A work requirement has caused me to take a long and hard look at the Caracal F 9mm. A full size, 18+1 9mm, the Caracal is designed and built in the UAE and marked specifically from Abu Dhabi, UAE. It is the standard service sidearm for most of their military, including the Special Guard of the United Arab Emirates. I will be working this pistol through a series of tests to see how well it can hold up. This is the first of several pieces I will write on the gun, with updates following as I reach milestones in the testing and evaluation process. My ultimate goal is to get at least 10,000 rounds through it and as many hands on it as possible.
The Caracal comes with two, 18 round mags, manual, lock and plastic case for about $449 retail. MSRP is slightly higher.
For now, I am going to start with my first impressions. I paid $449 for the pistol which came with two, 18 round magazines, a lock, owner’s manual, standard sights and a lockable plastic box. At first glance it looks a lot like a rounded over Glock. I have read and been told by several people that the chief designer was formerly with Glock in Austria. While dry firing the gun, I could close my eyes and feel a Glock like trigger. However the similarities seem to end there. The polymer grip is much less square and the shape permits a much higher grip on the gun. I am looking forward to seeing how it works out on the range.
At first pass, this pistol looks a lot like a rounded over Glock with a much better shaped grip.
I am going to go along with the age old adage that a picture is worth a thousand works and let you see for yourself. Once I get it torn down, cleaned up and completely Frog Lubed, I will head out to the range and find out exactly what this gun can do.
All the square corners and edges have been rounded over and the few controls there are, have been kept very close to the frame so snags should be at a minimum.
Just above the nicely textured front-strap is the true ambidextrous magazine release. The rounded trigger guard is smooth and wide which should make getting a solid grip very easy.
The front sight sits in a wide dovetail cut and the barrel actually has a recessed crown.
The mag well is somewhat flared, but I have had little trouble inserting mags during dry fire practice. If this gun catches on in the US I’m sure it won’t be long before someone fills that cavity with resin and reshapes the grip.
The pistol came with a two dot standard sight system. I’m not sure about this part of the gun. More later.
The extractor appears to be pinned in and the barrel has the loaded chamber check hole. Caracal seems to be holding onto those European ways with full serial numbers on the receiver, barrel and slide.
That horizontal lever at the top of the trigger opening is one side of the take down lever. The trigger has the safety lever which seems to be so common on poly guns these days.
This would be a truly ambidextrous gun if it had a slide release on the right side. I found the controls easy to manipulate with bare hands. We will have to see what happens with gloves on.
I am going to break this up into several posts otherwise it will get to be too long. Magazines and the internals of the gun to follow. I’m normally very pessimistic about new guns. This one has changed my mind. Since the only thing that really matters is reliability and reasonable accuracy, I hope it doesn’t disappoint. More to follow. Stay Safe & Keep Training!
Scott, I am a consultant for Caracal and wanted to thank you for your obviously educated and unbiased review of the pistol. I look forward to your related articles on this testing process.
Train hard, Train Safe, Train to WIN!
Jeffrey W Spalding
President
SF Tactical and Logistics
Unfortunately Caracal had a recall of some of its handguns due to a portion of them not being drop-safe the way they were designed to be:
http://www.caracal-usa.com/press/caracal-pistol-recall/
Thank you for the information Ed. I address this very concern in later installments of the review.
Scott,
I look forward to you impressions and test results. I spent a period of time in Abu Dhabi and in fact worked in the building the was the first Caracal assembly building. I was also a member of the Caracal Shooting Club, at the Oficers Club Hotel and sports complex in Abu Dhabi, at the time, about the only place a non-Emarati could legally shoot a firearm in Abu Dhabi. In 2010-11 I probably put 500-750 rounds through a Caracal F. Not a high rounds count, but at the prices the club charged (no Wally World for cheap 9mm) and shooting some is better than not shooting at all. Best word locally was thatthe major design influences came from Sovania.
The Caracal shot well, I don’t recall a failure to feed or extract. Accuracy out to about 25M was adequate,could not go beyond that at the range. The show stopper On the Caracal that I saw and may be what you discovered is the rear sight. It is integral to what on a Glock would be the slide cover plate. Except it slides down from the top of the slide. So you end up with a semi-fixed rear sight, not the “blest practice” for accuracy. I found it possible to move it up and down under simple thumb pressure and affect point of impact. Otherwise not a bad piece and in the UAE, locally assembled and supported.
Good luck on your T&E
i have had my eye on the weapon for some time now, looking forward to firing one and very possibly purchasing in the near future. nice “tease” can’t wait to read how it performed.