Saying "hello", new R-9S, some questions

[SAWBONES]

Thanks, guys.

I called Maria today and ordered some spare magazines, springs and screws.
Unfortunately, magazines are backordered.

Maria talked to one of the Rohrbaugh brothers about my problematic mag, and whichever one it was said to send my non-feeding mag back and they'd make it right, so I'm off to the package-sending store now.

Hmmm, looks like a fair number of left-handed Rohrbaugh owners are present here!

[LCP]

It appears that the southpaws are coming out of the woodwork.

[sslater]

Welcome, Sawbones.
I'm right handed but also suffered tenderness on the side of my trigger finger.  My fix was skateboard tape on the front and back straps.  The tape keeps the gun from wiggling around, I guess.
In firing a few rounds weak handed, I found that it was a harder to resist the torque than it is when firing right handed.  Maybe the direction of the rifiling really does make a difference??   Lack of left-hand practice on my part?  

I broke my first session into two parts so I could field strip, inspect, and re-lube.  With two hundred rounds on my R9, my only concern is the heavy contact between the bottom of the barrel and the frame rails.  Other threads indicate this condition is 'normal'.  In any event, it hasn't changed in the second hundred rounds.

I agree that 100 rounds is enough break-in for this particular pistol.  The only F-T-F I've experienced on my R9S is when I use the Winchester White Box FMJ stuff.  Feeding was okay, but primer strikes looked light compared to Speer & Remington.  I had bought one of those economy sized boxes of Win White box, so I'll suffer thru the occasional F-T-F on the range until they're used up.  

The firing pin comes out very easily, if you are so inclined.  I push the pin in with a toothpick until it clears the firing pin retainer.  Then carefully slide the toothpick and retainer down until the hole is past the firing pin.  CAREFULLY!!  You don't to have the firing pin & spring shoot across the room.  I like to clean out the firing pin tunnel and firing pin. Then I re-lube letting a tiny drop of oil run down the pin (wipe off the excess before reassembling.)
 
Re: Erich's comments about Karl Rohrbaugh recommending Silvertips.  I called Rohrbaugh the other day to get a clarification  Karl wasn't available, but Maria assured me the recommendation is Speer GDHP in 115 or 124 grain.  Maybe Karl mis spoke??  I've used Silvertips in other guns and found the tip is a pretty easy to deform.  So I was happy to switch to Gold Dots, which have a great reputation in the field.

[bigyimmy]

I ordered two magazines, a recoil spring and a set of grip screws about a month ago.  When I called the other day I was told it is going to be awhile since the mags they are getting are going to new pistols.  The are having issues with their magazine vendor and the time it takes to get their magazines.  If anyone can think of any other parts I should add to this order please let me know.
Thanks!

[MountainMan]

Thanks BY for the info - so instead of waiting for an extra mag it is better to buy another R9 that has an extra mag with it.

[SAWBONES]

I happen to have some leftover Kahr PM9 magazines that certainly fit into the R-9S magwell and are the same height as the R-9S mags. The R-9S mags also fit perfectly into mag pouches designed for the Kahr PM9 mags.
 
I wonder if these Kahr mags would work in the R-9S?
I'm not eager to try this, but the Kahr mags are readily available, while the Rohrbaughs aren't, and I can't find any vendors with "aftermarket" mags for the R-9.

Anybody with any experience with this?

[bigyimmy]

I don't recommend using the other mags in your Rohrbaugh.  You could try it, but you’re probably going to get more failures to feed properly.  

On more thing about the Rohrbaugh magazines.  It appears they are getting a handle on the problem of not being able to get these in a timely manner which the solution includes but not limited to manufacturing them in-house.  It just takes some time to work through this.

[jarcher]

Back months ago when my pistol went back and I spoke with Karl about it, he told me he carries silvertips in his R9.  I'm certian about that.  This makes sense.  If you look at a silvertip compared to most any other HP 9mm round, the silvertip looks narrower at the tip, which I expect would improve feeding.

The problem is, silvertips are not great bullets.  Speer GDHP is much, much better SD ammo, as are Federal Tactical and Winchester RA9T rounds.  Silvertips are old technology, non-bonded obsolete ammo.  

Plus, I have a lot of trouble finding it      

[Erich]

Yeah, Karl and I talked for some time about Silvertips and why he carries them.

By the way, at the range today my R9s worked flawlessly for my friend. It wouldn't work at all for me, though I tried and tried, and my friend carefully watched me and agreed I was doing everything correctly. His kid, it sometimes worked for. I'd put it away in frustration when the kid said, "Remember when your Kel-Tec P32 did the same thing - it wouldn't function properly for you because it was too thin for your hand?" All of a sudden a lightbulb went on in all of our heads.  

My hands are weird - I have very thin palms and decent musculature on the bottom of my thumb and edge of my palm. What was happening was that I wasn't getting enough lateral (left to right) pressure on the thin gripframe of the R9s, and it was moving somewhat in my hand despite the very strong front-to-back hold I had on it.

I solved the problem the same way that I did for the P32 (that I no longer have - what's the point?   ), I inserted my weak hand thumb against the pistol's gripframe directly under my strong hand thumb, and used the additional thickness provided by my weak hand thumb as sort of a "frame thickener" that allowed lateral pressure against the pistol's gripframe.

The gun worked flawlessly for me from then on, with anything I put through it.   I'm so darn happy - I actually did a little dance out there on the range!  

Anyway, come Monday I'll be ordering some extra recoil springs from Maria and letting her and Karl know that all problems that I've been having with my R9s are now solved. What a blessing it is to have friends to go to the range with, friends who remember your past troubles with guns better than you do!  

[MountainMan]

Erich,

That was very interesting.  At first I thought you may be having the problem of a high thumb that was discussed a few weeks ago.  This is some information that could help others and I'm sure the company will be interested in your cure for future reference.  You need some was to get a thicker grip.

Congratulations again.  We could all feel your fustration.
Dave

[Erich]

Yeah, Karl and Eddie have been very good about following-up (as I mentioned up-page), so I'll be sure to let them know what it was and what I did with it.

I thought about adding one of those Hogue grip enhancers or one of those cell phone sticky pads but rejected the idea both for aesthetic (love that carbon fiber look!) and practical reasons (I want this gun to be as thin as possible for front-pocket carry, and I want it to be slick to come out of the pocket quickly).

[MountainMan]

Well Erich you could always go around wearing a glove on only one hand like Michael Jackson.  I still find this interesting on the cause of your problem.

[ketap]

Erich, Im concerned if a weapon always needs two hands to fire, as you should be.  Hope I understood your theory, it sounds as if your gun is useless in many defensive situations when one handed shooting might be required, now that really troubles me!

[Erich]

Well, it's very nice of you to be concerned, but I'm okay with it. It's not like the R9s is the only weapon I have on me at any time, so it's really not what I would go to in most defensive situations. Besides, now that I know what the issue is, I can work on developing a Rohrbaugh-only one-hand-grip that has lots of lateral force. And even if it doesn't repeat, a one-shot derringer (as Karl Rohrbaugh never seems to tire of saying, he thinks of his pistols as modern derringers) is not completely useless. Ultimately, though, everything has its limitations: I've never thought of the R9s as the be-all-and-end-all of defensive gunning for me - and I suspect that very few folks here think of theirs as such.

One of the things that occurred to me last night (when I should have been sleeping) is that this issue probably wouldn't have come up if I'd been more of an side-to-side pressuring Isoceles shooter instead of a front-to-back Weaver beaver. (Score another point for Andy Stanford in the great Iso-vs-Weaver debate! ) Just the nature of the interface between my shooting style, my hand, and the small grip frame on this particular pistol, I guess. I'm so delighted that we figured it out and that now I can rely on the R9s.

[theirishguard]

Erich, thats a lesson for all the folks who have problems with their R9 shooting good is to have a shooting type friend go with you and watch what happens. Also take ones time in shooting and working on the problem
Tom