Need help Pup will not feed with pics

[HankHill]

So I decided to have some custom work done after seeing Cory's sweet pup. The gun looks great but now it will not feed the second round. The gun locks open and the used shell is still in the barrel
I have tried gold dots, silver tips, and WWB with the same results. It doesnt matter if I put two rounds or six in the magazine same resuts. The only internal work was I had the feed ramp polished.
I tried the basics cleaning, lubing, new ammo all with the same results. Any thoughts ?

[ccoorreeyy]

Hate to read of your troubles?  Was the gun refinished at all?  Was the extractor ever taken out and then reinstalled durning the modifications?

Have you tried just loading one round and shooting it to see if it would throw it out without any other rounds in the mag?

I assume it worked fine before the custimizing and had been shot some.  How old is the gun?  Is it possibly due for a new spring?

Corey

PS What type paint was used on the front site?   Looks great!
Do you have other pics you could share with us?

[sslater]

Assuming you started with a new 2nd generation recoil spring and good, late-design magazine springs here are a couple of thoughts:

1. Those comp ports look pretty large - large enough to bleed enough gas off that the slide velocity is noticeably slowed.  If that's the case, a used - weaker - recoil spring would help.
From the top side the workmanship looks great, but check the top of the barrel and the underside of the slide to make there are no burrs or sharp edges that can impede the action of the barrel / slide during firing.

2. Timing is critical on any auto-loading pistol, and small guns like the R9S just don't have much "margin for error".  

BTW: Before getting set up with 2nd generation recoil and mag springs, I had a few failures to eject like you have pictured in your post.  Without a slide lock, that sort of jam in the R9 is a bit of a bear to clear.
I came up with a simple clearing routine:  Push down on the rim of the top round in the magazine with a pencil, pen, twig, even a spent shell (but not your fingertip!).  The slide will go into battery, or close enough, for you to remove the magazine and rack the slide to dump out the spent casing in the chamber.

Good luck.  Your gun looks great, but until you get it to reliably go "BANG!" it's just an expensive rock.    
And welcome to the forum.
Steve

[sdlsaginaw]

Bummer on the problems.  Here's my 2 cents:

I just did a test on my ejector using an empty casing in the barrel and empty clip in the frame.  Manually loading the empty case was a challenge, and once done you need to press the back of the ejector to get the slide to close the last little bit.

Pulling the slide slowly back, the ejector held the casing all the way out of the barrel.  It finally flicked the casing near the end of slide travel.  You might do the same test and compare results.  This should tell you if something is wrong with the ejector, or if it's a new timing problem during actual fire.

Regarding your front green dot, I like it.  Is that just painted on, or did you get a dimple drilled/machined into the sight?  I'm going to get a dot added to my front sight very soon.  Do you have a closeup of it?

[tracker]

I think SSlater is right on the money with points 1 and 2. This
type of jam is frustrating but not uncommon. I experienced the
same thing before some of the evolutionary changes like new
springs, etc.

However, I do not think it is advisable to port any self defense
weapon: loss of velocity; change of dynamics; and possible
danger to anyone in the way of the hot gasses, etc. My gunsmith,
a master of his craft, educated me somewhat on this issue.

Not to step on anyone's toes but if this were my carry weapon
I would consider changing the slide.

[HankHill]

Thanks for the replies so far.
If I fire the gun with only 1 round in the chamber and the mag empty, the round will not eject.
If I load the magazine and manually rack the slide the bullets will eject each time.
The gun was refinished so I am guessing the extractor was removed.
I will post a few more pics soon.

Is it hard to remove the extractor to check the spring?

[HankHill]

The gun did fire fine before the work and it only has around 300 fired.
The spring was changed at 250 rounds

[yankee2500]

 The gun looks excellant, and I really like the sight dots. I am thinking of having some of the mods done to mine but I am not a fan of porting SD weapons, in low light there is enough flash at the muzzle without adding blast coming out the top of the barrel. Just my 2 cents. Good luck with your problem.
John

[ccoorreeyy]

Almost Twins!  Looks great!!!!!  I like the stipleing, should have done that with mine.  It would have cost half as much and done the same as the checkering I got.  The green paint looks realy good to.  

As far as the jams go it has got to be somthing simple (I guess).  The porting was done just like my custom and mine works great so hopefully things will work out soon.  

Corey

[Richard S]

First of all, welcome to the Forum!

The custom work on your R9 looks first rate, but I'm betting that Steve and Tracker have diagnosed its problem -- that the porting is altering the timing of the slide's recoil operation. Somehow, you need to restore the balance between the tension of your recoil and magazine springs. The gunsmith who did your porting work would probably have some ideas. Meanwhile, since you're already out there in "uncharted territory," if it were my R9 I might consider "sacrificing" some springs for experimentation. I think I might first cut one coil from the open end of the recoil spring and see what effect that had on the pistol's operation. If the jam still occurred, I might then also try to add a weaker magazine spring -- either by using an old spring or perhaps by cutting a coil from the bottom (not the end under the follower) of one of the new ones.

You've essentially got a "one-of-a-kind" R9 there. It's certainly beautiful, but it now needs to be brought back to full reliability.  If all else fails, a new slide might be the only answer.  Good luck!

[HankHill]

Well,
If the slide is not moving back far enough what if I try +p ammo to get a little extra kick?

[Richard S]

Well,
If the slide is not moving back far enough what if I try +p ammo to get a little extra kick?

No! Please do not do that! The R9 is not designed for +P ammunition.

[ccoorreeyy]

Only because of the increased preasure the +p creates.  The porting gets rid of pressure so maybe (and i'm NOT trying to tell you to try it) +p could work.  I still dont think you have a big problem.  Just have not figured out what will solve it.  Mine works great and it was done by the same person.
Corey

[Bill_in_TX]

I never did get a straight answer when I queried Rohrbaugh about rather pressure or momentum was the big concern with +P ammo.  

However, if it is pressure then the porting really shouldn't relieve that very much.  The pressure that is measured for ammo is the chamber pressure.  Except for really light projectiles that chamber pressure peaks before the bullet finishes jumping the gap to the rifling and is likely already dropping by the time the back end of the bullet passes that first port.


That said, there normally still is plenty of pressure to give the slide momentum for cycling.  Those relatively huge ports may be bleeding off too much of that residual pressure and slowing the slide.

[ccoorreeyy]

I assume (you know what that can get ya) that his ports are like mine in that the ones in the barrel are much smaller than the ones in the slide.  So maybe they are not a huge as you might think.
Corey