What if we launched earlier? Announcing the Gen 10 XR9-S

While getting our guns out is taking an awfully long time (largely due to supply chain issues), I have not been idle with the design of the XR9-S. I have been going through cases and cases of ammunition to test every aspect of this gun for durability and reliability. This delay in launch has actually been a blessing in disguise. If the XR9-S had been put on the market in July of 2009, we would be shipping the Gen 8 version of this pistol. What you would have gotten is this:

Generation 8 issues:

1. Mainspring worn out after 1000 rounds

2. Slide spring significantly worn after 1000 rounds

3. Significant hammer peening after 1000 rounds

4. Cracked frame after 2000 rounds - structural area

5. Inconsistent magazine quality

6. Worn sear after about 2000 rounds.

7. Reliability not quite there yet.

So I did a significant re-design and built the Gen 9 XR9-S. I also dialed in the laser-welding process for the magazines. The slide spring life involved some very time-consuming engineering work. Testing now started over. I was getting concerned now because we were missing our July target date and were looking at November 2010. If we would have shipped the gun in July 2010, this is what you would have gotten:

Generation 9 issues:

1. Mainspring significantly worn after 1500 rounds - but still better firing pin strikes than a key competitor.

2. Reduced hammer peening - but not totally solved

3. Cracked slide rails after 3000 rounds - functional, but not cosmetically acceptable

4. Cracked frame after 3000 rounds - different area than before, cosmetic - not structural

5. Reliability much better - probably better than a key competitor, but not what we expected of this gun

6. Sharp corners on outside of gun I didn't notice before.

I truly thought I was done with the Gen 9 XR9-S, but it was "back to the drawing board" once again. As it turned out, the hammer peening and mainspring issues were interrelated. Once I figured out the one, the other was taken care of. This took a lot of engineering work and falls under the little-known technology area I call "compound camming" - which is used at the core of the unique XR9 feeding mechanism. The slide rail cracking issue merely involved eliminating two sharp corners that I should have caught earlier. The latest cracked frame issue, while cosmetic, proved to me how thin we could go in one area (in addition to having sharp "hairpin" corners) with 7075-T6 aluminum. The sectional area has since been increased ten-fold and all sharp corners in this area have been eliminated.

A key contributor to reliability issues that came up occasionally was, believe it or not, ejection of empty cases. I did not know this for a long time, because it happened too quickly, but the top of the ejection port was significantly interfering with ejecting cases. It was one of those "marginal processes". As the live round was coming up, it would occasionally pinch the case flange under the slide, causing the next round to mis-feed. This was extremely difficult to catch, but I did discover it a few days before I bought the Casio high-speed video camera, which was used for verification. I simply cut away all of the offending material (and there was a lot of it!). I now see that the entire case clears the ejection port freely. See video: http://www.bobergarms.com/video/boberg-xr9s-firing-in-slomo The strength of the slide was not affected at all.

I felt that the design changes were numerous enough, and significant enough, to assign Generation 10 to this improved version.

It is getting quite boring shooting this gun right now (I never thought I would say that). Plus, a guy has to get tired of this at some point after 50K+ rounds and 7 years of development, right? I actually did not do any testing over the holiday (a first), and I am getting that urge to put a bunch of +P through it again - some things don't change! This Gen 10 gun is what I have been striving for all these years. Testing continues only because there might be more opportunities to improve this gun before launch.

Right now our pacing item is our new grip-maker at 8 weeks. Thanks to all of you for your patience!

Comment

You need to be a member of Boberg Arms to add comments!

Join Boberg Arms

Comment by Arne Boberg on January 11, 2011 at 10:08am: The magazine release is actually below the grip surface which is a planar surface that partially wraps around the button. It is better-protected than either my Kahr PM9 or my Kel-Tec PF9. Also, the magazine release on the XR9-S has a fairly strong spring with a long stroke. I have back-pocket carried the XR9-S and have not had the pressure of the car seat unlatch a mag yet while driving around town - and yes, the release button was on the in-board side of my pocket.

Comment by VMole8 on January 8, 2011 at 2:06pm: Arne,

It looks like the magazine release is fairly tall and unprotected on the front side of the button. I'm a little concerned that a pocket carried gun, holster or not, might get compressed enough during squatting or pressing against something to release the mag while in the pocket. Have you given any thought to beveling the button a little so it slopes shorter toward the frontstrap?

"Funny" story along those lines. A friend was just finishing FTO when he was talking to his sergeant. His FTO walked up behind him, pulled the magazine out of my friend's Sig and handed it to him. He'd leaned against the gun while sitting in a chair waiting to go in the office and it pressed the mag button enough to pop the mag loose. Fortunately he was at the station, but that was in a duty holster. Food for thought.

Comment by Arne Boberg on December 10, 2010 at 4:40pm: We haven't had to seek outside investment - yet.

Comment by James on December 10, 2010 at 4:11pm: I would hope and think you have investors to support all your R&D ..

Comment by Larry on December 2, 2010 at 4:56pm: a thousand mile journey is made up of many small steps.... guess this means I'm still on the list..... :)

Comment by BretShooter on December 2, 2010 at 1:28pm: YES!!
I am keeping my fingers crossed that the targeted price point is still in the ballpark.

Comment by Robert St.Onge on December 1, 2010 at 6:47pm: Arne,

Kudos for staying the course. Engineering is a game of "DETAILS" and mostly small ones. The sharp corners that are stress points, the springs that should have been shotpeened for longevity, the too small chamfer for the too large internal radius. "These are just a few of my favorite things" These are the "GOTCHAS".

I truly appreciate your steadfastness against the clamoring hordes of "gimme, gimme now" crowd. They have no appreciation for the fine detail of trial and error and would be the first ones to complain about failures.

You are making no ordinary machine. This is a machine that can determine protection of life for the user or death of the user if it fails. And so for those who are anxious. What's important to you?

Although I realize the high cost of delays and the angst of potential buyers, going to market with a substandard product could be disastrous for both you and the buyer. So I say, I don't care if it takes another three months or more to get to market. I'll be a buyer. And after reading many posts, I think that there are many potential buyers who would agree.

Arne, just stay the course and you will be well rewarded for your effort, both financially and historically.

Comment by Michael Bass on December 1, 2010 at 11:49am: Great update. Thanks Arne for the update and the work ethic you have shown. This legacy s/b documented in your marketing materials in some fashion later when sales are up and running. This same ethic and determination is what I see of only a handful of firearms makers today, and the quality is evident in the end product. First your engineering ability, second, your ethics, then your customers will make this happen in a terrific way, I know. Still standing by...

Comment by Carl on December 1, 2010 at 12:27am: It's great to get updates like these. Thanks for the hard work!

Comment by Mr. Alloy on November 30, 2010 at 10:35pm: Reading a post like this reaffirms my interest in the XR-9. If all products were as carefully designed and tested, they'd be worth the higher costs.

Looking forward to the launch, no matter how long it takes!