Am I crazy?

[TheTman]

I've been very intrigued by the Boberg Arms XR9-S
http://www.bobergarms.com
since I first heard about it, so I recently got on the pre-release order list hoping to get one with a low serial number in order to enhance it's value as a collector's piece. No money has been involved so far.
I know to usually steer away from low serial number guns, and let others work the bugs out, but something about this gun just puts it on my "must have" list. It's a 9mm+P rated DAO pistol roughly the same size as a P380, LCP, or Beretta Tomcat. It's unique feeding system, where it draws the next cartridge from the rear of the magazine instead of the front, uses a pair of "tongs" to load the cartridge into the barrel and allows for a longer barrel (3.35") with corresponding increase in FPS and FPE than other pistols in this size. Their website explains how it works better than I can. It holds 7+1, giving it a fair amount of firepower before reloading. The for-sale date was supposed to be June 2010, but this keeps getting pushed back due to various problems with suppliers, and not sure when it's going to be available. I don't usually buy pistols in the $900 range, but I'd be willing to sell my dirt bike or even my backup cruiser (1995 750 Virago, 7000 miles) to get my hands on this little guy. I know there are .380's the same size out there, but I'm just not a fan of the .380, other than it's better than having no gun at all.
I hope this picture shows up:
http://api.ning.com/files/fiCVZyzNTkqecJroKNrYOKCeTdOnybCeXERFuaKGCovWmIVvLy k9aFF4dpgC2xTMb3z9LvdjbjMkma8XG7toX*LXqUraPeif/Coloredrender.jpg?width=471&height=394

I'm hoping some of you will have a look at the website and give me an opinion of what you think of the XR9-S. They say the kind of feeding system it uses has been used in machine guns for decades. I have no idea about that.
For me it would be a great size for a pocket pistol to throw in my jacket pocket or rear pocket when they get one of those wallet holsters that will fit it.
I'm thinking if everything they say about it is true, it's going to be one hell of a pocket pistol. Then again, you have a pistol with a weird loading system from a brand new firearms company. That makes me a bit leery of it. If I do end up with one, it will probably become one of my primary carry pieces, IF it proves reliable. I'd sure hate to plunk down $900 for a paperweight. Anyway, just thought I'd ask for some opinions of it.

[TheTman]

Maybe this pic will turn out.
http://graphics.pccomps.com/XR9S.jpg

[kahrseye]

Interesting gun, interesting concept of feeding from the rear of the magazine. I don't like the look of it but that's because of it's not a standard design.....but it could grow on me. Not sure I like the price either.

[Dietrich]

An interesting looking handgun to say the least.By nature,I am a cautious buyer so getting one with a low serial number would not be high on my list of priorities.I`d have to wait a while,see what kind of experiences people who owned one had and then make my decision.$900 is a wad of cash where I come from and I`d want to make sure I had a winner before I shelled it out.But that`s just me.

[wyntrout]

It's a very interesting and innovative gun. It loses me on esthetics , but the barrel is pushed back and it's very compact and powerful... a good concealed weapon!

Wynn :)

[Popeye]

Can't say it does much for me in way of design or price.

[TheTman]

I guess a more convential looking one is in the works with a longer barrel. The developer decided to proceed with the short barrel version due to more potential customers wanting that model. I agree, the looks do take some getting used too, but I could live with that if it lives up to it's advertised performance. I wish it were lower priced too, but he has a lot of start-up costs he has to cover to make the venture profitable. I think he was talking about selling it for around $850, but taxes push that up to around $900. I'm just thinking how nice it would be to have a 9mm in a .380 sized package. Maybe we'll see a price drop after he recovers some of his costs. I've never visited an arms factory, and have no idea of the amount of machinery that it would take to build guns in large quantities, but I bet he has a big chunk of cash tied up in it.
Thanks for your input!

[REACT]

I stumbled across the Boberg site just yesterday for the first time while looking for a size comparison image of the Kel-Tec PF9 to Kahr's PM9.

I like the XR9-S. It's the same size as a Kahr P380, but in 7+1, 9mm package.

http://i838.photobucket.com/albums/zz310/buckoh5/XR9S_KAHR3801.jpg

Personally, I think it's a beautiful gun if for no other reason than it's different than just about everything else. It's as compact as it can be and hopefully it will work as advertised.

You might be crazy, but if I had the money, I would be doing the same thing as you.

[jocko]

is this gun even out yet. They have been fooling around with this gun for over 5 years, getting everyone excited and yet no guns available. One wold have to be out for awhile before I would drop a dime on one, Shooters will determine if it is a workable gun, A prototype is always workable as every part is darn near hand made to fit exactly . It is when the maching process gets going that things tend to get fokked up. there has to be a big big reason why we hav enot seen this gun out yet and my bet is MONEY.. or lack of it. Takes alot of moeny to just gear up for it, let alone all the national advertisng that must be done, and they jprobalby have a ton of R & d money in this gun now even. they might be looking for $$$ backers to.

[TheTman]

No, it's still not in production yet. Yes it's been very frustrating to see the for-sale dates come and go, but from reading the forum over there, it looks like he has a lot of people waiting to buy one. True, the test will be when he gets the guns rolling off the production line to see if they perform as well as his hand built prototypes. And I also agree that I bet that money is a big problem, but I can't find anywhere where he is asking for investors, or offering stock, in fact several people have inquired about purchasing stock in the company and Arne (Mr. Boberg) has so far refused to take any one's money. He does have a pre-production order site, but he's not taking money until he can guarantee that the gun will be available within a month. That kind of tells me he is an honest guy, trying to do this on his own. I'd be willing to put a $100 or 2 down if it would get the guns rolling off the production line sooner. Lord knows I've made dumber investments. Hopefully he'll get things rolling this year and get some guns into the hands of Gunblast and some other sites to give us an honest impression of the gun.
Thanks for you input everyone.

[jmk1138]

It might be a little crazy.

But look at it this way -- you'll either get (1) in on the ground floor of something great or (2) a mint-condition Edsel collectible. You can't go wrong

[jocko]

if he took any upfront money for stock or purchases and didn't deliver, he would have some serious legal issues. My bet that is why he won't take any up front money for either. Not sure I would invest a dime in a one gun company. Moods, markets change in a heartbeat. If he doesn't own or have the cnc type machinery to do this stuff even, he need millions just to get the door open, Hire and train people, payroll, staff, financial people, banks behind him (which won't happen) Probably alot easier to invent something than to actualy ever go into production. His hope IMO is that some big gun company picks up on his idea and buys his rights out and preceeds forward. IMO this gun has some unique featrues but certainly totally unproven for any type of reliability or durablility. I have knda followed along with him for the past 3 years and then this pasrt year just forgot all about his product. To my knowledge even, no one has ever field tested one of these even. Allwe have seen is this prototype, which may have no parts inside even that work and good diagram drawing showing how it should work.

There has been some "ground floors" on products that I wish I had been in on but I'm afraid this one is not one of the. That little ass gun literally does nothing for me. One woldhave to hit me over the head with a bat numerous times to try to convince me that this gun would be pleasant to shoot...

[getsome]

I'm still trying to figure out how this pistol works....Maybe I'm just a bone head but don't all semi auto pistols feed by having the slide catch the rim of the cartridge at the (rear) of the magazine and having the breach push the shell into the barrel? I must be missing something in the operation of this particular design but it must be different than a typical semi auto pistol...I would like to see an animation of the feed cycle so I can get a grip on how this pistol works...Who knows, Some thought J.M. Browning was crazy when he designed the 1911 so always try and keep an open mind about new ideas....

[jocko]

I think if you go to to Boberg webb site he has a good animation of how it works. It looks cool, about like a sub loading up a torpedo..

[wyntrout]

getsome, I thought I had a link for an animation but here's the Kahr Site video explaining operation:

http://www.kahr.com/patents-video.asp

OOPS! Never mind... didn't check out what the thread was about.

http://www.bobergarms.com/

Wynn :o

[O'Dell]

I think I read somewhere a few months ago that the gun was having feeding issues, and that's why it was being held back. I remember looking at the action then, and thinking no wonder it has issues. Of course it could have been typical internet garbage.

[getsome]

Ok saw the video and now I get it...A picture is worth a thousands words to somebody drain bamaged like me...looks like an interesting idea if they can get it to work 100%....Thanks guys

[TheTman]

It's a totally different feeding system for sure. Somewhere in the forum it says that some machine gun uses this type of feeding system. It didn't mention which one, and I have very little knowledge of machine guns to be able to verfiy if this is true or not. I just hope he is able to get the thing going and on the market so it can be tested for reliablity. IF it proves reliable, it sure would be something to have a little 9 the size of a .380. You'd never have an excuse to leave the house unarmed. I know once in awhile I'm in a hurry and don't want to take the time to gear up, but this thing you could just put in your pocket and go on your way. I don't usually like to pocket carry, but for a quick trip down to the local market I often just grab my snubbie and toss it in my jacket pocket. I live in a relatively violent crime free small town, so not really too worried about a confrontation at the local stores. Can't remember the last armed robbery or murder we had here, but I still like to have some weapon on me when I go out.

[REACT]

Somewhere in the forum it says that some machine gun uses this type of feeding system.

The Kel-Tec RFB uses a somewhat similar system. Standard to most rifles, each bullet is stripped from the magazine as the bolt moves forward, but the extraction system is different. There are two extractor arms that holds the rim of the case from the time it is stripped from the magazine to the time the shell is released on to the ejection chute after firing.

You can kind of see/understand the process on the left side of this video. Since the RFB is a bullpup rifle, the magazine is to the rear for the trigger assembly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLO7rHjHerk

It's not exactly like the XR9-S, but close.