Here is a review of the Faxon ARAK-21 by Nathaniel Fitch.
I’m glad he did a write up, because someone needed to.
Here is a review of the Faxon ARAK-21 by Nathaniel Fitch.
I’m glad he did a write up, because someone needed to.
Its unfortunate to see the write up nearly 5 months after SHOT without consulting us on the root causes of the issues seen. We did get a chance to evaluate that rifle and are happy to report it was an ammo issue from that event.
By the time Nathanial shot it, we had worked through the ammo supply we brought and moved to whatever the store had. A few boxes of overpressue ammo made it into the cycle. They were VERY hot loads further compounded by the can and thus the results seen. We brought a few rounds home and they were over proof loads, pressure speaking.
To us, the fact the guns took that ammo, repeatedly, and had safe shooters is a testament to the platform. We stand behind it proudly.
We will always let everyone have their opinion, but this was tainted by a single encounter under far from normal circumstances. All other reviews, especially with guns and ammo we have not controlled – nor want to (as I personally am a writer in the industry and strongly believe in ethics), have been good to staller. TWANGnBANG at the same event put over 300 rounds of 762×39 through a gun nearly overheating a can without issue with no cleaning after nearly 3,000. His video of this is public on YouTube.
We are happy to offer an ARAK to Vuurwapwen for testing and review and are confident that the independent testing you are known for will render a fair opinion.
Please send me an email and I will get one going your way. [email protected]
Hi Nathan,
First, thank you for commenting on the article. I have had nothing but good experiences dealing with you personally, and I hope our contact remains professional into the future.
You said it was unfortunate that I posted it now, without consulting with Faxon on the root causes of the rifle’s poor performance. I must protest that I did consult with Faxon Firearms. Faxon Firearms received an email (from which I adapted this write-up) the night of the evaluation, so they have known exactly what happened that night for five months. Would posting it immediately after SHOT have been better? I don’t see how it would have been, but I’m open to suggestions.
You mention root causes. I am not a paid engineer of Faxon, just a blogger. If Faxon Firearms had wanted to engage with me further at the time, I gave them the opportunity to do so in my email.
If Faxon believed it to be an ammunition problem, they did not report it as such to me, and – as you note – Faxon has had five months to do so. It is not my responsibility to follow up on Faxon’s rifle, it is theirs.
Rifle Oh Five did experience overpressure ammunition, which I noted in the review. I say very little about rifle Oh Five in 7.62mm, and I note that the overpressure ammunition cannot be blamed on the gun. Most of my eval concerns rifle Fifty-Two, a 5.56mm gun.
With respect, my review of Fifty-Two was not tainted. The rifle shows real flaws that are in my informed opinion not the result of ammunition or magazines alone. Regardless of what other shooters have experienced with the ARAK-21, I cannot give a glowing report based on what I have seen of the rifle, both mechanically or with respect to its performance. In addition to the malfunctions I experienced personally with Fifty-Two and Oh Five, I saw other rifles malfunction that day in the hands of other shooters. I did not feel my experience with Fifty-Two was exceptional (my experience with Oh Five was, but that was due to the poor ammo), though Fifty-Two was possibly the worst performing rifle that night.
It is my sincere hope that Faxon Firearms will take this unfortunate review as an opportunity to further improve and refine their products.
All the best,
-Nathaniel
I’m glad these posts are made you often times wont see honesty from the youtube shills, that being said.
Thanks for posting this Andrew.