Decision Made

[BradS]

 Ok after much deliberation I have finally decided to join the ranks of R9 owners.
 I think I have my STI sold and soon should have the funds to finance a pup. I have a question though, did Rohrbaugh change the steel in slides to a lesser quality steel ? I can't seem to find a definitive answer. Can anyone tell me , if so, at about what serial number the slide steel changed? Is there any concern with the currents R9's?
 Any and all replies would be most appreciated.

[theirishguard]

Brad, welcome to the forum. You'll love getting a pup and will never look back. The stainless in the slide won't make any difference. If you need help in getting one PM me.  Tom

[P7Enigma]

Out of general curiosity however, its a good question. I am positive that the team at Rohrbaugh would not change steels without first testing the newer type...but why the change and when did it happen? Seemed I read something on this somewhere before.

[dawkind]

Makes a mountain out of a mole hill.....

What is MUCH more important is the heat treat.  

[harrydog]

I've mentioned this before.
The steel for the slide was changed from 17-4 to 416. While there is nothing wrong with 416 (in fact it is commonly used in firearms) the fact remains that 17-4 has a higher tensile strength. I'm sure the reason that 17-4 was chosen in the first place was because it was among the very best possible steels to use for the application.
Many people here don't seem to care that the change was made but it is a very valid question, since the gun is quite expensive and the fact that 17-4 was used was touted on the website.
I can only speculate as to why the change to 416 was made but two very probable reasons are cost and the fact that 416 is easier to machine.

[P7Enigma]

Very interesting stuff....thanks "dog"

So the only remaining Q would be... When did they make the change?

Again, tks for the info

[BradS]

  Will the number of digits in the serial number of the pistol indicate when the change was made to 416 steel?

[Jack Foulard]

 Will the number of digits in the serial number of the pistol indicate when the change was made to 416 steel?

That might be question to ask Maria.  Since serial numbers generally get release from low to high, many times this isn't the case.  So someone could have an old slide on a fairly new frame and hence the running changes and not from an exact serial number.

Do call Rohrbaugh and find out.  We would all benefit from the information.

[riffraff]

harrydog and all,

I have been here for quite a while and this is the first time I can remember the steel change put forth in such a manner that I and everyone else can grasp  the the issue.  Anyway, I agree that heat treat is of uberimportance.

Now haveing said that, when was the change made and how does it(if at all) correspond to the slide crack problem?

Is it possible that after the change was made that is when some of the slide crack problems appeared and then a change was made in the heat treatment?

I just want to know the facts.  I own 2 R9's and have no plans to sell either of them in the forseeable future.

Inquireing minds want to know.

Mike

[harrydog]

I don't know for sure but the few slide cracks that have occurred could have been with the 17-4 slides. As others have said, the heat treat is extremely important and properly heat treated 416 is definitely better than improperly heat treated 17-4. I think the cracked slides were because of a bad batch of steel blanks and it wouldn't have mattered what type of steel they were if they had a defective heat treat.

[BradS]

 I just got off the phone talking to a very nice Lady at  Rohrbaugh.
 She was unable to advise when the change in steel took place, but she did say that the cracks in a small number of the slides was due to bad material. The cracking  was not specific to either the 17-4 or the 416 steel or the heat treating process but simply bad material . This occurred in the 1100 to 1200 range serial numbers.
  If I understood the Lady correctly ,the bars of steel used to make the slides had bad sections in the bar and therefore they were unable to group the bad slides into specific runs of serial numbers. Any cracked slides were quickly addressed by Rohrbaugh.
  I was also told that the lifetime warranty does not apply on the purchase of a used R9, but if a cracked slide was encountered on a used gun, Rohrbaugh would take care of the slide as they were aware of the problem.
 Thought I would pass along this info.