Guys,
Breaking down & reassembling the R9 isn't that hard - it you have a tapered stick & a small punch. A vise helps the first couple of times until you get the hang of it.
Disassembly:
The trick is to slide your tapered stick (I have a RJ Hedley Stop Stick) until the hole in the left side of the slide and the pin in the frame are exactly lined up.
Then MARK A LINE ON THE STICK WHERE IT JUST MEETS THE BARREL SHROUD. (You need that index mark for easy reassembly.)
The pin will drive out without any drama.
The recoil spring, guide and cup don't seem to be that troublesome. I've been doing it with just my fingers, but a pliers makes it really easy. Again, once you get the hang of it, fingers work fine. Just be careful not to launch that cup into some dark corner of the basement!
Reassembling the slide to the frame:
After reinstalling the barrel & recoil spring assembly into the slide, put the slide back on the frame.
Rack the slide back far enough to put the tapered stick in to the scribed mark.
Lay the gun on its right side, put the pin into the large hole on the left side of the slide while holding the gun still with your left hand.
Use your right index finger to keep pressure on the barrel's muzzle & your middle finger to push the slide back a little. The pin will index with the hole in the frame & the kidney-shaped hole in the barrel lug. Push the pin home with your thumb and / or punch.
Done!!
Now take it apart again. And again. And again. After a few cycles it gets pretty routine. Lots easier than a .22 Ruger Mark II.
Much easier than changing a generator in a 1955 Ford V8. Stupid buggers riveted a splash shield to the frame. The generator was assembled to the engine before the engine was dropped into the chassis. You couldn't get to the generator bolts without removing the splash shield. But you couldn't get to the splash shield with the generator in place. And this 13 year old kid wanted to be a car mechanic, so his dad let him change that stupid generator. Took 5 hours. Only about 30 minutes after dad cut the shield away. He kept asking if I wanted help - and he let me fail. He was an impatient guy, but somehow he just bit his tongue and let me struggle until I learned.