For those of you who are familiar with my recent experience with the R9s, here is a bit of a update. Let me say from the start, this is somewhat negative in nature.
I took my R9s (which was a replacement for a previous R9s that had suffered a fractured hammer strut) back to the range for more practice / break-in.
The pistol in question had seen a total of 90 rounds without issue - 50 115 gr WWB and 40 Federal 124 Hydrashock - all standard load.
Went out for this session intending to function test the pistol with Speer 115 gr GDHP. Fired 41 rounds and retired the R9s to work with my Kimber for a while. No issues during firing.
Returned home and sat down at my cleaning bench. Disassembled the pup without issue and set out for cleaning.
Internal cleaning was unremarkable and I was proceeding to clean the slide and exterior of the pistol. Noted a thin black line in the rear bottom corner of the cocking serrations. Took it to be "gunk" or dried grease which had hardened from the internal cleaning, as I normally blow out the crevices with compressed air. Ran a fingernail over it and noticed a definite "ridge" - it wasn't scraping off.
Pressed the slide together between my fingers and my worst fears were realized. A crescent shaped portion of the slide snapped off in my fingers.
Long story short, R9s was returned to factory via dealer.
I kind of feel like an ass over this. The first R9s I had was an originally cracked slide. I put a couple hundred rounds through it (with reliability issues) before fracturing the hammer strut. Now it's replacement has suffered a catastrophic failure. I have been talking up this little pistol to lots of shooting partners.
Now, the local gunshop is 0-3 for R9s. I loved the concept of this little piece, right up until it self-destructed. I 100% support the vision of the factory and the commitment to good customer service that they exemplify. I would like nothing more than to stick with this company for the long haul.
However, I gave up my two primary CCW pieces for this R9s, and repeated repairs have left me with only less concealable pieces (1911's and one 640 Airweight) for daily carry.
I have just ordered two Glocks to fill the void.
I debated over posting this experience, not wanting to cast a negative light on this fine company. I FULLY BELIEVE that this was cosmically bad luck. I simply cannot afford to continually compromise my CCW ability.
I would also like to note that the factory seems genuinely concerned and willing to make this right. If I were not in such a bind for CCW, I would gladly have stuck this out.
Thanks again for all of the excellent info and assistance throught this board. I hope that I will cross paths with another Rohrbaugh in the future.
