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Caracal is a 15-year-old gun manufacturing company headquartered in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. While the name is now known around the world, the company still faces some misunderstandings about its true capabilities. TFB had the opportunity to visit the Caracal facility, which we are sure our readers will also appreciate.
Caracal @TFB:
TFB Factory Visit: Exclusive Tour of Caracal Abu Dhabi – CAR814, DI Model of Manufacturer’s AR15 Series
Company Profile
Founded in 2007 with the goal of becoming the UAE’s national gun manufacturer, Caracal has tested the market over the years with several new designs of pistols and carbines.Some of them are only known to the public due to brief appearances in either location Edexcel or Adi HexWhile others have gained their market share globally.
Since its inception, Caracal has managed to attract talent from all over the world and acquire established European manufacturers. A few years later, we saw the company as part of several UAE government groups, first Tawazun Holding, then EDIC and finally EDGE. The latter oversaw greater investments in manufacturing equipment, implemented a new, aggressive strategy targeting the global military market and increased synergies with the rest of the Group’s business units.
the journey
After a warm and welcoming welcome in the rather unassuming facility, I was guided through the very active prototyping department. The area seems relatively small mainly because it’s a very well equipped space and often busy with multiple CNC machining centers, EDM machines, industrial 3D printers (fiber reinforced nylon and stereolithography), hand tools and springs Manufacturing machines. The company is very active in research and development, which results in many components being prototyped and every new design or major modification goes through the testing department before being pushed further. This was highlighted as one of the steps taken many years ago to achieve the highest quality assurance standards and ISO certification.
Along the same lines, the next stop at the warehouse visited the materials laboratory, where samples of each batch of raw materials were tested to ensure compliance.
TFB Factory Visit: Exclusive Tour of Caracal, Abu Dhabi – Overview of the main factory floor (Photo courtesy of Caracal)
Next, I toured the fabrication and assembly shop, a well-organized area with several machining centers and specialized equipment, including polymer injection molding, since everything is done in-house. Probably the most interesting area here is the lane dedicated to the manufacture of sniper rifle barrels, starting from bar stock, through deep hole drilling, external contouring, heat treatment and button rifle, followed by 100% borescope testing.
The manufacturing shop appears to be divided into units, each dedicated to a particular type of firearm, from raw materials to assembled units.
TFB Factory Visit: Exclusive Tour of Caracal Abu Dhabi – Assembly and QC (Photo courtesy of Caracal)
As with all assembled firearms, we then moved to the testing area. At Caracal, 100% of our products are tested to NATO standards, and for some models this means environmental testing (using specialized chambers that simulate extreme hot or cold environments) and barrel extrusion. These tests were performed within a dedicated 25-meter indoor range.
After the internal cycle, all firearms undergo validation testing by the UAE National Validation Agency, a third party located alongside Caracal but completely independent. The UAE adheres to the CIP protocol, which requires that each firearm must safely handle pressures up to 20% above the nominal maximum limit.
entertainment
In the recently renovated and further insulated 100m indoor test range, the Caracal team prepared models from 9mm to 0.338 for me to test.
CMP9
We start with a CMP9 with a folding stock, emptying two magazines with 9mm Luger NATO ammunition in selective fire. The submachine gun performed well in international tenders and achieved impressive results in endurance tests. I saw a sample with over 30,000 rounds: it still looked like new, with the only sign of intensive use being the discolored controls. The charging handle is usually AR-15 style, but some LEO users require a side charger, which mounts above the barrel, in the handguard, with minimal modification.
TFB Factory Visit: Exclusive Tour of Abu Dhabi Caracal – CMP9 SD Model
Operation is by direct recoil, with the rearward movement of the telescoping bolt cushioned by a rubber insert at the rear of the receiver. Available as a suppressor-ready or integral suppressor, the firearm uses a magazine with no last-round bolt left open.
TFB Factory Tour: Exclusive tour of Caracal Abu Dhabi – CMP9 SD, details of the overall pressed design; when fully assembled, the suppressor looks like a deflector
I think a competitively priced civilian version would be very successful in the US market. However, this is not yet possible as Caracal currently has no R&D time available to focus on redesigning the trigger group to be semi-automatic as required by the ATF. One can hope this will happen soon.
car 816
5.56, Piston AR, which is available as a select-fire model, with a barrel about 10 inches long.
TFB Factory Visit: Exclusive Tour of Abu Dhabi Caracal – CAR816 in Various Configurations
On the face of it there may not be anything special about this gun, but seeing the 7.5″ prototype go through over 50,000 rounds with the internals looking like new gives me a lot of confidence in the durability of the gun .
CAR817
The CAR817 is a 7.62×51 piston AR-10 style battle rifle. I had the opportunity to test a 12.5″ barrel, a compact select-fire model that was requested for an international tender. When I saw that a light rifle could indeed be fired in bursts by a trained marksman, I was invited to do a half-shoot.
TFB Factory Visit: Exclusive Tour of Abu Dhabi Caracal – Short Tube CAR817
The CAR817 also provides semi-automatic DMR configuration. I had a chance to shoot it with Caracal’s own QD silencer both uninhibited and inhibited. While I’m far from a sharpshooter, I’ve been able to hit 1 MOA in both sets of shots at 100 meters thanks to the very stable platform and the superb Geissele trigger that the rifle comes with.
TFB Factory Visit: Exclusive Tour of Caracal, Abu Dhabi – CAR817 DMR
CSR338
The CSR338 is a .338 Lapua Magnum bolt action precision rifle with a QD suppressor (user requested) capable of keeping the blast within 135dB. Action feels fluid, but removing long rounds from the magazine and loading them requires moderate but consistent pressure. The Caracal .338 barrel is rifled and can handle both 250 and 300 grs bullets.
TFB Factory Visit: Exclusive Tour of Karakal, Abu Dhabi – CSR338 Bolt Action Sniper Rifle, note the fully adjustable stock
The gun is said to be the lightest in its class, however, it is still a pleasure to shoot. The fully adjustable stock (patented and shared by the entire CSR family) is designed to be fully operable with one hand, with all adjustments moving under spring tension for faster set-up.
TFB Exclusive – CSA338 Test Fire
The icing on the cake of this visit, an unplanned and highly appreciated gift from the head of R&D, was the opportunity to photograph a prototype of the CSA338 that we first saw at IDEX 2021.
The gun was born out of user demand from military snipers, who increasingly relied on semi-automatic rifles. The design process was extensively benchmarked using only a handful of options on the market, which gave the design team a clear idea of ​​what features were needed for the final model.
TFB Factory Visit: Exclusive Tour of Caracal, Abu Dhabi – UAE Sniper Tests CSA338 (Photo courtesy of Caracal)
The prototype that was brought to the test site was quickly assembled for this unexpected test, however, other than the optics not being zeroed, it was fully capable. Due to the partially 3D printed magazine (the final model will hold 15 rounds), I’ve seen an FTE with a reliability of 90% (solved in seconds).
My 5 shots have no problem at all, the action is strong but smooth, and there is no sign of staleness. Feel the recoil is 7.62 NATO level. The controls are easily accessible, with a special bolt release annotation just above the trigger finger. A used brass, on a quick inspection, no signs of warping except for a lightly polished spot on the base, most likely due to the injector closest to the extractor (there are two of them). Brass damage is to be expected with this high pressure semi-automatic rifle, finding the opposite indicates that the system is well tuned.
Operation is via a short stroke piston with a long 3 piece piston that expels excess gas through the air block and transfers momentum through a slim handguard (actually slimmer than the one on the CSR308). The 3 sections of the piston compensate for any potential imperfections, increasing overall reliability.
BCG diameter is equal to CAR817/AR10, and CSA338 shares the same buffer zone with it. AR style bolt heads have dual ejectors with delayed opening cams running on roller bearings. The casing is completely sealed from the outside environment, without screws, and can be disassembled with a single engine as a tool.
The rifle feels ready for release, but R&D wants to do further testing and refinement to minimize perceived recoil and reduce the time between shots. Definitely a truly innovative piece that will conquer its niche and prove Caracal’s design prowess.
in conclusion
Overall, the visit confirmed the feeling that Caracal is now an important player in a global market with design and manufacturing capabilities usually only associated with long-established OEMs.
While the focus appears to be primarily on the military market, Caracal’s US operations are currently producing the CAR816, while the Gen2 of the F pistol is expected to be released early next year. Other models in the current lineup will certainly satisfy the tastes of American shooters, but there are no plans for the civilian market just yet.
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