I have recently spoken with Eric Rohrbaugh about other issues raised on the forum in the past few days.
First, I want you to know that Karl and Eric hear everything you guys are saying, and they appreciate the feedback.
You have to understand, however, that these guys have put years of their lives and a great deal of money and super-human effort into getting this far. Creating a new gun, and a whole new brand, doesn’t come cheap or easy – especially when you are pushing the envelope to make the smallest, lightest 9mm on the planet. These guys are happy to be selling R-9s as fast as they can make them, and are trying and recoup some of their investment. It’s a small operation, and cranking out R-9s at their current capacity is a large undertaking.
I know Karl well enough to know that he would love to be spending his time designing new guns, but he is awfully busy manufacturing them…
The R-45 will be a reality at some point. Karl wants to do it and has been working on it. I personally believe that the 2008 SHOT Show is not a realistic hope. The factory is still getting the R-380 production cranked up, and that is a far less demanding undertaking.
As for a stainless steel frame – Rohrbaugh actually did it. I saw an all stainless early prototype at the factory. Stainless steel was abandoned in the quest for the smallest, lightest 9mm in the world. Now that feat has been accomplished, I know the brothers are seriously considering an all stainless model. However, offering a stainless frame is not as easy as it sounds – it involves a very significant capital investment to re-tool and reprogram the CNC machines for a stainless frame. I think we will see it, but not in the immediate future.
Karl and Eric are very thankful to be moving all the R-9s they can sell for now. All of this cool stuff and more is on the horizon, and will appear in due course. In the meantime, they are going to hunker down, build guns, and provide excellent customer service.
What more can we ask?
