to the green forests of France.

First pictures of my new toys. Keep tuned, I'll post more.

how about a pic of the other side too?

My! My! Are we impatient...

A batch for a day at the range.

I read about this pistol and my initial reaction was, why? My reaction after some careful consideration is, why?

Why not? It is sure prettier than a Glock.

and much better in my opinion once initial problems have been ironed out.

I had a lot of fun defeating the rate of digital cameras shooting in burst between 3.7 and 5.2 pictures per second while staying in the A zone of an IPSC target @12 meters.

You never forget some things once you learned them.

I did have some serious reliabilty problems with a F and a C, Failure to feed, Failure to fire, erratic ejection and slide stop was locking before magazines were empty. 18 incidents with the 155 first rounds using NATO ammo, FN mfg then I switched to Sellier & Bellot, CBC (MagTech) and MFS commercial ammo and I had less problem.
I identified the causes, I took 3 more F pistols to the range, I had a competition during the weekend. I took the risk using one of them for Vitesse Militaire event ( Service pistol CISM Rapid Fire )


Enjoy some pictures.

http://i192.photobucket.com/al...Caracal/IMG_5136.jpg

http://i192.photobucket.com/al...Caracal/IMG_5137.jpg

http://i192.photobucket.com/al...Caracal/IMG_5138.jpg

http://i192.photobucket.com/al...Caracal/IMG_5139.jpg

http://i192.photobucket.com/al...Caracal/IMG_5140.jpg

I did not finish last, sure I did not finish first but I had fun during the competition.
These pistols have a lot of potential but some things have to be ironed out.
I like them, just not love at first sight ;-)
Sights are one of those things that are not up to the accuracy of the barrel,
these pistols deserve better than that when using them for more than defensive use at short distance..




Some people make fun of me when she is shooting with such tactical protective equipment (Bollé goggles resisting to high speed grenade fragments)



just because I do not want to see my loved ones with damaged eyes or hearing.
Thanks to my Rodenstock specialty tempered glasses.
It cost an arm but it worths the cost when using a milling machine or having spent case coming straight to the eye like today.
I should have stopped firing when I received the second case in a row on the forehead.
I knew the ejection was quite erratic but that one had a less erratic ejection than the others.
I think the serie I received may be one of the first batches.
it bears Merkel USA, Trussville, Alabama engraved inside.
My overall opinion is good about them and so is the feeling of those who used them today, I got some orders.
but with such a price tag here, it is better not to give a chance to the competition to tarnish the reputation of a product.
They did that already before these pistols reached our shores.





First magazine (18 rounds), 9mm NATO ammo, FN Mfg, Rapid Fire, 25 m, isoceles stance. Caracal F , SN BM 300.
Yes, I know! There's one miss on top right.That was the only one of the day, one too much.



I shot a lot today, I have a sore thumb from presssing the slide release (Ok, slide stop)
The C has seen now 500 rounds through it and I had only 2 failures for the last 100 rounds (locked slide when not empty and unlocked slide with empty mag)
I finished with 147 grains ammo and had no problem.

For the 3 F pistols, I did use Wilson Combat Ultimate lube as well and I had"only" 6 failures through 750 rounds, none for the last 80 rounds through each of them except erratic ejection that finally broke my glasses after hitting twice my forehead and much more my white shirt ( Note to self, when you are not shooting your favorite 10mm that has a tuned ejector, do not wear anything white)

Looks like they needed all a break in.
I am still less satisfied than with my P 99 or my Steyr M9 for the time being.
Most dissatisfaction comes from the rear sight not up to the accuracy of the pistol.

Thinner than the compétition, a plus!



Upper view



Better grip angle, better position of the hand

IMHO a 2% failure rate is totally unacceptable.

9mm IMI and a pistol made in UAE, funny combination.