Grand Power X-Calibur: range reports

[NicVerAZ]

The fact that the barrel rotates instead of breaking up explains in part the lighter recoil. The barrel is also located lower than in all the Browning style systems. Only the Russian rotary pistol has a barrel placed lower, based on what I've seen. I've shot a CZ once and it was a totally different experience. I could not appreciate the difference in recoil.

[Kingman]

I have several variants of both.

The GP is about a 9 pound spring. The slide is lighter in the Xcal than the shadow variants allowing for that lighter spring. The Xcal has a more linear push like an open gun when compared to a muzzle rise of the shadow guns.

[Honeybooboo]

I feel like my xcal recoils less than my sp01 shadow custom.

Craziness. The gp's are cheap enough that I'm going to buy one and see for myself. I want to find an x-trim though as I hear those triggers are crisper. The geometry in the x-cal is different making for a lighter pull but more of a rolling break.

[Magsz]

I feel like my xcal recoils less than my sp01 shadow custom.

Craziness. The gp's are cheap enough that I'm going to buy one and see for myself. I want to find an x-trim though as I hear those triggers are crisper. The geometry in the x-cal is different making for a lighter pull but more of a rolling break.

The trigger on the xcal is pretty darned crisp lol. You have to be UBER sensitive to trigger characteristics to notice the rolling break.

[Kingman]

It is very different. I have both and it is noticeable

The k100 series are about 1 pound more SA. But very crisp.

[P.E. Kelley]

My range report.

[joshuasm]

Thanks for that review Patrick!

I have an odd question for those of you who own these - what's the true width of the grip? The website says 1.4" but I bet that's considering the safeties and/or the slide stop. Also if any of y'all have also tested the accuracy at 25 yards, please share. I have yet to see any of these in the wild so I'm a bit in the dark here.

[P.E. Kelley]

Thanks for that review Patrick!

I have an odd question for those of you who own these - what's the true width of the grip? The website says 1.4" but I bet that's considering the safeties and/or the slide stop. Also if any of y'all have also tested the accuracy at 25 yards, please share. I have yet to see any of these in the wild so I'm a bit in the dark here.

I will measure it tomorrow and report here...25 yard accuracy??? did you watch the video? Five, 5 shot groups at 25 yards were within.

Edited September 13, 2015 by P.E. Kelley

[joshuasm]

Thanks for that review Patrick!

I have an odd question for those of you who own these - what's the true width of the grip? The website says 1.4" but I bet that's considering the safeties and/or the slide stop. Also if any of y'all have also tested the accuracy at 25 yards, please share. I have yet to see any of these in the wild so I'm a bit in the dark here.

I will measure it tomorrow and report here...25 yard accuracy??? did you watch the video? Five, 5 shot groups at 25 yards were within.

Thanks for the offer, but no worries - a friendly forum member has already messaged me the specifications on the grip!

I did watch the entirety of your video (and saw those awesome 2" groups) that's why I stated "if... any have also tested" to ask other forum members to share their experiences haha. More information is better right? *Wink*

[P.E. Kelley]

Thanks for that review Patrick!

I have an odd question for those of you who own these - what's the true width of the grip? The website says 1.4" but I bet that's considering the safeties and/or the slide stop. Also if any of y'all have also tested the accuracy at 25 yards, please share. I have yet to see any of these in the wild so I'm a bit in the dark here.

I will measure it tomorrow and report here...25 yard accuracy??? did you watch the video? Five, 5 shot groups at 25 yards were within.

Thanks for the offer, but no worries - a friendly forum member has already messaged me the specifications on the grip!

I did watch the entirety of your video (and saw those awesome 2" groups) that's why I stated "if... any have also tested" to ask other forum members to share their experiences haha. More information is better right? *Wink*

Yup more is better....sometimes "I don't reed so gooder" Hence I missed your properly constructed post.

Edited September 14, 2015 by P.E. Kelley

[eric nielsen]

Good job reviewing this gun and good job hitting the targets Patrick. I really can't justify having an X-cal but will likely buy one anyway.

[JRM83]

Had my X-Cal for a little over a month now and could use a little help troubleshooting. I've been having issues with the gun stovepiping (failure to eject) and a few instances of the slide not locking to the rear on an empty magazine. It seems to be failing hardest using 147gr bullets. I haven't chronoed these loads out of the X-Cal yet, but in my Shadow everything was 130 PF and I have started to run a load that chronoed at 135 PF just to see if it's an ammo issue. What has been happening is the gun will start to experience these failures around the 300-500 round mark, I wipe it down and oil it (esp the groove the barrel rotates on and the cam), and it runs for a while again. Here are my thoughts/questions.

- The type of malfunctions I am seeing point to the slide not making it rearward far enough to allow the casing to eject. I installed a DeltaPoint on a mount. Maybe the increased weight affected the cycling to the point that I am seeing issues? I am running the lightest spring. Even lighter spring required?

- The cleaning thing could be a coincidence, or maybe there's an important lube point I'm missing.

- Ammo related? Haven't ruled out this possibility.

[z40acp]

I recall P Kelly talking about lubing the back of the barrel

[Kingman]

Chrono in that gun. Maybe very light.

My 147 grain in my GP made 132, those same loads chronoed 140 in a shadow. Montana Gold bullets.

[JRM83]

Chrono in that gun. Maybe very light.

My 147 grain in my GP made 132, those same loads chronoed 140 in a shadow. Montana Gold bullets.

I should mention my K100 has had exactly zero issues with any of this ammunition. Every gun is different, but that's a lot of different.

Edit to add: Even if I lost 10 PF going from the Shadow to the GP, a gun shouldn't be malfunctioning at 125 PF

Edited September 20, 2015 by JRM83

[NicVerAZ]

Chrono in that gun. Maybe very light.

My 147 grain in my GP made 132, those same loads chronoed 140 in a shadow. Montana Gold bullets.

I should mention my K100 has had exactly zero issues with any of this ammunition. Every gun is different, but that's a lot of different.

Edit to add: Even if I lost 10 PF going from the Shadow to the GP, a gun shouldn't be malfunctioning at 125 PF

You probably were using a different spring in your K100 as well.

I realized that, the lower the PF closer to bottom legal, the more likely I am to experience issues.

With X-Calibur you need a 132ish PF, magazine feed lips at the proper width of .356" and a rather clean gun, and you should be fine.

I am not sure about oiling the face of the breech. Canuck223 is making a big deal about it. Not sure if this is recommend by Jaro the Dude himself, but it sure will not hurt.

[JRM83]

Chrono in that gun. Maybe very light.

My 147 grain in my GP made 132, those same loads chronoed 140 in a shadow. Montana Gold bullets.

I should mention my K100 has had exactly zero issues with any of this ammunition. Every gun is different, but that's a lot of different.

Edit to add: Even if I lost 10 PF going from the Shadow to the GP, a gun shouldn't be malfunctioning at 125 PF

You probably were using a different spring in your K100 as well.

I realized that, the lower the PF closer to bottom legal, the more likely I am to experience issues.

With X-Calibur you need a 132ish PF, magazine feed lips at the proper width of .356" and a rather clean gun, and you should be fine.

I am not sure about oiling the face of the breech. Canuck223 is making a big deal about it. Not sure if this is recommend by Jaro the Dude himself, but it sure will not hurt.

Thanks for the tip on running it clean. My K100 is running the X-cal spring btw. Will be a couple weeks but I will try and hit the range to chrono. Assuming everything chronos where it should, what else could be going on here in the meantime?

[valerko]

What exactly is different in trigger mechanism between XTrim and XCalibur.

I have both and generally just use XCal frame with XTrim slide on it. Other farm is pretty much a back up , but would like to make the triggers identical. What do I need to change ?

Also , why are fireing pins different on these two guns ?

[NicVerAZ]

Better ask Dave on the FB group. He doesn't answer here.

[Kingman]

You would need to order the xcalibur fire control kits from Eagle. The sear and hammer are different for starters. Additionally the Xcal frame set up will not lift the firing pin block of the base K100 slides. The Xtrim has no FPB installed.

As for clean, about every 1000 rounds if you keep it pretty wet. Very important though are replacing springs at 10k. Extractor and recoil spring MUST be replaced at about that interval. If you replace them some of the other issues go away. Remember we are only running about a 9 pound spring in the xcal's with the light weight spring, by 10k mine had lost an inch of length overall.

[JRM83]

I was so intrigued by Kingmans post about the GP losing 8 PF that I set aside some time to chrono today. Ran 6 different loads through the X-cal and K100. I will post the exact numbers and comparison to the shadow later, but the short version is they run about the same power factor with a given load. Given the longer barrel on the X-Cal that says the CZ runs a bit faster by the inch. There wasn't a 8 PF difference in my guns, but every gun is different.

Data and info:

When I did my testing with the Shadow I was running a 135 and 147 grain Black and Blue bullet. When I did loads for the X-Cal I was working with a 147gr Acme. I did have a few loads with the 147 B&BB that I ran through both guns. With a 147 bullet it looks like the B&BB runs about 2 PF faster than the Acme. Both are grooveless, the Acme is FP and the B&BB is round nose. Data is in spreadsheet.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OYr_BE5AEJ8dOhuM6l5g-4DspTbaT6ACYX8XQnK6TOA/edit?usp=sharing

Edited September 22, 2015 by JRM83

[Kingman]

I will add. This is visible with Montana gold bullets. They are sized .355.

It is not as noticeable with .356 bullets.

[MilkMyDuds]

Can someone please measure the trigger reach length for the DA, as shown in the attached pic? Thanks!

For example, the CZ SP01 Shadow DA trigger reach is a bit too far for me short fingers.

[JRM83]

Can someone please measure the trigger reach length for the DA, as shown in the attached pic? Thanks!

For example, the CZ SP01 Shadow DA trigger reach is a bit too far for me short fingers.

That will depend entirely on which backstrap is installed

[MilkMyDuds]

Can someone please measure the trigger reach length for the DA, as shown in the attached pic? Thanks!

For example, the CZ SP01 Shadow DA trigger reach is a bit too far for me short fingers.

That will depend entirely on which backstrap is installed

Can you please measure the trigger reach with the smallest possible backstrap? I am looking for small-hand friendly options.

Thanks!