Caracal Pistol
- Thread starter bosman777
- Start date
heavenIsAlie
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Abbotsford
liked the feel of it at SHOT, the guy said that they had been talking to some of the canadian dealers/distributors about doing an extended barrel run
I've been looking at these in the gun mags for a few years as well. It looks interesting.
In order to bring the (104mm) Caracal F to the Canadian market, a few things would have to happen:
- A potential importer/distributor would have to contact the factory in U.A.E. and see whether they are willing to do a run of 106mm barreled pistols for Canada, and what the minimum number of pistols is that would have to be ordered to make this happen, and what the cost per unit would be.
- If the factory is willing to do it, then somebody in Canada needs to make the investment to be the Canadian importer/distributor and take the gamble that this is going to be a worthwhile business endeavor.
I'm not sure if there is a willingness to make either of these things happen right now.
For pistols which are (or at least appear to be) essentially a "riff" on the GLOCK design, it has been pretty hit and miss. (Maybe some people will flame me for saying the Caracal is a riff on the GLOCK design, but... seriously. I've read that this pistol combines elements of both the GLOCK and Steyr M designs. The designer of this gun being involved in the development of both pistols, particular the Steyr).
Some GLOCK "riffs" have been epic fails (i.e., S&W Sigma). However, what is in many ways a later development of the Sigma (the M&P) has been very successful. That pistol had a very large firearms manufacturer that put a lot of $$$ into the equation (development, testing, advertising, etc.) to get them back into the game in the pistol market after GLOCK unseated them as the maker of "The" police gun in the 1990s.
The Steyr M and MA1 pistols, while I have a bit of a soft spot for everything Steyr, they cannot realistically be counted as a success, and with the recent recall of the 2010-onward redesigned pistols, it seems they are still sorting out their issues. Horrible distribution in the United States (and virtually non-existent in Canada) hasn't helped either.
The XD has also been a success, achieved by the manufacturer (HS Produkt of Croatia) teaming up with a well established American company (Springfield).
Walther still seems to be chasing the GLOCK market (now with the PPQ) since their other pistols have failed to really make much of a dent in the GLOCk dominated market.
If the Px4 is Beretta's entry into this segment of the market... epic fail.
The SIGPro (not striker-fired, I know) and the SIG P250... neither seems to be exactly setting any sales records here or in the U.S.
The relatively cheap, striker fired, polymer frame pistol with single trigger pull that has a short reset... is a very, very crowded market... and hard to break into.
That being said, I'm sure someone can sell a run of 500 Caracal F pistols in Canada with an extra 2mm on the barrel... but then there is the problem... what if they are a bit of lemon (like, ahem... some of the above mentioned pistols). Where are the spare parts? Will there be mags available? Will there be holsters? Who does the warranty work? Do they go back to the U.A.E. for repairs (yah right!). Is some Canadian importer distributor going to wish they had never gotten involved in this? And is there really any money to be made? On top of all that the Caracal F is going to have to sell for about the same as a GLOCK 17 ($699) to really have much of a chance at success. There will always be a market for some of them, even at a higher price (as people always want something new and different), but I think an importer would have to be looking at selling thousands of problem-free pistols to really make this a worthwhile economic venture. It's risky... and there are only a handful of companies in Canada that get involved in this stuff anyway.
If they do ever come to Canada, I will take a serious look at buying one though. I'm one of these people that always wants to try something new and exotic though
Most such people are here on CGN, but most of the market isn't like that.
In order to bring the (104mm) Caracal F to the Canadian market, a few things would have to happen:
- A potential importer/distributor would have to contact the factory in U.A.E. and see whether they are willing to do a run of 106mm barreled pistols for Canada, and what the minimum number of pistols is that would have to be ordered to make this happen, and what the cost per unit would be.
- If the factory is willing to do it, then somebody in Canada needs to make the investment to be the Canadian importer/distributor and take the gamble that this is going to be a worthwhile business endeavor.
I'm not sure if there is a willingness to make either of these things happen right now.
For pistols which are (or at least appear to be) essentially a "riff" on the GLOCK design, it has been pretty hit and miss. (Maybe some people will flame me for saying the Caracal is a riff on the GLOCK design, but... seriously. I've read that this pistol combines elements of both the GLOCK and Steyr M designs. The designer of this gun being involved in the development of both pistols, particular the Steyr).
Some GLOCK "riffs" have been epic fails (i.e., S&W Sigma). However, what is in many ways a later development of the Sigma (the M&P) has been very successful. That pistol had a very large firearms manufacturer that put a lot of $$$ into the equation (development, testing, advertising, etc.) to get them back into the game in the pistol market after GLOCK unseated them as the maker of "The" police gun in the 1990s.
The Steyr M and MA1 pistols, while I have a bit of a soft spot for everything Steyr, they cannot realistically be counted as a success, and with the recent recall of the 2010-onward redesigned pistols, it seems they are still sorting out their issues. Horrible distribution in the United States (and virtually non-existent in Canada) hasn't helped either.
The XD has also been a success, achieved by the manufacturer (HS Produkt of Croatia) teaming up with a well established American company (Springfield).
Walther still seems to be chasing the GLOCK market (now with the PPQ) since their other pistols have failed to really make much of a dent in the GLOCk dominated market.
If the Px4 is Beretta's entry into this segment of the market... epic fail.
The SIGPro (not striker-fired, I know) and the SIG P250... neither seems to be exactly setting any sales records here or in the U.S.
The relatively cheap, striker fired, polymer frame pistol with single trigger pull that has a short reset... is a very, very crowded market... and hard to break into.
That being said, I'm sure someone can sell a run of 500 Caracal F pistols in Canada with an extra 2mm on the barrel... but then there is the problem... what if they are a bit of lemon (like, ahem... some of the above mentioned pistols). Where are the spare parts? Will there be mags available? Will there be holsters? Who does the warranty work? Do they go back to the U.A.E. for repairs (yah right!). Is some Canadian importer distributor going to wish they had never gotten involved in this? And is there really any money to be made? On top of all that the Caracal F is going to have to sell for about the same as a GLOCK 17 ($699) to really have much of a chance at success. There will always be a market for some of them, even at a higher price (as people always want something new and different), but I think an importer would have to be looking at selling thousands of problem-free pistols to really make this a worthwhile economic venture. It's risky... and there are only a handful of companies in Canada that get involved in this stuff anyway.
If they do ever come to Canada, I will take a serious look at buying one though. I'm one of these people that always wants to try something new and exotic though
Most such people are here on CGN, but most of the market isn't like that.
