[Eric_in_Nola]

Damn gun broker and their email reports of saved searches.
Saw this pistol at shot show and knew i had to have one.

It has funky sights. Google. Caracalla quick sights. I'm on my phone, can't link.

 

[HardShell]

... It has funky sights. Google. Caracalla quick sights. I'm on my phone, can't link.

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2012/04/chris-dumm/gun-review-caracal-9c-9mm-wquick-sights/

 

[Eric_in_Nola]

Thanks. That is it. At shot show i was amazed at how easy it was to get on the sights. Low bore axis height and deep beaver tail grip make it a quick pistol.

 

[Eric_in_Nola]

Here is a pic of the quick sights.

Pic from this blog
http://cheaperthandirt.com/blog/?m=20120209

 

[tialloydragon]

Ridiculously short sight radius. But then again, i don't think this is intended to be a target pistol.

 

[Tractiongrips]

I just ordered a Caracal C today. I should have it by Wednesday. I ordered the one with standard sights, instead of those quick sights. The low bore axis should feel like shooting a Steyr pistol.

 

[ldnn]

I don't see the point...no pun intended.

 

[Eric_in_Nola]

The quick sights put both the front and rear in the same focal plane. When you pick up the pistol it is very intuative. Sight alignment occurs without thought.
Ergonomic wise it feels great. It is the closest thing to pointing a finger have felt in a pistol.
I hope it runs as good as it feels.

 

[tialloydragon]

The low bore axis should feel like shooting a Steyr pistol.

It was designed by the same man (Wilhelm Bubbits,) who designed both the Steyr and Glock pistol.

 

[ColonelColt]

For those of you interested in unusual sight setups: ASP Pistol I think this is where they got the idea for the Caracal's sights from. I've handled one of these ASPs and oddly enough the sights work great once you get used to them. I really wish Glock would get their collective rear ends in gear and start designing more innovative firearms. I like Glocks quite a bit due to very common parts and a long track record (March 1986 first generation Glock 17 sitting on the desk with all original parts, still working) but I'm leaning more and more toward my next full size handgun purchase being a S&W M&P. I like the Caracal's overall design but for me, if the gun is going to be a carry piece, it needs to have easily available parts and ammunition.

 

[Tractiongrips]

I received the Caracal C yesterday and I'm not really amazed. The first thing I noticed was the weight. it seems to weigh a lot more than my Glock 19, so I weighed them both on my kitchen scale, and the Caracal C was about 5oz heavier. The slide i1/10" wider, which isn't much, but seemed bulky to be. Another thing I noticed was the slide felt pretty slippery. I didn't have any trouble working theslide, it just seemed kind of slick.
The biggest thing I noticed after handling it was the trigger was a lot different. It has a longer trigger, with a much longer reset. Overall, it feels good, but it's not what I expected. would say it's a good pistol for th eprice, but it's not going to make me want to give up my Glocks. With the price being about a hundred bucks less than the Glock, it could be an excellent gun for somebody looking for something good to shoot.

Just my initial thoughts on the gun, I have yet to put any rounds downrange...

 

[Eric_in_Nola]

Got mine today.
Nothing unusual out of the box
Range day on Sat. will report back then.

 

[Eric_in_Nola]

I like it. Very similar to glock. Longer trigger reset. Quick sights work great. Fast to pick up. Wish front sight was not as wide as it is. No natural malfunctions. Tried to creat them by loading spent cartg in mag. Learned slide is slick. May have to look into grip tape for it.
overall very happy

 

[Eric_in_Nola]

Second range report.

I decided that the poly grip was too slick for my liking. Out came the solder iron and I stippled the grip. Made a big difference. Pistol does not move in my hand now. Not a gig on the gun- from the factory i think it has as good a grip as most poly guns. I just like them to"stick" to your hand. With a aggressive stipple job it sticks like glue. If you are of the "perfect form does not always happen from the draw so you shoot what ya got" school of thoughts then this will allow you to control the pistol even with a less than schoolhouse perfect grasp.

Shot about 300 rounds yesterday no malfunctions other than the slide did not lock back after the last round a few times. I have a high grip and think that impends the slide lock. Right now I put this in the operator column not the gun column as far as errors.
It is actually hard to stage malfunctions to practice on, the slide is considerably not as tall as a Glock- there is simply less metal for a round to hang up on and things clear very easily. I resorted to loading a spend casing in the mag to induce a malfunction.

Slide still slick wish it was bead blasted or had a different finish. Grip tape is the next option.

After two sessions I cautiously think we have a winner.

BTW initial cleaning showed no gunk from the factory. Had a free single use trial vile of Frog lube and tried it. Worked fine but I suspect any CLP would have. Have not cleaned it yet, likely won't for a long time.

 

[Eric_in_Nola]

Shot a two day defensive pistol course this weekend. Close to 800 rounds over two days. Still no cleaning after the first one.

One FFT, Brown Bear steel lacquer bi-metal. Tap rack bang - did not recover the round but since the pistol ate all others w/o problem I suspect it was an ammo issue.

No problem hitting steel human silhouettes from 35 yards.

I was worried that the quick sights would cause a problem at distance but they were great. Still wish the front post was skinnier.

no malfunctions, no lube, no cleaning, no nothing other than good solid performance.

I did break it down from time to time to look for wear or obvious things that looked like they were going to fail but there are no wear marks to be seen! It looks brand new- dirty... but brand new.



Going to let it sit w/o cleaning for a few days and see what happens.

For me it is a winner.

I will now start shopping for the compact model with quick sights.

 

[Eric_in_Nola]

The love affair continues.
About 2000 rounds through it. No problems.

I put some skateboard grip tape on the slide as my only complaint about the pistol is that the finish is very slick. Just wiped it down with denatured alcohol and applied the grip tape.

Also Stippled the grip which makes this thing stick to my hands.

Here is some porn. It has a stream light TLR-3 on it. I wish it sat a little bit closer to the trigger guard- the light comes with different keys made to fit different pistols and this is the one that moved the light farthest back. Not a big deal.

 

[YESSIREE]

I want it!
Even though my wife said,"ONE MORE GUN AND I AM GONE".
She will be missed LOL

 

[Tractiongrips]

Does the tape on the slide make it hard to draw from a holster? I've thought about doing that, but figured it wouldn't work with holstering and drawing from a holster.

 

[Eric_in_Nola]

I will report on that soon. I have a cust holster from armordillo holsters on the way.

 

[HardShell]

I wanted to be sure you had all seen the recall notice, just in case:

http://www.caracal.ae/new/highlights.php


They say a small number, so I hope none of you are affected by this.