Many people are interested in collecting miniature arms, because it allows us to transfer in our time the famous in the past centuries weapons that are now not produced. Needless to say, it’s nice to take in hand an artfully recreated old model, as if descended from the pages of a history textbook. And if she also shoots real bullets, then such a pleasure is incomparable. Although, if to be completely honest, this is not the only reason why miniature artists are so fond of taking pistols and revolvers of old times as prototypes.
The second reason is the evolution of technology and the complication of mechanisms. Pistols made in the 18-19 centuries, where it is easier to reproduce in miniature than modern models – because their device is not so intricate. Therefore, few people dare to challenge modern manufacturers and repeat a pistol made with the latest technology – such as Caracal.
About Caracal gun. It’s a real challenge for miniaturists!
On February 18, 2007, in the city of Abu Dhabi (UAE), at the Idex 2007 exhibition, Caracal International LLC presented new Caracal F and C pistols developed by a group of designers led by former Steyr-Manlicher employee Wilhelm Wubitz, the creator of the M. series of pistols. These weapons were launched in 2002. After four years, the gun passed the certification of compliance with NATO standards.
What is interesting about this model? From a historical point of view, this is the first time that the Arab world company has independently designed and built its own high-tech weapons in three different models, so successfully that it now sells it to the US and Europe. From a practical point of view, one can not but note the store’s capacity and reliability. Having 18 cartridges in the store and one more in the chamber, the Caracal is the most multiply-mass-produced serial gun in the world. And its weight without ammunition is only 700 grams. To this should be added the fact that the Caracal pistols for the first time in the world from the first time and without any changes in the design have gone through all the stages of testing the German police and the Bundeswehr conducted to assess the qualities of the personal short-barreled service weapon. These tests include checking the reliability of operation under severe operating conditions – when sand, dirt and water enter the mechanism of the gun, firing after the weapon remains in salt water and its safety, trouble-free operation at low and high temperatures, safety tests in handling and reliability Safety mechanisms, checking the accuracy of sighting and accuracy of high-speed shooting, ease and ease of handling. Weapons of Caracal International LLC, successfully passed all the stages of these tests, were awarded the appropriate certificates.
How did the producers achieve such impressive results? Consider the features of the internal device of the weapon. The automation of this pistol works on the principle of using recoil in the short course of the barrel. Locking is carried out with the help of the declining breech part of the barrel: after the bullet is ejected, it enters with its rectangular ledge located above the chamber, into the window for ejecting the cartridge cartridge shells. Reduction occurs with the interaction of the bevel of the lower tide of the breech part of the trunk with the inclined projection of the frame frame. The shutter-casing consists of two parts – the casing and the shutter itself. Two of these parts are connected by means of two transverse pins. The frame of the gun is made of high-strength polymer, inside of which there is a steel frame fixed with two pins. The frame combines the details of the shock-trigger mechanism and the guiding of the casing. In the front part of the frame there are slots for fixing additional attachments.
Miniature gun Caracal next to a real one on the World Exhibition of Weapons in Abu Dhabi, 2010.
The handle with a large angle and ergonomic shape, convenient for most shooters, almost independent of the size of the palm, allows you to quickly and accurately point the gun at the target with “instinctive” shooting. A similar advantage, for example, is the German pistol designed by Georg Luger – the famous Parabellum, and from modern, commercially available – Austrian pistols Glock and Steyr, Slovak K100, American Smith & Wesson M & P and Ruger SR9. Stable and monotonous grip is promoted by notching on the front and back surfaces. Such a handle is really convenient: it makes the weapon well controlled and provides accuracy, both with careful aiming and with high-speed shooting. Due to the low position of the barrel bore axis over the backplate of the handle, the gun has a small recoil arm and a throw in the shooting, which facilitates quick guidance on the target after each shot. On both sides of the handle can be attached multi-colored side lining, which can be useful to indicate the weapons belonging to when used in government or security structures.
The caliber of the bullet of this pistol is 9 mm. The shock-trigger mechanism is only self-cocking, shock type. The pulling force is 2.2 kg, the stroke length is about 8 mm. The trigger is equipped with an automatic fuse. The weapon is also equipped with an automatic firing pin guard, which protects against an accidental shot when the pistol is dropped. In the lower part of the frame, inside the trigger guard, the barrel lock is placed. On the left side of the frame there is a small lever of the gate delay. Latch store – at the base of the trigger guard. The two-row magazine holds 18 cartridges with an output in one row. To simplify and simplify the equipment of the magazine, the pistol manufacturer produces a special device – the accelerator of loading. Sights consist of a flies fixed on a casing, in a dovetail type, with the possibility of making lateral corrections, as well as a part that is part of the closure. The fly and the cage have one white insert, which are arranged vertically on one line and serve to simplify and accelerate the aiming of the weapon on the target and the correct alignment of aiming devices in conditions of low illumination.
Several additional devices are produced for the pistol. A sighting module of quick guidance with a short sighting line and a front sight with a fiber optic insert can be installed in the slot for the flies. Fiberoptic plastic, from which inserts are made cylindrical, directs most of the light flux only along its axis. This makes it possible, even with a throwing of the weapon to the sighting line, to subconsciously focus attention on the fly. High contrast makes it possible to make the aiming much faster than with a conventional fly, and send bullets to the target more accurately. A sighting module with such a front sight in combination with a short sight line contributes to a quicker aiming at shooting offensive, which is especially important in close combat. The weapon also has the ability to mount a collimator sight on the frame.
Arabian colleagues showed special interest in the half-size Karakal F, the joint development of the company “Miniature Arsenal” and the state manufacturer of firearms in the UAE.
The attachable butt attached to the lower part and the grip of the handle during its use significantly improves accuracy and accuracy of shooting, both in small and high tempo. On the grooves in the front of the frame can be installed pistol grip, increasing not only the accuracy, but also the stability of the weapon when firing. In this case, the tactical flashlight or laser target designator can be installed instead of the frame grooves, on the grooves of the front protrusion of the pistol grip. The joint use of the front handle and the butt in order to increase the effectiveness of the weapon, especially with high-speed shooting, but at the same time deprives it of compactness. To exclude the use of a pistol by third parties other than its owners, there is a special block with a lock, installed in the handle in place of the store. The lock is locked with a key, which must be kept by the owner of the weapon at all times.
In general, the Caracal pistols are a high-tech modern weapon possessing a number of advantages, not without its drawbacks, but having real prospects for use by law enforcement agencies and ordinary citizens of different countries for self-defense and sports shooting. In accordance with modern requirements for the ergonomics of handguns, the disadvantage is the inability to individually adjust the size of the handle by replacing its individual parts. However, the very shape of the handle with a tilt angle of 18 ° makes it convenient to hold the arrows of different combinations. Advantages: constant combat readiness; Sufficiently high stopping action of the bullet of the cartridge used; Low weight; Reliability of work; Simplicity, convenience and safety in circulation; High firepower; Accuracy of shooting; a small leverage shoulder and throwing weapons when firing, which facilitates the rapid deployment of weapons on the target after each shot; Simplicity in caring for weapons; Small width and absence of strongly protruding parts.
Caracal pistols are available for sale in three versions: full-size standard Caracal F, compact Caracal C and ultra-compact Caracal SC. The Caracal C model differs from the standard F with only a shorter trunk, a casing-closure and a handle with a smaller magazine. The 9 mm Caracal SC (subcompact) pistol, presented on February 22, 2009 at IDEX 2009, in addition to a significant reduction in length and height, has a longer area of a large inclined notch on the sides of the closure-casing and a smaller weapon width of 23.5 mm. In addition to its own magazine with 13 cartridges, the SC model can use stores from variants F and C. A drummer made of high-strength polymer was introduced into the Caracal SC design.
The sight line in the SC version is very short, since the goal is the upper projection of the front part of the shutter-case, and its rear part coincides with the front edge of the window for the ejection of the fired sleeves. Such a decision, which significantly reduces the accuracy of aiming, is due to the designation of this model – self-defense with concealed wearing, where shooting is conducted for a maximum of 6 to 7 meters, and more often almost at point-blank range. Automatic fuse, placed not on the trigger, as in variants F and C, but at the bottom of the trigger guard. Currently, the Caracal pistol is in service in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Jordan since April 2008, and is also used in the armies and law enforcement structures of the countries of the Cooperation Council of the Arab States of the Persian Gulf. In Europe, Caracal was presented in 2009 at the EXA expo. In the Italian civilian arms market, they are now represented by Fratelli Tanfoglio S.N.C. Representation of this company – and with its production facilities – is also in the United States.
In 2017, Caracal USA announced the release and sale of an improved version of the F model in the US under the name Enhanced F. The modernization of the pistol was carried out primarily to improve the safety in handling weapons. In September 2013, the old Karakal pistols were withdrawn because of an identified shortcoming, consisting in the real possibility of an accidental shot when the weapon fell onto a solid surface.
To solve this problem, the manufacturer has finalized a number of details and mechanisms providing safety – a trigger with a pull rod and an automatic release fuse, an automatic fuse for a drummer, a shockproof fuse. There will be versions of the Enhanced F pistol as with traditional steel sighting devices from a conventional fly-and-fly with three dots, and the original Quick-Sights from Caracal. Versions with the latter have a protrusion on the back of the shutter, which allows you to send the cartridge into the chamber while holding the weapon with one hand, catching the bolt with a ledge, for example, at the waist belt.
In addition, the new Caracal Enhanced F differs from the old F model with the presence and shape of the anterior notch on the bolt. Representative Karakal specified that the new Enhanced F pistols will be 100% produced in the US. Currently, the company Caracal USA is improving the tools for the production of several small parts. Prototypes use small parts imported from the UAE, but export restrictions prevent the import of such parts in any significant amount. After the tools have been prepared, the manufacturer will begin serial production of the Enhanced F pistol in the United States.
A shooting Caracal pistol in the scale of 1:2
Who of the manufacturers of miniatures has already mastered this new model, so rapidly gaining popularity? At the moment, only one Russian company, Miniature Arsenal, sells its copies on a scale of 1: 2.
True, starting with a simple model of the standard Caracal F model of 2006, using authentic materials (pictured left), “Miniature Arsenal” seems to have faced the fact that the famous practicality, lightness and multi-charge of an Arab pistol is not so highly quoted by collectors – they are primarily interested in the beauty and elegance of the product. And very soon the company expanded the line by introducing additional options. In the photo on the right is a souvenir sample of the same Caracal F, made of Damascus steel with gold inserts.
And later an even more bizarre and aesthetic version with a gold ornament and pearl insert on the handle was added. The company’s website also notes that you can personalize your product, decorate it with symbols of the Arab Emirates, etc. How much will it cost? The most modest option is sold for 15,000 euros, and if you want to buy a decorated model – be ready to add to this amount another third. Of course, such a price is fully justified if you take into account the amount of time and effort spent on the production of such models. After all, as a rule, manual labor is used. However, not everyone can afford such an acquisition.
Are there alternatives? As for this model – unfortunately, no. But in general, a miniature pistol, shooting real bullets, on sale can be found at a much more modest price. For example, our site offers exclusive models of silver and gold pistols, combining the dignity of high-tech operating weapons and jewelry, at a price of $ 400. Learn more about them here.