Grendelize the New RobArm XCR?

If you go back and read my post that opened the Ideal Assault Rifle thread, you can imagine that I'm very interested in Robinson Armament's new XCR rifle. It has almost all the features I consider ideal, and I will be eagerly following its development.

I emailed Alex Robinson about Grendelizing the XCR and he is open to it. He pointed out that the XCR was designed as a multi-caliber rifle from the start. He said that chambering it in the 6.5 Grendel would involve a little extra R&D and thus some custom charges, but it's definitely in the realm of possibility.

I'm going to keep a close eye on this. If the XCR appears well-engineered and quality-manufactured, and if it looks good based on reports from reliable, independent testing, I could be tempted to get in line for a Grendelized version. What do you guys think?

John

I need to take a month or so off from gun purchasing to allow my checking account to recover.. September has been rough on the wallet do to AWB sunset purchases. I'd be interested in possibly buying one in say 2 months though. Depending on how the reviews pan out on the XCR.

I need to take a month or so off from gun purchasing to allow my checking account to recover..

Tell me about it... I've been just barely covering my CC bill for like 3 months now. A few months ago, I sold off my post-ban barrels and bought 5 stripped lowers. I've been building and buying uppers and buying optics like they're going out of style. Right now I have a new 20" barrel coming from White Oak and have been eyeing a Nightforce NXS 2.5-10 for the soon to be built rifle... That's gonna smart when it hits my credit card [:)].

Yeah this month has been bad for spending. I had no intentions of buying any more toys for awhile after I finished building up the Grendel (that cost and arm and a leg by itself) then with the sunset I convinced myself (fortunately) to buy a LE Bushy M4A3, then I convinced myself that I needed a Colt LE6920 just in case another ban comes around. Luckily I did this 2 weeks prior to the majority of everyone else and got both M4's for 1700. Well, you can't just have two bare M4's so I "had" to go and drop another large sum of money to build the Bushy out to exactly what I wanted (including buying a new 1 in 7 barrel to replace the new 1 in 9 barrel it came with) Long story short I spent a fortune. Then I decided I just had entirely too much money tied up in firearms to not own a safe. So I carried my ass over to walmart for a safe, well they just weren't good enough but Bass Pro Shops was more then happy to sell me a fire proof safe to my liking. As I said, it's been a pricey month, lol. In the positive side I've got alot of new toys. :D

Dang, Overlander, I'm gonna have to sell some of my kids just to keep up with you! :D

John

No kids here, that's the only reason I can get away with splurging every now and then. I would have NEVER spent the amount I did this month if it wasn't for the sunset and my concerns over price gouging after the fact (that ended up occuring) I have 2 more LE6920's coming in that I'm just keeping in the safe for a rainy day. With Colt coming out and saying no LE sales to civilians it just doubled the value of all of my M4's. I will be pinching pennies for awhile though to make up for my little shopping spree.
Speeking of which:
Anybody want a Leupold CQ/T? NIB for $635 shipped :D

I guess we are all in the same boat. What a great web sight, I got hooked on the Grendel and it a support group all in one place!

I went crazy buying also. Bought a RRA postban upper. I will have to have the pressed on mock crap at the end of the barrel removed and have it treaded.

Bought a case of LEO 30rnd mags. A couple of High Cap Grendels (Thanks Arne) and 8 stripped receivers and a MagPul M93A for my M4gery project.

No guns for this bad boy for at least a couple of months!

Arne,

who did you talk to at robinson? the guy i talked to hadn't even heard of grendel. i've abandonded the ak project i was working on and i'm scrimping my pennies for an xcr. when i did talk to them though, a 7.62x39 version was in the works, this would cut out the need for some custom bolt work at the very least. the next time i call them, i think i'll also ask about a .50 beowulf barrel option. hmmm every thing i needed in one rifle.

blackstar

I spoke to two people and one of them emailed to say they had an interest,,, I told them call Bill Alexander and gave them his phone number.

I talked to Alex Robinson earlier today at the Phoenix gun show. He’s very personable, and had several superb products on display. Including the XCR.

I expressed my interest in the XCR (actually, I signed up for one), they should be in production in late January. I (repeatedly) expressed my interest chambering the XCR in 6.5 Grendel. He said he hadn’t had that many people express interest in the 6.5 Grendel. He also stated he’s got the XCR working extremely well with .223 and 6.8, but he hasn’t worked out the last of the bugs with the 7.62x39.

Since he’s got the bolt for the 7.62x39, the magazines for the 6.8 SPC, all he needs is the 6.5 barrel. Let’s all encourage Alex by calling, ordering an XCR (I did .223, since I’ve no interest in 6.8 SPC) and/or requesting he work the Grendel option.

I'm watching the XCR carefully, don't know if I'm ready to bite yet. It SEEMS like the best thing going, but I don't know if I'll rush to be an early adopter. To me it looks better even than the new FN SCAR-L, given that RobArms has designed the XCR to be ambidextrous, and I'm not yet sure about the FN SCAR-L. If true, the XCR has a major advantage.

Sounds like the FN SCAR-L promises MAJOR reliability; I'm waiting to see how well the XCR will do in that department. Also would like to see what kind of accuracy the barrel-change system allows. It's hard to do something like that well—we'll have to see what RobArms has done with it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I think the combination of a 7.62x39 XCR for cheap shooting and the switch to 6.5 Grendel for serious stuff is brilliantly easy with only a barrel change. Since 7.62x39 and 6.5G share the exact same bolt and Alexander Arms has 6.5G mags, it's a match made in assault-rifle heaven.

I hope every promise the XCR seems to hold comes true, that it's truly well thought-out and engineered. If so, I would maintain that chambering it in the 6.5 Grendel would give citizens a better combat weapon than our troops! Let them envy us! That would be an interesting situation!

John

Bill and I will be looking at the production XCR at the SHOT show (Jan 28-31).

I spoke to Robarms months ago and am waiting until it released before I even carry it in .223 - I want to make sure it works and works well before I take a person's money for one.

I was not only impressed with how the XCR looks, but also the overall ergonomic fit and feel.

The balance/fit & feel reminded me of (10+ years ago when I had limited firearms experience) the first time I picked up and fired an AR-15 and fell in love with the way it came up to my cheek. The sights were instinctively perfectly aligned, and all controls were intuitively obvious. I’ve handled literally thousands of firearms since. NONE have made this impression. The controls layout is optimal IMO.

The XCR I handled was a prototype, and Alex Robinson said several things will be changed for the final production design, which is apparently not finalized at this point. All changes Alex pointed out were minor sensible changes, and a few addressed my only nit-pick complaints.

If the XCR functions as good as it looks and feels, Alex Robinson has a winner.

Blu, first of all, before I ask my questions, please respect anything you feel Alex wouldn't want you to say. Second, spill everything you know! ;)

If you feel free to do so, how exactly does the bolt-release device work? Have you seen a Bushmaster .308's bolt-release? Is it like that?

And what is the barrel-change mechanism? Is it like the M96?

John

Unlike Gary Paul Johnston (who states BS with absolutely nothing to back it up), I'll admit the following opinions are just opinions from my personal knowledge of firearms and an engineering background, so the following statements can once again be taken for what it is worth.

I don’t think there was much Alex did not want anyone to say, but spilling absolutely everything I know about any subject will only take a few seconds…

Bolt release – Yes. Like the Bushmaster .308 (kinda like my FAL), but easier to reach, better look/feel, and surprisingly easy to release with an extended index finger. I was impressed when I saw the release on the Bushmaster .308 - until I saw the XCR.

Barrel change is performed by a fairly large machine screw (Allen – hex head). It is not like the M96. I think retaining the barrel assembly with a machine screw may prove superior, but I haven’t handled the XCR nor the M96 enough to justify this statement…

Looks like an interesting design, let's hope it catches on! ;)

The XCR is out, but only offered in 5.56 as a base line. You have to pay extra for the 6.8 "kit". I asked them about the 7.62x39 version and it won't be out till summer, which means a 6.5 Gren will have to be some time after that.

Darn. I was hoping to replace my old H&K 91A2 sooner than that (and in case anyone is interested, its in EXCELLENT condition for a 27 year old rifle)