Boberg XR9-S 1st Range Trip
Today was my first real range day with the new Boberg XR9-S. *Long story short, this is a awesome gun!
The XR9-S Comes packed really well in a foam fit case with two magazines and a lock.
I put 5 different types of ammo thru it. *
50 rounds of 124gr. Gold Dots
50 rounds of 124gr. HST +p
50 rounds of 115gr. Silver Tips (1 malfunction)
50 rounds of 124gr. Nato FMJ
100 rounds of 115gr. Bulk FMJ
300 rounds total were shot (well 299) and I had no hand pain what so ever. *I feel that if you wanted to the gun and your hand would have Zero problems shooting a 1000 rounds in a day. *It?s unlike some of the other heavy hitting pocket guns out there in that it does not abuse your hand. *The XR9-S IMO has softer recoil than guns like the Kahr PM9, KelTec PF-9 and the Rohrbaugh R9 (yes I have owned and shot each quite a bit). *The back strap contour is very comfortable and I feel this aids in its shooting comfort level. *The Boberg points naturally and the sites are outstanding for a pocket pistol.
Its easy to see that the gun is loaded by looking in the window. *The rim of the bullet can easily be seen. *
The mags load fairly easy up until round 7, it?s a bit stiff then. *As a side note, *loading the mags ?backwards? and without a follower seems strange at first. *After the 7th or 8th reload I thought nothing of it. *Accuracy was better than I expected from such a small gun. *I do believe that it can out shoot me (I?m just a OK shot). *I fired all rounds today at a range of 10 yards. *I started each type of ammo on a fresh target and had 7 shot groups ranging from 2?-5?.
I did have one bullet malfunction on the 121st shot of the day.
It would have been the 135th plus ever how many shots were fired thru it for factory testing since it was clean. * *A Winchester Silver Tip bullet separated from its case somewhere during its travel from the magazine to the chamber. *Clearing the jam was simple. *I flipped the gun upside down, pulled the slide back and both the bullet and case along with some of the gun powder fell out.
There was a good bit of gun powder left in the action. *Since no one was shooting at me (Thank God), I decided to pause the range session long enough to field strip it (it?s very, *very simple) and clean it before firing any more rounds.
Later I spoke with Arne Boberg about it and he advised that it could have been a poor crip job on the bullet or possibly a dirty chamber causing a pressure spike. * He said that a pressure spike would cause the slide to cycle much faster than usual and that could have caused the separation. *He recommends that if your going to shoot it a lot at the range to take a bore snake or brush with you and run it thru the barrel ever 100 rounds or so. *Once back home I got out the owners manual *to see the recommended oiling points again. *The owners manual is fantastic. http://www.bobergarms.com/profiles/blogs/owner-s-manual
Directions and photos are spot on. *I did notice from the fired cases I looked at, around 50 or so, that all had good deep primer strikes. *There were some dings and marks on all of the fired cases I looked at.
I’m not a reloader so case condition is not a big deal to me AFTER it’s shot. *I have no idea if the marks would affect it’s ability to be reloaded.
After shooting the Boberg XR9-S today I like it even more. *It is a fantastic gun. *Arne has hit a home run with the design and manufacture of his dream. *The fit and finish are top notch. *This gun will rank VERY high in world that already has some really nice guns on the market. *If your looking for a pocket 9mm I don?t think there is a better one available. * (for people that know me that?s saying A LOT) *I feel very lucky to have received one of the first Bobergs *from the first batch of guns to be shipped out. *If you can?t tell I am a very proud XR9-S owner.
http://www.bobergarms.com/
I forgot to add that the trigger pull is smooooooooth. I don’t have a trigger pull scale but I would say that the advertised 5.5lb pull sounds / feels spot on. I have also been asked if it truly is pocketable gun. I have a Meco front pocket holster that I am using and I have no problem with it i the front pocket of my jeans and cargo shorts. I also took a picture comparing my see camp to the XR9.
Authorized and written by “ccoorreeyy” over at THR
WOW! That is the best word to describe it. I did no preperation and put 300 rounds through it (PMC Bronze FMJ) as well as 8 rnds Dakota +P w/Glaser bullets. I had zero mis-feeds, failures to eject, etc. Twice when I was shooting VERY fast the hammer did not set down properly. First time was by mistake and pulling the trigger a second time fired the weapon. Second time I tried to do it on purpose to prove the cause. This time I could not get it to fire again until I smacked my palm on the “hammer” to seat it, and then it fired fine. It tooks several mags pulling the trigger insanely fast to re-create … I may not have completely released the trigger before pulling again which may be part of the problem. I suspect if I actually clean and lube it, it will be even better and I suspect when I get more miles on it, I’ll be even better.
I have bought a lot of guns and this is by far the best behaving with so much ammo and so little attention, right out of the box.
As to recoil — almost nil. Weirdly nil. What there was did not flip the barrel so fast followups were easy. Accuracy was as good as my compact Glock (I shot it as well), not as good at long range (20+ yards) as my large frame 10mm Glock.
Smooth, sweet trigger with NO creep and no feeling of staging or loading.
Fits in a small Bulldog holster designed to look like a PDA or cell phone case. It was made for a 380 and I had to have it slightly modified (made the flap an inch longer). It is light, easy to carry, and is concealed in plain sight. Fast to draw without any clothes to move about.
Quality exudes from the gun with all nice materials.
So — one down side is price. I wanted one now and paid a premium for what is already an expensive gun. But, I want it for self defense and if one can afford it — what is the price of a good self defense weapon? I got the Diamnondback DB9 first — it sucks so bad I’d do better throwing it at the enemy. Hard recoil, muzzle flip, jamming even after 100s of rounds and good cleaning/lubricating.
The Boberg shoots like a “full size” compact — say a Glock small frame — with light loads. My Glocks kick more and have more muzzle flip.
Now if it only had 20 rounds …
If I were advising the company I’d think about going the other extreme for the next gun — a 40 S&W with a long barrel (5-6 inches) and much higher capacity.
Throws the brass a mile or so!! It really ejects hard and far. Yes it is very expensive, and yes, if you need a small concealed carry weapon, worth it!
Great news! Google Boberg 45 Micro – XR45-S and you’ll find it’s is already on the drawing board.
I just recently purchased the Boberg XR9-S but have not fired it yet. It is a great little gun and easy to disassemble. I was very VERY disappointed to get it brand new in the case filthy dirty with carbon build up. For $1200, I don’t think it is too much to ask for that it be cleaned prior to shipment.