XCR first impressions

General Firearms Other Semi-Automatic Rifles
1

JustI got an XCR. I was originally going to order one with a 1:7 twist light barrel, but it was quoted as a 12 week wait. Instead saw one in a store with a 1:9 heavy, standard stock – so got it. I hope to shoot 1000 rounds today suppressed side by side with an AR, and see which goes further. I will also add my impressions. My concerns so far, before shooting it, are:

  1. Engraving on gas system extremely hard to see.

  2. Ejector uses bolts. This is not really good practice on a firearm.

  3. Bolt hold-open mechanism uses a small pin. Looks like a failure point.

  4. Bolt hold-open lever uses a hex-head screw. This might fall out.

  5. Trigger spring is chrome plated. I have never seen this kind of spring in a gun before and it makes me wonder what kind of spring wire it is.

  6. Barrel is held in by one hex-screw. I would think two would be the way to go.

Otherwise, the basic design of the rifle seems outstanding all the way from the ergonomics to the mechanism to the 3-lugged bolt face.

Today I shot it and have some real experience:


XCR with 1:9 twist 16 inch heavy barrel, KAC M4-QD silencer.


During test, KAC rail panels would slide off. This is because the rail does not have the index points of the KAC, Daniel Defense, or some other military-adopted rails.


Rail has center milled out. This prevents it from being within Picatinny 1913 specs. Several accessories will not properly mount, including the KAC SOPMOD vertical grip.


Suppressed pretty well but I will sound meter it to be sure. I would like to either get a light barrel, or shorter or flute this one. I may weld on a silencer with an 11 inch barrel.


The gas piston tube was crushed on one side of the cutout when I got the rifle from the dealer. After shooting, the other side of the cutout was crushed also.


Seems to be hitting the upper.


Gas knob seems like a nice mechanism. Mine is almost impossible to read. The smallest hole was 0.042, which was still too larger for a KAC SOPMOD silencer. Brass was ejecting about 30 feet with M955 ammo.


I am concerned about the bolt hold-open pin on the left. It seems like it could be beefier. I don’t think this would pass a military trial without that part being redesigned.


Bolt release is held in place by hex-screw. This may be ok, but it would seem a pin should be used.


Ejector is held in place by two bolts. These should be rivets if one caliber could be decided on. They should come factory drilled for safety wire.


Planned to shoot 1000 rounds today. At about 780 rounds I noticed that the barrel had come lose and shooting was terminated for the day. Before shooting, I made sure this bolt was very tight. A single bolt is not acceptable. The FN SCAR has four bolts and they have a secondary retaining mechanism. This needs two bolts, and they should have a spring-loaded ratchet which prevents rotation. I will have to safety wire this one for now.


Gas block held in place by a single set screw. This should have two taper pins from the side.

Until the barrel screw backed out, the shooting was great. It was very reliable up until that point. The gas block would benefit from white letters and maybe a larger diameter dial so that it is easier to see and turn.

The standard folding stock worked well. The controls were nice. I like the bolt release and selector.

2

Thank you very much for that thorough review. I had considered an XCR at one point but ended up going a different route. I just wasn’t sure about and when I had the opportunity to handle one, something just didn’t work for me. Now, I am doubly glad I went with my instincts and stayed away.

Cheers,

3

I cannot stand the slot cut down the picatinny rail.

Also, the bolt release could be made larger and be pinned to the plunger but RA thought they had to use a AR15 trigger guard and made the lower accept this when they could have beefed up this area and made their own trigger guard.

4

Thanks for the review. I had a few questions about the XCR and your review answered them perfectly. I cannot believe that the barrel is held in place by a single screw. :eek: That is a weaker setup that I had imagined.

5

You didn’t realize KAC panels didn’t lock into place till you got the range :confused:

6

Yes, I knew they did not lock before I shot.

7

rs,

Thanks for a nice technical write up on the XCR. In your opinion is this weapon “grunt proof” as it is right now?

8

RS, thanks for posting. Looking forward to more updates. You pretty much hit on my basic concerns. I’ll be interested to see how they play out.

9

nice review,
I wish the XCR was available here… :frowning:

luckly the problems you reported seem easy to fix…I’m sure Robinson will update newer rifles.

10

Yes, they are easy to fix and I hope they do. The basic platform has a lot going for it. I like the layout, features, and it seemed reliable aside from the bolt. As for grunt proof, I am not sure I would want a rifle grunt proof. For example, I want adjustable gas, but is that ever grunt proof? The barrel bolt is not grunt proof as it requires a torque wrench. At least people are telling me they only saw a failure like mine when it was not torqued to spec, so that means it is very important to torque it to a certain spec. I made it as tight as felt I could without stripping something. If it had two bolts and a retainment mechanism it would become much less critical to torque it to a certain spec as the bolts would not be able to back out. For now I will safety wire it.

11

Most “grunts” would be relying on someone else at the armorer level to worry about the screw for the barrel, so that part is a non-issue in that regard. I agree that it would be nice to see two screws/bolts holding the barrel on, as well as a mechanism to keep them from un-screwing other than torque/locktite/wishful thinking.

12

So off the self, the weapon did not even stand up to 1,000 rounds? That is unacceptable.

Good review.

13

VB,
I thought you would have more insight than what you posted above.

14

Dave,

Could you imagine that barrel coming loose during a contact? Talk about a Jesus moment. It would be like the time my T/L’s BM bolt sheared in half. :eek:

15

2 weeks ago, I got issued a select fire BM Carbon 15 lower. I pulled the charging handle back and the RE tube was not screwed in far enough; the BCG ripped the buffer retaining pin out of the hole back into the RE tube, mangling the spring.
The castle nut was not staked either; I dismantled the entire rear of the weapon with no tools :eek:

It runs fine now, but out of about 30 guys I work with, two of us know how to repair AR’s.

A combat weapon needs to be grunt proof.

*The carrier key was not staked either.

16

A Carbon 15 lower? Are you FFR? Please say it isn’t so about the carrier key, castle nut, etc…I am thoroughly shocked by this. BTW- I have an extra buttstock wrench and a few other things that you can and or pass on to your guys if you need it. Just let me know and I’ll get some stuff together.

17

Thats screwed up man. Very sorry you have to deal with that crap especially going into harms way. Did bushmaster send it out that way or did some one screw with it before it was issued to you if you don’t mind me asking?

18

For the most part yes, BM sells them that way. Just one of the many reasons I don’t invest any of my own money in BM. We have had them show up with all kinds of odd parts. I saw some BGC’s that had small diameter carrier key screws (on the head), it was not even possible to stake such a screw.
…but anyway. I don’t want to deter from this thread any more. If anyone wants to know more feel free to PM me. \

[hijack off]

19

i have had mine for a few years and never even checked the barrel retaining screw!

20

I think the longest shoot I’ve done on my XCR without field stripping was a 1300rd training course in Arizona. Lots of blowing sand and 110 degree temps. The barrel never loosened up. I do have blue loctite on my ejector bolts as a precaution, but have never had them loosen up either.

I’m surprised at the level of wear that rsilvers has on his gas tube. He must have something out of spec as I’ve never seen that kind of wear on any XCR. No telling what the previous owner did to it.

rsilvers, you must have some sort of prototype gas valve on your XCR. I ordered the newer gas system last year and the lettering is very visible. The XCR gas system has undergone several major changes since 2004 to improve it. Here’s mine:

My XCR was bought in the summer of 2006. RA had a recall of their bolt in 2006 as it was experiencing some inertia problems causing some slam fires. FN had the same recall on their FS2000. Later, RA came out with the upgraded gas system which I bought in early 2008. My RA has very little visible wear on parts and I have used it extensively in carbine classes and on duty. I would say that I probably have close to 15k rounds through it. Overall, I prefer it to any M4 I’ve used in the service. I can’t comment on the SCAR, HK416, or Massada and if they would be superior to the XCR since I don’t really have any trigger time on any of them.