Robinson Armament XCR-L 5.56 Review/Breakdown

I picked up a "used" Robinson Armament XCR-L in 5.56, I say "used" lightly because it looks to be factory new... I'd wager that the previous owner never fired it, judging from the serial number and internal components its a newer model by a few years than my other XCR.

This rifle lets me add some redundancy to my other rifle setup. The internals, upper and lower receiver and barrel are all compatible. Useful if you plan to take a Carbine course and need two similar rifles or if one rifle breaks apart and you don't have time to wait for a replacement to arrive in the mail.

I'll be ordering some parts and accessories to bring this rifle around to a more "tacti-cool" look

Here it is in its factory fresh form.... not much to look at yet...

 
From the tip to tail, I'd like to replace the original A-2 Flash hider, originally designed for the M-16 rifles, it keeps the enemy from seeing the burst of fire when the rifle is fired at night or when lying prone it keeps the blast from stirring up a cloud of dust.

The M-16 bolt recoils in a linear fashion, using direct impingement (using the hot escaping gasses from the round to push the bolt rearward), resulting in recoil that is almost straight rearward, with very little muzzle flip. The XCR uses a piston system (using hot escaping gasses to push a piston that pushes the bolt rearward) and so you gain a bit of muzzle flip from the momentum and inertia from the piston pushing the bolt. This is an acceptable trade-off given the reliability of the piston systems (Think AK-47, another piston system)

So all that being said I want to replace the A-2 with a suitable compensator/flash hider, giving me better muzzle control i.e., faster follow-up shots. Thinking about going with the Battlecomp 1.0 (kinda pricey)

Monolithic Railed Upper, the assembly at the far right is the gas adjustment valve, use it to tune the rifle to the ammo you have on hand. More gas to push the piston in colder weather or with less powerful rounds, less gas with powerful rounds and hotter weather.

Since the upper is Monolithic (all one piece with the barrel bolted in vs. having an upper receiver, that holds up a hand guard, and barrel) you have a very stable platform to mount optics, iron sights, lights, etc....

I'm going to put some ergo rubberized rail covers on the exposed rails, one to protect the rails from getting beat up and two to protect my lilly white hands from becoming shredded slaw salad while I shoot.

That little nub on the bottom of the upper on the left hand side is the barrel retaining bolt, allows me to change out the barrel of the rifle in about 5 min, not sure that I would ever need this feature, but just try doing a barrel change-out on your AR-15/M-16 while your hiding in some muddy ditch in the zombie apocalypse...
 

Upper meets Lower, pretty standard here, easier to use than your standard AR-15, put a new mag in and use your index finger to push down on the paddle just behind the magwell along the trigger guard. Same for locking the bolt open (you don't need to drop from your firing stance) just push the paddle up with your index finger. Clearing a malfunction has never been easier or faster.

I'll swap out the pistol grip for something more ergo, and I'll try to get some iron sights and an optic for the top rail.

Folding Stock, Magpul MOE telescoping stock. Easy to fold the stock for placement in a bag or on your back. I'd like to draw attention to the fact that there is no buffer-tube assembly for this rifle, don't try folding your AR-15 stock...

Mags, this is the cruddy mag that came with the rifle, most people overlook the mag, and its one of the most important parts of the rifle (if you can't get rounds into the rifle, you have just bought a very expensive highly complicated single shot rifle/club combo).

This mag looks like it was assembled by angry beavers, placed into a washing machine full of hammers and spray painted by your 7 year old cousin. I won't name the manufacturer, it would probably work if it was all I had, but I'm going to retire it and replace it with a new P-MAGs, or rebuilt Aluminum mags with enhanced Magpul followers (Seriously, at least try some of the Magpul enhanced followers, makes mags load and cycle as smooth as silk, and who wants to see their end because of a $2 hunk of plastic). 

Simple setups for simple people, how many parts does your rifle have...can you reassemble them in the dark, or a muddy ditch...

Lower, notice the simple setup and lack of the buffer tube and assembly. The part I don't like is the rubbery buffer pad (Horse-shoe shaped piece on the far right, below the hole); it isn't necessary for operation of the rifle, and I'll most likely take it off, before it gets smashed into little rubbery pellets inside the rifle...nuff said.
 

Some old Ergo Rubberized rail covers and a Tapco VFG (vertical forward grip) I'll put them on until I get some better options.

That's all for now, I want to take a moment and say that I like a lot of AR-15 setups, I just prefer the XCR more... Don't take offense if you are an AR-15 user, it's an excellent platform and has a lot of benefits going for it (a lot that the XCR doesn't have). I just setup my gear how if feel best suits me, and I'm no expert. With any setup ensure that you are proficient with its care and feeding, and always observe the rules of firearm safety. 

I am in no way paid by any of the companies you have seen represented here. I had to pay my hard earned cash just like everybody else and this gives me the option to say what I want, how I want....