Caracal F 9mm Review

[Syntax360]

Alright gentlemen, I have been lurking here for awhile now and I decided to finally jump on-board. The Caracal came up last week in a thread involving the US importer and a dealer in France, and suffice to to say, things did not go well.

I was lucky enough to pick a gun up right around the time those threads were getting heated, and I spent the weekend trying to put together a comprehensive review that addressed a lot of the questions I had, as well as some of the things I have seen asked on this very forum (especially concerning how it stacks up to the M&P). I originally put this together for SteyrClub, but I thought it might benefit some folks to post it here as well.

I started the review by using the Steyr M9A1 as my yardstick for evaluating most aspects of the Caracal because, well, the review was originally intended for SteyrClub, and the Emirati shooter is a sort of spin-off of "the other" Austrian iron. I tried to incorporate more "mainstream" guns in the second part of my review, and some may want to just fast-forward to that part.

I have been a big fan of the Steyr M(A1) series pistols for a few years now, so when I found out the same designer had teamed up with a R&D team in the UAE to create a Steyr-like pistol, I was intrigued. This pistol has been available abroad for a couple of years now, but only recently has Caracal been working with their US importer Waffen Werks to get these guns stateside. I was lucky enough to grab one of the very first.

The first thing I noticed was the "Plasox" slide finish - every picture I had seen of the slide made it look dull and boring, but that isn't the case at all. The Plasox finish has a slight shine and has a very slick quality about it. My only concern is that it might not hold up as well to regular carry over the long haul as Tennifer or some other finishes, but we're a long way out from being able to judge.

The pistol comes in a decent hardcase and includes 3 18-round magazines, a manual, and a generic triggerlock:





Tthe magazine release is ambidextrous (button on both sides), and as I happen to shoot pistol left handed, I was curious how this feature would work out for me. It is located in a convenient spot - I have no trouble actuating the release with either thumb on the right side of the gun, or my middle finger on the left side (as I am accustomed to doing, having "grown up" around right handed guns). Still, muscle memory is hard to overcome, and I honestly see no reason to change up the way I have been doing things for years - I do not find the thumb method to be any faster than using my middle finger on the other side of the pistol, so I am going to stick to the tried-and-true middle finger method.

So how does the Caracal size up compared to the Steyr M9A1? It is a little larger, but it is very well thought-out.



I love the grip. Before getting my hands on one, I thought the grip looked somehow disproportional to the rest of the pistol in the pictures I have seen of the Caracal (a by-product of the 18 rounds stuffed inside, I suppose). But having one in front of me, it feels like Caracal made the perfect love-child of a Steyr M9A1 and a Gen 4 Glock 17. The Glocks have always struck me as a bit too fat and brick-ish, while the Steyr was always a slight bit on the skinny side; I prefer the latter when forced to choose. The Caracal is actually a slight bit thinner than the Steyr M9A1 in the rear width, but fatter when comparing the width of the pistols laid flat (running parallel to the rounds in the magazine):



This grip design is a total win for me. I used to like finger grooves so long as they conformed to my hand, but the more I shoot, the more I realize they are more prone to get in the way if you do not have a perfect grip on the firearm. Don't get me wrong - I love my Steyr, and it fits my hand like a glove - but I think Caracal nailed it with their grip. It really does seem just about perfect.

The Emiratis did not build a replaceable backstrap into this design, and that strikes me as a mistake. I'm guessing they desided to forgo this feature because of the optional shoulder stock accessory - I'm not sure they could have made both work - but I think they went the wrong direction here. Virtually all of the competitive handguns on the market these days are coming with replaceable backstraps, and I believe Caracal sales will suffer for this oversight.

The grip is a bit taller than the Steyr, and this may be a problem for concealed carry, but that report is going to have to wait until after this gun as proven itself at the range. I would like to say that the thinness of the grip may make up for height problem - we'll see. Then again, even if the F doesn't pan out for CCW, the Caracal C (compact) may just be the ticket for those guys who have trouble concealing a fullsize...

The Steyr and Caracal slides seem to be very similar:



One thing that might stand out to you in that picture is the slide release - it is much more pronounced than the Steyr (which always struck me as a bit undersized). When I hold the gun in my right hand, this slide release is in the PERFECT spot. I think it is large enough that even if you are a "high gripper" that tends to accidently trip the slide stop while shooting (causing a failure to lock on the last round), this setup should be large enough to prevent that from happening. I almost wish they had made the slide stop ambidextrous, and I guess that would be my second major complaint. But then again, I am in the habit of "power stroking" the slide to feed rounds from a fresh magazine, and I again see no reason to change up my routine.

The trigger is perfect - it is better than the Steyr, and any other polymer gun I've ever tried. It has a familiar springy and positive feel that has made the Glocks famous, but smoother and (I think) lighter. The reset is pronounced, and just about the right length. I think this is my favorite part of the Caracal, and I'm going to go into much more detail on this later.

[Syntax360]

Some quick pre-range-session thoughts:

- Upon reviewing the manual, I discovered the warranty period for the pistol is 1 year from date of purchase, and only applies to the original owner. I really hope they (Caracal or Waffen Werks) do not enforce this - lord knows how many second-hand Steyrs were returned to SAI for extractor work, etc. They expressly state that the use of reloaded ammunition voids the warranty, as does any disassembly beyond field stripping. I believe this more or less accords with the policies of most other manufacturers.

- The rear sight is built into the rear striker plate, and while I was very concerned that there may be some slop (like the Steyrs, or almost any other striker-fired pistol I have laid my paws on), I'm glad to say there is not. The striker plate is very sturdily planted in place, and does not appear to be any potential threat to accuracy or consistency of sight alignment.

The two-dot setup of the sights remind me very much of a Sig pistol I used to have, except the rear sight takes on a sort of trapezoidal shape similar to the Steyrs. One would think this setup would bode well for those accustomed to shooting the Steyr traps, but to be honest, I find the rear sight somewhat distracting. This is probably just the result of lack of experience with these sights, so I am hoping they will grow on me. On the whole, they are very much like the Steyr traps, but with less "daylight" on either side of the front sight post.

- Disassembly is very much like the Steyr, but probably more similar to Glocks - two "wings" runs through the bottom of the frame, under the trigger guard. You depress both tabs down and pull the slide forward and off of the frame.

- I know published weights are out there, but I thought I might as well measure them anyway. I dropped both the Steyr and Caracal on a scale at the office (unloaded, no magazines), and the Steyr (w/ BT guide rod) weighed in at 1.55 lbs; the Caracal (with factory plastic guide rod) was 1.50 lbs.

[Syntax360]

On to my range experience, and a comparison with some guns you guys might be more familiar with...

If you disagree with any part of my assessment, don’t take it to heart – I am not a professional gunfighter or gun reviewer. What follows is only my opinion of these guns after spending a beautiful Texas afternoon at the range, turning money into smoke and noise.

I had completely forgotten to clean/lube the Caracal before heading out to the range, but fortunately, it was pretty much spotless straight out of the box. I hosed down everything with a can of Remoil, and applied a drop of Militec-1 to the frame rails, slide rails, locking lugs and top of the barrel, and then put it all back together and wiped off the excess lube. Ready to go.

For this range trip, we brought along a Steyr M9A1, Springfield Armory XD9, Glock 17 (Gen4), S&W M&P9, and the Caracal F. Excluding the new Caracal, I've have had trigger time on all of these guns except the Smith - prior to Saturday, I had only tried the M&P and M&Pc in .40S&W. I shot all of these guns back-to-back with the Caracal to get a better idea of how the Emirati gun stacked up...

Ergonomics
Ergonomics of the Caracal are extraordinarily similar to the Steyr and M&P9 - the three guns have an almost identical recoil impulse. All three guns are a joy to shoot, with minimal muzzle flip and very fast follow-up shots. If the shooter does his part and really gets behind the gun, they hardly seem to move off target between shots.

With regard to grip size and angle, the XD9 seemed to be the clunkiest of the batch with its bulbous slide and more acute angle. Perceived recoil and muzzle flip seemed to be the highest with this pistol, and it was probably the least interesting shooter on the bench. The Glock wasn’t bad, and overall size and shape of the grip seemed better than the XD, but it still ranked 4th out of the 5 in my opinion. It was just slightly slower for me to get back on target, and I think that was due to slightly more pronounced beaver tail of Steyr, Smith, and Caracal – these three just do not flip very much at all, and the shooter can get a really high grip on the frame. The Glock is still very similar, but to me, it did feel like there was a marked difference.

The Steyr has a very small and thin grip and tends to work better with shooters with regular-to-small sized hands. I really, really like the Steyr, but I do believe the Caracal and Smith have better grips. Out of the box, I think the Caracal is the most comfortable to me, but the interchangeable backstraps on the Smith are an excellent feature. I liked the medium back strap on the Smith, and when equipped, it’s hard to pick a clear winner between the two guns. I suppose the win would have to go to the Smith, if only because it is adjustable to a wider range of shooters.

Controls are similarly located on all guns. I hate to admit it, but I think the under-dog Steyr has the worst controls-layout of the "big three", owing only to its undersized controls. The slide stop can be especially hard to manipulate at times, as it’s a bit undersized compared to the rest of the group. The XD and Glock slide stops are fairly unremarkable and quite similar to the Steyr – not a lot to say here. The M&P wasn’t much better with regard to size and shape of the slide stop, but it is fully ambidextrous, and as such I would say it’s a clear winner. We all had a pretty hard time working the S&W slide stop - especially left-handed - but I believe that had a lot to do with the fact that it was a brand new gun. The Steyr we tested was definitely more “broken in”, and I believe the Smith will get easier to manipulate with time. The Caracal slide stop is a bit bigger than the Steyr and S&W, and definitely easier to activate; the Emirati shooter could have been a clear winner if the designers would have made this control ambidextrous.

The magazine release is ambidextrous on the Caracal, which I believe to be a big plus. The other pistols were setup for right-handed use, and while one or two were reversible, the ambi design of Caracal is very convenient and nicely executed. Actual location and size of the mag releases seemed to be similar for all guns and all were quite functional and unremarkable, so there isn’t much more to say here…

On the whole, I would say the M&P9 wins in the category of ergonomics, because of its ambidextrous slide stop and replaceable backstraps. The Caracal is my second favorite of the batch, but the designers really should have taken a look at the market and realized that replaceable backstraps have become the standard and this feature is really needed to compete. The Steyr ranks third on my scale, followed by the Glock. The XD comes in dead last on my scale.

Brass Ejection
We paid special attention to brass ejection during this test. A Frenchman named Edmond has posted reports on every corner of the internet, reporting wild and nearly-dangerous brass ejection from his batch of Caracal pistols – eye protection was a very serious consideration after reading his posts. I’m happy to say that my Caracal never went for any of our eyes during shooting. Ejection is definitely to the right and rearward, but nowhere near the shooter’s face. I would say the Caracal is far more consistent with its ejection pattern than any out-of-the-box Steyr I have seen – the M-A1 pistols seem to be all over the place at times, and I’ve had many-a-spent-cartridge bounce off the top of my head during range sessions in the past. The Steyrs seem to eventually settle down and flatten out, resulting in a less-erratic right-and-to-the-rear ejection pattern. I watched a few shooters fire the Caracal and Smith & Wesson side-by-side, and as far as I could tell, the ejection pattern was identical.

Triggers
All of the guns had quite serviceable triggers, and it would be really hard to complain if one were stuck with any of the 5. However, the unanimous consensus among the 8 of us in the group was that the Caracal was the clear winner. The trigger is where the Caracal really shines.

I tested the triggers of the two guns I own – the Steyr and Caracal – the day before hitting the range. My Steyr trigger has the benefit of a BigTaco polish job and delron striker cup upgrade, as well as several thousand rounds downrange and Lord-only-knows how many dry-fire pulls; the result was a consistent 5.5 lbs. break. Out of the box, the Caracal tipped the scale at an impressive 3.75 lbs. – I’m in love. This weight really does feel just about perfect to me.

The Steyr has a very short take-up distance with little spring resistance, and then a crisp, short break. Reset is a bit longer than some might like, and not at all what I might call “positive” – it’s up to the shooter to gently release the trigger in order to find that audible “click” of reset, indicating that the gun is ready to fire again.

The Caracal is much more similar to a Glock in that the trigger pull is much more “springy”. The primary difference between the Glock and Caracal is that the Glock “breaking point” is much more definitive – the Caracal is much more of a smooth pull, with little warning that it is about to break before dropping the striker. I suspect a lot of loyal Glockers will not like this characteristic of the Caracal, but my personal experience is that this smooth, “less telling” break was more conducive to better shooting. You gently squeeze the Caracal trigger while focusing on the front sight and your focus is not “disturbed” by that marked breaking point that is characteristic of the other striker-fired pistols. Trigger reset is not as positive as the Glock, but neither is it as limp as the Steyr. Reset distance is comparable to the Steyr, and there is an audible and felt click when the trigger is ready. On the whole, I would say the Caracal trigger is an almost perfect blend of the Glock and Steyr, and I am very impressed.

The M&P had a good trigger, but it was a little gritty. There are enough glowing reviews of the Apex trigger kits to make me really interested in trying one out… In stock form, I believe the XD and M&P are a bit unremarkable compared to the other 3 guns, although still perfectly good and serviceable.

Sights
I was not a fan of the rear sight on the Caracal at first, but I’m pleased to say that performance on the firing line was better than I expected. The Caracal sights are pretty easy/fast to pick up and seemed to be more than adequate for shooting at 20 yards. There really aren’t a lot of surprises in this category… I found the Steyr trapezoids to be the fastest to pick up out of the 5 guns. The three-dot setup of the XD and the M&P provided a traditional and familiar feel. The trapezoid rear sight of the Caracal combined with the “straight 8” dot pattern worked really well – fast to pick up and more than adequate at the ranges tested. The Glock “cup and ball” is what it is – simple and effective.

I find the three-dot setup to be the most comfortable personally, so if I had to pick a favorite of the 5, I would probably pick the XD/M&P. While I really like the innovative design of the Steyr trapezoids, the reality is that most of my shooting is done on a square range at bullseye targets – the faster pickup just doesn’t do a lot for me. The Caracal and Glock sights are perfectly serviceable, and as I said before, more than adequate at the ranges tested.

Performance/Reliability
This category is going to be hard to measure. There were 8 of us that showed up for the range trip and experience varied greatly – from first-time to experienced shooters. Conditions of the pistols also varied - the M&P9 and Caracal were brand new, the G17 had less than 500 rounds through it, and the XD9 and Steyr M9A1 both had somewhere north of a thousand rounds downrange. I did my best to expose the Caracal to as wide of a variety of ammunition as possible – it was fed:

(48) Monarch 115gr. FMJ (steel case)
(10) Wolf 115gr. FMJ (steel case)
(6) Winchester Ranger 127gr. +P+ JHP
(20) Remington ShurShot 115gr. FMJ
(16) Winchester Ranger 147gr. JHP
(50) 115gr. Winchester “White Box” FMJ
(50) 124gr. Winchester NATO FMJ
(50) PMC 115gr. FMJ
(50) Remington UMC 115gr. FMJ

That’s 300 rounds total. We would have fed it more, but it gets awful expensive feeding 5 guns and we all had to shoot the other plastic-fantastics, too. The Caracal gobbled up all of the FMJ ammo with zero issues, but it did not like the Winchester rangers in either weight or pressure. In both instances, multiple shooters experienced slide-lock-back with additional rounds in the magazine – I’ve never seen this before, and it was truly bizarre. This happened 3 out of 6 times with the 127gr. +P+, and one time with the 147gr. JHP. I’m not sure if the gun doesn’t like Winchester Ranger, or if it doesn’t like hollow-points in general – this will be the subject of (expensive) future testing. I really wish I would have brought along another brand of hollow-points, but I did not anticipate this weird behavior from the Emirati shooter. I am pleased that we had no hiccups with the 278 rounds of FMJ ammo, and I hope the gun continues to gobble up everything I throw through it in the future.

The G17 Gen4 choked 4 times (FTE) on 115gr. Remington UMC “yellow box”. This could be due to a couple of things… The gun has the original guide rod and spring, and I have read that many users are experiencing malfunctions due to this part (and that Glock is replacing them). Also, the shooter’s grip sucked and he was probably limp-wristing the pistol. I gave him some tips on improving his grip, and his groups immediately tightened up and he did not experience any further malfunctions.

The XD9, Steyr, and M&P all performed flawlessly. The M&P9 was fed an identical diet of FMJ that we ran through the Caracal, and was exposed to the same mix of shooters with varied experience. I did not really track who was shooting the Steyr or XD, or what they were putting through them, so I can’t really say a lot regarding the performance these last two guns (other than that no malfunctions were reported).

Magazine Capacity
There really isn’t much to say here, but in case anyone isn’t already aware: the XD9 and Steyr come standard with 15 round magazines, the M&P9 and G17 come with 17 round magazines, and the Caracal F magazine holds 18 rounds. Steyr is now shipping their M9A1 guns with 17 round magazines, but they have only been available for about a year.

Size
This is the easy part of the review. Because the Caracal was the focus, I created overlays to demonstrate the size relative to the other 4 pistols:









We also had an H&K P2000 .40S&W laying around, so I made an overlay for that pistol, as well:


Final Thoughts
I really like the Caracal – probably even more than my Steyrs. The ergonomics, capacity, and amazing trigger provide an impressive first-showing from the Middle Eastern manufacturer. My only concern is that the Emirati shooter may not like JHP ammo, and this would be a dealbreaker as far as I’m concerned. However, because I didn’t bring along a sufficient mix of ammo along to truly test performance of defensive hollowpoints, I can’t definitively make a call one way or the other - it is entirely possible that my Caracal just doesn’t like Winchester Ranger.

I think it is really hard to compete with the Smith and Wesson M&P9. This gun really has everything going for it – ergonomics, price point, and an emerging reputation for a robust and reliable design. I believe that most shooters looking for an innovative “new” design will flock to S&W, and those that prefer a more traditional, “tried and true” alternative will purchase a Glock. That said, I think the Caracal does a fine job mirroring many of the qualities that make the S&W so attractive, and it isn’t without its own unique charms. The trigger alone is a strong selling point in my opinion, and I think the overall design will appeal to a lot of shooters. Future testing will reveal whether or not this gun will gain favor over my M9A1 – I’ll keep you guys posted on the progress as I get more rounds downrange with the Caracal.

In the meantime, I welcome any questions or comments…

[Seraph]

Nicely done, Syn. The Caracal's trigger, for me as well, is the greatest stand-out feature. It's nice to see a trigger like that, straight outta the box. I also like the slim feel of the grip, though I'll say it's a bit thin (sorta blade-like) for me, in the area that sits in the web of your hand. Wish it was a little rounder there, but what it really needs is a set of interchangeable back straps, like that on the M&P.

[YVK]

Nice review, thanks for taking the time for a write-up.

3.75 lbs trigger pull on service striker-fired pistol seems a bit too light to me.

[Ed L.]

Great review!

So far I have about 100 rounds of hollowpoint through each of the Caracals without any problems.

[YVK]

Forgot to ask a question: it appears that striker channel on Caracal is open at the slide back plate. Is it possible to feel the striker being cocked (with thumb of strong hand) when trigger is being pulled?

[ck1]

Great review. The only thing that has me wondering is your take on the slide-release, as you being a lefty experience it quite differently, as what's too small in your eyes seems to me to be fairly huge and in-the-way through my experiences as a righty who uses a modern thumbs-forward grip (speaking as far as my experience with Steyr M-A1's is concerned), from what you've described if the Caracal's slide-release is better and larger in your eyes, than it'll probably be even more problematic and intrusive to anyone whose grip is like mine (and your excellent pics seem to bear that out).
They look pretty good but honestly as a huge Steyr M-A1 fan I find myself in a word "underwhelmed" and happen to see more things that have been overlooked than improved upon. I'll probably buy one anyways just to be sure though...

[Syntax360]

Forgot to ask a question: it appears that striker channel on Caracal is open at the slide back plate. Is it possible to feel the striker being cocked (with thumb of strong hand) when trigger is being pulled?

Yes, it is open on the backplate and you can see/feel the striker being cocked. I snapped a few bad pictures that I hope illustrate:

Striker down:


Striker cocked, pulling trigger:

[Syntax360]

The only thing that has me wondering is your take on the slide-release, as you being a lefty experience it quite differently, as what's too small in your eyes seems to me to be fairly huge and in-the-way through my experiences as a righty who uses a modern thumbs-forward grip (speaking as far as my experience with Steyr M-A1's is concerned), from what you've described if the Caracal's slide-release is better and larger in your eyes, than it'll probably be even more problematic and intrusive to anyone whose grip is like mine (and your excellent pics seem to bear that out).

Understandable - these guns are really great because they allow you to get a high grip on the frame, but the unfortunate side-effect is that RH shooters can easily inadvertently trigger that slide stop. It does seem that the Caracal designers put some thought into this, though - they built a sort of polymer "shelf" under the slide stop lever. At the very least, this should provide tactile feedback to a RH user to remind them that they are about to "ride" that control. It is kind of hard to describe, but these pictures should clear it up: