IDEX 2025 – Caracal goes multi-calibre, and not only
Caracal, the EDGE entity specialized in small arms, was displaying its full production at IDEX, the home exhibition that sees the Abu Dhabi group being by far the one with the biggest exhibiting surface. IDEX provided the opportunity to talk to Hamad Al Ameri, the company CEO, whom EDR On-Line met exactly one year ago at the Caracal facility
“Last time we met we discussed about preferred calibres, and here we are today in front of the multi calibre sniper rifle. Promise maintained! This new weapon can be chambered in 6.5 Creedmor, .308 Winchester, and .338 Lapua Magnum, and the initial feedback from the customers is very positive,” Hamad Al Ameri tells us.
As many other small arms companies have already introduced the multi-calibre concept, those who come later must introduce elements of innovation and improvement. “We looked into what is the feedback from the current multi-calibres on the market, and one of the first things that came to evidence was that when they change calibre, the weapon must be re-zeroed,” the CEO, himself a passionate shooter, explains. According to data provided the barrel can be replaced in less than two minutes with a single tool. “That’s why we made a very unique design, which we patented, that brings back to the original zero every time you change the calibre.” Other elements taken into consideration were the weight, the trigger fine-tuning, the stock ergonomy, and others.
The bolt-action CSRM is available not only in three different calibres, but also with different lengths of barrel between 20-inch (508 mm) and 30-inch (762 mm), no more details being provided, hence its length is 1,307 mm in the standard .338 LM version seen at the exhibition, its mass varying between 5.2 and 7.5 kg, depending on the configuration. All barrels feature a suppressor-ready muzzle brake, a quick detach suppressor being available. In all three calibres the box-type polymer magazine contains 10 rounds; magazine release as well as safety are ambidextrous.
The buttstock is foldable, which allows reducing length, a key issue for paratroopers, and is of course adjustable in length and height, with adjustable cheek-piece and integral monopod, all adjustment being done without using any tool. The trigger is of the two-stage type and is adjustable by the shooter. The handguard features a 25 MOA MIL 1913 Picatinny rail at 12 O’clock, and M-LOK at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock positions; a full-length ARCA rail can be installed on the lower surface.
Caracal is awaiting the first order for its new multi-calibre rifle from the UAE Armed Forces General Headquarters. “I think it will be released after the show. We already have the samples available as we did a pre-production batch. Everything was approved, and we are going to start the production very soon.” All key elements of the CSRM are produced in house, starting from the barrel, to the bolt, the receiver, the trigger, the stock, the muzzle break. “In fact, only accessories such as the bipod, the optical sight and the magazines come from third party producers.”
A light arm is composed of three main elements, the rifle, the sight and the ammunition. “Your readers will be the first to know that the small arms ammunition business that was falling under Lahab has been moved under Caracal International. Such a move is of key importance for the whole small arms business, but it is even more important when we move into the sniper’s world.
And Match rounds for snipers will be available soon; “We are designing them as we speak, and I am confident they will be available in Q3 2025, and when I say available, I mean for production, not for testing, as testing is ongoing now. We shall be able to take orders by the end of the year,” the CEO says. Sniper-specific ammunition will initially be produced in .308 and .338 LM, the 6.5 Creedmoor following.
Having the rifle and the ammunition under the same roof proved a plus already at IDEX; “we could notice during the exhibition how customers are much happier to be able to buy both the weapon and the rounds from the same provider,” Hamad Al Ameri stated.
The last element needed is the sight. “I think that will be the last bit,” the CEO admitted, “and it might be one of the one next addition.” Currently no Edge entity is involved in optics, and the total or partial acquisition of a third party specialized in this field would match perfectly the EDGE group strategy, a move that was made more than once in recent times.
“Should we move into optics, I believe this could not only support the small arms business, as we could take those technology blocks into the other platforms.”
What new product will appear next time we will meet Hamad Al Ameri? Will it be the optics? Or something else? “In the machine gun world, we have the CLMG 556 in 5.56×45 mm, and one thing that might appear soon is an ultra-light machine gun, a sort of belt-fed assault rifle,” the CEO unveiled. However, is the 5.56 mm really a machine gun calibre? “We started to develop a 7.62 machine gun last year, and it might well be visible at the end of this year,” he announced, underlining that that calibre is ideal for the general-purpose machine gun. “Our engineers are looking for something simple to maintain and durable. We have finalized the concept that we started last year, taking again the feedback from the customers that are using existing machine guns. It will be a wholly new weapon compared to the 5.56, as energy and forces are on a different level.”
More to come . . .
Photos by P. Valpolini
