Gun Review Robinson Arms XCR L Rifle. Do you want a rifle that goes BANG every time you pull the trigger or a highly evolved weapon with excellent ergonomics, superior accuracy and endless customization Yes Unfortunately, American rifles tend to divide between AK rough and ready and AR hot rod. Diablo 3 Trainer No Survey. The underlying assumption theyre mutually exclusive platforms. Maybe not. Robinson Arms XCR L rifle combines the reliability of the AK 4. Firearm Discussion and Resources from AR15, AK47, Handguns and more Buy, Sell, and Trade your Firearms and Gear. AR platformwith a dash of FN FAL for added finesse. Or does it The XCR L has scars from its past. Alex J. Robinson developed the weapon system for the big Kahuna the U. S. Special Operations Command SOCOM SOF Combat Assault Rifle contract. The XCR L was disqualified on a technicality, relegating the weapon to small military contracts, and law enforcement and civilian sales. The XCR Ls headline innovation maximum modularity. Thanks to the way the bolt locks into the barrel extension, a shooter can swap out the pipe without worrying about head spacing. But battle carbines arent exactly meant to be fired only from the bench and the XCR really shines when engaging multiple targets at various distances, from. Caliber conversions require a hex wrench,  a few minutes of your time and a bit of practice. With a simple barrel and bolt swap, the XCR fires 6. SPC, 6. 5x. 39mm andor 7. Instead of having to buy multiple rifles or even multiple uppers for AR users, you keep the same rifle and change out the barrel, bolt and magazine. Same controls. Same optics, sling, flashlights, etc. New ammo.  Hunters can switch from harvesting feral pigs, to distance work on steel or paper to keeping the godless hordes at bay. Rather than spending all your extra cash on parts, you can spend it on ammo instead. One gun to rule them allThose who dont see the point of changing calibers rather than weaponsenthusiasts whose gun safes indicate that theyve already succumbed to black rifle diseasemay wish to see utility elsewhere. How about this The Robinson has less parts than its competitors. Theres less to go wrong. And lots of room for stuff. XCR L sports 1. 91. Standard Picatinny rails all the way round for BUIS, optics, flashlights, lasers, vertical hand grips, etc. The set up includes a 1. Our test rifle kept is simple a EOTECH 5. The XCR Ls gas system is adjustable. A shooter can tailor the rifles settings for reliable operation with a variety of different ammo loadings at least in theory. Using the five setting gas system, a shooter can adjust the rifle to use the absolute minimal amount of gas needed to cycle the action. That means less wear and tear and less fouling come cleaning time. The XCR owner can also shut off the gas system entirely for shooting with a suppressor or single shot operation. Robinsons positioned the XCR Ls non reciprocating charging handle on the receivers left side. You activate the forward assist by pushing in and then forward on the charging handle. The easily indexed safety controls are ambidextrous. The XCR Ls bolt release lives immediately ahead of the trigger guard its also accessible from either the left or right. With the magazine release in standard AR configuration, drop free mag changes are a cinch. Bonus The XCR L accepts standard AR1. Our test rifle sported a 1. The set up hearts everything from standard 5. Robinson ships the XCR L with a standard A2 flash suppressor, though other muzzle attachments are available. The XCR Ls a trigger is two stage affair that will give AR shooters a bad case of trigger envy. After taking up the slack, the second stage breaks at a clean 3 4 lbs. Shooters used to standard, lawyer proof single stage AR triggers will find the XCR trigger a tremendous accuracy booster. Another innovation a shooter can use the XCR Ls telescoping and folding stock to adjust the length of pull or reduce the overall length of the rifle, from 3. Its a handy option for space challenged storage or discreet transportation. The XCRs stock locks up solidly with no sense of play whatsoever. The XCRs brass deflectors positioned at the rear of the ejection port. Spent casings fly forward to the shooters 1 oclock positiongreat news for left handed shooters as well as your neighbors on the firing line. Reloaders will appreciate the fact that spent casings relocated themselves predictably. The brass itself wasnt chewed up in the least. Our friends at Hornady sent us some of their best. We fired their 5. TAP personal defense ammo, 7. V max loading. For those whove never used the TAP FPD ammo before, its too pretty to shoot. But youll get over it. The ammo functioned flawlessly. It was also the most accurate ammo weve ever tested. To explore the XCRs potential, we shot 1. The XCRs best 1. TAP FPD loads. Remember this is with a battle carbine using a non magnified holographic reticle 1 MOA dot surrounded by a 6. MOA circle.  Re fitted with a simple variable power scope, the XCR L turned in groups just under MOA. But battle carbines arent exactly meant to be fired only from the bench and the XCR really shines when engaging multiple targets at various distances, from improvised positions, under time pressure. Its a light handling, easy pointing rifle that shoots soft, hits hard and looks good. The XCR feels great in your hands with plenty of steel, not too much plastic, and a strong sense that its makers were paying attention to the little details that make a rifle fun to shoot. Our XCR was clanging the steel silhouette targets from 5. As and when. . Our test rifle was a bit of diva. During the course of putting nearly 4. FTF and two failures to extract FTE. Some of the FTFs may have been due to a faulty P mag or our tinkering with the gas regulator settings. But thats an alarming number of malfunctions for a rifle that should be dead nuts reliable no matter what. During our testing, we fired a handful of Wolf steel cased. XCR.   Big mistake. Within just a few shots an empty casing failed to extract. Running the charging handle a few times didnt budge it from the chamber this casing was stuck tighter than a chipmunks fanny gasket. The XCRs robust extractor actually ripped through the rim of the stuck case. We tapped the spent casing out of the chamber with a cleaning rod. The XCR L only functioned perfectly with top shelf 5. Hornady TAP ammunition. This highlights the importance of sending enough rounds down range to know whether your defensive rifle is utterly reliable or fussy about its ammo. On the positive side, the adjustable gas system really did keep the rifle cleaner during prolonged shooting. The take down procedures for cleaning the XCR are a simple matter. As an AR and AK owner, I was actually hoping to find reasons to dismiss the XCR as a mere fad, to better justify my existing black rifles. After shooting it for an afternoon, I had to admit that the XCR L has far better controls than my WASR 1. Likewise, Id never thought of my beloved 7. AR as suffering from a stiff trigger or having a noticeable kick. After experiencing the XCRs buttery smooth trigger and mild recoil, I experienced a mild case of buyers remorse. Or is that jealousyThe Robinson Arms XCR L is nearasdammit the hybrid rifle its makers hoped it would be. But ammo finickiness is its Achilles Heel. If you want a completely reliable gas operated, piston driven operated rifle, this isnt itunless you feed it a strict diet of the good stuff. Great cars run on high test fuel only. Why not great guns And theres no doubt that the Robinson Arms XCR L is a great gun. Just not as great as it could be. Yet. SPECIFICATIONS Caliber 5. NATO. 2. 23 RemBarrel 1. Chrome lined 1 in 9 twist.