XR9S Range Report, Mostly Good, Some Bad.

I firnally got around to taking my XR9S to the range last night, and things went very well for the most part. I used Winchest White Box FMJ to break it in. It grouped off hand pretty well, certainly good enough for self defense. My only problem was using the WWB ammo, if I didn't rack the slide hard enough, the first round would jam and not enter the chamber. I must say that jams are NOT very easy to clear on this pistol. I finally figured out that if I used my knife and nudged the rear of the cartridge further up under the extractor so the round would line up with the chamber it would then chamber the round. I had 5 or 6 of these, always when racking the slide to chamber the first round of the magazine. I did have one jam in about 100 shots. It was a failure to feed, like when I didn't rack the slide hard enough. Perhaps the previous cartridge was a light load or something. Otherwise the gun was flawless. It sure does like Hydra Shoks, Accuracy improved with those, and not one jam.

Also, just a note, my front sight was loose when the pistol arrived, so check your sights when you get your pistol in. It takes a very small hex key to tighten, I just happened to have one the right size that came with a Crimson Trace laser.

Here are a couple targets I shot at 7-8 yards or so. I think the one on the left was 2 mags and the one on the right was 3 or 4.

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Permalink Reply by Harry Truman on January 28, 2012 at 2:59pm

I think you'll find some useful info on this, here:

Learning Curve - Chambering that First Round

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Permalink Reply by Thomas on January 28, 2012 at 3:37pm

Thanks for the link. I think mine will be fine, just have to remember to be a little more aggressive when chambering that first round.

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Permalink Reply by Harry Truman on January 28, 2012 at 3:46pm

Agreed. If this your primary SD gun and you carry a second mag, it would be good to practice reloading that second mag until it becomes second nature. Since there's no last round hold open, you have to cycle manually to load the first round from the second mag. Not a good time to short stroke and cause a jam!

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Permalink Reply by BretShooter on January 28, 2012 at 3:46pm

And it will get easier in short order as it breaks in.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas on January 28, 2012 at 4:02pm

Good idea Harry on the switching mags practice. It's not quite yet my primary CCW, I don't carry a semi until I have at least 200 trouble free rounds downrange, preferably 500.

I would have put more rounds down range last night but I was shooting several pistols and my thumbs were getting sore from loading magazines. Sure wish I'd had my Uplulu.

I think you are right on BretShooter.

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Permalink Reply by Brokedoc on January 29, 2012 at 9:49am

Sorry to say but the uplulu doesn't work on Boberg mags. The opening is too small for the tongue to push the round down. Does anyone have the smaller uplulu? I was thinking of seeing if that would work with the Boberg mag. The good thing is that the Boberg mag springs aren't so stiff.

Otherwise, once Arne catches up with production, he may want to put his engineering mind towards creating a mag loader for his mags. This is a good problem to have when he designs a gun that is so easy to shoot that people complain they can't load their mags fast enough!

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Permalink Reply by Harry Truman on January 30, 2012 at 6:55am

I'm able to use my Butler Creek Uplula (Universal, not the Baby), but it doesn't work fast and quickly as it does for a regular, front-loading mag. All I'm really doing is using the tongue of the loader, instead of my thumb, to press down on the rear of the cartridge while pushing the next round in. Anyway, I don't use it, don't really need to, but I do find it tough to load the last two rounds, and I could see some folks needing a little help (especially our lady Boberg owners). Agreed that Arne probably could, and maybe should, design a proprietary loading device for his pistols someday!

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Permalink Reply by Thomas on January 30, 2012 at 12:44pm

I wasn't having too much trouble with the Boberg, I was also breaking in an S&W M&P Pro, and man those mag springs are tight.

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Permalink Reply by alternety on January 30, 2012 at 6:12pm

I second (or whatever number I am) the idea of a loader. I am not female, just old. It would make loading easier if there was something to provide the pressure on the rounds already in the mag. Especially, as noted before by others, those last two rounds.

While typing I have been thinking about uncommon waysto do that. It only needs to work with Arnie's mags. How about something like this. (beware, the following is off the top of my head stream-of-consiocneou - I accept no responsibility for strange)

- Small hole in base of mag. Perhaps slotted to implement a twist lock at the follower.

- A little cone (for guidance) with a threaded hole (or a little twist lock would be better) at the bottom all placed on the bottom of the mag follower.

- A matching rod that could be inserted through the hole in the bottom of the mag.

- Handle on the end of the rod.

- Some sort of lock to keep it in place after pulling the follower down.

---- Something that does not mar the bottom of the mag. Could be a short threaded section with a little thumb screw with a piece of teflon glued to the bottom or just a disk on the rod (or whatever - gluing teflon is somewhat problematic), or a little pinch lock (like for closing off tubing) if it can provide enough force. Possibly a plate over the mag base with clearance for the same kind of twist lock pins on the rod aligned with the ones for the follower.. When follower is down, rotate the plate to hold the pins. If you make new mag sizes for the shorty or others, use the same rod but put multiple pin sets on it. Lower cost of goods an hassle factor. A pinch lock might work if you just put little grooves around the rod at the right places. Simpler to make so probably even lower COG. Just as flexible. Simplest to produce I think.

Easy update for mags by selling preplacement followers set up for this. New guns ship with them.

Then you just drop in the rounds. No force necessary. All you have to know is which way the pointy end goes. Not useful for carry situations, but sure easier for the range.

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Permalink Reply by PATRAT on January 30, 2012 at 7:33pm

The XR9-S mags do not use a follower.

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Permalink Reply by alternety on January 30, 2012 at 7:56pm

Oops. Looking at my magazine confirms that only one of us is hallucinating. And it is not you. I did warn you it was off the top of my head. Clearly I have not shot enough and/or have a memory problem. Old sucks.

Perhaps adding a minimal one would be handy.