Robar article Amer C..

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EOPSHOOTOUTS
remember the flrst time I held a
Glock. It was 1986, and the
strangestpart was my dad was
the guy who handed it to me.
P o p w a s a d y e d -i n - t h e- w o o I
l9ll guy and here he was
talking
about what a great gun
I
I
this plastic thing was. "Don't
criticize the cuisine until you taste it."
He said it with a smile on his face.
The first magazinewent down range
from the 25 yard line easily.The group
was a little high, but smaller than the
palm of my hand. The next two magaz i n e s s h o w e d s i m i l a r r e s u l t s .S m a l l
groups, but high. I also noticed the
slide kind of bit the web of my hand
on the left side. Okay, I can live
with that, I've got baseball-mit
sizedpaws.
Little did I know that
day, a love-haterelationship with Glocks would
continue for over 20
years. I've owned
about a dozen, and
carried a few on
duty, sometimesa
few at the same
time and they were
all Timex-dependable. The only
downside?For me,
it was the grip and maybe my
Herman Munster
hands if you wanted
to get
technical.Every
set technical.
Ever
once in a while I would
get a really high grip out
of the holster and get a
little bite. I have a scar on
the web of my hand from all
the years of ringing that bell. I
looked at it as a small pdce to pay
for a fighting tool that goes bang every
time I press the trigger.
When I first put my hands on a
Robarized Glock I realized I was
feeling, as some marketing guy might
say.the "New and improved!"version.
I knew I had to have the grip treatment
done to mine, and I especially wanted
the beaver tail - no more slide bite.
Wvll'lv.AMERI(ANl|ANDGUll|I,IT[.(OI
My RobarizedGlock 23 is the only
non-l9l I carrygunI totearound.
lmproving Perfection
For those who don't know it. Robbie
B a r r k m a n i s n e v e r s a t i s f i e da n d i s
always striving to make his products a
better.If you ever have the pleasureof a
watching him work in his shop you can I
almost seethe gearstuming in his head. I
I know you can hear them sometimes.
becausethey go "click, whirr." I've )
heard them.
What my eyes would see as perfecl.
Robbie seesflaws. This intense desire
for perfection has turned out the
world's best snioer rifles. and made a
"perfect pistol" well, um, more perfect. :
Or as Hondo, my six-year-oldwould
say, "Perfecter Dad." When I thought
there was nothing else Robbie could do
to make Glocks more user friendly, he
introduced the Alloy Extreme or Notta
Glock as I've heard it called.
Robar and CCF Raceframegot
together and created the Alloy Xtreme
line of handguns.CCF's frames grve
Glock sbootersthe option of putting
some metal in their hands. They offer
replacementsfor the polymer frame
with a more ridsed stainiesssteelor aluback
minum frame w-ithinterchangeable
straosand a beavertail. All of which
malies the feel more l9l1-ish, if you
will. If vou have trained vour hand to
II
I
the traditional Glock backstrap there'\
even an insert to make your hand feel
right at home. For me the l9l1 angle
and the no-bite-beavertail-likeextensron
made mY hand feel risht at home.
Fixing lt
Takins into considerationall the best
attribute-sof the Glock. Robar fixed
what most shooterswould call "thinss
t h e y w o u l d c h a n g ei f t h e y c o u l d .
Glock actions are often called
spongy- in the Xtreme they are crisp.
constantand with a shonerrnorepositive reset. This smoother action, combined with a sculpted finger recess.
r e d u c e st h e t r i g g e r r e a c h a l l o w i n g
smaller-handedshooterssome comfort.
This also equatesto faster shot-to-shot
times while holding onto a high
caoacitv frame. The traditional frame is
ofien jirst too big for some shooters
hands and they have had to just make
do - until now.
My wife, Corie, shot the Xtreme
and almost immediatelytold me how
much better it felt in her hand than the
same size Glock 22. The Xtreme sat
lower in her hand as a result of the
higher backstrap arch and the fact the
bottom of the trigger guard is relieved.
Corie noticed the trigger didn't pinch
her finger in recoil like my other
Glocks do. since Robar relieved the
trigger guard to fix the bite problem
some shooters complain about. She
also liked how much easer it was to
insert magazines, and how easier it
was to hit the mag release.
Again, Robar listenedto what people
u.ould fix if they could. The magazine
well has been enlargedfor smoother
reloads without making the grip larger,
Access to the mag releasebutton has
been improved to allow easier access.
without causing unintentional releases
becauseof extendedbuttons.
No] Just A Frome
The Robar team does it all, and the
frame is just the beginning.Parts are
just parts until master craftsmen fit
them together and Robbie's team at
Robar are just the crew for the job.
Robbie demands the same Derfection
from them as he does from himself and
it shows in everv asDectof the Xtreme.
Everyone in tlie sirop works on the
guns like they were going to be carrying the gun personally.I saw it
myself when I worked in the shop for a
few days to get some hands-onas to
what goes into the Xtreme.
Robbie chose to put XS Big Dot
sights on the guns for the simple reason
they're the best sight for quick and
a c c u r a t ew o r k . S o m e w r i t e r s c o m mented they couldn't shoot accurate
groups with XS sights. These sights
aren't designedto shoot one hole
. lAllUAlY/ttBRUARY
AMtRI(AN
}|AllDGUlllltR
2009
I
b u l l s e y eg r o u p s . w h i l es t a n d i n go n a
squareranSewrm your vlclous opponent being a piece of paper.They're
designedto save your life in a gunfight
- and they work. Having said that, I
have watchedthe sight inventor,Ashley
Emerson, and XS VP Dave Biggers
shoot groups at 25 yards better than
most can with "target" sights.
Robar finishes the euns with several
coating options.The proprietaryNP3
coating is unsurpassedin durability
and self-lubrication. The NP3 thicknessis maintainedto within .0002- that's two ten thousandsof and inch. I
told you Robbie was tough on standards. Other options are Roguard which only comes in Black - and
Polymax, which comes in just about
any color you want. If Robar doesn't
wvlw.aMERt(AilHAltDGul
{tR.(0M
have your color in stock, the lab can
make it for an extra charge.
Shoors Like A Dreom
I shot the Xtreme in a .40 cal version.similarto the Glock 22.It felt
more like a 9mm than a .40 - which
meant it was Xtreamly fun to shoot.
The pistol gobbled up about 800 rounds
or so over the two days of testing
withoutso much as a hiccuo.Corie was
resnonsiblefor about 200 of those. and
shereally enjoyed shootingthe pistol.
Several of my cop buddies who carry
the .40 commenredon how much nicer
the gun felt in the hand and how the recoil
was much less than in a comparable
polymer frame. And, in spite of the doom
and gloom some writerc may wring their
hands about regardingbeing able to hit
the target with big XS sights - everyone
who shot the Distol was amazedwith how
fast and accuratethe XS sightswere.
The Xtreme can be Durchasedout of
the box ready to run. If you already
have a Glock (in certain models) and
want to upgrade, you can have Robar
do a Revive Package
Packaseon the gun
sun you
vou
alreadyhave.
. The program
orosramhas four
levelsraneins
rangingfrom
from basicupgrades
uDsradesto
the completeoverhaul.
So there you have it, a more "perfecter" example of perfection, courtesy
of Robbie Barrkman and the crew at
Robar.I wonder what's next more, more-perfecter?
F o r m o r e i n f o : R o b a r ,( 6 2 3 ) 5 8 1 2648,www.robarguns.com
; XS SiI hts,
wwwtssights.com-