Jon Wayne Taylor awarded the Bond Arms Bullpup TTAG’s highest accolade: five stars. “It’s the end result of innovation, improvement and attention to detail,” our resident war hero wrote. “Mouse gun size, compact pistol velocity and handling.” Yes but — a bit too mousy for some. Enter the XR9-L . . .

Bond Arms Bullpup XR9 and XR9-L (courtesy thetruthaboutguns.com)

We can’t review this gun yet; it’s a Bond Arms prototype. But we did shoot the sh*t out of it and it’s just as good as its baby brother — only longer! And that means . . .

Bond Arms Bullpup XR9 next to Bond Arms Bullpup XR9-L (courtesy thetruthaboutguns.com)

A longer sight radius for more accurate shooting over distance. And greater [as yet unmeasured] bullet velocity for more “stopping power.”

One thing the XR9-L didn’t do: stop. We fed the Bond — Gordon Bond — pistol a steady diet of Hornady and IMI JHPs and some loose FMJs. The ass-backwards design performed without any hesitation, deviation and plenty of repetition.

Large-handed Texan gets to grips with prototype Bond Arms XR9-L (courtesy thetruthaboutguns.com)

And it felt gooood. The XR9-L boasts that most excellent trigger and better ergos, especially for large-handed Texans (who make the XR9-L look small).

Sight radius Bond Arms Bullpup XR9-L

We’ll give the Bond Arms Bullpup XR9-L a full test as and when. But this is the compact gun Jon wants to carry. What does that tell you?

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

49 COMMENTS

    • Looks are irrelevant if a gun doesn’t function correctly 100% of the time.

      I’ll pass and everyone who is thinking about this as a defensive gun should do the same.

      • I’m guessing you missed this part of the post?

        “One thing the XR9-L didn’t do: stop. We fed the Bond — Gordon Bond — pistol a steady diet of Hornady and IMI JHPs and some loose FMJs. The ass-backwards design performed without any hesitation, deviation and plenty of repetition.”

        • ““One thing the XR9-L didn’t do: stop.”

          Let me help you out here, “The one thing the XR9-L -DID NOT- do: Stop”

          “The ass-backwards design performed without any hesitation, deviation and plenty of repetition.””

          “The reversed design performed -WITHOUT- any problems, and functioned repeatedly as expected.”

          No offense, but you should really work on your reading comprehension. They have explicitly stated that the gun functions perfectly fine.

      • Not trying to be a dick here but this is a pet peeve of mine. No gun functions correctly 100% of the time. It is not possible. Maybe some guns have mean shots between failure in the thousands but none are 100% reliable, especially under adverse conditions. I have little doubt that to the best of your knowledge your carry guns have never failed.

        • I have several firearms that have not had a problem in over 25 years of use, all kinds of weather and thousands of rounds through them.
          What are you shooting? Hi-Points?

      • Eh, I just want one as a curiosity. Which is why I have been sitting around waiting for the long barreled version to ever show up.

  3. Damn, I sure hate the fact that I have run out of discretionary funds for quite some time. If If I was flush I’d be calling my LGS, even though I have all of the handguns that I ‘need’ for the moment.

  4. If it’s a thousand bucks I’ll pass…who’s buying the original puppy at near that price?!?

  5. I love the concept of a 4-4.25″ barrel sub compact carry gun. I will seriously be considering this one for my summer carry rotation.

    • To Mike Schneider

      I would call them. I have had very good service from them on my Boberg XR-9-L They replaced the frame no charge. I have had zero problems since the fix.

      I think maybe yours just needs braking in. Might be ok after two or three hundred rounds.

      I have had no separation problems with my reloads. I put a cannelure on Rainer plated bullets the run the loaded bullet through the cannelure machine again to cannelure the brass into the bullet cannelure.

      http://www.corbins.com/hct-1.htm

      I have close to a couple thousand more Rainer bullets then I will try Badman bullets and roll crimp them.

      Check out the Badman 95 grain 380 bullet It seems like it will take a nice slight roll crimp.

      https://www.badmanbullets.com/OnlineStore/categories.php?cat=Polymer+Coated+Hard+Cast+Lead+Bullets

        • Boberg made a long and a short slide version in .45 as well as in 9. Bond Arms started by revamping the 9mm model. After I learned that they bought Boberg I asked them if they were planning on doing anything with the .45 (spare mags, even) and was told, basically, no.

          So this is good news for me – thanks JWT!

        • I never heard of a long-slide .45. To the best of my knowledge, there never was XR45-L in their catalog. But I may be ignorant.

    • Dang, my 4.25″ in .45acp is bordering on the distinctly unpleasant with 950fps 230gr bullets. It is hard to imagine that this won’t be frighteningly brutal when loaded with full power magnum loads.

      • Yea, that’s definitely one I’d like to watch someone else shoot before trying it out myself. Might want gloves and a helmet.

        • Oops, I didn’t read very well. Count me embarrassed. Since you probably don’t have time for more than one or two shots for a charging bear anyway these seem like they might be good low weight bear defense after all and another thing on my list I can’t get.

        • ‘…company President Gordon Bond… said that it was unlikely that the .44 Mag. barrels would be sold separately like the other caliber conversions available through the company website. Instead, it will only be available as a complete firearm. This is because the .44’s frame will be fitted with heavier firing pin springs than those found in standard frames to ensure that the second barrel is not ignited by the recoil of the first being fired.’

          Doesn’t exactly sound like a pussy cat. If nothing else, I’d expect it to have more recoil than an unported .357 since the .357 doesn’t need the heavier firing pin spring. (Also makes me wonder how drop-safe the Bond derringers are.)

    • As a dumb-ass kid who stupidly accepted a dare to hang onto a lit blackcat ‘cracker as a kid, I suspect you are right on the pain potential…

  9. No doubt Bond Arms will prefect the XR9-L to the same quality of the BULLPUP 9. Maybe now Mr Bond will expedite the development of the magazine loader he stated a while back was happening. Loader would support both the BULLPUP 9 and the XR9-L and satisfy the customers who have been requesting a magazine loader since the BULLPUP 9 first came out. Since we are on the subject of Bond Arms 9mm pistols I would like to know with the development of the prototype of a suppressor for the BULLPUP 9 will the extended threaded barrel be interchangeable with the existing BULLPUP 9 barrel? Does anyone know? I asked Customer Service and they replied it was a prototype and they did not have much info on it. I suggested they ask the product engineer. My question only involved the part of the barrel that enters the pistol. I have yet to receive a reply. Does anyone have an answer to this question? Again the XR9-L, when perfected, will be on my buy list.Stay safe.Dave

    • Dave, it will most certainly have backward capability. We will be sellIng it as a combo with the threaded barrel. It is still in prototype phase but it is not that far out.

      • I never doubted or mentioned a change to the backward capability all I asked was if the threaded extended barrel was interchangeable with the existing BULLPUP 9 barrel. Have to assume, because no direct yes or no reply given, that as of now since still in prototype phase and will be sold as combo ( suppressor and threaded barrel ) it will be interchangeable. Now could you please address the issue of the magazine loader which many customers in articles I have read want it and the comment that Mr. Bond made that it was in the development stage. When can we expect this loader to be on the market? Believe me it is truly needed. Thank you. Stay safe. Dave

        • If Mr. Martin’s reply didn’t answer your question, then I don’t understand your question.

          Why is a magazine loader needed? It seemed pretty simple for the 100 or so that I loaded up.

          • Maybe some people are just older and weaker then others.Glad to hear you have no problems but others do.Thank you for your concern.Do you understand now? Taking your rational I would wonder why there are magazine loaders for any weapon.Hope now you understand why a magazine loader is truly needed for this weapon,but if you do not I am glad for you that you have no problem with this issue. Stay safe. Dave

        • “I never doubted or mentioned a change to the backward capability all I asked was if the threaded extended barrel was interchangeable with the existing BULLPUP 9 barrel. Have to assume, because no direct yes or no reply given, that as of now since still in prototype phase and will be sold as combo ( suppressor and threaded barrel )”

          Backward compatible and interchangeable mean the same thing in this circumstance. I did give you a direct yes, that you will be able to use an extended barrel in the Regular Bullpup9. No our customer service people do not know about the suppressor because it is not for sale yet. If you have any technical questions please feel free to email me.

          [email protected]

          The mag loader will be out in the next 30-60 days along with our extended base plate.

      • Yes I saw on YouTube about the suppessor for Bond Arms, That would be COOOL!!! d((@_@))b

  10. To All, this is a Boberg XR9-L slide and frame with our internals and coated barrel. I don’t want to have any confusion about the final gun, this is a prototype.

  11. The Boberg XR45 handles the 45 Super cartridge just fine according to ballisticsbytheinch.com so a 10mm is possible. Make the frame a little bigger for a double stack mag and you could have a great little carry package of 10+ rounds of 10mm in a gun that is easy to shoot! 2018 = The Year of the 10mm! “TM”

    • The 10mm handles significantly higher pressure than the .45Super. If Bond Arms releases a .45ACP version, and if that version is able to safely and reliably withstand the .45Super, it would still not necessarily handle the 10mm. And it most certainly won’t happen in 2018.

  12. Well, this is timely fun. I’m in a “Levers and cams, and rams, oh my.” kind of mood – I just spent some time with a company that makes manufacturing machinery.

    The operations animation on the Bond Arms site is very informative. I’ll be interested to watch how this develops.

  13. IMO this is a more practical gun than the shorty. It’s still marginally pocket-able (would have been more so if they had left the rail off), has a decent barrel length and can be fired using a conventional two-handed grip w/o fear of getting an explosive manicure.

    My XR9-L (the Boberg predecessor) has been 100% reliable and–despite it’s small size–it’s actually very pleasent to shoot

  14. im sorry i cant carry something that ugly on or about my person no matter how innovative or effective it is

    this thing makes the smith and wesson omega look like a michelangelo

  15. I was hoping they would do this. the other one looks like the holster bit off the front of the gun while it was being drawn. not to mention that now the gun has a longer barrel to get as much velocity it can out of it and still be a nice small gun with a barrel longer than the others in this size class. I may buy one myself.

  17. I understand that 9mm is king, but I want a .45, if I were to have a range toy. Unfortunately, I missed my chance to buy one when I saw it at a gun show. You know how it goes: didn’t have enough money, the required sum was larger than my daily withdrawal limit, and my bank was far away (and actually closed already). Obviously it’s much easier to order one through a dealer and pick it up at the store, so I’m hoping that maybe Mr. Bond will get around to this part of Boberg legacy in due time.

  18. Bond Arm Bullpup 9 review
    I recently bought the Bond Arms Bullpup 9. They are very hard to obtain and usually a few on Gunbroker. None of my local dealers could get them, so I spent the $999 on Gunbroker and anxiously awaited my purchase.
    I bought the recommended “Winchester white box”, 3 out of the 100 pulled the bullet from the shell and about 15 partial expel (jam) rather than loading into the barrel. I then ran 50 Fiocchi rounds through and no bullet separation but the gun did jam a few times (partial ejection rather than load round).
    So far one box of Hornady American Gunner 115gr with no problems. I just ordered IMI 115gr Jacketed Hollow Points to try because the Hornady is too expensive to waste at the range.
    I also had problems when I had only one or two bullets in the magazine and tried to load, the round would it would jam, you must have at least 3 or 4 rounds in the magazine in order to load.
    I had intended this gun to be my everyday carry but right now I am not comfortable when my life is on the line.
    I feel there is a problem with the design of the magazine, sometimes it’s too tight and very hard to remove, other times while loading the spring sticks and the last bullet just falls out. This could also be the problem with feeding.
    As far as jamming goes it seems like round tip bullets jam where pointed (like the tapered hollow point seem to work better.
    In closing, I was real excited to purchase this $1000 gun because of what it is but am a little disappointed that a $1000 gun is not reliable as an EDC as I intended. Perhaps I got a defect. I have run about 160 rounds through it and had to clean and oil it, ran more rounds but the same outcome.
    I contacted Bond Arms on a sales related item with no reply.

    • To Mike Schneider

      I would call them. I have had very good service from them on my Boberg XR-9-L They replaced the frame no charge. I have had zero problems since the fix.

      I think maybe yours just needs braking in. Might be ok after two or three hundred rounds.

      I have had no separation problems with my reloads. I put a cannelure on Rainer plated bullets the run the loaded bullet through then cannelure machine again to cannelure the brass into the bullet cannelure.

      Inexpensive practice ammo

      http://www.corbins.com/hct-1.htm

      I have close to a couple thousand more Rainer bullets then I will try Badman bullets and roll crimp them.

      Check out the Badman 95 grain 380 bullet It seems like it will take a nice slight roll crimp.

      https://www.badmanbullets.com/OnlineStore/categories.php?cat=Polymer+Coated+Hard+Cast+Lead+Bullets

  19. If Bond Arms is serious about these they’ll have to find a way to get it closer to the price of other pistols in its size class. I’m not saying it should be $400, but a little closer to 4-600 would do.

Comments are closed.