The

Robinson Armament Co. Robinson Armament Co. is a firearms manufacturer based in North Salt Lake, Utah, United States.Tom WhartonAt sprawling Vegas gun show, firearms and fiery talk mix ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (January 18, 2013). As of 2009, it employed 15 people.Brandon ...

XCR is a multi-caliber, gas piston

weapon A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

system developed by

for U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) to satisfy the requirements of the SOF Combat Assault Rifle, or SCAR competition, but was disqualified on a technicality due to late delivery of blank firing adapters. Robinson Armament continued development and the XCR is now being offered to law enforcement, the military and general public. Deliveries of the rifle began in mid-2006. The XCR was displayed to

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

officials during an invitation-only Industry Day on November 13, 2008. The goal of the Industry Day was to review current carbine technology prior to writing formal requirements for a future replacement for the

M4 Carbine The M4 carbine (officially Carbine, Caliber 5.56 mm, M4) is a 5.56×45mm NATO, gas-operated, magazine-fed carbine developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle. The M4 is extensively ...

Overview

The XCR utilizes a heavy duty bolt and extractor connected to a long stroke type gas piston. The bolt and extractor are designed and patented by Robinson Arms, and promoted as offering higher performance over eight lug

M16 The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-roun ...

/ M4 type bolts. Other features include a folding stock which eases storage space consumption and deploying from a vehicle, in addition to telescoping

style stocks for those who prefer length of pull adjustments; it also has a monolithic top

Picatinny rail The Picatinny rail ( or ), or Pic rail for short, also known as a MIL-STD-1913 rail, 1913 rail or STANAG 2324 rail (cancelled), is a military standard rail interface system that provides a mounting platform for firearm accessories. It was o ...

with side and under-barrel rails, and

forward assist Forward assisting is the practice of moving the bolt or bolt carrier of a firearm fully forward when the return spring has not done so (or there is a chance that it will not have done so). Some firearms have a dedicated device to allow forward a ...

integrated into left-side charging handle.

Caliber conversions

The XCR is a multi-caliber weapon system. The base rifle is chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO. Conversions to other calibers and barrel lengths can be performed in 2 to 3 minutes without the need of a trained armorer, and using only a standard hex wrench, and consist of changing to the appropriately chambered barrel and bolt, replacing brass deflector (optional) and insertion of appropriate magazine.

.300 AAC Blackout The .300 AAC Blackout (designated as the 300 BLK by the SAAMI and 300 AAC Blackout by the C.I.P. or 300 AAC Blackout'' C.I.P. TDCC sheet 300 ACC Blackout/ref>), also known as 7.62×35mm, is an intermediate cartridge developed in the United Sta ...

6.8mm Remington SPC The 6.8mm Remington Special Purpose Cartridge (6.8 SPC, 6.8 SPC II or 6.8×43mm) is a rimless bottlenecked intermediate rifle cartridge that was developed by Remington Arms in collaboration with members of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit and U ...

6.5mm Grendel The 6.5mm Grendel is an intermediate cartridge jointly designed by British-American armorer Bill Alexander, competitive shooter Arne Brennan (of Houston, Texas) and Lapua ballistician Janne Pohjoispää, as a low-recoil, high-precision rifle cart ...

, and

7.62×39mm The 7.62×39mm (aka 7.62 Soviet, formerly .30 Russian Short) round is a rimless bottlenecked intermediate cartridge of Soviet origin. The cartridge is widely used due to the worldwide proliferation of Russian SKS and AK-47 pattern rifles, as ...

are the current conversion kits available. The barrel retention design of the XCR is seen as a weak point to the design (when compared to the design of the Magpul Masada / Bushmaster ACR in particular), as the retention bolt can back out slightly, potentially causing POI shift and function issues. In addition to conversion kits, complete factory guns in the alternate calibers are also sold.

Operating mechanism

The XCR employs a Kalashnikov type, gas operated action with the bolt carrier attached to a long-stroke gas piston; the gas chamber is located above the barrel. The proprietary bolt is a three-lug design that locks onto the barrel extension leaving the upper receiver unstressed. There is no need to check the headspace when changing barrels. A steel fixed ejector is attached to the inside of the receiver, held in place by two bolts. The manufacturer claims this design provides stronger ejection than what is offered on the

AR-15 An AR-15-style rifle is any lightweight semi-automatic rifle based on the Colt AR-15 design. The original ArmaLite AR-15 is a scaled-down derivative of Eugene Stoner's ArmaLite AR-10 design. The then Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation d ...

's spring-loaded ejector design. The ejection pattern is to the two o'clock position of the operator, with an optimum distance of 15 ft to 20 ft depending on ammunition type and gas setting. Magazines are

STANAG 4179 In NATO, a standardization agreement (STANAG, redundantly: STANAG agreement) defines processes, procedures, terms, and conditions for common military or technical procedures or equipment between the member countries of the alliance. Each NATO st ...

type.

Construction

The upper receiver is made from anodized aluminum forgings, and is non-stressed. It features a non-reciprocating charging handle on left side which also acts as a forward assist. The quad rail system is integrated into the upper receiver and compatible with most 1913 Picatinny devices. The top rail is monolithic and 17" long, providing a rigid, uninterrupted plane for mounting optics and BUIS (Backup Iron Sights); the 3, 6, and 9 O'clock Position Rails are 8" long. En-XCR stripped

History and variants

The XCR was designed in 2004 by Alex J. Robinson of

Production of the XCR-L variant of the rifle began in mid-2006. The XCR-L is currently available in 5.56×45mm NATO,

and

calibers. Each of these calibers is available in kit form for converting an existing rifle to one of the other calibers. The XCR-M .308 was officially confirmed via Robinson Arms email circulation to a public reveal at SHOT show 2011. The

variant began shipping in November 2007. The

rifles and conversion kits began shipping in July 2008. In August 2009 Robinson Arms began shipping 3 different sized upper receivers enabling

PDW Personal defense weapons (PDWs) are a class of firearms intended for self-defense and security rather than warfare and infantry. Most PDWs fire a small-caliber (less than ), centerfire bottleneck cartridge resembling a scaled-down intermediate ...

and pistol style variants: * Standard Upper Receiver – The original length and designed to support barrel lengths from 11" to 18.6". * Mini Upper Receivers – 15.25" long and designed to support barrel lengths from 9" to 18.6". Primarily intended for barrel lengths from 9" to 10". * Micro Upper Receivers – 13.25" long and designed to support barrel lengths from 7.5" to 18.6". Primarily intended for barrel lengths from 7.5" to 8". Variants are also available in "

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

" versions which are limited to meet the more restrictive State of California firearms laws. Robinson Armament also produced an 18.6" barrel version for the Canadian market. The XCR rifles intended for the Canadian market were shipped with the FAST stock (fully adjustable stock), although aftermarket stocks are available as an accessory. These rifles shipped with a single magazine pinned to accept only five rounds. On May 1, 2020, the XCR was reclassified as a Prohibited Firearm and is no longer legal to import or sell in Canada. Since its introduction in 2006, components of the XCR have been updated. Most of these enhancements are available to existing XCR owners. * In November 2006 the

firing pin A firing pin or striker is a part of the firing mechanism of a firearm that impacts the primer in the base of a cartridge and causes it to fire. In firearms terminology, a striker is a particular type of firing pin where a compressed spring ...

was redesigned and made more durable and robust. * The first few hundred XCRs shipped with

Yankee Hill Machine The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Its various senses depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, residents of the Northern United St ...

(YHM) back up iron sights ( BUIS). The most recent iteration ships either without BUIS or with BUIS designed by

Midwest Industries The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

. * A 2nd generation adjustable gas system started shipping with XCR rifles in July 2007. The 1st generation gas system required tools (a 5/8" wrench) to adjust. The 2nd generation system can be adjusted by hand. * The XCR's

hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...

was updated in July 2008 concurrent with the release of the 7.62×39 rifles/kits. The new heavier design allows the XCR to ignite some newer Wolf 7.62×39 ammunition made with extra-hard primers. * In early 2009 Robinson began shipping rifles with an integral winter-style

trigger guard A trigger guard is a protective loop surrounding the trigger of a firearm designed to prevent unwanted contact with the trigger, which may cause an accidental discharge. Other devices that use a trigger-like actuator mechanism, such as inhalers, c ...

and new paddle style

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

. A provision for a quick detachable sling loop was added to the stock mount. * A two-stage match trigger is available which will break at approximately 3.5 lbs. This trigger can be ordered with a new rifle or retrofitted to an older one. The older one was a two-stage trigger that was about twice as heavy, and some complaints included trigger slap. As of May 2009, the new trigger has been shipping with all new rifles. * Ambidextrous mag release was demonstrated at SHOT 2010 and is now available. * XCR-M .308 and XCR-L 5.45 calibers have been confirmed for public announcement and display at SHOT show 2011 via Robinson e-mail bulletin. * Aftermarket adapters are available to allow the use of the Bushmaster ACR stock on XCR rifles. The FAST stock the XCR comes with is not highly regarded by most end users, and is considered by many the only significant shortcoming of the platform aside from the barrel retention bolt.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Robinson Arm website

Official Online Discussion Forum

Defense Review prototype overview

XCR review, March 2007

XCR review, April 2010
.300 BLK firearms 5.56 mm assault rifles 7.62×39mm assault rifles 7.62×51mm NATO firearms 5.45×39mm assault rifles Weapons and ammunition introduced in 2006