XCR's Finicky On Ammo Type?

Travis Bickle

Travis Bickle

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Been turning the idea over about getting an XCR-L.
I have been reading up on them for a while.
Most of the reviews are definitely positive.
I like the ergonomics of them, the left side charging handle, simple beefy design etc etc.
Have fired them whenever I get the chance if someone has one on the range.
I understand that all or most of the earlier issues have been reseolved as well with the newer products.

The only thing that seems to come up is that they are picky on ammo when it comes to reliability. Most of these reviews are from U.S. where you can buy target grade match .223 Rem for half a cent a round though so it's hard to translate the issue to what it means to me as a Canadian subject to our market and availability.

This being Canada (to translate this to our situation/market) have any owners of the rifle found this to be true with respects to the cheaper bulk stuff available up here? Say Norinco, MFS, American Eagle etc etc

Any issues with feeding of open tip projectiles, soft points?

Anyone who has hands on, actual non biased experiences/lessons learned regarding this apparent issue with the rifles would be greatly appreciated to aide me in this decision.
 
Mine runs great with norinco even on the suppresed gass setting. I don't see it being to picky especialy with some of the underpowered steel case ammo since ou can turn up the gas. I havent looked at the feed ramps no have i tried hp or sp ammo so i can comment on that. It shouldnt anyway since if your hunting theres allways the polymer tip ammunition that ive had very good results with.
 
I shot everything through my XCR...and it shot everything.

The only time you might have reliability issues is when the XCR is brand new and it is in the 'break in' period.
 
I have about 1,000 rounds thru my keymod XCR-L 223
A lot of Norinco, MSF and Tull HP.
Have run at least 60 rds of Hornady super performance, AE 55g AR, AE 62gr, Federal blue box (soft point), Nosler something and a few others I can't remember.
No issues with anything I have run, even during break in.

I only had 1 failure to extract which I am sure was caused by a dented / bent round, had to get it out with a cleaning rod.

Cheap / expensive / brass / steel mine runs it all with no issues.

I have had my gas setting on 2 for everything

OH YA, I primarily use the RA 10 round LAR pistol mags, I like them a lot :)
 
Any one that complaints about a XCR being picky about ammo, probably don't have their gas setting set correctly. The idea behind the adjustable gas system is that you change the setting for different pressure loads and brand of ammo you are using sometime even for different batch from the same manufacturer. if you run hot loads you dial down when you are running weak loads you dial it up.

every time you buy a batch of ammo you have to pay particular attention to the first few rounds and adjust your gas setting until it is chucking brass 10 ft away, sometime you might find yourself running it at 4, don't worry about it won't destroy your buffer pad, it is obvious the ammo pressure is not high enough.
 
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so far ive shot MFS steel cased, norinco surplus (1995), wall mart winchester, american eagle, hand loads from some dude at the local gun show this year, and some federal soft nosed and it ate every one of them.
 
I just recently purchased a KeyMod XCR and have shot MFS as well as Hornady Steel match and have had zero issues. Don't use MFS if you expect anything resembling a group lol..
 
Xcr doesn't give a rats ass what you shoot in my experience.

There was one very early review that stated it didn't like wolf. Haven't heard much since the. (5 years ago)
 
I remember reading it somewhere some people have problems with the steel case ammo with the fired case failed to eject and mainly because when rapid firing and after a good few mags due to possibles the lacquer melt and stick to the chamber with a hot barrel.
 
I picked up a tan keymod with the light barrel earlier this year.

I've shot a bit of steel cased (62gr hollowpoints from tulammo) ammo through mine - maybe 1000 rounds? Round count on my rifle is around 2000. I've had some mag related FTF and brass catcher related stove pipes, but when I run it without the catcher it just runs... I like the adjustable gas system too. I turn it up for Norinco, as I find it inconsistent, but the tula runs nicely on setting 1 or 2.

Also the first gun I've had in awhile that I didn't break something on in the first 1000 rounds or so. I like that. I had some bad luck with CSA rifles last year.

Ben
 
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