Well, I picked up my new R9S Stealth at Carter's Country last night. I used them as my FFL transfer agent, mainly because I didn't know who else to go to. Plus, they were very nice to work with when I was shopping for an over and under shotgun recently. Anyway, I got the new pup home and immediately took her down and cleaned her up. First impressions were as follows: surprisingly heavy (dense is more the word, I think, but heavy is what I thought when I first picked it up, more on this later), very well made, smooth action, tight springs, nice finish, and sharp magazine release.
On the subject of the weight... I recently purchased a S&W 340PD as a possible CCW, and was mentally expecting this to be about the same. While the weight of the two IS pretty close, the R9S is noticeably heavier in the hand. This is borne out on the postal scale I measured them on. Both loaded, the R9S is just over 4 ounces or ~30% heavier than the 340PD. While not a REALLY big deal, it made enough of an impression to note it here. In addition, the R9S is about 10-15% smaller than the 340PD. This makes for a much denser feel and not as "light" feeling as the 340PD, since the weight isn't spread out on a larger surface. This could affect my carry preference negatively. To be seen over time, I guess.
The magazine release was also disappointing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about the heel or "European" release. That I prefer in a small pocket gun. I'm not interested in the "I've got to be able to reload in a hurry" argument. If I need more than 7 rounds in a CCW, it's a REALLY bad day. Anyway, I always loved the heel release on my Sig P230 and was hoping this would operate similarly. While the Sig is a nice smooth catch, both to engage and release, the R9 is not. It DOES catch, but it's more of a "I think it's in there, but let me press down again just to be sure". The Sig is a "no nonense, that sucker is in and it ain't comin' out." In addition, the Sig smoothly releases the mag when pressed, whereas the R9 takes a mighty press and a slight jiggle of the mag to get it to release. I think this is one area that needs to be looked at for improvement.
My second impression was, for a $1200 gun, why doesn't Rohrbaugh put a punch in the appropriate size for takedown AND a 1/16" allen wrench for tightening the grip screws IN the box with the gun? I know some people are going to already have these things, but others of us are not, and even if we did, it would be nice if we had something in the box that could be dedicated to the gun. It wouldn't increase the cost more than about $3 and I for one would be happy to spend an extra $25 just for the convenience of not having to run out to Home Depot to get the right tools for the job. Besides, don't you just love a new gun (or any product really), when you open the box and find the people who made it already thought of everything you were going to need to start with?
I know this post seems a little negative, and I certainly don't want to seem that way, but for what my expectations were, I was a little underwhelmed. Admittedly, it seems a very nice pistol, but on a scale of 1-10, I give it an 7 in terms of overall level of satisfaction at this point. Feelings are clearly a little mixed so far.
Range report to be posted in the appropriate location next...
