Boberg Xr9s shorty - Superior or just different?

[kjtrains]

Corey.  Will do; see if I can get an update.

Just sent email to Arne.

[Reinz]

Any of you following this pistol should know that his production date goal of July 2010 has now come and gone.  I went through the Boberg forum again and looked - no more updates as of yet on a new release date.  I'm on the waiting list for when they do finally come out, but I'm not holding my breath. Made another request for a date, we'll see.

Not uncommon for the gun industry.

The new Bren Ten by Vltor had so called proto types at the shot show before last and it still has not come to fruitiion.

The new Auto Mags are supposted to be out in Oct, no word yet , which means probably not.

The New Merwin Hulbert has pulling us around for two years now and just has CAD drawing claiming early 2011  realease date.    That ain't happening if that's all they got.


This is why I'm glad Karl and Eric are not giving dates for the R45.
When it comes to manufacturing, you just can't predict until it is just about done.

[MJSeif]

Arne wrote a reply -- no dates, but an updated photo of the new grips for his pistols.  A little evasive, but Reinz you're right, certainly understandable.

Interesting little weapon -- the rounds slide out the back of the top of the magazine instead of the front.  A really cool feeding design that allows more barrel length and accompanying velocity.  I live about 15 minutes away from the factory, so as soon as they're ready, I'll break as many traffic laws as I need to to get it!

[Reinz]

Thanks for the update MJ, many of us are ready for this one too.

[scar2783]

Reinz,

Do you have a website for the new Auto Mag? I can't find anything on it. I have a North Hollywood that I bought in '87. I should have purchased one of the Harry Sanford guns from a few years ago, but I was slack.

Thanks,

Mark

[whkrog]

I would consider Arne a friend of mine, and hope he would reciprocate.
Yesterday, he and I spent some time in the 'factory office' measuring some detailed tigger pull (force x dstance, etc), firing pin  force profile etc. on my Rohrbaugh R9s, and comparing it to a real, existing protype version of his XR9.
Afterwards, we went out to a private range, and shot a bunch of different ammo/loads thru both of these firearms, both thru a chonograph to get data, and then just rapid-fire into the range berm for fun/experience.
He had not fired a Rohrbaugh before, since they're a little rare up here in these parts.
Bottom line impressions: the Boberg XR9 functions just fine; felt recoil is a little less than the Rohrbaugh, although mine is a ported (by Bob Cogan, ask Corey) version.
Part of this is no doubt due to the fact that the XR9 is a much different design, and includes a rotating barrel - which takes energy to affect, and thus reduces recoil.
We shot a numnber of +P rounds thru the XR9 which handled them just fine, with a slightly sharper but by no means uncontrollable recoil or muzzle jump, but sounded very nicely louder and more fun:)
Remember that the XR9 has a 4-inch barrel, in the same size package of the Rohrbaugh's 2.9+ inch barrel. This leads in the same rounds fired, to a higher velocity and greater energy delivered.
The Boberg prototype/test weapon  we were shooting had more than 5000 rounds run thru it previously.
Both the R9S and the XR9 experienced FTF problem with those French rounds with really hard primers (which Karl R . referred to as 'sh***ty' bullets.
More needs to be done, of course, but it is so cool to go out to a range where someone asks. "What kind of gun is that?" and you tell them. Then they say "Never heard of that. Who made it?" And Arne can say, "I did." and give the person a business card...
He's a terrific engineer, a very. very smart person, a nice guy, and has been 'making his own guns' since he was about 12 years old. Whether this adventure will be a financial success, this is too complicated for me to figure out, but I surely hope so.

[ccoorreeyy]

New left grip

[tracker]

Very impressive and thanks for the insight.

[yankee2500]

I hope it becomes a reality and they are able to make it in the long haul.
 The only thing I would like to see is a more squared trigger guard with some checkering on the front, it looks a little iffy for a good two handed grip especially for someone with big mitts.

John

[Reinz]

Scar - Yeah I found out about the Harry Sanford AFTER they were all gone.


Spoke too soon on the AutoMag, now they are saying 11/17 unveiling.

http://automagcompany.com/

[Reinz]

.
 The only thing I would like to see is a more squared trigger guard with some checkering on the front, it looks a little iffy for a good two handed grip especially for someone with big mitts.

John

I agree Yankee, that's why the Desert Eagle 380 does not interest me, same set up.

But isn't the Boberg going to come out with a longer barrel also?

[yankee2500]

According to what I remember on there site there were two barrel lengths but when I just looked there is only the Shorty mentioned, maybe later.
 Even with a longer barrel model I would like a squared trigger guard on a gun firing +P ammo.

John

[abboberg]

Just to clarify - the XR9-S has a 3.35" barrel, not a 4" barrel.  The future XR9-L has a 4.2" barrel.
As far as the "french" ammo - that was actually Sellier and Bellot (Czech?).  Both the Rohrbaugh and the XR9-S had at least one failure to fire with this hard-primer target ammo.  The R9S actually failed on a repeat strike.  At that point, we ejected the "dud" round.  I have a standard delrin rod that I "launch" to see how hard the firing pin hits it by how high it goes.  The R9S launched the rod 7 inches vertically (after two tries), the XR9-S launched the rod 13-14 inches after two tries.  Even so, the S&B primers are stubborn.  While the primers on defense ammo are usually very soft (I have never had an XR9 FTFire with of dozens of brands of commercial defense ammo), I am considering offering a 7 to 8 lb spring as an option (same force as the R9S I tested).  This spring, which has already been made and tested, launches our test rod 20 inches and easily cracks the S&B primers.  The current standard XR9-S spring is 5.5 lbs pull at the trigger.

[scar2783]

Thank you Reinz. That is one big dollar gun, wow!!!

Mark

[chameleon]

Just to clarify - the XR9-S has a 3.35" barrel, not a 4" barrel.  The future XR9-L has a 4.2" barrel.
As far as the "french" ammo - that was actually Sellier and Bellot (Czech?).  Both the Rohrbaugh and the XR9-S had at least one failure to fire with this hard-primer target ammo.  The R9S actually failed on a repeat strike.  At that point, we ejected the "dud" round.  I have a standard delrin rod that I "launch" to see how hard the firing pin hits it by how high it goes.  The R9S launched the rod 7 inches vertically (after two tries), the XR9-S launched the rod 13-14 inches after two tries.  Even so, the S&B primers are stubborn.  While the primers on defense ammo are usually very soft (I have never had an XR9 FTFire with of dozens of brands of commercial defense ammo), I am considering offering a 7 to 8 lb spring as an option (same force as the R9S I tested).  This spring, which has already been made and tested, launches our test rod 20 inches and easily cracks the S&B primers.  The current standard XR9-S spring is 5.5 lbs pull at the trigger.

Would a 7-8# spring possibly be overkill for the everyday ammunition?
If you did get a box of ammunition with softer primers, and perhaps the cartridge is the slightest bit longer, and this firing pin hits with 8# of force, could there be damage to the firing pin or perhaps not allow the primer to ignite?