Back in 2013, I reviewed a new and rather unconventional pistol: the Boberg XR9. The Boberg XR9 was a compact, aluminum-framed 9mm semi-auto that featured a unique design in terms of its operational cycle.
The Boberg XR9 was a bullpup design, which meant that the barrel was set more toward the rear of the frame, allowing the use of a longer barrel than could be fit in an overall package of equal size with a conventional design. The longer barrel provided slightly higher velocities than similar-sized pistols.
Gordon Bond’s Updates to the Bullpup Design
Bond Arms has long been famous for their marvelous, stainless-steel, two-shot derringer-style handguns with interchangeable-barrels — guns that bring the original 1895 Remington .41 rimfire design into the 21st Century. Gordon Bond purchased the Boberg design and added some updates and design overhauls that take the original Boberg just as far.
The first area that Gordon wanted to improve was the requirement for the use of a special anti-seize grease to assure proper function. This grease was applied to the barrel/locking mechanism, and while the system worked OK in my experience, it was actually a “cheap fix” to a problem that needed more investigation and effort to solve (sort of like driving a punctured tire filled with “fix-a-flat” over the long term without ever getting it properly patched or replaced).
Gordon decided to “fix the tire,” so to speak, and the solution in the scheme of things — RF-85 — was an existing nano-technology metal treatment (used by Anderson Rifles in their NO-LUBE AR-15 rifles) applied to the barrel and locking mechanism. Problem solved — no more heavy, anti-seize grease required.
The second area Gordon tackled was price. MSRP of the Boberg XR9 was $1349, which was a bit steep, but perhaps expected from a small company marketing a radically new design. I am not quite sure how Gordon pulled it off, but the Bullpup 9 has an MSRP of $977 — $372 less than the Boberg XR9!
The third area of improvement was that of appearance. The XR9 came with plastic grips, which really didn’t match up with the price tag. The basic grips of the Bullpup 9 are now signature Bond rosewood — which, when combined with the stainless-steel slide and black aluminum frame, create a much more attractive appearance, exuding the quality built in to the Bullpup 9.
For those unfamiliar with the design, what does the Bullpup 9 have to offer the person who carries a concealable pistol for personal or home defense?
The Bullpup 9 is quite compact, but it really doesn’t feel that way. The ergonomic design has a melt-in-your-hand-type feel, which makes it very controllable when shooting full-power defensive loads. The rosewood grips are nicely arched at the rear, and the sides of the grips feature “snakeskin”-type checkering with the Bond “Star” logo in the center. The 7075 aircraft-grade aluminum frame’s exposed front strap features horizontal grooves to improve your grasp while firing.
Boberg XR9 Specs
The slide, barrel and unlock block are made of 416 stainless steel. There is a series of eight grasping grooves at the rear of the slide. There are none up front, because the user has no business doing a front “press check” on a pistol whose muzzle terminates just ahead of the trigger guard.
Sights are snag-resistant, 3-dot black combat-style and are drift adjustable for windage.
The stainless-steel trigger face is smooth and the trigger is nicely curved. The trigger guard is rounded and the trigger pull weight is an easy-to-run and very smooth 7.5 pounds. There is literally no takeup and, like a double-action revolver, reset occurs at the end of the trigger cycle.
The slide does not lock back on the last shot. I don’t see this as a big deal on a close-quarter pistol like this. Adding a traditional slide release last-shot lock-back system would complicate the mechanism and add to the expense. Instead, there is a combination takedown and slide hold-open lever, which is used to show safe for inspection. Hold the easily retracted slide to the rear and rotate the lever down to the 6 ‘clock position and the slide is held back. Rotate the lever back to horizontal and the slide runs forward. Rotate the lever to the 9 o’clock position for takedown.
The overall length of the Bullpup 9 is a mere 5.1 inches. Weight is only 17.5 ounces. Barrel length is 3.35 inches (more about that in a bit). Width is .96 inches and height is 4.2 inches. All in all, the Bullpup 9 is pretty close to many .380s in size, but packing pretty close to full 9mm power.
Now for the interesting part: In order to pull off a true bullpup design within the confines of a pistol, a different operating system was needed. Bond classifies their Bullpup 9 as a locked-breech, rotating barrel, reverse-feed operating system. The simple explanation is that in this system, there is no feed ramp; the rounds are pulled from the rear of the magazine and shoved straight forward into the chamber (like feeding an artillery shell into the breech of a cannon). It is different, but it works very well.
At the rear of the chamber is a viewing port to determine if a cartridge is in the chamber. It is an important feature that comes in quite handy when making the Bullpup 9 ready to shoot.
Firearm Performance at the Shooting Range
Bond Arms has a list of recommended ammo for the Bullpup 9 for optimal functioning. Currently, there are 31 approved practice and defensive cartridges on the list. More cartridges will be added to the list as things move forward. But there are plenty of readily available loads to choose from now.
I went to the range with two approved loads: American Eagle 124-grain FMJ and SIG Sauer Elite 124-grain V-Crown 9mm loads. I also brought along some 147-grain Winchester White Box ammo “just in case.”
Loading the seven-shot magazine is a bit different but easy. The bullets push forward and down from the rear into the steel magazine directly on top of the spring. There is no need for a follower. Once inside the pistol, the rounds will be pulled out the rear of the magazine. The mags have a polymer baseplate and two mags are furnished with each gun.
Here is where attention to detail in operating the Bullpup 9 is important. First, do NOT reach over the top of the slide to chamber a round in the “Hollywood” style. Instead, use your thumb and forefinger in a traditional “slingshot” style from the rear of the slide. Second, make sure you pull the slide ALL THE WAY to the rear. If you pull it to what you feel is a traditional distance, you likely won’t chamber a round, which is why using the chamber viewing port is critical to ensure you are fully loaded.
The Bullpup 9 is a remarkably smooth-shooting gun and stays on target easily between shots. Feeding and ejecting were perfect, and the 147-grain Winchester white box ammo should be on the approved list soon, as it ran just fine.
I did experience some light hammer strikes with the three loads. Since the trigger is a true repeat-strike design, it detonated a couple of the rounds on the second try (this is also a great feature for dry-fire practice). I decided to put a drop of oil into the firing-pin hole, and the problem disappeared as the gun broke in at the 100-round point. I am now totally confident in its reliability.
Group size from 30 feet (two-handed standing) measured in the 1.5- to 2-inch range with all loads tested. I also brought along a SCCY CPX-2 9mm to see if my “most powerful compact/micro 9mm” held true. The SCCY has an OAL of 5.7 inches with a barrel length of 3.1 inches. I ran the velocity of the SIG Elite 124-grain V-Crown over my chronograph at 15 feet in both guns. Velocity from the SCCY averaged 1048 feet per second and 302 FPE. Velocity from the Bullpup 9 averaged 1094 feet per second and 330 FPE — an additional boost of 28 foot-pounds from a gun that is .6 inches shorter overall than the similar-sized SCCY. I will take all the extra kinetic energy I can get.
I have been waiting since last summer to get my hands on a Bullpup 9 to test. Gordon Bond wanted to make sure that the gun was right before he started sending them out. I am glad Bond Arms owns the design.
Related: Gun Review: Bond Arms USA Defender
More info at: www.bondarms.com
