Robinson Armament XCR

Robinson Armament XCR
XCR-L"CQB"
TypeAssault rifle (XCR-L Series)
Battle rifle (XCR-M Series)
Place of originUnited States
Service history
WarsRusso-Ukrainian War[1][2]
Production history
DesignerAlex J. Robinson
Designed2004
ManufacturerRobinson Armament Co.
Produced2006–present
VariantsXCR-L, XCR-PDW, XCR-M, XCR-Micro
Specifications
MassXCR-L Standard (empty): 3.4 kg (7.5 lbs)
XCR-L Mini (empty): 2.8 kg (6.2 lb)
XCR-L Micro (empty): 2.4 kg (5.3 lb)
XCR-L Pistol (empty): 2.35 kg (5.2 lb)[3]
XCR-M Standard (empty): 4.19 kg (9.2 lb)
XCR-M Mini (empty): 3.719 kg (8.20 lb)[4]
LengthXCR-L Standard: 939.8 mm (37") / (Folded): 698.5 mm (27.5")
XCR-L Mini: 685.8 mm (27") / (Folded): 508 mm (20")
XCR-L Micro: 609.6 mm (24") / (Folded): 457.2 mm (18")
XCR-L Pistol: 457.2 mm (18") / (Folded): (No stock)[3]
XCR-M Standard: 939.8 mm (37") / (Folded): 762 mm (30")
XCR-M Mini: 863.6 mm (34") / (Folded): 711.2 mm (28")[4]
Barrel lengthXCR-L Standard
  • 279.4 mm (11")
  • 304.8 mm (12")
  • 373.38 mm (14.7")
  • 388.62 mm (15.3")
  • 406.4 mm (16")
  • 472.44 mm (18.6")

XCR-L Mini

  • 254 mm (10")

XCR-L Micro

  • 190.5 mm (7.5")

XCR-L Pistol

  • 190.5 mm (7.5")[3]

XCR-M Standard

  • 406.4 mm (16")
  • 472.44 mm (18.6")

XCR-M Mini

  • 330.2 mm (13")
  • 373.38 mm (14.7")
  • 406.4 mm (16")[4]
CaliberXCR-L

XCR-M

ActionGas-operated long-stroke piston, rotating bolt[5]
Rate of fire700–900 rounds/min
Muzzle velocity792–990 m/s (2600–3250 ft/s)
Effective firing range300–600 m (330–660 yd), depending on configuration
Feed system30-round detachable box (5.56 variant) magazine, staggered-column magazine (STANAG compatible), 20-round detachable box magazine (7.62mm and .260 Remington variants)
Sights(Picatinny rail)

The Robinson Armament Co. XCR is a multi-caliber, gas piston weapon system developed by Robinson Armament Co. for U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) to fill the requirements of the SOF Combat Assault Rifle,[6] or SCAR competition, but was disqualified due to the manufacturer failing to provide blank firing adapters on time.[7][8] It has been offered to law enforcement, the military, and the general public since 2006.[9][10]

Overview

The XCR utilizes a heavy duty bolt and extractor connected to a long stroke type gas piston.[11] The bolt and extractor are designed and patented by Robinson Arms, and promoted as offering higher performance over eight lug M16/M4 type bolts.[12] Other features include a folding stock, telescoping M4 Carbine style stocks,[13] monolithic top Picatinny rail with side and under-barrel rails, and forward assist integrated into left-side charging handle.[11][14]

Operating mechanism

The XCR rifle utilizes a gas-operated action with a long-stroke gas piston,[11] similar to the Kalashnikov design, and the gas chamber is positioned above the barrel.

Its proprietary bolt features a three-lug design, securely locking onto the barrel extension,[11] which helps to keep the upper receiver unstressed. The design eliminates the need to check headspace when changing barrels. The rifle incorporates a steel fixed ejector inside the receiver, secured by two bolts,[11] which the manufacturer claims results in stronger ejection compared to the AR-15's spring-loaded ejector. Ejection pattern occurs at the two o'clock position relative to the operator, with an optimal distance of 15 to 20 feet, depending on the ammunition type and gas setting.[15]

The XCR uses STANAG 4179 type magazines.

History and variants

The XCR was designed in 2004 by Alex J. Robinson of Robinson Armament Co., with production of the XCR-L variant of the rifle beginning in mid-2006.[11]

One month after the September 11 attacks, Alex Robinson received an invitation from the 5th Special Forces Group to participate in a program to provide a design for the SPRV (Special Purpose Rifle Variant), with the requirement of being able to use common enemy ammunition types such as the 7.62×39 and 5.45×39 cartridges, in addition to .223 Remington. A full-auto variant of the M96 was built within 60 days, with the gun then sent to Blackwater for trials, where it was received positively. Following submission by Steve Holland from 5th Special Forces Group, alongside Colonel Jack Dills, to the United States Special Operations Command for approval, the SCAR program commenced, with the XCR eventually becoming one of many designs brought forward by a number of participating manufacturers.[16]

The XCR-L is currently available in 5.56×45mm NATO, 300 Blackout, 6.8mm Remington SPC, 6.5mm Grendel, 5.45×39mm, .224 Valkyrie, 6mm ARC, .22 ARC, .338 ARC and 7.62×39mm calibers.[17] Each of these calibers is available in kit form for converting an existing rifle to one of the other calibers.

The XCR-M .308 was officially confirmed via Robinson Arms email circulation to a public reveal at SHOT show 2011. The 6.8mm Remington SPC variant began shipping in November 2007.[18]

The 7.62×39mm rifles and conversion kits began shipping in July 2008.[18]

In August 2009 Robinson Arms began shipping 3 different sized upper receivers enabling PDW and pistol style variants:[19]

  • Standard Upper Receiver – The original length and designed to support barrel lengths from 11" to 18.6".
  • Mini Upper Receivers – 15.25" long and designed to support barrel lengths from 9" to 18.6". Primarily intended for barrel lengths from 9" to 10".
  • Micro Upper Receivers – 13.25" long and designed to support barrel lengths from 7.5" to 18.6". Primarily intended for barrel lengths from 7.5" to 8".

Variants are also available in "California" versions which are limited to meet the more restrictive State of California firearms laws.

Robinson Armament also produced an 18.6" barrel version for the Canadian market. The XCR rifles intended for the Canadian market were shipped with the FAST stock (fully adjustable stock), although aftermarket stocks are available as an accessory. These rifles shipped with a single magazine pinned to accept only five rounds. On May 1, 2020, the XCR was reclassified as a Prohibited Firearm and is no longer legal to import or sell in Canada.[20]

Since its introduction in 2006, components of the XCR have been updated. Most of these enhancements are available to existing XCR owners.

  • In November 2006 the firing pin was redesigned and made more durable and robust.[21]
  • The first few hundred XCRs shipped with Yankee Hill Machine (YHM) back up iron sights (BUIS). The most recent iteration ships either without BUIS or with BUIS designed by Midwest Industries.
  • A 2nd generation adjustable gas system started shipping with XCR rifles in July 2007. The 1st generation gas system required tools (a 5/8" wrench) to adjust. The 2nd generation system can be adjusted by hand.[22]
  • The XCR's hammer was updated in July 2008 concurrent with the release of the 7.62×39 rifles/kits. The new heavier design allows the XCR to ignite some newer Wolf 7.62×39 ammunition made with extra-hard primers.[23]
  • In early 2009, Robinson began shipping rifles with an integral winter-style trigger guard and new paddle style safety. A provision for a quick detachable sling loop was added to the stock mount.
  • A two-stage match trigger is available which will break at approximately 3.5 lbs. This trigger can be ordered with a new rifle or retrofitted to an older one. The older one was a two-stage trigger that was about twice as heavy, and some complaints included trigger slap. As of May 2009, the new trigger has been shipping with all new rifles.
  • Ambidextrous mag release was demonstrated at SHOT 2010.
  • XCR-M .308 and XCR-L 5.45 calibers have been confirmed for public announcement and display at SHOT show 2011 via Robinson e-mail bulletin.[24]

Operators

Ukraine[25]

See also

References

  1. ^ "We Sold Guns To Ukraine So Our Credit Card Processor Cancelled Us Without Notice". Robinson Armament Co. 9 September 2022. Archived from the original on 1 October 2022.
  2. ^ War Noir [@war_noir] (2022-11-17). "#Russia #Ukraine 🇷🇺🇺🇦: A combatant of #Ukrainian Forces released a new video from the city of #Dnipro. The combatant seems to be using an uncommon suppressed .308 XCR-M rifle —possibly obtained from the market. https://t.co/jrRe0PXkOC" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 2022-11-21. Retrieved 2022-12-14 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ a b c "Robinson Armament Co – XCR-L". Archived from the original on 2018-07-20. Retrieved 2012-02-19.
  4. ^ a b c "Robinson Armament Co – XCR-M". Archived from the original on 2018-07-19. Retrieved 2012-02-19.
  5. ^ KadenaSKK, FuryTomic, RobinsonArms (2026). Robinson Armament: The Sharkry Connection - A GFL2 Interview with Alex Robinson (ft. FuryTomic). Event occurs at 36:35. Alex Robinson: "Actually, our very first version, we were going to offer to the government a tilt bolt, not a rotating bolt... It required a little head spacing with a screw, and they didn't like that idea at all."
  6. ^ SOF is an abbreviation for Special Operations Forces.
  7. ^ Keith Finch (November 2, 2022). "The All American SCAR – XCR". GAT Daily. Archived from the original on February 26, 2024.
  8. ^ KadenaSKK, FuryTomic, RobinsonArms (2026). Robinson Armament: The Sharkry Connection - A GFL2 Interview with Alex Robinson (ft. FuryTomic). Event occurs at 23:51. Alex Robinson: "What happened was... in the rush to get it all packed up and out, our shipping clerk forgot the blank firing adapters, they were on the packing list, but he didn't put them in the package. And we airmailed those, but they got there one day late, so they wouldn't even look at our system... The blank firing adapter is a standard AR-15, M16 blank firing adapter, that was just a bogus excuse for not testing the rifle. We were actually called by a colleague a month before we even shipped the rifles, said they've already done a deal under the table with 'blank', I'm not going to say the name."
  9. ^ "Army considers options in replacing the M4 - Army News, news from Iraq, - Army Times". Archived from the original on 2009-07-16. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
  10. ^ "Military Photos: Military images, military pictures, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines - Military Times". Archived from the original on 2009-01-24. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  11. ^ a b c d e f Andy Massimilian (November 25, 2025). "Robinson Armament XCR-L Rifle Review". Shooting Illustrated. Archived from the original on December 5, 2025.
  12. ^ KadenaSKK, FuryTomic, RobinsonArms (2026). Robinson Armament: The Sharkry Connection - A GFL2 Interview with Alex Robinson (ft. FuryTomic). Event occurs at 35:14. Alex Robinson: "We have a much larger, stronger bolt which can take some of these newer calibers like the 6mm ARC and 6.5mm Grendel. You hear of a lot of AR bolts breaking and people trying to redesign them... but we've got a system that can take the heavier loads."
  13. ^ Mike Westra (August 21, 2018). "The Robinson Armament XCR-M, Part 1. SCAR Killer?". GAT Daily. Archived from the original on March 4, 2024.
  14. ^ KadenaSKK, FuryTomic, RobinsonArms (2026). Robinson Armament: The Sharkry Connection - A GFL2 Interview with Alex Robinson (ft. FuryTomic). Event occurs at 32:27. Alex Robinson: "Some people... say, "can you put a charging handle on the other side too?" For the reasons the Special Forces guys say they don't want it there. We could have put a small charging handle up near the top rail, and then you'd be racking your knuckle against your optics and other accessories. We decided to put it down where John Browning put it on the BAR... So we basically used an Israeli type FAL charging handle on our rifle. So you have forward assist built in and the charging handle doesn't reciprocate. Internally the bolt... works a lot like an AK. It feeds better, it's got a better extractor, it's got a solid ejector... [People ask] "Why is the ejection port so short on your gun?", and that's because we can get away with that with the solid ejector. People also ask "Why don't you have a dust cover?" An AR-15 needs it, this doesn't."
  15. ^ "Home". robarm.com.
  16. ^ KadenaSKK, FuryTomic, RobinsonArms (2026). Robinson Armament: The Sharkry Connection - A GFL2 Interview with Alex Robinson (ft. FuryTomic). Event occurs at 19:15. Alex Robinson: "After 9/11, the next month, we got a call from a member of the 5th group Special Forces, he said, "You want to be involved in our program? We have one of your M96s"... This is where the SCAR came from... They wanted to be able to go into Afghanistan with a weapon that could shoot the enemy's ammo. And they called this program the SPRV, Special Purpose Rifle Variant... They wanted it to be able to shoot 7.62×39 and .223, so they could have this dual caliber capability, and maybe shoot 5.45×39 too, by the way. We had never built a full-auto M96. We had 60 days to build a full-auto one that would shoot two calibers... The guns went to trials at Blackwater, our gun won out... Steve Holland from 5th group did this, and I talked a lot with him, and this is how the SCAR program started through the 5th group, Steve Holland and Colonel Jack Dills went to SOPCOM command and got it approved... The spec went round and round and round... and before they finalized the spec, they threw [in] an enhanced grenade launcher module, they merged that program with the SCAR program... We literally had two months to do it. And I confronted the project manager, Thomas Spellissy about this, why they threw this in, you know, we don't have one."
  17. ^ "XCR-L Product Specs". www.robarm.com. Archived from the original on 2007-11-21.
  18. ^ a b "XCR Home Page". www.robarm.com. Archived from the original on 2007-11-08.
  19. ^ "Forthcoming Products". www.robarm.com. Archived from the original on 2008-10-20.
  20. ^ "Regulations Amending the Regulations Prescribing Certain Firearms and Other Weapons, Components and Parts of Weapons, Accessories, Cartridge Magazines, Ammunition and Projectiles as Prohibited, Restricted or Non-Restricted". May 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  21. ^ "XCR Upgrades". www.robarm.com. Archived from the original on 2007-02-06.
  22. ^ "XCR Technical Updates". www.robarm.com. Archived from the original on 2006-08-14.
  23. ^ "New hammer installation instructions". xcrforum.com. Archived from the original on 2008-08-02.
  24. ^ "Heads Up". xcrforum.com. Archived from the original on 2011-01-20.
  25. ^ "We Sold Guns To Ukraine So Our Credit Card Processor Cancelled Us Without Notice". Robinson Armament Co. 9 September 2022. Archived from the original on 1 October 2022.
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