How long did it take to trust your pup?

[Zeke013]

I am brand new here - and have been voraciously reading posts.  But, having picked up my new R9S yesterday, I have a question that doesn't appear to have an easy answer.

The spring life on your Rohrbaugh is listed at 100 rounds in the manual.  How do you go about reliability testing it, and still maintain a decent life on the spring?  I would be concerned that once I fired 15-20 failure free rounds through the gun that I won't necessarily know enough about its true "combat" reliability to put in my my pocket and forget about it.  Then again, if you reach the 60-75 round mark you must meet a point of diminishing returns where you're testing your current set-up sufficiently and then continuing to degrade that same system.  (Does this make sense to anyone?)

My concern is that once I would reach a point where I would feel comfortable carrying the gun IN ITS CURRENT SET UP I would need to change a variable by inserting a new spring.  That would change the equation and require a new round of reliability testing.

What say you folks?

Great forum, by the way.

[tracker]

Zeke,
What you say makes sense but I think you are making the
problem a bit complicated. I fired 133 flawless rounds before
changing springs but the change wasn't for any paricular
reason other than precautionary cheap insurance.
I have been confident in the pup since day one with no
diminished enthusiasam in each succeeding shot; quite
the contrary.
I think you may be overfocusing on the spring as the key
factor in a break-in period. Owners have reported a wide
array of break-in rounds to help them feel confident. It
never seemed necessary to me to have a break-in period
to enhance fuctionality; only to acquire a measure of
proficiency; i.e., after 30 or 40 rounds it either worked or it
didn't.
In any case there seems to be steps being taken that will
increase spring longevity, so I think this concern about
spring life should not be a problem in the future.

[DTM_39]

Zeke013, Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your R-9.  I put about 150 rounds through mine  3 range sessions with no failures at all.  Cleaned every 50 rounds. Changed the spring fired two mags and put it in my pocket. Since then I will shoot a mag every now and then. I am totally confident that this gun will go bang if I pull the trigger. Dan

[Hk-Itch]

Welcome Zeke,  I also ran several hundred rounds though my gun, had some feeding issues, swapped out the mag springs and after each 100 rds the recoil springs too.  R9 now 100% and not concerned with continuing any reliability testing, just shooting for practice.  After the recoil springs are swapped there should be no concern of weapon function or reliability as Dan and tracker state it's just to extend the service life of your gun.  Good luck with yours.  Dave

[Duncan223]

I bought my R9 in Feb/07 and at first was happy, but then I had problems with FTE and replaced the recoil spring. I continued to have problems, the people here told me it was my ammo... so I changed ammo. The problem continued. I called the company (no, not THE company!!! but Rohrbaugh) and arranged for ship/return.

In three days my pup was home, new extractor/spring and has shot like a champ ever since.

So, despite the initial problem I would have to say that my comfort zone fell in around the 200 round mark. I need to speed-feed at least three or four mags, back to back, with ZERO problems before I feel comfortable carrying a gun for self defense.

Sure, the R9 had a problem, it was resolved, and right now I would trust my life to the performance of the gun.

ETA - I am thinking about some skateboard tape for the front strap. Any suggestions on brand or

[Richard S]

Zeke013:

Welcome to the Forum!

I'm the proud owner of one of the earliest R9s around here -- the 32nd one to leave the old Farmingdale facility. I've been carrying and shooting it since May 2004. It is in my pocket, in one of its Hedley holsters, as I write this post. Admittedly, I've been obsessively compulsive about its maintenance, but it has shown no vices in the three years I've owned it. Do I trust it? I trust it completely.
 
 
 

[theirishguard]

don't over think the thing, shoot it and enjoy carrying it. it may save your life.  Tom