The Keefe Report: When Caracal Comes to Town

I have been following the Caracal pistol since it was just a rumor of a handgun being produced in the United Arab Emirates. The gun, designed by Austrian William Bubits, who had a long affiliation with Glock and then was a designer for hire—think the Steyr M pistol as well as the Walther PPS—was really onto something.

The gun was ergonomically excellent, with a very high tang and a low bore axis. Add that the magazine in its polymer frame held 18 rounds and it had a good trigger, and you ended up with a gun that became very popular very quickly.

And that was despite difficulties with importers and importation. The efforts to get the guns onto the U.S. commercial market were amateurish and botched badly. Once importation was finally going well, sadly, there was a full recall issued by the company, likely prematurely, and the guns have been absent from dealers shelves. 

For Caracal USA, there's a new sheriff in town. His name is Jeff Spalding, and he is the company’s general manager. He was in our offices, and we had a chance to take the Caracal pistols and carbines to the range. In the accompanying video, we shoot a version of Caracal Enhanced F, a gun that is made in Newington, N.H. 

Interestingly, it has the Quick Sight system, which allows for a very fast flash sight picture. Although the gun is offered with conventional sights, the Quick Site has cuts in the top of the slide forward of the action port that make for what is akin to a scout configuration on a pistol. Your sight radius is only about 3 inches, but after going to the range with it, I can assure you it is indeed fast. While I was never a fan of the trapezoid sights of the Bubits-designed Steyr M, I think they are onto something here. We are looking forward to further testing of the U.S.-made Caracal pistols and rifles.

Additional Reading:
SHOT Show 2017: Caracal USA Enhanced F 9 mm Pistol