Aniest
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Edmonton city limits and east
So, I just got done with a long afternoon at the range with my new Boberg XR9-L Onyx: provided to me by Wanstalls!!! 
Latest Update, Bolded in Green: I got out to the range and fired all the part boxes leftover from the original testing.
So, here it goes:
Range: Spruce Grove Gun Club
Targets: Canada Targets
Weather: Kestrel from Scout Basecamp
- 28.1C / 82.5F in the shade, well over 38C / 100F in full sun with a 11.8KM/h or 6.4 ft/sec crosswind.
Ammo: various from where ever I could get 124gr (ammo of my choice), including Custom Reloading Service
Cleaning: CLP Breakfree and Pro Shot Pro Gold (I called Pro Shot today - Pro Gold does NOT have copper)
First procedure: home inspection and cleaning, including install of the 6lb spring.
This was as simple as having a 1.5mm Allen wrench and a 1/16" punch. Remove the grips, slide the bottom retaining pin out, exchange spring and replace. Be sure to re-locktite with some purple or blue!!!
Second procedure: Run the Boberg XR9-L Onyx with 93 rounds of Winchester 115gr FMJ from a 100 round white box value pack (with cooling after every 28 rounds).
I ordered with my Onyx two extra magazines for a total of four. Two came with followers and two without. Let me give one humble bit of advice to the genius Arne Boberg: if anyone tells you the magazines need followers they are idiots!!! I tried with Winchester 115gr FMJ the very first two magazines (rounds 1-14) without followers and they worked flawless. I tried the second two magazines with followers and I had problems: the first round was a pain to load and the last (#7) had to be rammed in, and then thefirst round wouldn't load right (FTF). The spring alone allows a much smoother operation: after 280 rounds without any followers, my two followers have been delegated to the spare parts bin.Other than that, those 93 rounds went flawless. However, some of these rounds actually ejected as far away as 25-30ft: retrieving brass was a lost cause among the rest of the range brass.
Third procedure: field strip and major clean.
This is actually quite easy to accomplish: just follow all the nice guides and the operator's/owner's manual. I used CLP Break free and a touch of Pro-shot Pro Gold as the anti-seize.
Fourth procedure: pick an ammo, run 14 rounds (2 magazines) as function test (checking for extracted bullets), let cool, run 7 rounds as accuracy test from benchrest, clean & let cool.
Notes:
-I had a few jams based on AMMO, not the XR9. The little gun is damn robust, no problems hitting it with the no-mar hammer, prying two metal case rounds out of the extractor, and stuff like that.
-Shooting today was done with a Kestrel weather meter to see what heat did to the XR9-L: it was amazing how fast a field stripped XR9 would cool down in the shade in the wind.
The Bottom Six I Tested:
- I hate to say it, but Custom Reloading Services 124gr JRN and 124gr JHP were the worst. I tried the JRN first, fired 24 rounds and got 3 jammed rounds. It seems that, from seeing unique rings on the ammo above the base, that the base was not sized tight enough for the Boberg XR9. It does, however, fit a 1911 9mm and a Glock 9mm at the range (thanks to other shooters) so I believe it to be an issue with how the XR9 barrel is, not the ammo reloader. The 124gr 10 round group was 3.000". I fired 15 rounds of the 124gr JHP and got 3 more jammed rounds, so I quit there with no accuracy grouping: I had to ram the Boberg apart 6 times on this ammo (the no-mar hammer pounding mentioned above).
EDIT: I was asked how this jamming happened. As the barrel rotates to "lock up" the action the extractor has the casing so strongly that the round has to rotate in the chamber: if the case is too large or it is jammed up on a bad crimp/bullet/etc., then the barrel gets jammed trying to rotate around the casing. As you can see, the casing is fully in the chamber, but the slide will not close because the barrel cannot rotate.
- Hornady Steel Match 9mm Luger 125Gr HAP #90275 had 2 Failure To Feed out of a complete 50 round box. The bullets would get slightly pulled, just enough to get the bullet caught on the underside of the barrel. Un-touched rounds average 1.067"OAL. I tried using the XR9 to "pull 7 rounds from the magazine but intercept it" before loading into the chamber: these averaged about 1.069" OAL but I got one at 1.071" and one at 1.075". I want to note that this was the last ammo I tried, with 244 rounds though the XR9-L before trying this ammo, and jamming on the full round and not while ejecting an empty. Accuracy group was great at 1.30". I count it as a worst based on reliability, not accuracy.
EDIT: Further thought and investigation of these rounds makes me believe that most of the problem is with the HAP bullet shape - the magazine 'lips' catch these rounds too hard on the straight taper of the bullet.
- Remington UMC 9mm Luger 124Gr MC LMM2: Fired a complete 50 round box: I got one round, up side down in the middle of the un-opened box, that was too long and would not fit in the magazine. I count this as an anomaly. Otherwise it fed and operated well, with a good group of 2.10".
- Winchester 115gr FMJ from 100 round value pack. No problems with whole 100 rounds. Accuracy grouping of 7 rounds was good at 2.065".
- American Eagle 124Gr FMJ AE9AP had one Failure to Extract, it was the last round of magazine 3 (round 21 of 21). I count this as an anomaly, but might test more later. Fired two complete boxes (100 rounds). Accuracy grouping was great at 1.735", and base my 'position' of this ammo based on that. One FTE on round 49 of second box, second last round of last magazine of the day.
The Top Three I Liked:
- The best 124gr ammo for recoil, control and operation that I tested: Remington UMC Leadless LL9MM2. If I was going to the range to shoot my Boberg XR9-L to let others try or shot in doors, I would use this stuff as it has the added bonus of being very clean shooting and leadless. (My opinion only.) The accuracy was great at 1.50", another big bonus. A complete box of 50 fired.
- Winchester 124Gr FMJ target comes in as my number two because it is very readily available at many CGN sponsors, Wholesale Sports(Website: $18.99) and Cabala's (Website: not listed). It operated fine, although a bit "snappy" in the small frame XR9; but tended to leave the most brass flakes in the action and required more care with cleaning, however. The grouping came out wesome at 1.20" for seven rounds off of the bench rest. A complete box of 50 rounds fired.
- My personal choice, after shooting the whole 50 round box, is the Sellier and Bellot 8,0 g 124grs FMJ. There are reports that this ammo has harder primers, but I had absolutely no problems with it in the 6lb trigger: it ran flawless. The grouping, however, are "unique" and show great potential with the second to sixth shots at 0.49" but the first and last rounds making the group 1.90". I later tried a very concentrated free standing two handed shooting at 10 feet (not the bench rest 15 feet) with second to sixth shots at 0.79" and the whole seven rounds at 1.73". I finished up the day with this box and will likely buy this ammo to shoot with.
Other Notes:
- I have fingers that are just long enough that holding the XR9 my pinkie finger lands exactly half way into the magazine bottomplate. I think a magazine with an extra 3/8" would help some people including me. After a bit over 240 rounds with my pinkie below the magazine while free standing shooting and another 50-53 or so rounds with my pinkie 'crushed' into the magazine while bench rest group testing: my pinkie hurts a lot.
- My range day ended when I fired round 294 and could not fire round 295. I had replaced the 7.5lb trigger to a 6lb trigger myself, being very sure to set everything back the way it had been. It turns out that the trigger spring retaining pin at the bottom of the magazine area slid sideways and let it loose. I, trying to be prepared, remembered to bring everything including the kitchen sink to the range but excluding my 1.5mm Allen wrench. This is a known issue on production and I fixed it at home the same way anyone else can: I had put a tiny drop of red locktite on one end of the retaining pin to prevent this.
So, there it is. Now I have to clean up the Boberg XR9-L and get to bed!!!!
Latest Update, Bolded in Green: I got out to the range and fired all the part boxes leftover from the original testing.
So, here it goes:
Range: Spruce Grove Gun Club
Targets: Canada Targets
Weather: Kestrel from Scout Basecamp
- 28.1C / 82.5F in the shade, well over 38C / 100F in full sun with a 11.8KM/h or 6.4 ft/sec crosswind.
Ammo: various from where ever I could get 124gr (ammo of my choice), including Custom Reloading Service
Cleaning: CLP Breakfree and Pro Shot Pro Gold (I called Pro Shot today - Pro Gold does NOT have copper)
First procedure: home inspection and cleaning, including install of the 6lb spring.
This was as simple as having a 1.5mm Allen wrench and a 1/16" punch. Remove the grips, slide the bottom retaining pin out, exchange spring and replace. Be sure to re-locktite with some purple or blue!!!
Second procedure: Run the Boberg XR9-L Onyx with 93 rounds of Winchester 115gr FMJ from a 100 round white box value pack (with cooling after every 28 rounds).
I ordered with my Onyx two extra magazines for a total of four. Two came with followers and two without. Let me give one humble bit of advice to the genius Arne Boberg: if anyone tells you the magazines need followers they are idiots!!! I tried with Winchester 115gr FMJ the very first two magazines (rounds 1-14) without followers and they worked flawless. I tried the second two magazines with followers and I had problems: the first round was a pain to load and the last (#7) had to be rammed in, and then thefirst round wouldn't load right (FTF). The spring alone allows a much smoother operation: after 280 rounds without any followers, my two followers have been delegated to the spare parts bin.Other than that, those 93 rounds went flawless. However, some of these rounds actually ejected as far away as 25-30ft: retrieving brass was a lost cause among the rest of the range brass.
Third procedure: field strip and major clean.
This is actually quite easy to accomplish: just follow all the nice guides and the operator's/owner's manual. I used CLP Break free and a touch of Pro-shot Pro Gold as the anti-seize.
Fourth procedure: pick an ammo, run 14 rounds (2 magazines) as function test (checking for extracted bullets), let cool, run 7 rounds as accuracy test from benchrest, clean & let cool.
Notes:
-I had a few jams based on AMMO, not the XR9. The little gun is damn robust, no problems hitting it with the no-mar hammer, prying two metal case rounds out of the extractor, and stuff like that.
-Shooting today was done with a Kestrel weather meter to see what heat did to the XR9-L: it was amazing how fast a field stripped XR9 would cool down in the shade in the wind.
The Bottom Six I Tested:
- I hate to say it, but Custom Reloading Services 124gr JRN and 124gr JHP were the worst. I tried the JRN first, fired 24 rounds and got 3 jammed rounds. It seems that, from seeing unique rings on the ammo above the base, that the base was not sized tight enough for the Boberg XR9. It does, however, fit a 1911 9mm and a Glock 9mm at the range (thanks to other shooters) so I believe it to be an issue with how the XR9 barrel is, not the ammo reloader. The 124gr 10 round group was 3.000". I fired 15 rounds of the 124gr JHP and got 3 more jammed rounds, so I quit there with no accuracy grouping: I had to ram the Boberg apart 6 times on this ammo (the no-mar hammer pounding mentioned above).
EDIT: I was asked how this jamming happened. As the barrel rotates to "lock up" the action the extractor has the casing so strongly that the round has to rotate in the chamber: if the case is too large or it is jammed up on a bad crimp/bullet/etc., then the barrel gets jammed trying to rotate around the casing. As you can see, the casing is fully in the chamber, but the slide will not close because the barrel cannot rotate.
- Hornady Steel Match 9mm Luger 125Gr HAP #90275 had 2 Failure To Feed out of a complete 50 round box. The bullets would get slightly pulled, just enough to get the bullet caught on the underside of the barrel. Un-touched rounds average 1.067"OAL. I tried using the XR9 to "pull 7 rounds from the magazine but intercept it" before loading into the chamber: these averaged about 1.069" OAL but I got one at 1.071" and one at 1.075". I want to note that this was the last ammo I tried, with 244 rounds though the XR9-L before trying this ammo, and jamming on the full round and not while ejecting an empty. Accuracy group was great at 1.30". I count it as a worst based on reliability, not accuracy.
EDIT: Further thought and investigation of these rounds makes me believe that most of the problem is with the HAP bullet shape - the magazine 'lips' catch these rounds too hard on the straight taper of the bullet.
- Remington UMC 9mm Luger 124Gr MC LMM2: Fired a complete 50 round box: I got one round, up side down in the middle of the un-opened box, that was too long and would not fit in the magazine. I count this as an anomaly. Otherwise it fed and operated well, with a good group of 2.10".
- Winchester 115gr FMJ from 100 round value pack. No problems with whole 100 rounds. Accuracy grouping of 7 rounds was good at 2.065".
- American Eagle 124Gr FMJ AE9AP had one Failure to Extract, it was the last round of magazine 3 (round 21 of 21). I count this as an anomaly, but might test more later. Fired two complete boxes (100 rounds). Accuracy grouping was great at 1.735", and base my 'position' of this ammo based on that. One FTE on round 49 of second box, second last round of last magazine of the day.
The Top Three I Liked:
- The best 124gr ammo for recoil, control and operation that I tested: Remington UMC Leadless LL9MM2. If I was going to the range to shoot my Boberg XR9-L to let others try or shot in doors, I would use this stuff as it has the added bonus of being very clean shooting and leadless. (My opinion only.) The accuracy was great at 1.50", another big bonus. A complete box of 50 fired.
- Winchester 124Gr FMJ target comes in as my number two because it is very readily available at many CGN sponsors, Wholesale Sports(Website: $18.99) and Cabala's (Website: not listed). It operated fine, although a bit "snappy" in the small frame XR9; but tended to leave the most brass flakes in the action and required more care with cleaning, however. The grouping came out wesome at 1.20" for seven rounds off of the bench rest. A complete box of 50 rounds fired.
- My personal choice, after shooting the whole 50 round box, is the Sellier and Bellot 8,0 g 124grs FMJ. There are reports that this ammo has harder primers, but I had absolutely no problems with it in the 6lb trigger: it ran flawless. The grouping, however, are "unique" and show great potential with the second to sixth shots at 0.49" but the first and last rounds making the group 1.90". I later tried a very concentrated free standing two handed shooting at 10 feet (not the bench rest 15 feet) with second to sixth shots at 0.79" and the whole seven rounds at 1.73". I finished up the day with this box and will likely buy this ammo to shoot with.
Other Notes:
- I have fingers that are just long enough that holding the XR9 my pinkie finger lands exactly half way into the magazine bottomplate. I think a magazine with an extra 3/8" would help some people including me. After a bit over 240 rounds with my pinkie below the magazine while free standing shooting and another 50-53 or so rounds with my pinkie 'crushed' into the magazine while bench rest group testing: my pinkie hurts a lot.
- My range day ended when I fired round 294 and could not fire round 295. I had replaced the 7.5lb trigger to a 6lb trigger myself, being very sure to set everything back the way it had been. It turns out that the trigger spring retaining pin at the bottom of the magazine area slid sideways and let it loose. I, trying to be prepared, remembered to bring everything including the kitchen sink to the range but excluding my 1.5mm Allen wrench. This is a known issue on production and I fixed it at home the same way anyone else can: I had put a tiny drop of red locktite on one end of the retaining pin to prevent this.
So, there it is. Now I have to clean up the Boberg XR9-L and get to bed!!!!
Last edited:
