I just picked up a new XCR, and I must say I'm impressed. AR ergonomics and accessories, AK heart and soul.
Mini-Review, pointless on xcrforum.com I know, but I can help it:
The Good:
1. Charging Handle in Correct Place.
2. Charging Handle in Correct Place.
3. Charging Handle in Correct Place. (Note, I like where the charging handle is.)
4. Designed for a folder from the ground up.
5. Switch Caliber.
6. Any sights I want.
7. Monolithic.
8. Nice bolt release.
9. Takes AR boytoys.
10. Magpul Maglevel = worky.
11. AK innards, complete with piston.
12. Adjustable gas.
13. Replaceable shell deflector.
14. Operating lever only turns 60deg, which is nice.
15. Good machine work throughout.
16. Forward Assist.
The Bad, IMHO:
1. The charging handle is aluminum. I worry about breaking it.
2. The bolt stop itself within the gun looks like it came out of a McDonalds toy, not a $1500 gun. Can anyone say Parkerized Tool Steel?
3. The trigger hurts me. A lot. It was 17lbs, 4 ounces.
4. I would rather have an AR style captive pin up front than the pull a circlip out.
5. I don't like the type of clip that is used for the hammer pin. It seems like it might be a liability in combat.
6. The gas tube and bolt release shelf rattle. :-(
I was so in love with the rifle, and so disturbed at the trigger, I broke down and did a trigger job on it.
Never do this yourself unless you know exactly what you are doing, btw. I've done it almost 100 times, and have a ton of reference materials and tools to do it. M14, AR15, 1911, HK, AK,....a trigger is a trigger is a trigger.
Looking at the trigger, there were a bunch of things not conducive to a good trigger pull. First, the trigger portion of the trigger job was unworked in any way. This is odd because the hammer hook looked like it had been finished some. The trigger was just a casting with the angle on it for the hammer hook.
While this angle perfectly matched the angle on the hammer (not common), this angle was at odds with the axis of rotation of the trigger/hammer assembly. This forces the rifle to draw the hammer back as the trigger is pulled, raising the trigger pull weight substantially during the first stage.
On the one hand, this is a good safety feature. The negative angle draws the trigger into the pocket created by the hammer hook, virtually ensuring that you won't fire unintentionally if you happen to hold the trigger very near the area where the disconnecter engages and the trigger hooks come into play.
The XCR's disconnecter disconnects the hammer very far from the edge of the triggers engagement, so this isn't much of a problem unless you shorten the hammer hook or trigger ledge unduly. I don't think I'll have a problem here.
At any rate, back to the meat of it. I matched the angles on the trigger ledge and hammer hook to be at 90" degrees of axial rotation and in full contact. It took 1.5 hours of stoning and checking.
Afterwards, the trigger pull is now a two stage 4.5lbs, and feels so much nicer. It still has some roughness due to a lot of finish and such on the moving surfaces around the pins, but with time that will wear in and become less of an issue.
The rifle passed all cold safety checks (safety on/no fire, disconnector/no hammer follow, hard buttstock slam 20x/no hammer follow, safety change/no fire).
Time to see how it goes at the range tomorrow.
