Hello fellow Addicts!
Last time I reviewed an Alpha American AAF-3, a relatively new entry into the market, and this time I’m back with another new entry. Brand spankin’ new. The Cardinal Arms G2.
So, who the heck is Cardinal Arms?
Everywhere I have posted pictures or comments on this gun, or seen other’s posts, inevitably the feedback and commentary is something along the lines of “I would never spend that kind of money on an unproven startup company when so many good 2011’s are out there”. And this is fair, especially given what we have seen from the likes of Watchtower and others over the last couple of years. But is Cardinal really an “unproven startup”? The answer to that question is no.
Cardinal is the sister company of Optimum Manufacturing (ok… so who are they?), a North Carolina based machine shop who has been an OEM producer of parts and guns for many of the most respected 2011 brands out there. These are the guys producing the frames and slides for Fowler, reportedly parts for Infinity and others, and if word on the street is to be believed, they build the guns for Taran Tactical. I would believe this based on this quote from their website:
“You may not know our name just yet, but you know our guns. We’ve been around the block enough to know what it takes to stand out in a crowd and on the silver screen.”
Here is a link to Optimum’s Instagram if you want to see some cool stuff getting milled up.
I was turned on to Cardinal and Optimum a few weeks before the G2 was released through one of my trips into the 2011 rabbit hole and some inside info from another member here. I was eagerly waiting for its release and was very excited by what I saw. So, let’s break it down and see if it lived up to my expectations.
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The Details:
Format: 5” bull barrel; full length dust cover; steel frame; aluminum grip; optic only, no iron sights
Weight: As setup with a Trijicon SRO, she’s tipping the scale at 41.9oz; not too heavy considering it’s a 5” bull barrel with a steel frame and full-length rail. Depending on the magazine used, it might barely make weight for IDPA.
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Trigger: According to my gauge, the trigger pull is coming in at a nice crisp 2lbs 3.3oz’s based on a 10 pull average. This puts it right smack in the middle of Cardinal’s claimed 2 – 2.5lbs. It’s an excellent trigger; short, crisp with a clean break, and a positive reset. I would also note that the trigger fitment is excellent with no perceptible vertical play and very, very minute side to side movement. Also interestingly, it appears to be made by Red Dirt or at least Cardinal is using the same set screw design for adjusting pretravel. Which would make adjusting the trigger a breeze, if I felt like it needed any adjusting (I’m not capable of making this better than it is).
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Safeties: No shielded or ultra-wide safeties here, but just well executed ambi-safeties I would put in a “tactical” size in terms of width. Zero play in the safeties and nice crisp actuation. Excellent blending to the frame and beavertail.
Mag Release: The mag release is extended and well sprung, nicely balanced between ease of actuation and weight.
Slide Stop: I really love the slide stop on this gun; the frame is slightly beveled under the slide stop and the slide stop itself is nice and wide with an undercut that makes manipulation very easy. Its really well executed.
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Grip: The grip is an aluminum piece that is an in-house design for Carinal / Optimum, along with the mag well. I’m not sure if the mag well is steel or aluminum, my gut tells me steel; I have not popped it off yet to weigh it, but I think if it were aluminum the gun would probably come in under 40oz. The beavertail is pinned and so well blended that it looks like the grip and beavertail are one piece. I imagine this is one of the benefits of having every part made by the same precision machine shop. I would put this grip’s contour somewhere between a Cheely L2 and an E2. I’m generally not an aluminum grip fan, really preferring polymer or sometimes steel, but man… I really like this grip. The contour feels great, and I actually like it more than my E2. The checkering is very nicely done. It’s aggressive without being harsh. It will lock into your hands without feeling like a cheese grater. I’m sure for some folks, it won’t be aggressive enough, but I’m a fan. The checkering on the sides and rear also feel more aggressive than the front strap. The style of checkering on the grip is the same that is carried throughout the rest of the gun and visually looks the business.
Optics Mounting: One of the things that I really liked about this gun is that it’s optics only. From the original picture of the gun posted on Cardinal’s website, I had assumed that this was a direct mount for an RMR/SRO; this is not the case. The G2 does use a plate system. It’s a very thin plate mounted extremely low. It’s held in by a single screw at the front and bosses machined into the slide. If I had more foresight, I would have popped it off and took some pictures before I mounted up the optic. Like everything else on this gun, the machining is held to such tight tolerances it looks like one piece. I’ll be curious to see if Cardinal puts out plates for other optic patterns in the future.
Barrel and Recoil System: The barrel is 5” DLC’d bull barrel; the recoil system is a reverse plug toolless guide rod. I’m working on confirming spring weights and I’ll update this when I have confirmation for the recoil and main spring.
Other Items: No marvel disconnector cut here, but the disconnector feels well sorted and I have not detected any disconnector hangup. The extractor is internal and perfectly blended with the rear of the slide (as in if you run your finger over the back of the slide and extractor you can’t feel the difference).
Fit, Finish, and Attention to Detail: Holy crap is how I would describe the fit, finish, and the “on another level” of attention to detail of the G2. This gun is a precision machine shop showing off. The slide rack is glassy smooth and there is zero play between the frame and slide. In fact, the frame and slide look and feel like they are a single piece. The slide cuts are extended from the slide onto the frame. The checkering style on the grip extends not only to the slide serrations and the top of the slide, but also subtly to the mag release and the front of the trigger. These little touches make the gun feel very well thought out. My favorite use of the serrations though are the memory pads forward of the trigger guard, very cool and very functional. The DLC finish seems to be really well done, so far at about a thousand rounds and a couple hundred pulls in and out of a holster and it still looks new. I’m also a sucker for the mix of flat and polished DLC; sexy and classy!
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Ok, so it looks dead sexy… how does it shoot?
Awesome... awesome is how it shoots. She balances well, transitions quickly and is fast. I’m by no means a fast shooter, but I was putting up some of my better times in a while with this gun (it could also be more practice recently, but the gun doesn’t hurt).
I have had it out for 3 range sessions and should be somewhere between 750 and a 1000 rounds through the gun. So far, zero malfunctions, save one that I think was ammo related. I have run it with Blazer 124, Federal 147, and tried some of Staccato’s 125 grain match ammo through it. The Staccato 125 was the only one I had an issue with; I had one round that failed to eject properly, and I wasn’t really surprised, this ammo feels very underpowered, and ejection seemed weak in general with it. Other than that, flawless.
On the last session I tried to put it through its paces and try to push the gun and myself a bit. I ran two drills with it, both from Pizza Boiis; their Challenge #1 and #2. Both are shot from 5 yards and are great for the open bay indoor range I use. These are also great because you can just print them off on standard letter paper. Both are shot from the holster.
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Challenge #1 is two shots to the body A zone and one to head A zone of the target; challenge time is 2 seconds. On a normal IPSC target this is not a big deal, but these are very small A zones at speed. I never quite hit 2 seconds but did manage several around 2.5 seconds. The G2 also made putting up good groups fairly effortless.
After warming up, I moved on to Challenge #2, which is one of my favorite drills. This involves two targets, six feet apart, shot from 15 feet. Target 1 has a box about 3” x 5” and target 2 has a box 9” x 7”. You shoot two rounds into target 1, slide lock reload and put five rounds into target 2. The goal is 5 seconds or better. It’s a great drill as it forces you to start slow, reload, transition, and go fast. Prior to the other night, my best time on this drill was 4.92 seconds. With G2, after the first couple attempts, I was sub 5 seconds every time, with the best time of night coming in at 4.36 seconds.
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For me, this is an easy gun to run fast. The ergonomics of the grip really suit me, the mag well, while not giant, is clearly very effective and the combination of the mag release and the slide stop really come together well to help me go fast (or at least fast for me). The other feature I really enjoy are the checkered memory pads, a nice touch that helps keep me from doing dumb things with my thumb. The added weight of the full-length rail and the 5” bull barrel keep the gun flat, even without a light, and while I normally prefer a commander length gun, I find the G2 transitions really well and feels very balanced while loaded.
Wrap Up:
I think it’s clear from everything in this review, I really love this gun. One thing I didn’t mention above though, is how much fun it is to shoot. All the little details come together and make it the kind of pistol that just puts a smile on your face while you are running it. I’m really looking forward to seeing what else Cardinal puts out. I think my next gun or project needs to be something comp’d and if Cardinal / Optimum are building the TTI guns, I would love to see one under the Cardinal name. Of course, if they release a commander or maybe a 4” gun (please a 4”), I’d be in for that too because I’m a whore.
One thing I thought I should touch on that has come up in a few discussions recently is hand fitting a gun vs. the machined approach. The last gun I reviewed, the Alpha American AAF-3 Commander, and the Cardinal G2 are great examples of these two ends of the spectrum. The AAF-3 is a hand fit gun and the Cardinal has very minimal hand fitting. Two very different approaches, but very similar results in terms of fit and finish and guns that flat out run. Also, two very different companies; Alpha American is master gunsmith Tim Anderson sourcing parts and building a fantastic pistol; Cardinal is a precision machine shop producing almost all the components themselves. In the later scenario, it makes sense that there wouldn’t really be hand fitting happening, they make all the parts and control all of the tolerances to their own specifications. As AJP pointed out, it’s not really the hand fitting, its more who is doing the hand fitting that is important. I would also argue that the same is true of a pistol that’s fully machined; the tolerances held, the skill of the machinists, and the quality control process become what is important. Is Tim Anderson doing the fitting or bubba? Is it Watchtower or Cardinal? Just my two cents on that discussion.
![Image]()
Last time I reviewed an Alpha American AAF-3, a relatively new entry into the market, and this time I’m back with another new entry. Brand spankin’ new. The Cardinal Arms G2.
So, who the heck is Cardinal Arms?
Everywhere I have posted pictures or comments on this gun, or seen other’s posts, inevitably the feedback and commentary is something along the lines of “I would never spend that kind of money on an unproven startup company when so many good 2011’s are out there”. And this is fair, especially given what we have seen from the likes of Watchtower and others over the last couple of years. But is Cardinal really an “unproven startup”? The answer to that question is no.
Cardinal is the sister company of Optimum Manufacturing (ok… so who are they?), a North Carolina based machine shop who has been an OEM producer of parts and guns for many of the most respected 2011 brands out there. These are the guys producing the frames and slides for Fowler, reportedly parts for Infinity and others, and if word on the street is to be believed, they build the guns for Taran Tactical. I would believe this based on this quote from their website:
“You may not know our name just yet, but you know our guns. We’ve been around the block enough to know what it takes to stand out in a crowd and on the silver screen.”
Here is a link to Optimum’s Instagram if you want to see some cool stuff getting milled up.
I was turned on to Cardinal and Optimum a few weeks before the G2 was released through one of my trips into the 2011 rabbit hole and some inside info from another member here. I was eagerly waiting for its release and was very excited by what I saw. So, let’s break it down and see if it lived up to my expectations.
The Details:
Format: 5” bull barrel; full length dust cover; steel frame; aluminum grip; optic only, no iron sights
Weight: As setup with a Trijicon SRO, she’s tipping the scale at 41.9oz; not too heavy considering it’s a 5” bull barrel with a steel frame and full-length rail. Depending on the magazine used, it might barely make weight for IDPA.
Trigger: According to my gauge, the trigger pull is coming in at a nice crisp 2lbs 3.3oz’s based on a 10 pull average. This puts it right smack in the middle of Cardinal’s claimed 2 – 2.5lbs. It’s an excellent trigger; short, crisp with a clean break, and a positive reset. I would also note that the trigger fitment is excellent with no perceptible vertical play and very, very minute side to side movement. Also interestingly, it appears to be made by Red Dirt or at least Cardinal is using the same set screw design for adjusting pretravel. Which would make adjusting the trigger a breeze, if I felt like it needed any adjusting (I’m not capable of making this better than it is).
Safeties: No shielded or ultra-wide safeties here, but just well executed ambi-safeties I would put in a “tactical” size in terms of width. Zero play in the safeties and nice crisp actuation. Excellent blending to the frame and beavertail.
Mag Release: The mag release is extended and well sprung, nicely balanced between ease of actuation and weight.
Slide Stop: I really love the slide stop on this gun; the frame is slightly beveled under the slide stop and the slide stop itself is nice and wide with an undercut that makes manipulation very easy. Its really well executed.
Grip: The grip is an aluminum piece that is an in-house design for Carinal / Optimum, along with the mag well. I’m not sure if the mag well is steel or aluminum, my gut tells me steel; I have not popped it off yet to weigh it, but I think if it were aluminum the gun would probably come in under 40oz. The beavertail is pinned and so well blended that it looks like the grip and beavertail are one piece. I imagine this is one of the benefits of having every part made by the same precision machine shop. I would put this grip’s contour somewhere between a Cheely L2 and an E2. I’m generally not an aluminum grip fan, really preferring polymer or sometimes steel, but man… I really like this grip. The contour feels great, and I actually like it more than my E2. The checkering is very nicely done. It’s aggressive without being harsh. It will lock into your hands without feeling like a cheese grater. I’m sure for some folks, it won’t be aggressive enough, but I’m a fan. The checkering on the sides and rear also feel more aggressive than the front strap. The style of checkering on the grip is the same that is carried throughout the rest of the gun and visually looks the business.
Optics Mounting: One of the things that I really liked about this gun is that it’s optics only. From the original picture of the gun posted on Cardinal’s website, I had assumed that this was a direct mount for an RMR/SRO; this is not the case. The G2 does use a plate system. It’s a very thin plate mounted extremely low. It’s held in by a single screw at the front and bosses machined into the slide. If I had more foresight, I would have popped it off and took some pictures before I mounted up the optic. Like everything else on this gun, the machining is held to such tight tolerances it looks like one piece. I’ll be curious to see if Cardinal puts out plates for other optic patterns in the future.
Barrel and Recoil System: The barrel is 5” DLC’d bull barrel; the recoil system is a reverse plug toolless guide rod. I’m working on confirming spring weights and I’ll update this when I have confirmation for the recoil and main spring.
Other Items: No marvel disconnector cut here, but the disconnector feels well sorted and I have not detected any disconnector hangup. The extractor is internal and perfectly blended with the rear of the slide (as in if you run your finger over the back of the slide and extractor you can’t feel the difference).
Fit, Finish, and Attention to Detail: Holy crap is how I would describe the fit, finish, and the “on another level” of attention to detail of the G2. This gun is a precision machine shop showing off. The slide rack is glassy smooth and there is zero play between the frame and slide. In fact, the frame and slide look and feel like they are a single piece. The slide cuts are extended from the slide onto the frame. The checkering style on the grip extends not only to the slide serrations and the top of the slide, but also subtly to the mag release and the front of the trigger. These little touches make the gun feel very well thought out. My favorite use of the serrations though are the memory pads forward of the trigger guard, very cool and very functional. The DLC finish seems to be really well done, so far at about a thousand rounds and a couple hundred pulls in and out of a holster and it still looks new. I’m also a sucker for the mix of flat and polished DLC; sexy and classy!
Ok, so it looks dead sexy… how does it shoot?
Awesome... awesome is how it shoots. She balances well, transitions quickly and is fast. I’m by no means a fast shooter, but I was putting up some of my better times in a while with this gun (it could also be more practice recently, but the gun doesn’t hurt).
I have had it out for 3 range sessions and should be somewhere between 750 and a 1000 rounds through the gun. So far, zero malfunctions, save one that I think was ammo related. I have run it with Blazer 124, Federal 147, and tried some of Staccato’s 125 grain match ammo through it. The Staccato 125 was the only one I had an issue with; I had one round that failed to eject properly, and I wasn’t really surprised, this ammo feels very underpowered, and ejection seemed weak in general with it. Other than that, flawless.
On the last session I tried to put it through its paces and try to push the gun and myself a bit. I ran two drills with it, both from Pizza Boiis; their Challenge #1 and #2. Both are shot from 5 yards and are great for the open bay indoor range I use. These are also great because you can just print them off on standard letter paper. Both are shot from the holster.
Challenge #1 is two shots to the body A zone and one to head A zone of the target; challenge time is 2 seconds. On a normal IPSC target this is not a big deal, but these are very small A zones at speed. I never quite hit 2 seconds but did manage several around 2.5 seconds. The G2 also made putting up good groups fairly effortless.
After warming up, I moved on to Challenge #2, which is one of my favorite drills. This involves two targets, six feet apart, shot from 15 feet. Target 1 has a box about 3” x 5” and target 2 has a box 9” x 7”. You shoot two rounds into target 1, slide lock reload and put five rounds into target 2. The goal is 5 seconds or better. It’s a great drill as it forces you to start slow, reload, transition, and go fast. Prior to the other night, my best time on this drill was 4.92 seconds. With G2, after the first couple attempts, I was sub 5 seconds every time, with the best time of night coming in at 4.36 seconds.
For me, this is an easy gun to run fast. The ergonomics of the grip really suit me, the mag well, while not giant, is clearly very effective and the combination of the mag release and the slide stop really come together well to help me go fast (or at least fast for me). The other feature I really enjoy are the checkered memory pads, a nice touch that helps keep me from doing dumb things with my thumb. The added weight of the full-length rail and the 5” bull barrel keep the gun flat, even without a light, and while I normally prefer a commander length gun, I find the G2 transitions really well and feels very balanced while loaded.
Wrap Up:
I think it’s clear from everything in this review, I really love this gun. One thing I didn’t mention above though, is how much fun it is to shoot. All the little details come together and make it the kind of pistol that just puts a smile on your face while you are running it. I’m really looking forward to seeing what else Cardinal puts out. I think my next gun or project needs to be something comp’d and if Cardinal / Optimum are building the TTI guns, I would love to see one under the Cardinal name. Of course, if they release a commander or maybe a 4” gun (please a 4”), I’d be in for that too because I’m a whore.
One thing I thought I should touch on that has come up in a few discussions recently is hand fitting a gun vs. the machined approach. The last gun I reviewed, the Alpha American AAF-3 Commander, and the Cardinal G2 are great examples of these two ends of the spectrum. The AAF-3 is a hand fit gun and the Cardinal has very minimal hand fitting. Two very different approaches, but very similar results in terms of fit and finish and guns that flat out run. Also, two very different companies; Alpha American is master gunsmith Tim Anderson sourcing parts and building a fantastic pistol; Cardinal is a precision machine shop producing almost all the components themselves. In the later scenario, it makes sense that there wouldn’t really be hand fitting happening, they make all the parts and control all of the tolerances to their own specifications. As AJP pointed out, it’s not really the hand fitting, its more who is doing the hand fitting that is important. I would also argue that the same is true of a pistol that’s fully machined; the tolerances held, the skill of the machinists, and the quality control process become what is important. Is Tim Anderson doing the fitting or bubba? Is it Watchtower or Cardinal? Just my two cents on that discussion.
