noob question, can someone explain quad lock?

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mkiker2089

New member
gun newbie here. I don't understand a lot of the technical details yet.

I'm looking at the Sccy CPX-3 that is coming out (research only, I'm happy with 9mm.) CPX=3

In it they mention the Quad Lock system that holds the barrel tighter. Is this really a good thing? We've had the giant recoil thread that pretty much says the bullet leaves before the slide moves. Is locking the barrel a huge improvement. They plan on changing the 9mm guns to match the 380 with the quadlock.

In short I own a CPX-2 and want to know exactly how envious I need to be about the new models coming out.

If the improvement is simply making the slide easier to rack I'm not concerned as the rack moves easily enough now.
 
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lee n. field

New member
gun newbie here. I don't understand a lot of the technical details yet.
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Sounds like BS to me.

Roebuck designed a new system called the Roebuck Quad Lock System. A simplified explanation is the system uses the tension on the rear of the barrel to press the front of the barrel into a V-channel. This eliminates virtually all barrel wiggle that is common on most, non-fixed barrel pistols. The theoretical result is a gun that is more accurate, but still operates for the user like a typical locked breech pistol.
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This thing's a Kel Tec clone.
 
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mkiker2089

New member
Skans said:
None of my guns have any detectable "barrel wiggle".
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That's part of what confuses me. When the slide forward there isn't any real barrel wiggle. If I pull up the slide may wiggle up a bit but that's not normal use either.

With the slide back there is a lot of barrel wiggle on a Sccy. Almost half an inch of it rocking up and down, side to side. Does that matter however? I know the slide moves back at some point when firing but does it affect accuracy at all?

I've asked people who work with Sccy and no one official has responded. Sccy aficionados don't seem to know but the current theory is that the quad lock is really a smoke screen of sorts. It's perhaps to help them eliminate other issues such as the difficulty to rack the gun or maybe the stupid long and heavy trigger pull. The trigger on these guns can be sloppy with post travel causing the trigger to bottom out against the guard.
 
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turtlehead

New member
Hi mkiker,

There are a lot of great gun makers and a lot of excellent guns out there with established track records of reliability....

Go get one of those.
 
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lamarw

New member
turtlehead, What is your personal experience with the CPX? I can appreciate your comment if it was based upon the 1st Gen Model.

SCCY took my 1st Gen Model back and gave me a 2nd Gen Model CPX2 in exchange. It is a good to very good pistol in my opinion. I have had nary a problem with it. :)
 
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lamarw

New member
Well, my personal experience included buying a used SKY CPX for $79.00. It had a very low serial number. I contacted SCCY to purchase a new magazine and find out when mine was manufactured.

I got an email back from SCCY stating it was an early production pistol and there were problems with them. They offered to pay shipping cost and send me a new generation CPX of my choice in exchange. I only fire the old one once and did encounter several failures to feed. I have fired the new one lot of times and with lots of reloads without any failure of any sort.

Therefore, you can revise your comments based upon my experience. They have great customer support, great warranty, and will even give you a new pistol if you have your old one stolen and provide them with a copy of the filed police report.
 
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mkiker2089

New member
Back on topic a little bit, can someone with more gunsmithing experience than I have weigh in on the quad lock system?

Is cloning a Kel Tec a good thing? I'm not familiar with them.
 
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James K

Member In Memoriam
Like all of those small .380 and 9x19 pistols, the CPX-3 is a locked breech with a tilting barrel. Blowback would not work, even in .380, with that light a slide.

So that means that the statement "...thread that pretty much says the bullet leaves before the slide moves..." is not correct. The barrel and slide unit begins to move backward as soon as the bullet begins to move forward.

I have no idea what "quad lock" means, but the barrel-slide relationship needs to be consistent for accuracy (a pretty meaningless term on such a small pistol) and the "quad lock" might somehow ensure that consistency.

Jim
 
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lee n. field

New member
Is cloning a Kel Tec a good thing? I'm not familiar with them.
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It's not a bad thing.

Kel Tec's work. But they are cheap. Kel Tec hits a good price/value/reliability point pretty well, partly by having a good customer service reputation. When you do have a problem, they fix it.

The Interwebz gun forum and social media buzz lately on the SCCY guns is good. They didn't start off that way.
 
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Skans

Active member
With the slide back there is a lot of barrel wiggle on a Sccy. Almost half an inch of it rocking up and down, side to side. Does that matter however? I know the slide moves back at some point when firing but does it affect accuracy at all?
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No, barrel movement doesn't matter when the slide is back. In fact, most common semi-auto handgun designs the Browning tilting barrel action. Except for 1911's, this is based the linkless cam design used in the Hi Power, CZ 75, Glock and Glock-a-likes. What matters is how precise and tight the slide, barrel and frame lock up when ready to fire - this is what really affects accuracy.

From what I've ready about the SCCY, the quad lock system's real advantage may be in enabling a lighter recoil spring to lock the action. This means the slide (theoretically) is easier to rack. FWIW, the quad lock system looks like a slightly modified browning action.
 
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mkiker2089

New member
Gotcha and thanks to all. I think I won't worry about the quad lock because I find the slide to be heavy but manageable.

Just for fair disclosure also, I have no problems with people badmouthing Sccy. We all have opinions. I was just annoyed when half the page became a back and forth.

As for my opinion, Sccy seems to have had issues before my gun. My local gun shop sells them daily and he's a very low volume store. I've heard horror stories about the pins coming out, jamming etc.. Mine shoots anything I put in it and hasn't jammed.

Well it did jam once with the buckshot round but it fired the rest of the box trouble free.
 
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Skans

Active member
The thing is that lots of guns with a browning type action lock up rock-solid. My Sig X-Five (whole different ballgame, I know) probably has the best barrel/slide lock-up of all of my guns. No gimmicks there, just exceptional fitting and workmanship.
 
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James K

Member In Memoriam
"...tight the slide, barrel and frame lock up when ready to fire - this is what really affects accuracy."

Not quite true. While tightness with the parts at rest ("ready to fire") may seem important, it is the tightness AND CONSISTENCY of the system WHILE THE BULLET IS MOVING DOWN THE BARREL that is more important, and during that time the barrel itself and the slide are also moving, locked together. Tightness BEFORE the bullet moves is not really important, nor is tightness AFTER the bullet leaves the barrel. The part in between is critical.

Jim
 
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