Gunwerks Nexus Rifle Review: Systemized Shooting Solution

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We hit the range with the Gunwerks Nexus rifle along with its accoutrements to see how much Gunwerks’ system simplifies making hits at distance.

If you’re interested in shooting at long range, particularly as it relates to hunting, there’s hardly any doubt you’ve heard of Gunwerks. Gunwerks gained their initial fame through their acclaimed Long Range Pursuit television show. Founded by Aaron Davidson in Otto, Wyoming, Gunwerks’ 45,000-square-foot headquarters that’s built around a 100-yard shooting range is now located in Cody, Wyoming. Though generally thought of as a rifle manufacturer, you could better describe Gunwerks as a full-service, long-range shooting syndicate. Gunwerks can provide you with all the gear you need to go the distance.

I’ve been writing about rifles, professionally, for more than a quarter century, but somewhat embarrassingly, during all those years I’ve never shot a Gunwerks rifle. Not too long ago, my friend Neal Emery, who previously worked at Hornady, went to Gunwerks, and we were finally able to change that.

To give me an idea of what Gunwerks rifles and the company is all about, Emery sent me one of their Nexus rifles to review. The Nexus is the flagship rifle from Gunwerks, and not only did Emery loan me a rifle, but he also provided some of the other gear Gunwerks is becoming known for and that some shooters might be overlooking.

The Nexus

Gunwerks Nexus Specs
Length: 41.5 Inches
Weight: 6 Pounds, 14 Ounces
Barrel: 20 (tested) or 24 Inches
Action: Gunwerks NXT
Trigger: Trigger Tech Primary trigger
Capacity: 3+1
Finish: Hard anodized black or FDE
Stock: Carbon fiber with leather accents and an ARCA and Picatinny rail
Chambering Options: 6.5 PRC (tested), 7mm PRC, 300 PRC, and 28 Nosler
MSRP: $6,475 (base price)
Website: gunwerks.com

This rifle is unique in several ways. For years and even to this day, many precision rifle manufacturers build their guns on a Remington 700 action or Remington 700 clone. Gunwerks builds the Nexus rifle on a proprietary aluminum action that allows you to switch the barrel to change between cartridges. Gunwerks makes this possible by using barrels with an extension similar to what’s used on an AR-15 or the Q Fix rifle. The forward section of the action is split and held together by three screws. You simply loosen those screws, slide out the old barrel and slide in the new one. Also, to accommodate different cartridges with different rim diameters, you can change the bolt head and even the bolt handle.

But there are many other unique features with the Nexus rifle.

Instead of drilling the action for scope mounts, Gunwerks machines Picatinny rail sections into the action, and this eliminates a connection and potential failure point for optics mounting. Gunwerks has also engineered a bolt-shroud mounted, three-position safety that locks the bolt in the rear position and allows for safe unloading in the middle position.

Then, there’s the stock, which is carbon-fiber that has very unusual hand-stitched leather accents at the grip and comb locations for handling comfort. The bottom metal is also unusual because it extends from the grip all the way down the forend. There’s a short section of Picatinny rail at the end and a full length ARCA rail behind that for bipod and tripod attachment.

But the ingenuity and uniqueness does not end there. Gunwerks designed an aluminum, flush-fitting, three-round, detachable magazine box that allows for easy top loading while it’s in the rifle. With the carbon-fiber-wrapped barrel, you have the option of 20 or 24 inches, and it comes with a threaded muzzle and a muzzle break with a timing nut. The stock is outfitted with numerous quick-detach sling swivel mounts at the front and rear. And a user-adjustable, Trigger Tech Primary trigger is standard.

When you order the rifle, you first select your cartridge, and the options include the 6.5, 7mm, and .300 PRC, and .28 Nosler. Next, you choose either a black or flat dark earth chassis color, select your barrel length of 20 or 24 inches and set your length of pull at either 13, 13.5 or 14 inches. You can also specify the riflescope you want included with your rifle, and that’s where things can get a bit technical.

Not only will Gunwerks mount and zero one of seven riflescopes from Revic, Leupold and Kahles, and they’ll also provide you with a long-range data package ($1,275). This includes a Gunwerks long-range ammo loaded with a Berger bullet and a ballistic turret for your riflescope that matches that load. But this is all tuned to the elevation and temperature you want. In fact, you can even order an additional data package ($595) for ammo loaded with a lead-free bullet that also includes another ballistic turret.

Shooting Results

Gunwerks had chambered the test rifle Neal loaned me in 6.5 PRC, and they outfitted it with the Revic Acura RS25i riflescope. It also came with a data package for a 140-grain Berger bullet Gunwerks load that had a muzzle velocity of 2,972 fps. Ordered, this rifle, optic and data package would have cost $9,945. That’s a hell of a lot of money for a rifle/scope/ammo combination, so I expected great things on the range.

And great things are what I got.

I installed a Silencer Central Banish Backcountry suppressor and set up at the bench with the Gunwerks factory ammo and two other loads. The first five-shot group I fired with the Gunwerks ammunition measured 0.89 inch, and I fired all five shots—as I normally do when I precision test a rifle—in less than 60 seconds. After two more five-shot groups, the average group size for that load was 0.88 inch. I then fired three, five-shot groups with the other two factory loads, and the average for all nine, five-shot groups fired was only 0.92 inch.

Shooting Results

LOAD	VEL	SD	ENG	PRECISION
Gunwerks 140-grain Berger VLD Hunting	2,972	12.2	2,746	0.88
Federal 140-grain Fusion Tipped	2,996	16.7	2,790	0.96
Hornady 143-grain Precision Hunter ELD-X	2,937	22.1	2,681	0.92

To evaluate the data package, I shot the rifle out to 450 yards with 8-inch steel plates as targets. I corrected for trajectory by dialing to the correct distance with the Gunwerks supplied custom turret on the Revic riflescope. I never missed.

I cannot rate the Gunwerks rifle as anything but outstanding: It performed flawlessly in every way. However, it is not the rifle for everyone. Clearly, the cost alone is a bit staggering. But aside from price, this is not what I would consider a general-purpose hunting rifle. By itself, the rifle weighs 6.875 pounds. That’s not bad, but if you add in the Revic scope, which weighs 2.4 pounds, the weight jumps to more than 9 pounds. I did all the shooting from Gunwerks wonderfully engineered, quick-release 12.3-ounce Elevate Bipod 2.0 ($395), which upped rifle weight beyond 10 pounds.

This is a long-range precision rifle configured for hunting, and, within the context of that description, it is phenomenal. But, most importantly, you must look at the Nexus, as well as the other rifles from Gunwerks, as not just a rifle but as a shooting system.

Not Just A Rifle

You could just purchase the Nexus rifle at its base price of $6,475 and add your own riflescope and any other accessories you might desire, and then shoot factory ammunition or your own handloads. But the base premise of the Gunwerks concept is to let them put the complete package together for you.

“The vast majority of our customers want a full system, which is what we are known for,” Emery said. “They want a rifle that’s scoped, sighted in and comes with a scope turret cut for the ammunition we offer. While some shooters love to geek out about what scope to buy, which mounts to use and enjoy working up a load, there’s a ton of folks who just don’t have or can’t take the time for all that. They just want a system ready to go with all the best parts.”

In that venue, Gunwerks is unique and singular, and it’s a very practical approach. And while at first blush it might seem extremely expensive, in the real world, it’s not altogether financially impractical. I’ve known several who embarked on the long-range hunting rifle journey and spent more on rifles, optics, range finders and ammunition that did not deliver the results they wanted than it would have cost them to let Gunwerks just do it all for them from the start. My results shooting the Nexus at distance is a perfect example of how the Gunwerks system comes together to make it easy.

If you use the Revic range-finding binoculars from Gunwerks ($2,695), you create a profile in the Revic Optics app and upload it to the binoculars. When you enter the custom turret data, the app knows your bullet, muzzle velocity, etc., and it also knows your custom turret has been cut for the environmental conditions you’re hunting in. The cool part is that the range-finding binoculars can compensate for changes for those conditions and tell you exactly where to dial to get your hit.

Collectively, a fully kitted Gunwerks rifle and system are perfectly tuned to eliminate all your excuses for missing. Well, except for plain old piss-poor shooting, and, surprisingly, Gunwerks can help with that too.

Gunwerks’ Long Range University offers training to help you make quick, ethical, one-shot kills in the field. Not only will their courses teach you to interface with all the Gunwerks’ products, but the training will also help you learn when you should not take the shot, and for ethical hunting that is just as important as having the right gear, knowing how to use it and knowing how to take the shot.

If I were to summarize the Nexus rifle in as few words as possible, I think I’d have to quote Warren Buffet, “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”

However, if left to my own hillbilly upbringing, vocabulary and logic, I say: If you want to live at long range, stop drinking stupidly expensive boutique coffee and spring for the Gunwerks’ system and training. Encourage your kids to study enough to fund their higher education with scholarships.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the June 2025 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.

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