New R9s owner

[mdpetrasek]

Irish guard, sorry for the mistake, I misread.  Maybe I read too much into what you wrote.  I came here looking for information on this product and feel if I say something negative or perceived to be negative I get flak.  I feel this unjustified.  I feel like I am being attacked for posting info that I read and am only trying to get more.  I am only making statements on limited info because that is seemingly all that is out there.  Put in perspective, the company has been making firearms for what, five years.  So it is very new and has limited info available.  Most firearms are not in this category and have legions of reviews, improvements or changes made throughout the years, etc.  I fully realize that one or two bad incidents get blown way out of proportion to reality (Beretta M9 slide failures ring a bell?) I am not having buyers remorse, I just want to make sure that it is indeed all that I sure it will be.  As far as attitude, I guess I am defensive because I feel IrishGuard mistakenly thinks I am trashing his obviously favorite pistol.  That I can assure you is not the case.  I would love to have the complete history of this innovative firearm.  Thank you.

[mdpetrasek]

good to know about the naa being inferior (sorry naa fans) than seecamp, i was looking at a naa .380 some time back but decided against it and ended up with my beloved P232.  i had a chance years ago to pick up a new seecamp .32 for less than four hundred dollars, one of my most regretful moments not buying it, that and selling my Colt King Cobra.  oh well....i cant wait for the R9S to arrive though and see how it stacks up with the rest of my collection, need to buy a holster, will be looking later tonight.  i dont think i will sell my rohrbaugh emt, but good to know about resale value, always the truest indicator of quality in my estimation.  i am curious to what others have paid for their pistols, i normally am a carefull consumer but must admit i grabbed the R9 with nary any knowledge about it, hence my crash course in trying to educate myself.  just wonder if $1400 was too much for my elite. thanks.

[EMT]

mdpetrasek,  

You can't go wrong with a Sig Sauer.  I had several P226's and a P239.  I've sold them all as I'm just interested in pocket sized pistols at the moment.  Even thinking about selling my Kahr PM9.  It's the largest pistol I own.  

[mdpetrasek]

yes, sigs are great weapons, though the last one i bought recently, a P220 SAO was not up to their normally high standards, mainly some tooling marks and sights that were grossly off.  but i have four sigs and they are great.  man, i hope i dont catch the bug like you, what else do you have and what is your favorite?

[tracker]

Sigs are not the same quality, in my opinion, as they were in
the past. This comes not only from me but from a master
gunsmith who has worked on all of them and has strong
opinions based on vast experience, I would not buy a new Sig
but I would buy a new Rohrbaugh.

[mdpetrasek]

yes, three of my sigs are completly made in germany and the quality difference is huge.  my latest acquisition, the P220 SAO match, is no better than any other handgun out there, except for that sweet SAO sig trigger.  frame made in germany, slide in the u.s.  i hate to think that is the case, but it is seemingly true in this instance.  i will no longer buy any sig unless made in germany.  my P220 that is german made is a thing of beauty, as is my P232.  not sure if they still bring in P220s from germany, or if all the slides are made here.  i hope i fall in love with the r9 as much, i would love to see an american product stack up equally.

[EMT]

You gentlemen may be correct about the Sig Sauers.  I am only familiar with the P226's and the P239 that I owned and they were good pistols.  My former neighbor owns a P232 in SS and he is very pleased with it.  He's also the fellow responsible for my interest in firearms.

Now I have only pocket size (mouse) guns.  I don't have much chance to go to a range so only keep what I can use/carry.  I've tried IWB carry and do not care for it.  Hope to take the R9 to a range in the next few weeks so I can feel comfortable and carry it on occasion.  

[tracker]

EMT,
Welcome, again, to the forum. I hope the R9 will serve you
well as it has a lot of us. I did buy a Sig Mosquito in a weak
moment a year ago and returned it in three days; the quality
compared to other great Sigs was abominable.

[theirishguard]

mp, thanks for your kind words. I'm passionate about Rohrbaugh pistols and company. The reasons for this passion is that the owners and people working there are top notch, great customer service and they care about their customers being happy with their firearms and go to great lengths towards that end. The R9s design is a great match of power and small size to carry in a pocket to always have with you to enable you to live or leave the area. To this end the quality of the pistol is super and the fitting of the gun is unsurpassed. Wait till you get your new purchase in your hands, you will understand. Most of the forum members here have bought their R9s without seeing one before hand. And I'm sure some have asked themselves, did I do the right thing here. Even the few folks that had some problems at first , worked their way thru it with Rohrbaughs help and are very happy with the gun. I suggest that you ease your way into the pistol and shooting it. Take it a little slow and easy, watch what is happening and use either Speer Gold Dot, Winchester Silver Tip 115 or 124 gr HP ammo. Perfect your grip as the pup is different than other pistols to start. Don't shoot over 50 rounds in a session and allow it to cool off alittle. Enjoy it and enjoy the forum Tom

[mdpetrasek]

well to generate that kind of passion there must be a good reason.  its nice to see a company take such pride in their work, especially an American company.  i must admit, spending this kind of money sight unseen does make me wonder if i have done the right thing, but the more i research the more i am fairly certain to have made the right choice.  i have so many handguns that i buy and grow tired of quickly, i am looking for something unique and that will be functional as well.  sorry if we got off on the wrong foot, you are someone whose brain i would like to pick and i am sure i will be asking you questions in the near future, as my gun is supposed to be here by this Wednesday.  thanks again, and thanks for the advice, it is trully appreciated.

[BytorJr]

mdpetrasek, I'd be more worried about you if you were not questioning a handgun over 1000 dollars.   .  That's perfectly normal in my opinion.  Hopefully, you'll love it when you get it and that sticker shock will disappear, just like the R9 in your pocket.

[tracker]

and there is an element of inflation protection here; by my
rough calculations they go up in price about 10 per cent
annually.

[Richard S]

mdpatrasek:

Welcome to the Forum!

You posted the following comments and questions to which I shall attempt to respond:

good to know about the naa being inferior (sorry naa fans) than seecamp * * * but good to know about resale value, always the truest indicator of quality in my estimation.  i am curious to what others have paid for their pistols, i normally am a carefull consumer but must admit i grabbed the R9 with nary any knowledge about it, hence my crash course in trying to educate myself.  just wonder if $1400 was too much for my elite. thanks.

Seecamps are splendid pocket pistols. Otherwise, I wouldn't let my wife carry this one, the grips of which cost as much as the pistol (Holster by Hedley):

But are NAA's inferior?  No.

And how much did I pay for one -- or two -- customized?  All right, I don't generally talk about the prices of my possessions, but here you have two Guardians, one a .32 ACP and one a .380 ACP, both customized, both with sterling silver grips -- in each of which I have invested more than $1,000 (Holsters by Hedley):

Four years ago I took delivery of R9 No 132 which I had ordered sight unseen after the prototype was unveiled at SHOT 2002 and for which I waited two years. It cost just under $1,000 -- this one -- and was worth every penny (Again, holster by Hedley):

Is $1,400 too much for the elite version of the finest pocket pistol yet produced?  Not at all.  You chose wisely.

Good luck!

[mdpetrasek]

Richard, those are some beautiful guns you have there!  I think I may be just starting this pocket pistol obsession.  I had a Beretta Tomcat, I bought one when they first came out, but promptly had a slide failure which was replaced by Beretta in a professional manner, but it never gave me much confidence.  I was a little concerned about the caliber as well, I personally (every one has their own opinions) think .380 is the minimum, those I have seen a lot of fatal shootings in the whole spectrum of calibers.  So anyways, I have been waiting for a true pocket 9mm and found it via Rohrbaugh.  I had a ppk/s somewhere along the way I picked up while in the military, it was gorgeous pistol, but a turd.  I sent it back twice but the thing never worked no matter what I did.  I wanted a seecamp, but could never find one, or find one that was not going for "market price", that is to say, grossly inflated.  I sold both the ppk/s and tomcat because of my lack of trust and always wanted to replace them with a true pocket pistol at least .380, 9mm even better.  It seems the NAA's too are difficult to find, at least through my normal dealers, mostly budsgunshop.com, where I have bought most of my guns over the past few years.  They have Rohrbaughs now, though I bought their only elite model I guess.  Anyways, thanks for giving me your experience, I would love to find a pocket .380, though the wife may be a little leary.  I have purchased a LOT of guns this past year, I have an AR fetish as well.  I see a sphinx on gunbroker that I have bid on several times but never met the reserve, whats your opinion on those?

[Richard S]

mdpatresek:

At the risk of drifting this thread into the "Other Guns" topic, I have no personal experience with the Swiss-made Sphinx line of pistols. Like most things Swiss, however, they seem to have a good reputation. It is my understanding that the AT380 Series is no longer imported into the United States, so it might be a good acquisition for investment purposes if that would be a factor in your deliberation.