Josh:
I post this with no intention to offend or appear to be pretentious.
1. You purchased a used R9. Only God and the previous owner know what if any abuse was inflicted on your copy of the finest pocket pistol ever produced.
2. I do not purport to know the grip you have used in firing your R9, but I can assure you that anything less than a firm platform (some call it "limp wristing") to absorb the recoil force of a 13-ounce pistol chambered for the 9mm Parabellum cartridge will result in FTEs, FTFs, and who the hell knows what else of a disappointing nature.
3. I have the 32nd R9 sold to the public, and it has never malfunctioned for me in nearly a decade of ownership and regular use (fortunately, only at the range and not in self-defense).
4. There have been thousands of R9s produced since I took delivery of mine. A very few have malfunctioned, mainly due to poor maintenance, neglect, or abuse from owners who expected the smallest and lightest 9mm pistol ever produced to function like some polymer gun that you could clean by removing the slide and placing it along with the grip and receiver in the top shelf of your kitchen dishwasher. To paraphrase posts from two of our Forum's early members, "Plastic's got no soul," and, "The R9 is the weapon of a gentleman, not that of a plowman."
5. If you have a recurring problem with your R9, the factory will make it right. Just be assured that complaints about the R9 are rare -- extremely rare -- compared to the thousands of pistols that are out there, functioning as they are designed to do. Criticisms of this pistol from those who do not understand it have become a pet peeve of mine. The R9 is approaching the status of a "cult pistol." It deserves total respect. Since the moment when I experienced an epiphany on my personal "Road to Damascus" at SHOT 2002 and got in line for one of the first Rohrbaugh R9s, I have never looked back. In my pocket as I type this post is the R9 bearing serial number "132" (no "R" prefix) -- a pistol that has been my EDC since I took delivery of it in May 2004.
_____
Addendum:
Aside from the Cold War, I've been around the track a bit overseas. I've been present during one so-called "people's revolution" in Haiti; I've sifted through the charred remains of our Embassy in Pakistan; I've managed (by the Grace of a Benevolent God) to escape captivity in the First Liberian Civil War; and I've seen my then-existence go up in flames and violent personal abuse during a military coup d'état in Nigeria. The one thing I wish I had been fortunate enough to have in all of those, and many more, situations in my past would have been a Rohrbaugh R9 in my pocket. But it was not until 2004 that mankind was finally blessed with the first truly concealable pocket pistol chambered for the 9mm Parabellum cartridge.
In my seventh decade of life, my eyes grow dimmer, my enemies (those still alive) grow older, and my reflexes grow slower. However, I finally have the perfect pocket pistol.
Now . . . if I could only turn back the unforgiving hands of time . . . .
