Well the gun gods smiled down on me today and let me get to my FFL before they closed to take possession of my new Boberg XR9-S Platinum edition. This is only the second firearm I've ever bought without actually holding it in my hands and I have to say I am very impressed. The first thing that stood out to me was the quality of the machining work on the pistol. It was very obvious that this was a labor of love for the craftsman making it and it absolutely shows in the final product.
I actually expected this firearm to be a little heavier than it turned out to be, which initially worried me my ability to stay on target during rapid firing. My fears were put to rest shortly after taking it to the range for it's initial run. Trigger pull on my XR9 mesaured between 7.91lbs and 8.07lbs and I personally feel it is on par with the smoothness and crisp reset as the Rohrbaugh.
The only thing that took me for a surprise is the direction and velocity that it ejects the spent cartridge. They ejected almost backwards close to 20 feet and actually hit one of the Boberg spectators in the neck. He was fine and was jokingly harassed by others for being in the line of the "ejection-fire". After initially putting around 30 rounds through it, just to get the feel for it and my comfort level up with the firearm, I put out the first 'pictured' target at 7 yards.
The first picture of the top right target I was firing Hornady Critical Duty JHP 135 Grain. Now I DO NOT claim to be anywhere near the worlds best shot with a pocket gun, so this was satisfactory to me. This was 5 rounds at 7 yards, fired slowly and deliberately aiming at the center of the target. I did not feel as if I was inconsistent aiming or firing the gun. The rounds just were not nearly as uniform as the other ammunition and I honestly cannot blame the grouping here as pure shooters error. I felt very consistent during each shot with regards to aiming and trigger pull. Sometimes you know immediately when you fire low/high or off center. I did not get this feeling with these rounds but the results show differently.
The second picture of the top left target I was firing Speer Gold Dot 124 Grain JHP. This ammo was obviously slightly easier to fire (although the 135 grain Hornady was not hard to handle either) I felt better about my results firing 5 rounds at 7 yards. I did have two rounds lower than the others, and I can blame this 100% as shooters error. I knew immediately that I had fired low, and the other 3 shots I felt went exactly on target when the gun fired.
The third picture is of all the Hornady Critical Duty JHP 135 Grain I had left, 24 or 25 rounds fired at 5 yards. Just as stated above, I am not the greatest pocket pistol shooter, and there were a few stragglers in the group, but the results are consistent with the "inconsistency" of the same ammunition fired at 7 yards.
The last picture is of the final 15 rounds of Speer Gold Dot 124 Grain JHP that I had brought with me, fired at 5 yards. The round at the bottom right of the target is a part of a different grouping in another picture. I felt I had better consistency with the Gold Dots on this group just as before at 7 yards. There are a few errant shots that are of my doing, but it appears that I have measurably better results with the Gold Dots than the Hornady ammunition with this Boberg and will use the Gold Dots when I carry this firearm. It will be some time before I can do that because now I have to find a good lefty holster for it. As I practice more and more with this firearm, I know my results will improve however I am fully satisfied with the results I got with the Gold Dots and have the confidence to carry this weapon in the future.
Conclusion:
I had zero issues with this pistol, and after firing close to 150 through it today, (mostly by me, but a friend of mine at the range 'HAD' to shoot it, than one of the gunsmiths came out and put 2 magazines through it! I am very impressed thus far with it's reliability and ease of firing. The firearm was very comfortable and I can see how one could easily put several hundred rounds through it in a range session without discomfort. Field stripping and cleaning were just as simple as can be, and I am just absolutely thoroughly pleased with this firearm in every way so far. If you don't have one - GET ONE!! I am so glad I finally did.
