My range report...

[logical]

Day 1-
A lazy Sunday afternoon after a week out of the country, but I know my local range is open 10-5.....sounded like a good time to try out the R9s that I was fortunate enough to pick up a few weeks ago from a fellow Michigan forum member.

I arrive to an empty lot...the sign says they have decided to open Monday Memorial day instead of Sunday....huh?

So I head across town to the other range....better equipment but a generally unfriendly and uncomfortable place.   First I shoot a box through a nice Stainless DAO Ruger Service Six .38 spl, 4 incher that I picked up cheap a few months ago.  What a nice little gun...it's now offficially qualified to be the one that's always loaded in the little bedroom safe, loaded with .38 +P HPs.   Simple to operate and less likely than the .357 SP-101 that was there before to deafen me or shoot thru 5 walls if it ever is fired indoors.  OK, that isn't completely the reason but anyhow, this .38 fills the role well.

Next, I run a box thru a 6 inch Stainless Ruger Security Six .357.  This one was made in 1976 and has that nice little message inscribed on it "Made in the 200th year of our liberty" or something to that effect.  Always had been my most accurate revolver and I had installed new sights a while ago and needed to get then set up correctly.

Check my watch, half hour left, put the revolvers away and pull out a few boxes of Gold Dots and the R9s.   I reach for the mag release.......nothing happens.   I left all 3 mags at home in the plastic case.   I had moved the gun into a soft case because I have to jam my ever growing collection into a smallish safe and extra mags, cases and such tend to be stored separately.    I leave one mag in the autos but I guess I'm not 100% consistent with that.   On the way out I mentioned to the counter guy about my little memory lapse.  He says "you shoulda let me know, I would have loaned you a mag, we have everything here."   I just waved him off and said "I kinda doubt you have one to fit what I brought, but thanks anyhow"  

Maybe tommorrow.....

[Richard S]

logical:

Been there.  Done that.  No problem.  As we used to say back in my Army days (circa 1963-67), " 'Stuff' happens -- and often."

RS

[R9SCarry]

[size=13] Army days (circa 1963-67),[/size]

Now I KNOW you are older than me Richard! LOL!

Oh the mag's - the mag's.  Logical - me too - BTDT!!  Ain't it a bummer!

Well - hope your trial run is Ok - this will I assume be break-in phase so - don't be surprised if a few minor hiccups - after coupla hundred rounds things go even better.

[logical]

Did get the the range today with all the gun parts.

To get familiar with the trigger, I did a horrible thing to the gun and ran 50 rounds of Black Hills ammo through it...basically factory produced reloads, 115 grain jacketed.  I had 3 failures to eject...not at any particular position in the mags.   The Black Hills cases were a mixed bag of brands and conditions and in looking at the 3 that hung up, the rims were very worn....not a concern really as I've seen similar behavior with may 9mm pistols when the cases are ragged.  Each time one stuck I pulled the mag out, racked the slide, and the offending cased dropped through the mag well.

Then something strange happened with the last magazine of the Black Hills, may have been right after the last FTE, can't remember for sure.......3 light strike/no fires in a row.   After the second I cleared the gun, racked the slide a few times, looked everything over, tried my remaining untested Black Hills round which failed to fire (#3).  I cleared them and set the 3 rounds aside.  Two had visible dents, the third had only a pin mark.

I stared at it hard a while, jiggled it, racked it, shook it, and generally moved everything I could a few times.  I got out the 124 grain Gold Dot.....25 rounds with no issues.   I was going at the paper from about 25 feet...some holes showed slight tears in addition to the round holes.   I have no idea if they indicate the dreaded tumble or if they would be classified as keyholes.  Clearly the actual hole gone from the paper was still very round so I can't believe they were too far off head on.   I'm not so sure we really know what a keyholed paper means has actually happened....but a sideways entry sure wouldn't leave a round paper-punch-like hole that all of these had.

I loaded the 3 reluctant Black Hills back in and they all left the barrel with a bang.   Something was blocked, or gummed, or stuck or something.....definately a gun thing as it seems unlikely that there were 3 very different rounds in the Black Hills box that just happened to be the last 3 that I loaded.

Other than the odd light strikes, I was happy.   To be fair it was a used gun (barely used) that I had never had apart and still haven't.   I assume it was a fluke bit of gunk in the wrong place.  I'll see if a disassembly reveals anything later this week.

After a cleaning and lube, I'll go back for more time with Gold Dot and see what happens.

My overall impressions from the purchase to now:

- As well crafted as I had been lead to expect
- A little bigger than I expected
- Lighter feeling than I expected
- Not at all uncomfortable to shoot
- Amazing trigger....very impressive in a DAO gun

I hope the next few weeks convince me it is reliable with the right ammo because I consider it a near perfect carry gun.

[DDGator]

EEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeek!

You just poured a bunch of dirty 87 octane gas into your Ferarri!  

Super Unleaded Only!  

[R9SCarry]

Most ''tumbles'' I have had show are subtle - the round hole in the paper has a slight ''offset'' - sometimes shown by a tell-tail soot smudge.  The bullet may only be off axis by a degree or so - but enough for base to make this small witness mark.

True keyholing is NOT what I would expect from this gun at all - unless maybe you had one tumbler that was being shot out to a long distance, by which time it might have turned more.  But as for sideways entry - no, that I would not expect to see.

Indeed - do feed your pup better food from now on - it will appreciate it!