I'm finding the favorites isn't fast enough for swapping weapons. Is there any way i can assign my favorite weapons to the number keys on my keyboard?

Yes. Open your fav list. Now mouse over the item on the list. Now hit whatever number key you want to assign it to. The number will show up on the fav list next to the item name.

yes once they're in your favorite list you can press 1-8 to set a hotkey.