Maggie guards the Carcacal C (courtesy The Truth About Guns)

I reckon the Caracal C with Quick Sights is the world’s finest carry gun. Fast, ergonomic, accurate and reliable. OK, maybe not so reliable. In fact, the company has fessed-up to two instances where a C hit the deck and discharged. (No one was injured.) Readers younger than 50 (i.e. those with a long term memory) will recall that Caracal issued a recall, offering a full refund. They also said they’d repair any of the roughly 10k guns sold, promising to git ‘er done in January. Yes, well, it turns out both the trigger bar assembly and the frame need replacing. As the frame is the gun, all Caracals must RTB to the UAE. Caracal’s now set on replacing all customers’ old guns with a brand new drop-safe version, repairing the old ones and selling them somewhere. By mid-March. FWIW I’m still in withdrawal.

17 COMMENTS

  1. Well if it makes you feel any better, there is no CA complaint Caracal, so I can’t own one of those beauties in my state.

  2. Whatever marginal advantages it has, I’ll still take my Glock 17 or 19. Reliable, holds as many rounds, parts and people who know how to work on it are relatively easy to come by.

    Not to say that it isn’t a cool pistol….but a carry gun is a compromise, and it’s better to compromise on the side of reliability and carry a commonplace gun even if it means sacrificing a bit on the ‘coolness’ factor.

    (Harsh experence from choosing a Springfield EMP in the past colors my attitude. Beautiful little gun….wonderful trigger….reliable as a Yugo.)

    • The Caracal is ultra reliable and has been cleared by NATO for use. It’s ugly as sin and has no “coolness” factor. However, what it does have is a less-sh1tty grip angle, a wonderful trigger and a fantastic low bore axis.

      I say this as someone who has shot and carried MANY pistols, personally and professionally, and as a current Glock guy: The Caracal is different. It’s an *awesome* gun. To paraphrase Robert Farago: you shoot a glock. You dance with a Caracal. So you’re not sacrificing coolness by carrying a Glock; you’re sacrificing speed in every way that a pistol is capable of being fast. Would it be my doomsay pistol? No it wouldn’t. My inferior-pointing Glock with lots of spare parts would be my doosday pistol. However, if those hajis ever actually figure out a way to get some night sights on those things… look out Glock.

      Robert, this news makes me sad. After shooting one I really, truly can’t wait to get my hands on a Caracal of my own. I suppose this means it will take forever and a day?

      Also, was there any talk at SHOt about releasing spare parts like Glock?

  3. Absolutely horrible customer service. Yesterday I received a response to an email inquiry about this recall that I sent….January 6th.

  4. Mid-March huh? I’d advise them to pack a few extra magazines in the new replacement boxes as a good faith move

  5. VERY slow to load…..

    My Caracal CQS is also still in solitary confinement until…..
    …..soon, I hope.

  6. RF’s open love letters rekindled my interest in Tupperware wondernines… Till the quarantine occurred… I ended up buying a Walther PPQ and could not be happier.

    Funny how these things work out.

  7. “…is the world’s finest carry gun.”

    Are you sure it’s not just a case of absence making the heart grow fonder?

  8. Still haven’t had a chance to shoot a Caracal C out here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest… though I imagine with the recall, they’ve all either been sent in or their owners have put them in storage.

    The next time I’m in the market for a carry 9mm, though…

  9. Its been over a year since I shot my Caracal, loved it, it was recalled and in September they sent me a box. Packed it up and shipped it, looking forward to getting my new one. Then found out that they won’t be sending me a new one but a refund for what I paid for the pistol. Its now December and I’m still waiting on the check. These are great guns, but I will never buy another one because of the customer service, it has been over a year since they announced the recall, and I’m still waiting. If they had done the recall like Springfield did with the XDs, I would be buying a F model to go with my model C. But, now I would warn anyone to stay away from them, buy a Glock, they might not have as good of a trigger, but at least the company will resolve issues quickly.

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