The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Boberg Arms XR9-S First Impressions

5.56RifleGuy · November 19, 2012, 09:58 PM

Hello,
I recently purchased a Boberg Arms XR9-S pistol, and since it isn’t a pistol you come across often, I figured I would take a few minutes to do a preliminary review. I haven’t been out to shoot it yet, but when I do I will post an update.

For those of you that do not know, the XR9-S has quite an interesting way of feeding. Rather than pushing the round out of the magazine and into the chamber, the feeding mechanism pulls the round out of the back of the magazine lifts the round, and then chambers the round. This allows for a longer barrel in a more compact package. Here is a link to a video showing the feeding process:

http://www.bobergarms.com/video/bobe...pending-feed-1

The pistol comes in a nicely foam lined lockable plastic hard case, with 2 magazines, a cable lock, and a very nice manual. The fit and finish of the gun are excellent. There is little to no play in how the slide fits to the rails. The trigger pull is long, smooth, and deliberate, but I feel a good bit better than my double action revolvers. The reset is very loooong. Shortly after the start of the release, there is a click, but you have to let the trigger travel all the way forward before you are good to go again. A neat feature of this pistol is you have the ability to strike a round again with another pull of the trigger if for some reason it fails to go off. Interestingly, the magazines for this pistol have no followers. I guess they were omitted because the design doesn’t need them to function. I have noticed on Boberg Arms website, they have followers available for purchase, but caution that adding a follower makes it more difficult to top off a magazine. This pistol does not feature a slide lock. You can use the takedown lever to accomplish this, but it would be really impractical. Take down is easy and the manual breaks it up into easy to follow steps with good pictures to show what’s going on. The magazine release is easy to activate, and the magazines drop free when the button is hit. The pistol feels good in the hand, and doesn’t feel to slim, like a lot of other sub compact pistols I have held. Racking the slide is quite unforgiving. If you do not sling shot the slide, this pistol will jam. Jams are not easy to clear, and take quite a bit of shaking and prodding to get the round to drop free. I have not put any live ammo in this pistol yet, I have just tested its function with snap caps. Oddly when you dry fire this pistol, it tends to vibrate quite a bit. At first I thought it was the magazine spring, but when I removed the mag and it still vibrated, I figured it was the main spring. I don’t necessarily think there is anything wrong with that, but its pretty odd. I guess we all know of a very popular rifle with a characteristic spring sound.

In summation:

Pro:
- Innovative design from a new firm, not just the same recycled designs seen over and over
- Quality materials and workmanship
- Easy to check for a loaded chamber
- Compact for carry, without sacrificing barrel length

Cons
- Jams are a complete pain in the but to clear, but easily avoidable by racking the slide in the correct manner
- Price - The least expensive model comes in at just under $1000, but it seems to have quality manufacturing to back it up.
-That damn spring sound, just don’t care for it

I will make sure to update when I get to shoot this darn thing.

Thanks for reading.

November 19, 2012, 09:58 PM	#1
5.56RifleGuy Senior Member Join Date: May 9, 2010 Location: USA Posts: 1,212	Boberg Arms XR9-S First Impressions Hello, I recently purchased a Boberg Arms XR9-S pistol, and since it isn’t a pistol you come across often, I figured I would take a few minutes to do a preliminary review. I haven’t been out to shoot it yet, but when I do I will post an update. For those of you that do not know, the XR9-S has quite an interesting way of feeding. Rather than pushing the round out of the magazine and into the chamber, the feeding mechanism pulls the round out of the back of the magazine lifts the round, and then chambers the round. This allows for a longer barrel in a more compact package. Here is a link to a video showing the feeding process: http://www.bobergarms.com/video/bobe...pending-feed-1 The pistol comes in a nicely foam lined lockable plastic hard case, with 2 magazines, a cable lock, and a very nice manual. The fit and finish of the gun are excellent. There is little to no play in how the slide fits to the rails. The trigger pull is long, smooth, and deliberate, but I feel a good bit better than my double action revolvers. The reset is very loooong. Shortly after the start of the release, there is a click, but you have to let the trigger travel all the way forward before you are good to go again. A neat feature of this pistol is you have the ability to strike a round again with another pull of the trigger if for some reason it fails to go off. Interestingly, the magazines for this pistol have no followers. I guess they were omitted because the design doesn’t need them to function. I have noticed on Boberg Arms website, they have followers available for purchase, but caution that adding a follower makes it more difficult to top off a magazine. This pistol does not feature a slide lock. You can use the takedown lever to accomplish this, but it would be really impractical. Take down is easy and the manual breaks it up into easy to follow steps with good pictures to show what’s going on. The magazine release is easy to activate, and the magazines drop free when the button is hit. The pistol feels good in the hand, and doesn’t feel to slim, like a lot of other sub compact pistols I have held. Racking the slide is quite unforgiving. If you do not sling shot the slide, this pistol will jam. Jams are not easy to clear, and take quite a bit of shaking and prodding to get the round to drop free. I have not put any live ammo in this pistol yet, I have just tested its function with snap caps. Oddly when you dry fire this pistol, it tends to vibrate quite a bit. At first I thought it was the magazine spring, but when I removed the mag and it still vibrated, I figured it was the main spring. I don’t necessarily think there is anything wrong with that, but its pretty odd. I guess we all know of a very popular rifle with a characteristic spring sound. In summation: Pro: - Innovative design from a new firm, not just the same recycled designs seen over and over - Quality materials and workmanship - Easy to check for a loaded chamber - Compact for carry, without sacrificing barrel length Cons - Jams are a complete pain in the but to clear, but easily avoidable by racking the slide in the correct manner - Price - The least expensive model comes in at just under $1000, but it seems to have quality manufacturing to back it up. -That damn spring sound, just don’t care for it I will make sure to update when I get to shoot this darn thing. Thanks for reading.