I packed up three pistols and headed to the range yesterday. I had a “new to me” Rohrbaugh 380, a Boberg Platinum XR45, and a new Rock Island 22TCM.
I started with the Boberg 45. I have been struggling with this pistol for about 4 weeks now. I kept having intermittent failures of the tongs to pick up and feed the next round with certain ammo and with both magazines. I actually bought a second slightly used Boberg whom the owner said was 100% with WWB with both mags. About three weeks ago I had taken both pistols and all four magazines and ran some tests to see if I could isolate the problem. Only one magazine of the four would work without failure in both pistols. I got in touch with Mark at Boberg and he said that they were experiencing some magazine problems and he sent me three new ones at no charge. Yesterday was the second range trip with the new magazines and everything ran fine with all four mags and 4 brands of ammo. The only problem I had was getting off all seven rounds quickly and accurately as I start to lose my grip. Now I was shooting 200 and 230 grain +P ammo and that could be part of the problem. Arne really needs to look into extended magazines like the Springfield XDs has. My hands are arthritic and I have the same problem with my R9 so it is mostly my physical problem. For a 22.5 ounce 45 ACP +P, the Boberg really is a soft shooting pistol. I think I am going to find some standard velocity 185 grain, self defense ammo to get the recoil down until extended mags are available. This is going to be a very good gun to own.
Next up was the Rohrbaugh K380. I put a box of Federal Hydra-Shoks through it with zero problems. A very pleasant pistol to shoot after 70 rounds of 45 through the Boberg. I was shooting at 50 feet and the groups were not too impressive, but the miniscule sights were not meant for that distance. Very nice gun.
I have never been very impressed with Rock Island Armory’s quality, but my Gunsmith told me the newer guns were a lot better. I bought the 22 TCM with a spare 9mm barrel and spring for $579 delivered and was pleasantly surprised by the quality, not a bad gun at all. It is a 1911 style with a double stack mag that holds 17 rounds. I put a box of 22 TCM down range with zero problems. Very accurate, and no recoil. A fun pistol to shoot and a lot of fire out the barrel. Ammo is easy to find now and under $20 a box and is reloadable. I highly recommend this pistol.
