Author Topic: "Better" dates & serial number ranges?  (Read 5864 times)

Offline ScotP7

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"Better" dates & serial number ranges?
« on: June 05, 2015, 08:23:51 AM »
All,
I have a late manufacture R9, which needs a friend.
So I am looking at buying another, obviously previously owned.
Pardon if I am asking something that has been discussed at length, but what years of manufacture or serial number range should I aim for in terms of improved reliability?  I think more guns had issues earlier on than later on? 
And, was that because earlier guns were "tighter" , or other reasons?
Thanks very much.
Scott

Offline johnny

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Re: "Better" dates & serial number ranges?
« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2015, 10:41:04 AM »
 For what it's worth, I really never had any issues with mine. My serial number is R5201.I bought it new ,don't remember when. Sure Eric would have a good clue.
     When these new mags come in from the group buy, I'm going to run a few rounds thru each one to see how things go with them.
                                                                                                                  johnny

Offline PhilZ

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Re: "Better" dates & serial number ranges?
« Reply #2 on: June 05, 2015, 10:56:48 AM »
I'm not sure about the actual serial number range, but the slide with the periods in U.S.A. is the most up to date according to a recent post. 

Offline ECR

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Re: "Better" dates & serial number ranges?
« Reply #3 on: June 13, 2015, 09:28:22 PM »
Hello Scott and Welcome to the forum.

I'm sorry for not responding to your inquiry earlier, but usually folks put questions like this to me under "Ask ECR". (For the future I guess). I decided to look around some other threads this evening and found your question. Anyway, to answer the questions, the very early ones were much tighter than say from serial numbers around 3000 or so up. The earlier slides had an issue of cracking. . . .Let me be specific here: "Not every early model R9 cracked their slide!" . . . .We found the issue quickly and rectified it. We had, oh, I don't know, somewhere around 15 to 30 or so. . . . I can't really remember the exact number, but we took notice immediately. It ended up being a heat treat issue with one batch of slides which made them a bit brittle. No rhyme nor reason. . . some still worked fine and some developed a crack, which we changed out even if not the original owner. . . that was simply the right and safe thing to do. Originally we thought there may have been a bad mill rum of stainless that we received, but that was not it. Heat treating Rockwell number was too high. Yes, the early models were tighter than later models from around 2500 - 3000 and up. I noticed we were having issue with the slide to frame fit being too tight. I suggested to Karl that we open that dimension up by about .003" - .004", i.e. about a thousandth and a half to two thousandths per side. That did the trick! Much better and more "forgiving" if not cleaned and oiled on a regular basis by the owner. Other than that. . . . ALL R9s seemed to run well. Yes, if you find one that is a bit tight in the slide, when dirty, it gets sluggish and may jam. . . . That's a fact. However, if you kept even the tight ones cleaned, and oiled properly, we had no issues at all with them either. So, with all of that said, find a nice clean one and buy it. . . . . . and give your other "pup" a friend.  ;)

See you around the forum Scott. . . . . Best of Luck on your quest.

Regards,

Eric R. 
« Last Edit: June 13, 2015, 09:36:43 PM by ECR »
Makers of the NRA Shooting Illustrated: "Handgun of the Year for 2005" and receiver of an NRA Golden Bullseye Award.

Offline Dirt

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Re: "Better" dates & serial number ranges?
« Reply #4 on: July 30, 2015, 05:54:46 PM »
I purchased my R9 new, years ago. The sn is <2400 and has had many, many rounds down range without a failure. Granted, I keep her clean and oiled, but this is my daily carry. I also only use 1 brand of ammo (Speer GD). I'm not saying its the best; but if that's what she wants... ;)
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Offline ECR

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Re: "Better" dates & serial number ranges?
« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2015, 08:39:11 PM »
A good reply Dirt and welcome to the forum. . . . . .  ;)
Makers of the NRA Shooting Illustrated: "Handgun of the Year for 2005" and receiver of an NRA Golden Bullseye Award.

Offline Dirt

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Re: "Better" dates & serial number ranges?
« Reply #6 on: July 30, 2015, 11:21:17 PM »
Thanks Eric, I actually joined back about 7 years ago; but used the site more as a learning tool.

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Offline ECR

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Re: "Better" dates & serial number ranges?
« Reply #7 on: July 31, 2015, 03:42:11 PM »
Good Man McGee. . . . . . . You must own a Stealth model R9 then. . . . . .  ;D
Makers of the NRA Shooting Illustrated: "Handgun of the Year for 2005" and receiver of an NRA Golden Bullseye Award.

Offline Dirt

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Re: "Better" dates & serial number ranges?
« Reply #8 on: July 31, 2015, 07:23:11 PM »
Good Man McGee. . . . . . . You must own a Stealth model R9 then. . . . . .  ;D

Yes sir, and a fine one at that.
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Offline ECR

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Re: "Better" dates & serial number ranges?
« Reply #9 on: August 01, 2015, 04:46:15 PM »
Ah ha! ~ I nailed it again!  ;D  lol  Stay Safe Mr. Dirt.
Makers of the NRA Shooting Illustrated: "Handgun of the Year for 2005" and receiver of an NRA Golden Bullseye Award.