Thanks, ECR is there any way I could get a letter of prominence signed by you and Karl? I would gladly PayPal for the privilege.
Hey Guys, just seeing this now. That was a fun gun to do!
This was one of a mear handful of R9 pistols we had sent out for hand engraving work. This one was done by a fellow in South Carolina I believe. I'll have to ask Karl tomorrow. I'm sure he will remember the engraver's name. I'll post his name soon.
The frame and all parts for this build were hand-picked and fitted. After the parts were finalized, it went out for engraving work. Upon return of the engraved parts, we reassembled the pistol, test-fired it and off it went to the Major. The personal serial number was an option we offered to anyone for an additional upcharge. I do recall the engraving alone was somewhere around $750 our cost alone at that time! I think it was somewhere around 2006 - 2009 or so. Beautifully tasteful work he did on this engraving.
Hello Mr. Alkeford and Forum Members,
Along with the statement above, I spoke with Karl to double-check the engraver's name and the original owner, Major Mike Farrell.
We did all of the deburring by hand, as we did with all of our pistols. I did the final bead blasting of the parts in the annealed state and then shipped the parts out to the engraver, Jim Small Engraving and Custom Knives in Madison, Georgia. Once Jim was finished doing his craft, he sent it back to us in New York where we sent the parts out to Smith & Wesson for the heat treat process. Once they returned, the pistol was assembled, test-fired, and shipped out to the Major.
Please allow me a few days time and I will write up a letter using some of our original stationery I have left from those days and mail it to you at no charge Mr. Alkeford.
If you would please email me here with the address you would like me to send this letter off to, that would be great.
It would be our honor to do this for you and to remember and honor Major Michael Farrell, who passed away on January 23, 2021, at the age of 76 in his residence in Augusta, Georgia.
Respectfully Yours,
Eric C. Rohrbaugh
Former V.P. and Co-Founder ~ Rohrbaugh Firearms Corp., U.S.A.
