply cannot tell if the barrel broke through one end or somebody carelessly cut it to see what was inside.

Nowadays we have to worry about both theft and paranoid "monitors" getting a hold of our stuff. One is just as bad as the other.

Then again ... maybe I, and/or Faxon, has recently been labeled as a "hostile business" by the Anointed One's paranoid communist regime and they are now keeping tabs on us both ... ??? (ROFL)

GRA · March 12, 2016

A couple of months ago I bought a Faxon 18" 5.56 barrel from AIM Surplus and it was shipped with a red plastic thread protector that was tightly screwed down on the threads. It was shipped in a rectangular cardboard box. It arrived in pristine condition and there appeared to have no attempted opening of the box on either end. Personally though, I prefer the tube method, as this will roll if it slides off a shelf, etc., where the box will just bounce and/or collapse. All in all I have no complaints.

I have to stop with the Faxon barrel purchases for a while as my "projects" are backing up. Can't wait until June when I retire and I can unwind with putting some of these things together. Seems nowadays every time I read a gun-control article I find myself buying either parts or ammo in their corrupt honor. (LOL)