"The materials used are of the highest grade"

[justin2992]

"including stainless (17-4), 7075 aircraft aluminum, carbon fiber grips and Wolff springs."

I wonder if they ever considered using Scandium/Aluminum alloy, or Titanium.

[GeorgeH]

My Guess would be yes, but the limiting factor was cost. I would have voted for scandium, easier to machine, but it has limited availability.

Down the road, since scandium is mined only in the former Soviet Union, maybe Rohrbaugh could investigate a European source for a forged scandium billet. Maybe.

Becaue titanium is much, much more difficult to machine, work hardens easily, is heavier than an aluminum billet, makes it less desirable than a scandium/aluminum billet on a wish list.

With the Seecamp 380 (another cult gun) retailing for under $1,000 per copy, it would have been far more difficult to market a $1,400 Rohrbaugh.

Remember that Rohrbaugh was the dream of shooters, and not investment bankers. I have no doubt that these options were considered.

[GeorgeH]

I have always advocated on the NAA message board that NAA should consider direct head to head competition with Seecamp. Literally market a clone. Whatever patent protection may have been issued, should have expired. It's time to clone.

Maybe Rohrbaugh should consider it. The Seecamp 380 uses a cast frame. If produced from a forged billet, the weight would go up at least by an oz, but the life of the gun would be extended. They could eliminate the mag safety, maybe use carbon fiber grip panels and compensate for the increased weight that way.

It would give Rohrbaugh a second product, and force Seecamp to innovate. Both Rohrbaugh and Seecamp sells direct to FFL's. That means that they can keep the profit that would have gone to a distributor.

And before you poo-poo the idea, look at how many companies are producing 1911A1 clones. For Rohrbaugh to survive in the market place, it needs to establish itself, and then expand its product base.

I want to encourage the Rohrbaugh brothers to continue to dream.

[BillinPittsburgh]

"Scandium" guns are, more accurately, aluminum alloy guns.  The "scandium" parts are made from aluminum which has been alloyed with a very small amount of scandium.  That little bit of scandium, however, does amazing things to the strength of the gun.

I have no doubt that 7075 aluminum is just fine for this purpose.  Aluminum alloys are a lot better than they were not long ago.

[harrydog]

According to Eric Rohrbaugh, titanium was indeed considered but as GeorgeH said, it was the cost factor that eliminated it. The goal was to keep the cost of the gun under $1000 and a titanium frame would not have allowed that. Personally I'd love to see a 6Al4V titanium frame, but it's not to be. Scandium would also be nice, but it's not really that much stronger than 7075 so probably wouldn't be worth it if the cost was considerably more.

[justin2992]

I'd like to see a carbon fiber frame with scandium inserts and a titanium slide and stainless lined titanium barrel and titanium mag body with scandium floor plate.

[harrydog]