Early on in production, Karl Rohrbaugh only wanted the sightless as this is an "up close and personal" firearm. . . . sights are not necessary for it's intended use. Bob Jensen, a.k.a. "Blackhawk" on the gun forum "The Firing Line" was insisting that the R9 should have sights, unless, he says, then that "the gun must be inherently inaccurate", surmising that that is why we did not offer sights. I spoke with my brother Karl about the "chatter" on the internet, which as most of you know well know Karl is not a fan of it, I persuaded him the make some sort of diminutive sights for the gun. Hence, the R9S was born and Bob Jensen purchased the first R9 made for the public. I stayed in contact with Bob for many years, however, after his stroke, we lost contact with him. I was able to get his serial number 102 back as we made him a special R9S with the custom serial number "BLACKHAWK-1". So to answer the question: Maybe only 8 - 10% of the approximately 7,000 or so R9 Series Pistols made by Rohrbaugh were sightless models due, in part, to the efforts and conversations with Mr. Jensen on the topic. R9S 102, the first R9 sold to the public, is currently in my possession.
Eric R.