UAE gun manufacturer Caracal’s status in the US has largely been in limbo after the company had to recall every Model C pistol they ever made. Many speculated that reports of slides breaking was the reason behind the recall.

Caracal has been at the past few SHOT Shows, and even displayed a pair of 1911 pistols they planned to introduce.

In April, Caracal published this recall update which stated all Model C and F pistols have been recalled. Two reasons were given:

1. malfunctioning drop safeties and
2. slides breaking apart when the pistol is fired.

For everyone in possession of one of these guns, they can get a refund of the full purchase price. For anyone living in a country where Caracal is selling the new “enhanced” Model F, the owner can swap into the new handgun. (Note: Readers in the USA can check this page for additional information.)

Presumably, the enhanced nature of the new Model F means “doesn’t come apart at high speed” and “doesn’t go boom unless someone pulls the trigger.”

As part of the company’s new marketing push, they brought Rob Pincus, Wes Doss and David Bahde to the UAE to test drive a number of the company’s guns. This included the new Model F. All of them spoke highly of the gun in the marketing video, giving testimony to the pistol’s quality construction, reliability and handling characteristics.

I cannot speak to the reliability of the enhanced guns, and I will leave it to readers to determine if the gun appears to have a malfunction or at least fail to lock back at 1:05 in the video. I do wish the company had edited the video such that everyone shooting the guns was wearing proper ear and eye protection throughout the testing.