Click the READ MORE below to read the article and view this weeks video of our continuing segments from the 2010 Shot Show.
Shot Show 2010 Part 3
by Jessie Indracusin
Background
This is part of our continuing coverage of the 2010 Shot Show. This portion is covering the Robinson Arms XCR and the Kaiser Works KR-7. This segment is also covering various innovative next generation rifles. The first one from Robinson Arms, some of you may have heard about, the second one was a bit of a discovery by accident at the Shot Show. I hope you find the articles about these two guns interesting and the videos informative
Robinson Arms XCR
Robinson Arms is a firearms company that a lot of people may not recognize as a household name. I sometimes blame this on a poor website, marketing and securing proper domain registration. All of that is not the important thing everyone cares about, it’s all about the guns. My background interest in Robinson Arms goes backs to the VEPR. Robinson Arms was the importer of the VEPR weapon system from Russia. The VEPR, as it stands still do this day, the finest AK Variant that is made in Russia available. Robinson Arms has competed in the past with various military contractors on next generation rifles. They typically do not get the same level of coverage as the big boys that everyone knows.
The Robinson Arms XCR is really a step apart from other solutions they have come out with in the past. There are some basic issues a lot of Carbines share, that Robinson Arms has addressed. Here is an example: Does a Charging Handle Always have to sit high on a rifle and get in the way of the optics? The charging handle on the XCR sits lower off on the side of the gun than most weapon systems. This means you don’t have to re-think your entire layout of your optics in order to compensate for the location of the charging handle. On top of that, the charging handle has a rubber, almost hogue feel to it. This means you could repeatily operate the charging handle over and over again all day and not create any strain or fatigue on your hand.
The other thing that I really like from a deployment and training design is the magazine releases. Think about it this way. If you needed to train local irregular forces across the globe and they are use to an AK platform of magazine releases or the AR/M4 platform of the side magazine releases, it doesn’t matter on this gun. There are three magazine releases to accomidate any background of shooter. The system feels very solid and I hope to be able to get one in the near future for Testing and Evaluation. I have very high hopes for this gun.
Kaiser Works KR7
This was something I ran across by accident in my browsings at Shot Show 2010. I wanted to give this particular firearm some face time since this is a smaller company and probably will never get the media exposure that I feel the company needs. The manufacturer will also be sending a unit to do some extended Testings and Evaluations on, so look to this website for future discussions on this gun.
A couple of things makes this gun so remarkable, the first is the weight. This really is a feather weight AR-10. I would never have guessed this was a 7.62 and not a 5.56 rifle. There is a lot of hand craftsmanship done on this gun. This is a US Made system. Sure, some of the stocks, furniture, etc. may come from other manufacturers, but at the core, this is really a person’s passion coming to life.
I met Omar Macy in one of the most unconventional ways at Shot Show. I was riding the Las Vegas mass transit train and was sitting next to Omar on the train, who had some small poster boards of this rifle. After some discussions, my interest was peaked.
After putting the gun in my hands, I was really interested to learn a bit more. Not being a big fan of the AR-10 platform in general, I was getting very interested in the design that was proposed in front of me. The charging handle on this gun can be positioned in both a traditional rear charging handle on an AR and also a side charging handle. The configuration change can be made without any major tools.
I will admit, he may not be the best presenter of the shot show, but his gun is an interesting work that we will be falling.
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