The Rohrbaugh Forum
Miscellaneous => Other Guns => Topic started by: JoshA on May 16, 2015, 09:57:58 PM
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so what's the scoop on the 17 oz colt pocket 9? Anyone have any experience? Looks neat conceptually.
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I wonder why this gun had such a short lifespan?
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I carried one for several years. There are better pistols made today in my opinion. There were only 6000 of them made (one year only) when Kahr filed a patent infringement suit that they would have won so it was dropped.
Kind of a collector's item now, usually go for a $1000 or more. Horrible trigger and prone to light hits. Teddy Jacobson said the hammer on it and the Pony were made too light in his opinion. I tried to get him to do a trigger job and he would have nothing to do with it. He said that the pistol had basic problems he could not over come.
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That explains that.
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I see them for $1800 or so for sale; why would anyone even think about it compared to a Glock 43 for $500?
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I see them for $1800 or so for sale; why would anyone even think about it compared to a Glock 43 for $500?
It is a collector's market tracker. For every gun owner in this country that has heard of a Rohrbaugh, there are at least 10 Colt Collectors. 6000 is a short run for any Colt.
Collector Colts is a huge market. Look at Python prices and they are not in the least bit rare.
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I understand the collectible aspect but the Colt 9 wasn't/isn't a a very desirable gun. The Python is a different matter and has quite a cachet of its own.
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The Pocket Nine was really the first gun of it's kind in 1999. If it would have been allowed to evolve and improve, it could have been a major success in my opinion. Colt sold in that one year what it took 10 years for Rohrbaugh to sell.
A pistol does not have to be a major success to be collectible. Rarity breeds collectibility, its a fact of the game.
Look at GunBroker right now, there are 347 Pythons for sale.
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Do you still own your Pocket Nine?
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I still own my original Nine, one with a custom finish and I think about three others that are NIB that I bought for an investment in the $600 range.
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Here is the Custom Pocket Nine with my R9 Elite. It is really a nice pistol.
The stock Hogue grips that Colt used gave them the blocky look. They were great to hold on to but detracted from the guns appearance.
I think the Pocket Nine could have been a success. Colt was screwing everything up about that time.
Remember the All American 2000, gun of the future?
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I think that the Colt Pocket Nine is a very nice looking gun. Looking at it next to a R9 shows that it also has some very nice classic lines. I'm sure from what I've read that it is a pleasure to hold. Everyone seems to agree that the trigger is horrible. There is one on GunBroker right now, New in the Box, for $850.00 Buy It Now. That is a deal compared to the other ones for sale for $1500.00-$2000.00. If anyone wants it....
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=483741185
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If someone wanted a Pocket Nine, that is a good price.
The others are wishful thinking, I have never seen them up that high.
They are a good, reliable pistol, but I could not get anyone to touch the trigger. If Colt would have stayed with it, the problems could have been worked out I'm sure.
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This rare collectible is one I can do without.
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Thanks for the info guys.
I should have know MRC owns 3 of them. Lol. You're a sicko, but I like it MRC. Anytime I start to feel bad about owning too many guns I can just compare myself to you and dismiss it all. Just kidding around of course. You certainly do have a wealth of knowledge about some pretty diverse firearms.
Cool looking little pistol IMO. Not excited about a poor trigger though.
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To be honest I have not had the Cerakote Nine out for a while. The trigger is really not all that bad on it.
I come from a Bullseye, SA target shooting background and have always been a little too critical of triggers.
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Perhaps if i see one around at the right price I may venture a try.
I wonder if the colt 1911's series 70 or pre series 70 will ever catch fire like the wheel guns? Any opinions? They seem to be disappointingly flat lined and only worth what a brand new colt 1911 is worth. I don't own one, but have thought about picking up a handsome gold cup or something thinking they could go up in value like the snake guns offered by colt.
Thoughts?
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Perhaps if i see one around at the right price I may venture a try.
I wonder if the colt 1911's series 70 or pre series 70 will ever catch fire like the wheel guns? Any opinions? They seem to be disappointingly flat lined and only worth what a brand new colt 1911 is worth. I don't own one, but have thought about picking up a handsome gold cup or something thinking they could go up in value like the snake guns offered by colt.
Thoughts?
The NIB or even the 98%+ 70 series Gold Cups are very much in demand and I have seen some go up to $2000 on GB. The pre Gold Cup NM's are higher.
Everybody makes 1911's these days so they will never go crazy like the Pythons and Diamondbacks in my opinion.
Some of the "Low Run Number" Colts go up pretty good. I have accumulated some of the Gold Cup Elites in all 4 calibers and some of those go for up to $4K.
If we knew what was going to go up, we all would be buying it.
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Everybody makes 1911's these days so they will never go crazy like the Pythons and Diamondbacks in my opinion.
A friend of mine has a NIB Colt Diamondback in .38 SPL. listed on GunBroker if anyone is interested. I saw it in person and it is perfect.
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=483989826
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I think that the Colt Pocket Nine is a very nice looking gun. Looking at it next to a R9 shows that it also has some very nice classic lines. I'm sure from what I've read that it is a pleasure to hold. Everyone seems to agree that the trigger is horrible. There is one on GunBroker right now, New in the Box, for $850.00 Buy It Now. That is a deal compared to the other ones for sale for $1500.00-$2000.00. If anyone wants it....
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=483741185
I see the Buy Now got hit today. It lasted longer than I thought it would.
Boy, I was sure tempted Josh!
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I think that the Colt Pocket Nine is a very nice looking gun. Looking at it next to a R9 shows that it also has some very nice classic lines. I'm sure from what I've read that it is a pleasure to hold. Everyone seems to agree that the trigger is horrible. There is one on GunBroker right now, New in the Box, for $850.00 Buy It Now. That is a deal compared to the other ones for sale for $1500.00-$2000.00. If anyone wants it....
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=483741185
I see the Buy Now got hit today. It lasted longer than I thought it would.
Boy, I was sure tempted Josh!
You are a wild man Bob. Lol.
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Things are somewhat slow in the gun market right now but look at this NIB Pocket Nine.
The short run Colts hold their value well.
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=511482891
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Things are somewhat slow in the gun market right now but look at this NIB Pocket Nine.
The short run Colts hold their value well.
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=511482891
Thank you for posting.
I am interested in checking one of the pocket 9s out one day. Would like to see the balance fit and finish etc.
Thank you MRC
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They aren't anything special; maybe just short on production numbers like Bob says. I remember seeing them at gun shows all day long for $500-$600. If you want to see some eye-poppers just check out recent prices on the Colt snake revolvers like the Diamondback, Python, Cobra, King Cobra, Viper, Boa, and Anaconda. I'm sure Bob has at least one of each.
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The Pocket Nines were priced at $500 when new and that was an expensive gun at the time.
My biggest gripe at the time was the trigger, but I really was just getting into DAO pistols at that time and they aren't as bad as I remember them.
They are extremely hard to take down and get the recoil spring back in, that is my major gripe.
The Pocket Nines really just needed a little refining and that did not happen as 6000 were made in the year 2000 and then the Kahr Lawsuit brought production to an end. Teddy Jacobson says that the hammer was too light in weight so they required a heavy spring to be reliable and that could have been fixed. I do not know if that is true or not.
The Hogue Grips that the factory put on the Pocket Nine were great for shooting but made the pistol look "big and clunky". Rohrbaugh grips on the other hand made the pistol look "slim and trim" but are nearly impossible to shoot well with. Even Karl used a Handal Jr on his carry gun.
Lets face it tracker, for every gun owner that has even heard of Rohrbaugh, there are probably at least 10 Colt Collectors. Demand over runs supply quickly.
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That is certainly true and it is also significant that Colt and Winchester are long recognized and respected names with strong brand identity. Brand identity enhances their collectible appeal. Speaking of low supply look at the Colt Boa, which can be bought for about $4 K each, and rising.
"Two variants of the Python were made in small numbers by Colt. The first was the Colt Boa of 1985, which was a limited production revolver, also .357 Magnum caliber, made by Colt for the Lew Horton Distributing Company in Massachusetts. It resembles closely the Python. Six hundred 6" revolvers and 600 4" revolvers were made, of which 100 were matched sets. Though it resembles a Python visually, in order to keep its purchase cost down it is substantially different internally and required less hand fitting. The second was the stainless steel Colt Grizzly of 1994, another limited production .357 Magnum revolver. One thousand two hundred of these weapons were manufactured, half with 6" and half with 4" barrels. The Grizzly had smooth, unfluted cylinders".
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I am not sure but I believe the rarest of the standard Pythons is the 3" California Combat. I turned down a NIB consecutive numbered pair about 4 or 5 years ago at $8500. Oh well.
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=513354213
These Silver Snakes come up every so often and bring ridiculous prices but I have never seen one this high before.
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=512672165
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Amazing prices. I just confirmed with Teddy Jacobson that it was true he wouldn't work on the Pocket Nine because of the light hammer. He said that it functioned fine as a stock gun, albeit a difficult trigger, but he couldn't improve the trigger pull without affecting the reliabilty.
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Amazing prices. I just confirmed with Teddy Jacobson that it was true he wouldn't work on the Pocket Nine because of the light hammer. He said that it functioned fine as a stock gun, albeit a difficult trigger, but he couldn't improve the trigger pull without affecting the reliabilty.
I took both a Pony Pocketlight and a Pocket Nine into my Gunsmith for trigger jobs and he called Teddy to discuss the problem. He refused to work on either of my guns. I thought I was right but that was 11 or 12 years ago.
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Teddy still performs trigger action work and is quite a 1911 specialist for those who don't know of him. He also loves to work on Glocks and Berettas, both of which are at the top of his favorites list.
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All this talk has gotten my interest up so I dug out these two Pocket Nines. the gray stock one I carried for quite a few years and it was a good reliable pistol. The custom one I bought because I liked it.
Over the past 10 years I have tried a lot of pistols and I have gotten used to the long DAO triggers on the pistols we carry today, and the triggers on these two are really not too bad I have to admit. They also shoot accurately and accurately with speed and that is my test.
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Dogonnit Guys! Now I want one just to finesse the trigger...Lol! I think a little Mallory/tungsten added to the hammer in a cross drilled hole and a lighter spring for starters. ;)