The Rohrbaugh Forum

Rohrbaugh Products and Accessories => Rohrbaugh R9 (all variations) => Topic started by: JohnnyE on July 15, 2019, 08:01:35 PM

Title: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: JohnnyE on July 15, 2019, 08:01:35 PM
This 2007 production, new-to-me R9s, S/N in the low 2,000's, came from the original owner's (a surgeon) estate, so I have no idea about its past life. My question is...how many rounds do you think have been shot through it?

Here are some pics I took the other day that show the wear on the frame, slide and barrel. Since I don't know about the lube the former owner used, it's a wildcard factor.

I'd like to see if I can get guestimates of how many rounds have been fired through this guy, and how much life this little pistol has left.

All your thoughts are appreciated.

Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: tracker on July 15, 2019, 09:07:17 PM
That doesn't look like too much wear at all to me--I would estimate not more than several hundred rounds but not possible to guess on a number. Eric has a much better feel for wear and tear history. Given proper care, cleaning, and lubrication I would give it many years of remaining service.
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: JohnnyE on July 16, 2019, 05:56:47 AM
That doesn't look like too much wear at all to me--I would estimate not more than several hundred rounds but not possible to guess on a number. Eric has a much better feel for wear and tear history. Given proper care, cleaning, and lubrication I would give it many years of remaining service.
Thanks, Tracker. I am happy you think it doesn't have too high of a round count. Since this is my first Rohrbaugh, I have no history to draw upon when it comes to assessing wear and tear.

I hope Eric chimes in and shares his immense knowledge. Of course, I'm still going to take good care of it no matter what! Here's another pic that shows wear marks on the inside of the slide.

Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: tracker on July 16, 2019, 11:27:11 AM
That superficial wear will occur after one trip to the range. Given the history I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Have you fired it yet?
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: backupr9 on July 16, 2019, 12:08:04 PM
Suggest thoroughly clean, lubricate (looks already done) and change recoil spring.  Remember that the grip screws will often loosen after only 20 rounds or so and loose screws on the right (ejection) side will invariably result in trigger issues.  NEVER over tighten the grip screws...once they are stripped it is nearly impossible to remove them.  It appears to me as if you have a very nice R9.  If that slide is really black, it would either be a Stealth model or a Covert.  Good luck!
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: tracker on July 16, 2019, 02:32:21 PM
For dealing with grip screws I highly recommend a premium screwdriver like Hudy, depending on your screw type. It will simplify dealing with those pesky screws.
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: JohnnyE on July 16, 2019, 02:50:51 PM
That superficial wear will occur after one trip to the range. Given the history I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Have you fired it yet?

Thanks for the good word. I have fired it already.

Suggest thoroughly clean, lubricate (looks already done) and change recoil spring.  Remember that the grip screws will often loosen after only 20 rounds or so and loose screws on the right (ejection) side will invariably result in trigger issues.  NEVER over tighten the grip screws...once they are stripped it is nearly impossible to remove them.  It appears to me as if you have a very nice R9.  If that slide is really black, it would either be a Stealth model or a Covert.  Good luck!

I nearly learned the hard way about losing grip screws. The range I use has gravel and wood chips on the ground, so a lost screw is really LOST. What are the choices regarding replacements?

Before I fired it, I cleaned, inspected and lubed it. I also ordered a bag of five Wolff outer recoil springs, and have already put about 80 rounds on a new spring.

All ammo I've fed it are 115 grain hollow points.

The gun reliably feeds all the ammos I've run through it except the Speer Gold Dot. The nose of the bullet often catches on the bottom of the feed ramp, as you can see in picture. I've heard so many good things about the Gold Dot's that I'd like to do what I can to get the gun to run them reliably. Two mags came with the gun when I bought it, and I bought two new mags from Checkmate. The Gold Dots give me this problem with all four mags.

The gun experienced misfires with:

Hornady XTP
Black Hills EXP
Remington HTP (especially high misfire rate)

Following this experience, I detail stripped the gun, lubed the hammer and other FCG components with Mobil 1 ATF, and the misfire rate went down, but I'm still not confident about using these ammos. Even after the clean and lube, the Remington HTP's still have a high misfire rate. I guess the primers are particularly hard.

As of now, the gun feeds and fires Winchester Silvertips, Sig Sauer V-Crown JHP, and Hornady Critical Defense. For now, I am loading it with Critical Defense.

I really love this little gun. It's an R9s...stealth version.

Let me know where to get some spare grip screws, and maybe I need a more stout hammer spring to deal with the misfire issue.

Thanks again for your guidance. I'll chime in as I learn more.
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: tracker on July 16, 2019, 03:08:59 PM
Interesting, I had hard primer issues with Hornady Critical Defense because they were outsourcing primers and they were coming in hard and would misfire in the R9. However, things may have changed so stay with what works. I wouldn't use any ammo made by Remington.
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: MikeInTexas on July 17, 2019, 12:12:50 AM

...................... so a lost screw is really LOST. What are the choices regarding replacements?


Best way (and maybe the only way) is to call Williams Gun Sights.  1-800-530-9028

Ask for Alex the Rohrbaugh guy. There is another Alex that does not deal with Rohrbaughs.

They sell the grip screws for $5 a set, plus $15 for shipping.  They had both stainless and blued available last year when I ordered my replacements.

Good news is if you buy more stuff, you only get stuck with one shipping charge.

That shipping charge encouraged me to order more than one set for my pack of pups.


.
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: ECR on July 19, 2019, 08:57:09 PM
Hello Johnny and welcome aboard the forum. It looks like a "clean unit" you have there, and that's a good thing! I question the surface of the grip panels on the gun. I have never seen them wear like that. Never! If you can, please remove the slide and take the barrel out. Take photographs of the top of the barrel (lockup area) and the lug underneath. I'd also like a closeup photo of the inside of the slide. This will give me a decent idea as to an approximate round count for you. Reference the ammo issue, as noted all over the internet, the R9 can be finicky with ammunition. Each firearm was hand built, so there are no two pistols 100% alike pertaining to tolerances within the build of the firearm. There are the usual tolerance of roughly plus or minus .005", industry standards for machining. However, there are areas in our pistol that were +.002", minus nothing (.000"). If the Silvertips worked well in your particular R9, use those. That is as good a round as many others out there. Don't think it too much, if the little lady likes that food, feed it to her and enjoy the evening. lol.

So, with all of that said, please do those photos and post them here. I have been busy recently, but I do eventually check in here to make sure everyone is ok. I do the best I can and, sometimes, I may even miss a thread, but if I don't respond, you may even PM me here for better response. And that depends when I check in. If you can bear with that, we'll be good to go Sir!

Again, welcome aboard and we look forward to your participation here with some good and well educated folks, especially on the topic of The Rohrbaugh R9 9mm Pistol.

Regards,

Eric C. Rohrbaugh
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: JohnnyE on July 20, 2019, 06:04:07 PM
Hello Johnny and welcome aboard the forum. It looks like a "clean unit" you have there, and that's a good thing! I question the surface of the grip panels on the gun. I have never seen them wear like that. Never! If you can, please remove the slide and take the barrel out. Take photographs of the top of the barrel (lockup area) and the lug underneath. I'd also like a closeup photo of the inside of the slide. This will give me a decent idea as to an approximate round count for you. Reference the ammo issue, as noted all over the internet, the R9 can be finicky with ammunition. Each firearm was hand built, so there are no two pistols 100% alike pertaining to tolerances within the build of the firearm. There are the usual tolerance of roughly plus or minus .005", industry standards for machining. However, there are areas in our pistol that were +.002", minus nothing (.000"). If the Silvertips worked well in your particular R9, use those. That is as good a round as many others out there. Don't think it too much, if the little lady likes that food, feed it to her and enjoy the evening. lol.

So, with all of that said, please do those photos and post them here. I have been busy recently, but I do eventually check in here to make sure everyone is ok. I do the best I can and, sometimes, I may even miss a thread, but if I don't respond, you may even PM me here for better response. And that depends when I check in. If you can bear with that, we'll be good to go Sir!

Again, welcome aboard and we look forward to your participation here with some good and well educated folks, especially on the topic of The Rohrbaugh R9 9mm Pistol.

Regards,

Eric C. Rohrbaugh

Eric,

It's great to be here, and thank you for your keen observations and interest...and for having produced such fine arms.

I took the pics you suggest, as well as my uniquely worn grips. I cleaned them with alcohol to make sure I captured only the grips and not oil, etc.

I hope the pics are good enough to draw meaningful conclusions. Let me know if you would like something different, such as lighting, perspective/angle to the parts, framing, and what not. Unfortunately I don't have a macro lens.

Have at it when you get the chance.

Thanks again,

JohnnyE
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: PhilZ on July 20, 2019, 11:18:42 PM
On my iPad, I can't see what the grip wear issue is.
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: tracker on July 20, 2019, 11:28:49 PM
I can't either now but it appeared so on the previous photos; grip wear like that is so unusual that it may have been a lighting issue and a misperception.
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: JohnnyE on July 21, 2019, 08:44:28 AM
I went back and looked at the grip photos in my IP. I realized that when I took those pics, I was only interested in getting good images of the rails, and didn't think about cleaning the grips or how they would look. The photo of the right grip appears to show pitting, but it's not, it's just droplets of oil. I cleaned the grips before taking the second round of pics, and they look smooth. I am happy with the grips. There are no pits, cracks, blemishes or flaws of any kind.

Regarding the Gold Dot feed ramp issue, everything else feeds reliably, but the Gold Dots are a feeding disaster. That has me curious more than anything else. How can that be? One thing comes to mind. While I haven't gotten out the calipers yet, I found that the Gold Dots have a longer overall length than anything else I've fed this pistol. Perhaps having slightly less clearance has something to do with it.


I really want to do the best for the care and feeding of this gun. I want to understand it and treat it right.
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: tracker on July 21, 2019, 11:23:52 AM
Another round that I particularly like in the R9 is Federal HST 124 gr.
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: JohnnyE on July 21, 2019, 04:21:28 PM
Another round that I particularly like in the R9 is Federal HST 124 gr.
So far, I've only tried 115 grain ammo, but I remember the great reports about the HST is all calibers. I'll order some up and give it a try.

Thank for the head's up!
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: tracker on July 21, 2019, 07:16:13 PM
Somebody thinks so.
https://bearingarms.com/bob-o/2016/05/12/ammo-quest-9mm-federal-hst-124-grain-test/
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: ECR on July 21, 2019, 08:27:57 PM
Hey Johnny,

Okay, so your grip panels were just smudged. Good, no problem there. Your barrel lug area is not deformed in any way, so it has seated itself to the frame perfectly, good. The top of your barrel has the usual wear, good. The only thing that is tough to see is whether or not there is a ridge along the lockup area on the inside top of the slide. If you have a ridge there, grab a fine grade rat-tail file and just kiss that edge, removing any ridge and that should help smooth function of the slide / barrel when shooting the firearm. Ref. the issue you have with Speer Gold Dots in your R9, that is a bit tougher to figure out as I usually test fired every pistol with one magazine of Federal American Eagle 115 FMJ and another with Speer 115 JHP Gold Dots. After you clean up that ridge on the slide, try the Gold Dot 115 ammo again and let us know how they function. We’ll try things from there if you still have an issue with them. The length of the Speer GDs have been an issue with the R9 due to them seemingly being a little longer than most 9mm ammunition, depending on the batch you have.

Stay well, Stay safe.

Regards,

Eric R.
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: PursuitSS on July 21, 2019, 11:31:24 PM
One cartridge I’ve had good luck with is the Federal HST 9mm 150 gr. MICRO.

It’s supposedly optimized for short barreled 9mm’s. We fired around 200 rounds of it through our R9S’s.

Usually you can find it at Wally World.
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: tracker on July 22, 2019, 01:02:14 PM
STB also likes it---for the most part. I was quite surprised that a 150 gr bullet expanded that much from a short barrel.
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/shooting-the-bulls-ammo-quest-is-back-federal-hst-micro-150-grain-gel-test-video/
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: JohnnyE on July 22, 2019, 08:45:16 PM
Hey Johnny,

Okay, so your grip panels were just smudged. Good, no problem there. Your barrel lug area is not deformed in any way, so it has seated itself to the frame perfectly, good. The top of your barrel has the usual wear, good. The only thing that is tough to see is whether or not there is a ridge along the lockup area on the inside top of the slide. If you have a ridge there, grab a fine grade rat-tail file and just kiss that edge, removing any ridge and that should help smooth function of the slide / barrel when shooting the firearm. Ref. the issue you have with Speer Gold Dots in your R9, that is a bit tougher to figure out as I usually test fired every pistol with one magazine of Federal American Eagle 115 FMJ and another with Speer 115 JHP Gold Dots. After you clean up that ridge on the slide, try the Gold Dot 115 ammo again and let us know how they function. We’ll try things from there if you still have an issue with them. The length of the Speer GDs have been an issue with the R9 due to them seemingly being a little longer than most 9mm ammunition, depending on the batch you have.

Stay well, Stay safe.

Regards,

Eric R.

Hey Eric,

Thanks for your keen insight!

I think I figured out what you are looking for regarding pictures, so I snapped a few more.

I think the photo of the slide shows that there is no mushrooming or other evidence of pounding where metal was hammer-worked and bulges out, so there is nothing to reduce with a file. There is no detectable "ridge" on the slide at the ejection port opening for me to attack with a rat tail file. At the top, the ejection port opening is very slightly worn and radiused. There is nothing to catch my fingernail on. I am at a bit of a loss to apply any gunsmithing skills. That leaves me puzzled regarding the Gold Dots

I think the photos of the barrel shows the sharp edge, with no mushrooming or rounding...just a crisp edge.

I am deducing that the lack of evidence of pounding or rounding indicates this gun has a fairly low total round count and little to no +P action...which comforts me in that I hope it has a long life ahead of it.

Thanks much and be safe as well. Maybe this pistol will have a role in that...time will tell.

As always, your thoughts are greatly appreciated!

Johnny

Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: tracker on July 23, 2019, 11:15:28 AM
This second owner R9 may be the most scrutinized and analyzed one in this forum's history.
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: MRC on July 23, 2019, 01:02:52 PM
Interesting, I had hard primer issues with Hornady Critical Defense because they were outsourcing primers and they were coming in hard and would misfire in the R9. However, things may have changed so stay with what works. I wouldn't use any ammo made by Remington.

tracker

Here is some info on the ammo I use all the time in my Solo and 365.  It has to be the bonded version.  I have never found a bad test and have never had a failure of any kind.

I was using Federal HST 124 gr +P but tests by mousegunaddict failed in his Solo so I switched.

It is hard to find but I put my name on SGAMMO's wait list and buy the 50 round boxes.  See the last link.  Very good Remington ammo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Swdtxtk041s

http://mousegunaddict.blogspot.com/2012/05/ballistics-testing-remington-golden.html

http://mousegunaddict.blogspot.com/2013/10/remington-golden-saber-bonded-9mm-p-124.html

https://www.sgammo.com/product/remington/50-round-box-9mm-luger-p-124-grain-bonded-remington-golden-saber-ammo-gsb9mmd
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: tracker on July 23, 2019, 01:12:29 PM
I stand corrected on the Golden Saber except, of course, not recommending the +P version for the R9. Is all of the bonded Golden Saber +P?
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: MRC on July 23, 2019, 01:52:42 PM
Right at the moment I cannot find any standard velocity listed so maybe it is not made.

Their Black Belt ammo is available in standard pressure and is supposed to act as Bonded Ammo.  The interest in testing is low it seems and I have not seen many tests on the Black Belt.

Here is a test from  Lucky Gunner using a 4" Smith.

https://www.luckygunner.com/9mm-p-124-grain-jhp-remington-golden-saber-black-belt-500-rounds#geltest
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: JohnnyE on July 23, 2019, 06:33:38 PM
This second owner R9 may be the most scrutinized and analyzed one in this forum's history.
Pop was an engineer, and mom was a surgeon. My cousin was a cartographer. It's baked into my DNA. I come by it honestly!
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: tracker on July 23, 2019, 07:28:36 PM
Good on 'ya, mate! Another good thing about this dialogue coupled with Eric's extraordinary expertise is that it keeps this forum humming along like it did in the past!
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: ECR on July 28, 2019, 02:35:15 PM
Hey Johnny,

Sorry it has taken this long to respond, but, as mentioned earlier, I am busy with other things also and only check in here every so often. As long as that's ok with everyone, that works well for me. So, no discernable ridge on the inside of the slide nor on the lockup on the barrel. Wow. . . . . then the Gold Dot issue has me stumped here. The only other thing then is that if I had your R9 at my old shop, I would probably use my Dremel tool to "open up" the feed ramp slightly. That usually does the trick but without having access to that any longer, nor can I do gunsmithing at this point (licensing), I would just use what your R9 will digest and leave it at that at this point.

Hoping everyone is enjoying their summer!

Stay Safe!

Regards,

Eric R.
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: JohnnyE on August 17, 2019, 03:23:50 PM
Hey Johnny,

Sorry it has taken this long to respond, but, as mentioned earlier, I am busy with other things also and only check in here every so often. As long as that's ok with everyone, that works well for me. So, no discernable ridge on the inside of the slide nor on the lockup on the barrel. Wow. . . . . then the Gold Dot issue has me stumped here. The only other thing then is that if I had your R9 at my old shop, I would probably use my Dremel tool to "open up" the feed ramp slightly. That usually does the trick but without having access to that any longer, nor can I do gunsmithing at this point (licensing), I would just use what your R9 will digest and leave it at that at this point.

Hoping everyone is enjoying their summer!

Stay Safe!

Regards,

Eric R.
Hi Eric,

My summer has been OK, but it's been my turn to be away due to a dear family member suffering a serious health issue. Fortunately, they're on the mend and life should soon be back to normal. Now I can get back to things Rohrbaugh!

I'm glad you think the gun looks good!

I read your words carefully about what you might have done if you had the shop and license and, with that, hauled out my Dremel and various felt wheels and polishing compounds.

Now, I only VERY DELICATELY put a bright shine on the feed ramp. I did not attempt to open it up or flare it at the bottom of the ramp. From what I read, I gleaned you thought of altering the feed ramp profile from its current constant radius, like a section of a cylinder, more toward a slightly conic or funnel-like profile having a larger radius at the bottom of the ramp that tapers down to the original radius where the ramp meets the chamber. Not having access to a replacement barrel in case I bollixed it up (can't afford to experiment), the polish job shall have to suffice.

I plan on hitting the range on Sunday, and if I do, I'll report back. I picked up some other 9mm JHP ammo to try, including a box of Federal 124 gr. HST in addition to still having some 115 gr. Gold Dot. No matter how it comes out. I am more than content to "settle" with Critical Defense and Silvertips as carry ammo. It's about where you place the bullet much more so that how it's constructed.

Cheers!

Johnny

NEXT DAY (SUNDAY) UPDATE:

Following the feed ramp polish on Saturday, I hit the range. Started with Gold Dot. The first Gold Dot made it up the ramp! Then it proceeded to ram its nose into the top of the chamber and stop right their, failing to chamber. Arrgh! Oh well. I should have polished the chamber while I had the Dremel in my hand the day before. I dug it out and polished the roof of the chamber a short time ago.

That was it for Gold Dot. I switched to PPU 115 gr JHP and two mags ran just fine. Next came a couple of mags of Corbon 95 gr. DPX. That ran fine, too. Then I moved to Federal 124 gr HST. That felt pretty stout. All HST chambered fine, but several rounds took two or three strikes to fire. Either the primers are hard, or the gun was getting dirty. I found that as the gun gets dirty, it starts to misfire.

Are there more powerful hammer springs available?

No matter what happens, it's fun learning about this pistol

JE

Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: ECR on August 19, 2019, 08:03:19 PM
Hey Johnny,

No, there are just one strength hammer spring available. You seemed to have picked up the right idea on what I was going to try with the feed ramp. I would also try "Opening the top of the ramp" just a smidgen too. Also, be aware that each gun has tolerances in some areas such as the usual plus or minus .005" , however, this is a Rohrbaugh. Some of our tolerances were plus .001" or .002" and minus .000", so keep that in mind also. With "Stacking of tolerances", each R9 is one unto itself, so if yours feeds a few different types of ammo but not the one you think you want to use, say Gold Dots, you may have to live with the other few that work 100% and forego trying to make Gold Dots work. Your particular firearm just may not like a certain ammunition due to those stacking of tolerances, but if it likes a few others, simply go with those. There are many good rounds out there in today's world of self defensive ammunition rounds, so don't over think it too much. If a certain defense ammo works just fine in your R9, then go with it!
By the way, the lockup area of the barrel looks amazing! If you can just clean up that little bit of debris on the edge, that's all to do. Leave the rest of the barrel alone. Both barrel and the inside of the slide look perfect.

Best to you Sir!

Regards,

Eric R.
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: JohnnyE on August 22, 2019, 09:19:56 PM
Hey Johnny,

No, there are just one strength hammer spring available. You seemed to have picked up the right idea on what I was going to try with the feed ramp. I would also try "Opening the top of the ramp" just a smidgen too. Also, be aware that each gun has tolerances in some areas such as the usual plus or minus .005" , however, this is a Rohrbaugh. Some of our tolerances were plus .001" or .002" and minus .000", so keep that in mind also. With "Stacking of tolerances", each R9 is one unto itself, so if yours feeds a few different types of ammo but it snot the one you think you want to use, say Gold Dots, you may have to live with the other few that work 100% and forego trying to make Gold Dots work. Your particular firearm just may not like a certain ammunition due to those stacking of tolerances, but if it likes a few others, simply go with those. There are many good rounds out there in today's world of self defensive ammunition rounds, so don't over think it too much. If a certain defense ammo works just fine in your R9, then go with it!
By the way, the lockup area of the barrel looks amazing! If you can just clean up that little bit of debris on the edge, that's all to do. Leave the rest of the barrel alone. Both barrel and the inside of the slide look perfect.

Best to you Sir!

Regards,

Eric R.

Hello Eric,

I have to start out saying thank you for digging in so deeply on my gun. You are THE expert, and you've helped me immensely!

OK, the hammer spring is it, so I'll check everything in the FCG for binding or other issues that may slow its operation.

I think I get your feed ramp comments. The goal is an hourglass cross-section. Flared at the bottom to keep the open tip of a big mouth JHP round from catching on the ramp as it starts its journey, then narrowing in the middle of the ramp to center the round as it travels toward the chamber, and then flaring again approaching the chamber to allow the round to bottom out on the centerline of the ramp to reduce the round's angle of entry into the chamber as much as possible. That would be perfection. I am not going to mess with THAT. Too many folks go too far with a Dremel. I don't want to make that kind of mistake.

I'll be content with the polishing I performed on the ramp, and see what my polishing the chamber may have accomplished the next time I hit the range. If it eats everything I feed it, wonderful. If not, I'll be very happy the way it handles Critical Defense and Silvertip ammo. It's where you shoot, not what you shoot, when using modern JHP ammo.

Oh, the lockup area of the barrel is clean...no burrs. I think the lighting made it look "funky" but there is nothing there. The only thing I'll do to the slide is clean and lube it!

I'll let you know what happens at the range and what I decide.

Thank you again for your help. You built on heck of a piece. There is a lot going on, and a lot of horsepower, stuffed into a tiny package that works so well.

Best to you and yours,

Johnny
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: tracker on August 22, 2019, 10:23:29 PM
The thing that I find interesting about this discussion is the perceived difference between Critical Defense and Federal HST. My experience has been just the opposite with firing both in the R9. Granted, things do change but several years ago I stocked up on Critical Defense for the R9 after hearing that it was the latest and greatest. I had nothing but light strikes with Critical Defense and I found out why after contacting the Hornady production manager directly. He told me that they do not make their own primers and outsource them to "wherever they can find them" including foreign sources which can be notoriously hard.

Federal and Winchester manufacture their own primers in the USA and are generally known to be relatively softer and more reliable in short barreled 9 mm pistols like the R9.

But, whatever works for you please stay with it. 
Title: Re: R9s, how many rounds through me?
Post by: ECR on August 24, 2019, 08:07:30 PM
I'm glad to have been some help and comfort for you Johnny.

Enjoy the weekend.

Eric