R9 review
I hate this gun!!!! Why? Well, before I answer that, let me share with you my review of my R9,
The R9 is the only pistol, I've ever purchased without actually seeing, handling, or shooting first. I've owned many, I mean many pistols, in the last 20 years. Some I still have, and carry today, some were sold after the first trip to the range. The point here is, I normally research every aspect of a pistol, before I buy it, but then when I start shooting it, and carrying it, I find some of them have some sort of lacking characteristic, that put them up for sale. Many of you reading this can probably agree, that after buying what you consider the "best choice" for you in a handgun, often became somewhat of a dust collector in your safe. With the limited knowledge of the R9, I honestly felt I would find fault with it after the first range session.
Initial Impressions
Upon receiving my R9 I was surprised to see just how well it was built. All the parts fit very well, and the barrel, and slide fit to the frame very tight, and solid. There was no play in the slide at all, indicating the machining was done to very tight tolerances. All the corners were smooth, and there wasn't a sharp edge on the gun anywhere. The weight of the gun was unbelievably light for being all metal. The R9 fit perfectly in my hand, and was smaller than I'd imagined from looking at it from pictures on the web. The trigger pull was long, but smooth, and has a good crisp break. The trigger pull was light enough to get me thinking, this thing is going to misfire on some primers-guaranteed! I took the R9 to the range with the mindset that I could probably find a fault with it. Something will break, the extractor will blow out, it'll fail to feed, it'll fail to eject, something will break! , So with that said, I set off to the range.
Range time
I started out the range session using Speer 115 gr. FMJ. Since the primers on this ammo is known to be hard, I felt I'd get through maybe 2 magazines before I got my first misfire.
This was my first mistake! I fired the entire box (50) of rounds without one FTF, FTE, or misfire!!! The grouping was more than adequate at 7 yards. I was grouping the shots at approximately 2.5 – 3.0 inches at 7 yards. This is with no sights!!! Since the R9 does not have any sights, I would hold the R9 so that horizontal line of the top of the hammer was covering the COM (center of Mass) and all shots were well within my definition of adequate. The recoil of the R9 was not as heavy, or uncomfortable as I originally thought it would be with such a light gun. Don't get me wrong, this gun has a stout recoil, but it's very manageable, considering you can only get two fingers on the grip.
The next ammo tested was the Speer 115 GDHP. This had more noticeable recoil, but again, not uncomfortable at all. The groups were similar to the Speer FMJ 155gr, all around 2-3 inches at 7 yards. No misfires, or failures with this box either!! I then load the R9 with the PMC Green frangible ammo. Again the gun functioned flawlessly, and the groups were respectable.
Final impressions
With over 400 rounds of assorted 9mm ammo fired, I could not get the R9 to malfunction. I tried to intentionally limp wrist a few shots here, and there, shooting around the clock positions, and couldn't get it to fail. I even tried shooting the R9 out of my old, light windbreaker jacket pocket, and the damn thing didn't jam. I agree with Rohrbaugh's statement that the R9 not being a beginner, or first time gun owners pistol. With no external safety levers, it could be a little intimidating to some new comers: however, for those of us who have carried concealed pistols on a day to day basis, it's about as close to perfect as it gets. I prefaced this article be saying I hate this gun! Why? Because I can't find one thing wrong with it to complain about, and now I can't say that I'll never find a perfect pocket pistol. I hate being proved wrong!