Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance. Having counseled me not to fall in love with the Caracal C in the first place, Ralph may laugh at my progress through the U.A.E. gat grieving process. But it is what it is. Or was. The C was my EDC (everyday carry) gun. Now, it isn’t. And the time is fast approaching when I will have to say my final goodbye to my C. And the mags. And the awesome RKBA Kydex holsters that carried it. But not straightaway . . .
Caracal’s having issues with the shipping procedure. Something about customers shipping loaded guns and U.P.S. only accepting the boxes at main offices. They’ll arrive in a couple of weeks. A full refund will follow. And then, the new gun (CP661) will be available! Same great trigger, Quick Sights and mid-engine-like ergos! Better striations! Only not this summer (as I was told at SHOT). Next year.
By then, I should be well into the anger phase.
Why?
Do you mean “why no new handguns until 2015?” or “why would anyone even consider buying a Caracal ever again after the way they’ve handled this debacle?”
The latter.
Um…how else should the have handled it? They not only refunded me the money for the gun, but for my holsters and accessories as well. No questions asked.
I’ll definitely buy a new Caracal when they’re available.
I don’t get the appeal. It looks pretty much like a Glock and operates like one, right? Why not just get a Glock?
It’s got a lower “bore axis” c’mon bro do u even operate.
Bro, it doesn’t look that much lower, bro.
If Bob wanted to tactically operate like a professional operator, he’d operate his phone, high speed low drag dial up Arsenal, and stealthily ask about the Strike One, bro.
It’s got a bore axis so low you couldn’t even limbo under it, manlet.
Do you even lift?
U aware Michael B.?
u wot, m8?
Yah, bro. I don’t even know how you could even operate without a Strike One.
It has superior com-bloc pedigree that allows for proper threat vectoring engagement at maximum intervals of intimidation. Brand recognition is so prevalent even among Tangos that bowel evacuation is standard threat response to Strike One deployment.
bros, there’s always the Steyr to operate with in the meantime http://www.steyrarms.com/products/sporting-rifles/steyr-pistol-m-a1/ and in compact flavor for stealth operations in your civvies http://www.steyrarms.com/products/sporting-riflespistols/steyr-pistol-s-a1/
It got electrolytes…
Holy crap.
I’m sitting in a waiting room, trying to suppress laughter.
I’ve got tears forming, so I couldn’t operate if wanted to.
…makes plants grow and stuff!
@Michael B., read the reviews of the Caracal C on TTAG and you will understand.
Bite your tongue Micheal!!! It is not a GLOCK, not by a long shot.
The ergo is way different.
To that end, RF, Caracal needs to open a US based manufacturing plant. IWI did it, and they can’t ship their product fast enough. Not sure if they are building the Jericho in the US or not, it was difficult to tell.
I’d have to hold one to find out how different they are. That being said, I don’t find my Glock 19 uncomfortable and the bore axis is pretty low already.
I have a Glock. The caracal felt better. The trigger was as good out of the box as the replacement I put in the Glock. And the felt recoil was lower.
Too bad for all the Caracal fans.
At this point with all the stuff that has happened, I wonder if they wouldn’t be better off taking the HS2000 route and rebranding their gun with the help of an American company.
Too bad for all the Caracal fans.
I’m sure they’re both inconsolable.
DAAAAAAAAAAAAMN! Robert, you gonna just let that one slide?
IMO, Caracals probably pulling out of the US market and just doesn’t want to trigger a panic by announcing so.
People being people, if you say “were not doing business in America due to regulatory BS” , everyone with a Caracal will hang onto it in a nationa orgy of hoarding. If you say it’s a recall, well everyone will trip over themselves to send back the hardware.
Whoopty shit.
I’ve been waiting very eagerly for the new line. I’ve seen the release date go from first quarter 2014 (http://www.recoilweb.com/first-look-new-guns-from-caracal-35567.html) to late 2014 (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=577061399047921&set=pb.264796943607703.-2207520000.1392226154.&type=3). Where is the source of information for 2015? I see nothing new on their website or facebook.
Straight from the customer service rep’s mouth.
My five stages are complete. The F was my EDC (due to its design, the F was only slightly larger than a glock 19 and slimmer too). Since then I’ve gone all-in on Glock 19/17 and haven’t looked back. I don’t have the time to wait around for Caracal to un-f*ck themselves, and once you accept Glock-bite as a part of your life, being a Glock guy is a pretty sweet gig; good trigger, low recoil, spare parts availability, lots of sight options, magazines are cheap and plentiful at retail stores, a customer service department that can get your gun back to you in a few weeks instead of two years, endless holster options, etc. I had to learn to hold the Caracal low so as not to trip its retarded slide release in the middle of a mag. I can hold the Glocks as high as I want without having to worry about locking the slide back in the middle of a mag. I’m glad I went back to Glock.
I would not have trusted caracal from the get go. For a toy I might’ve owned one, but for my life I own sig, glock, and XD’s. Sometimes it’s good to go with the flow instead of having an off the wall brand.
The “XD” was ‘off the wall’ until Springfield stamped their name on it.
I know that I am going to get flamed by every XD fanboy out there, but I’d trust my Caracal over that Croatian piece of shit any day of the week. The third pistol I ever owned was an XDm. Full mags wouldn’t seat, recoils hard relative to other striker fired guns and experienced multiple failures to feed. Springfield wasn’t even that nice about it… they treated me like I was the problem. My caracal never gave me a hiccup that wasn’t operator error (i.e. holding too high and tripping the slide lock, as previously mentioned), the trigger was a dream and it pointed better than any handgun I’ve ever owned. The “no-recoil” myth was B.S., the Caracal was comparable to Glock in terms of recoil but overall it was an excellent gun. I broke up with caracal because of the Company, not the design.
“once you accept Glock-bite as a part of your life”
I have never had that issue. I have big hands but they aren’t very meaty. Even for those that it does happen to, Glock has a solution if you go with the Gen 4. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/986299/glock-generation-4-beavertail-backstrap-kit-glock-17-22-31-34-35-37-polymer-black
Or a Grip Force adapter. I have one on the way, which should help the crappy grip angle and beavertail issues I have with my G22.
Yeah it doesn’t happen often but I use a high grip to manage recoil. So, sometimes I get a bite. The upside is that you only realize you’ve been bitten after you’re done for the day, so it has not bearing on shootability.
I have the slide bite problem with compact gen 3 Glocks, but not gen 4s. Seems they took off juuuuust enough material around the grip so that the slide doesn’t catch my hand anymore.
At this point, I’d move on to another gun and just drop it…WAIT.
ha.
RF…go to the light brother…follow the light. 1911
Right. Because who doesn’t want a gun that forces you to be your own gunsmith.
pffft. You just have to buy a GOOD one, is all.
You mean that anything more than a lever and a couple of pieces requires a gunsmith?
Subjectively, to me gunsmithing is defined as:
1) Parts need to be filed to fit
2) Springs need to be adjusted and tuned to achieve reliable function.
Also, hunting for the magical magazine that will work with your gun is a pain in the ass.
“Um, hey Glocks? It’s 1911s calling. You win.”
+1 on the blue buffalo by the way.
A gun, built by raabs, that don’t work, that often suffers catastrophic failures, with zero customer support (but is some how ‘Better’ than a Gluck),,,what is not to Luv?
Me smell secondary agenda!
Buh-bye, Caracal. We hardly knew ye.
RF, what is your EDC now?
Kahr PM9.
I got my pm9 on your recommendation (generally, through the website of course) and I’m incredibly happy with it. Great, simple little gun!
You actually trust your life to that gun? See S&W, Glock,, Sig, HK Ruger…..
Ruger pistols? Ewwwwwwwww!
A Ruger SR9c is my new carry gun. You should give one of those a try.
I’m with homeguntraining on this one. Ruger pistols are a big yuck. Ruger rifles on the other hand…
Ruger’s are not as pretty as some guns, but they’re built like tanks and work.
If you’re hung up on a Caracal, try a Steyr. Same designer, similarly low bore axis, and, most importantly, still available.
Is that Blue Buffalo dog food in the container with the gun?
I am sooo glad I was able to return my C with QS for a full refund.
This is tremendously disappointing. Farago’s C was an outstanding shooter, and one of my favorite test pistols of all time.
This announcement from Caracal leaves a bad taste in my mouth, though, because all of the wonderful things the Caracal folks told us at the SHOT Show just four weeks ago were complete bullshit.
If Caracal didn’t have its shit together to sell guns this year, I have to question their enormous expenditure in bringing their Potempkin Village of display guns to the SHOT Show. Keeping their brand alive is an exercise in futility when there’s no product to sell.
As any marketing whiz will tell you, “Fix the product, *then* fix the brand.”
I don’t expect Caracal to recover from this, nor do I think it particularly deserves to. One can’t imagine Glock or H&K announcing a one-year hiatus on production and importation, because they’d lose their market and go bankrupt.
It’s a shame such a promising gun will never be available here, but this gun is now dead.
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