Did I Make a Mistake buying an R9?

[ESQ_NY]

I have yet to shoot my R9 and I am already (possibly unfairly) becoming discouraged that this gun is not reliable for self-defense carry, the very reason I bought the gun.  There are just too many posts about various types of failures, ranging from failures to feed, eject, consistent jams on the 5th round of a magazine, an incident where the hammer got stuck and then the gun discharged when the magazine was removed and, of course, the cracked slides.  The R9 was suppose to replace my 340PD, which has NEVER failed to fire when I pull the trigger.  I am now questioning the wisdom of this choice.  Well I will be at the range tomorrow night and plan to put no more than 50 rounds through the R9.  I hope I have a positive experience.  My law partner also bought an R9, it will be interesting to see how both guns perform.

[DDGator]

Well, this is a prime example of the "internet effect" I complain about all the time.  I won't go through my whole diatribe again, you may have read it, but any problems with any product are highlighted in internet discussion groups and people start to get paranoid.  Then, the paranoia becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy...

Don't worry about it or pre-dispose yourself to expect a failure.  This is NOT the norm with these products.  Use high quality ammo like the Gold Dots and shoot the gun and see what happens.   There can be a break in period for some guns.  50 rounds not enough to be conclusive.  Nonethelesss, I am sure you will be fine.

[Newt]

Shoot it then shoot it again! If it won't work right give Rohrbaugh a chance to fix it or replace it. All mechanical products have certain % that have or can have problems from coffee makers to jet planes it's just a fact of manufactureing life. I hope yours is not one of these as the vast majority of R9's work fine, including my two. But to obsess about a possible falure before shooting or, not giving the factory a chance to correct a problem with a product is ridiculous IMO.

[RJ HEDLEY]

I can see what ESQ_NY sees, and I can understand the concern it raises..  If you have just found this Site in the past few weeks, it is alarming.   Senior Members, just "Step back'' and take a look.     There is a more  information concentrated here than anywhere else on the Internet.  You can see here,  mostly complaint or concerns of the R9..   But they shouldn't be deleted or hidden away,  I guess each new person must read them all before forming an opinion.   You will also find those   100% guns if you look.  There are more 100% guns out there that don't get reported, those owners are happy,  it's only when things go wrong do they get vocal.

[Ubik380]

I believe that I'm a more typical owner: I had a few cases of jamming when hand-cycling rounds before I first took my R9S to the range (manually cycles like silk now). I cleaned and re-lubed per instructions before, and the slide & rails during the first session of 100 (total) rounds of five brands/types of ammo. I had a couple of failure(s)-to-feed except with the Horniday TAP where FTF happened on almost every round. Since then I've fired another 200+ rounds (Gold-dot and Winchester FMJ) and had a couple of "failure to completely chamber" only after my hand would start to get tired and my grip would get sloppy. What always amazes me is how accurate the gun is, particularly at the start of the session! By the time I've fired 75+ rounds my accuracy starts to fade. Truthfully I'd be happy to shoot more but I don't want to wear the pup out before I've saved enough spare change to order another!

[ESQ_NY]

I will report back on Friday morning how my R9 functions.  I appreciate the replies and I hope that the negative reports that I have read are just due to the fact that those who are displeased are always more vocal than those who are pleased.  I however, believe in being more vocal when things do work right.  Therefore, if this gun fuctions as I hoped it would when I bought it, I assure you that people who visit the site will have some very postive things to read about from me.

Again, thanks for all of the comments and the wealth of information that this site does provide.

[Newt]

I sincerly hope everything goes well with it and that you will be well satisfied with the R9. But if it isn't 100% the first time it might need breaking in allittle and things will settle out after a few more rds.. Stick with it and you will find it to be the most concealable carry anywhere and if by chance it doesn't work know that the R-Bros. and members of this board will help you resolve any issuses.

[R9SCarry]

ESQ - I hope also you have a positive experience.

As we keep saying - in effect ''bad news travels fast''    I would like to browse around and see write-ups from folks who have top dollar 1911's - and I'd guarantee there will be complaints of Kimber (I have heard less good things of late) - and also cases where even a ''Springer loaded'' might not be spot on straight away.

Post back with your impressions and results - we are all here to provide support (moral type!) and if there are any hiccups then we can try and evaluate them.  

[Buz]

Mr. Gator,

How about we start a thread called the "100% club" for everyone who has had flawless operation of their R9 so far?

This might just be what our forum needs at this time.

Just a thought,
Buz

[musician]

My R9s was the 28th piece off the line.  I initially experienced severe FTE problems, but factory determined the extractor spring was too weak and replaced it.  Since then, and especially since the steel and alloy parts "bedded in," the gun has performed flawlessly with several types of ammo, although I like GD 115gr HPs for the slightly lower recoil.

Every new piece of engineering has glitches, no matter how well a concept is executed.  Recall when the M-16 first appeared in 'Nam, the troops justifiably hated it because it jammed all the time, the bore rusted, etc.  Now the current model is one of the primo combat weapons in the world.  It just had to grow up.  So will the R9.  And as long as the brothers stand behind their baby, all of us will finally be happy.

[harrydog]

Generally speaking I think that it's true that "bad news travels fast" and that the people with problems are vocal about it while the people with no problems tend to be silent. But I don't think that's the case here in these forums.
The people here are all enthusiasts and tend to enjoy talking about how good their little guns are. So I don't think you're getting a skewed picture of the overall situation at all.
Most of these guns have proven to be reliable right out of the box or after a short break-in period. But there have also been some that just can't seem to be made reliable. There is a good chance that it's due to the shooter and not the pistol, but that's really beside the point. If it won't work for you, it doesn't matter the reason. It's fairly safe to say that this gun is not for everyone. There is a small percentage of people who it probably won't work for and there is no way of knowing that for sure until you shoot one for yourself.
I wouldn't let that stop you from buying one though. The odds are that it will work out fine. It's certainly worth a try because for its size and weight, there's really nothing else that comes close to it (well, in my opinion anyway).

[ESQ_NY]

I appreciate all of the comments regarding my post.  I will be at the range tonight and plan to shoot 30 rounds and then break the gun down and give it a quick wipe down and lube.  I hope to shoot about 100 rounds and will relube after about 30 rounds each time.  I will keep notes of how this goes and will report back.  My partner also bought an R9 and I will have him do the same thing.  it will be interesting to see if we get similar results.  One thing I do want to recognize is that all too often failures in semi-auto pistols are not due to the gun, but due to the shooter not firmly holding the pistol.  I remember taking a new shooter to the range and he experienced several failures with a Kahr K9 that I own.  I personally have not experienced a single failure with that gun.  The shooter may very well be the culprit for a lot of the failures that are reported.  Anyway, let see what happens tonight. I will post the results tomorrow.

[DDGator]

Sounds great.  Looking forward to the report.

[Michigunner]

I hope the pistol works fine for you.

The chances are very, very good that everything will be OK.

I, for one, am glad that problems are reported here.  Otherwise, we are sticking our heads in the sand.  If someone has a problem, I sure would like to know.

I am glad that Duane allows reports of defects.  He knows that Rohrbaugh stands behind the product, and will make sure the pistols are reliable.

On rare occasion, a pistol needs to be returned to the factory.  Now we are starting to think that some shooters will be unable to use the pistol.

All pistols have a few bugs, occasionally.  My brand new Beretta 92FS Inox had one, and would not feed the first time out.

Bill

[FireBreather01]

My R9 has had but one failure in maybe 500 or so rounds, and I attributed that to a possible limp-wristing. I have only used Gold Dots.

With a forum like this dedicated to a specific gun it is expected that anyone with a problem or question is going to come here looking for answers, it's only natural.

If we were all to post with "I went to the range today, shot 72 rounds, and everything was fine" everytime we shot the gun, I assure you that this forum would have hundreds of positive posts. They wouldn't get any response or be very interesting, but that's the point - why post it? No one would be surprised and it's a lot more fun to share one's expertise and help to solve a mystery rather than blather on about a non-event!