Holy Cow!

[shelb]

Made a trip to the range to see if I could get a handle on the FTF's I have been having.  After 30 rounds the slide jammed about a 1/4 inch shy of coming back to its resting position.  When I tried to take it apart I noticed the pin was not sliding out nearly as easily as it normally does.......no wonder;... it completely sheared in half!    Now the slide will not come off the frame at all.



Oh now I have broken my baby, am thinking  
Needless to say I have called Eric, and left a message.  Will have to watch my poor R9S suffer with a broken arm all weekend  

[Richard S]

forShelb:

That is a first, but I am sure that the Rohrbaughs will make it right.  It must have been an errant flaw in the metallurgy of the pin.  Back in my Army days, we used to say that "stuff" happens.
  
I have already obtained spare grip screws for my
R9s.  I plan to order spare recoil springs.  Now, I think I shall also order spare pins.  

One thing is certain.  The Rohrbaugh has already proven that it is not only a superior design but also one of the premier pocket pistols ever produced.

If misery takes comfort from company, I once had the Solingen steel extractor of a very expensive custom-made Austrian 30.06 break when I was miles away from anything on a hunt in the Challis Wilderness of Idaho.  For the next three days, I was carrying a single-shot rifle.  (There is a fine Mule Deer rack on the wall of my den from that hunt.)

All the best,

RS

[shelb]

Don't get me wrong, this does not lessen my opinion of this pistol in any way!!  "Stuff happens" is about the best way to put it  ......Even luxury sports cars break down from time to time  

[R9SCarry]

Ahah ... having asked you re this - I now know the story!  Most unfortunate and very unexpected ..... does make me think a spare pin would be wise to keep - for any auto really.

I am not sure about the metallurgy of the pin .... but had assumed it could well be something like a roller pin ... very hard - and maybe here just a whisker too hard - meaning brittle.

The pic doesn't show quite enough and have played with it slightly ..... sorry - put too much blue in!




Still hard to tell for sure but - the fracture appears to have a crystalline surface - suggestive of a brittle fracture.  Can you get a close up of an end .. even if dark I'll lift it a bit.

I expect this pin is quite highly stressed ... and no doubt Eric and Co will be able to deduce something useful from this.  I am thinking too - wonder if this is a precision ground part .... and what then is any heat treatment etc.

[shelb]

Its grainy and looks like a brittle mode fracture......except for a small ductilly pinched area where it finally broke into two pieces.

What really scares me now that I have the pin out, is that I can not get the slide to come off the frame!  It will only slide forward from normal position about a 1/4".  Something is damaged or jammed  

[DDGator]

Wow.  That is amazing.  Yes -- Eric will make it right.  They may want you to return the sheared pin for analysis.

I bought a Kimber compact and the thumb safety sheared off under my thumb before I ever fired a round.  Kimber said it was rare, but happens from time to time.  That was a MIM part.

Unfortunately, I will have to remove this entire post and erase everyone's memory who has seen it -- you know, since we never discuss anything negative about Rohrbaughs...  

[GeorgeH]

WOW....

[R9SCarry]

Thx for the extra pics Shelby - indeed, pretty much a classic case and, does still appear that it has been hardened thru and thru, to excess.  hard to tell but I wondered too - whether any small inclusions.

I have wondered if any burrs have been raised from that fracture ... leading to the slide removal problem.  Wouldn't take much.

[shelb]

Thanks for looking at those Chris, I only have a very basic knowledge of materials science, so it is nice to have your opinion.  When you mentioned inclusions, do you mean material impurities?  If the Rohrbaugh's are interested I could stick the pin in an Scanning Electron Microscope and get the exact material composition of the pin, but I assume this is something which they will want to take up with the supplier.

I tried in vain last night to get the slide off, guess I will have to leave it to the Rohrbaugh crew to dismantle it.

I will be interested to see what is causing the problem.

[R9SCarry]

Dismantling .. yes indeed .. does sound like it'll have to go back.  Inclusions?  yep - you got that - always a possible but not what I'd regard as too likely.

Electromicrograph would be very interesting .. if that presented as an opportunity .. in fact even the brothers might find that useful as well as whoever supplies the pins.

Pity you have had this happen but - more than likely this will prove a most valuable event - and better at this early stage than way later on.  Probably about the least likely failure they might ever have anticipated.

[Bandit]

Unfortunately, I will have to remove this entire post and erase everyone's memory who has seen it -- you know, since we never discuss anything negative about Rohrbaughs...  

 ixnay on the emorymay emovalray  

[DDGator]

See?  Now that was funny...  

[HLG]

Has Eric seen this yet? What is the possibility of this happening to all R9's?

[shelb]

Has Eric seen this yet? What is the possibility of this happening to all R9's?

They should have my R9S delivered by UPS today.  A failure of this nature is very unlikely, and is probably due to a fluke part from their supplier.  From speaking with him, they are very commited to getting to the bottom of the matter.   I am doing some scientific analysis here at my university on the broken pin later this week to aid in these efforts.  I'll update as I know more.

[DDGator]

Yep, Eric is all over this.  Its not going to be anything serious, and everyone will be taken care if if need be.