The Rohrbaugh Forum
Rohrbaugh Products and Accessories => Rohrbaugh R9 (all variations) => Topic started by: crffish on December 13, 2009, 02:55:18 PM
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First off, I have to say that I was impressed at the accuracy at 7 to 10 yards with the weapon. I was however disappointed to discover that I had quite a few failure to eject issues with only the last round. I started off with two magazines of 147 grain Speer Gold Dots, thru the first magazine and 1 thru the second, and had no issues. Then I switched to 115 grain Winchester White Box, in the second magazine, and Noticed my first FTE. I then tried using WWB thru the first magazine and the same thing. I then went back to the Gold Dots and just loaded one round in each magazine and was still getting FTE's very two to three times. Lastly I then tried using 124 grain Gold Dots but still had the same issue every two or three magazines. I also didn't have the classic stovepipe but rather the round was stock in the slide horizontally. I thought the WWB might be a little sketchy but even the premium ammo let me down. Any ideas of what might be the issue, or is this a common issue on the last round?
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Just thinking, if you shot two magazines in succession and then tried the WWB, the R9s might not have had enough time to cool down.
Give it some time between magazines before shooting again. You may have done that, but if not, give it a try.
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How much time do you recommend between magazines?
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Cool to the touch of the slide. The R9 is built with very tight tolerances. The metal expands and needs time to retract, so to speak.
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A lot of firearm designs use the next round and/or magazine follower to aid in ejection. Seecamps have a reputation for last round FTE.
Actually, we just transitioned to new duty weapons, Glock 35s, and part of our malfunction clearance training was having the mag not fully seated, to cause an empty chamber upon firing. The majority of the time, firing the round in the chamber w/o the mag in place resulted in a FTE.
On an optimistic note, if it only occurs when the last round is fired, at least you'll know the gun is empty, since it doesn't have a slide lock. ;)
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Sounds like teething pain. If it does not clear up, might need a checkup.
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North American Arms calls this a "feature". The gun is just informing you it is empty.
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I'm glad that's not a feature of the R9. :) :)
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I hope to shot her again this weekend to see if there are still issues.
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Great. Just let the R9 cool down between mags. I hope that will solve the problem.
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Sorry, but I'm not buyin' the "cool down" theory.
No pistol that shoots a couple of mags can possibly end up hot enough to affect feeding.
If the R-9 were truly that sensitive, I'd get rid of mine.
Unless there is some really nasty bad machining that passed QC, an ejection problem should come down to either the spring or the ejector itself.
Yes, it could be the ammo, but Gold Dots have worked well for most of us in our R-9's.
My first thought would be to change out the spring just for grins to see if that made any difference at all.
Then if it still hangs up, you want to look at the ejector for hanging up or being bent.
However, I don't think I'd go beyond just trying a different spring because once I'd gone that far with a brand new pistol, I'd send it back and let the people who made it figure it out.
The R-9 has turned out to be a helluva dependable pistol with only an occasional flawed example. But like any manufactured product, there are bound to be some examples that fall through the cracks of manufacturing. Be glad it's not made by Toyota, a company that has for the longest time been held synonomous with "top quality" in auto manufacturing.
My R-9 ran great from the get-go and I wouldn't give it up for anything. But if you get one that isn't right, don't be afraid to send it back for some extra personal lovin' by Rohrbaugh.
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Carter. With all due respect, you certainly don't have to buy the cool down theory. This came from Karl Rohrbaugh himself, due to the tight tolerances of the R9. I just do as the manufacturer suggests.
So far, all has been well with mine.
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Yesterday I put another 50 rounds through the R9. I had FTE's on the last round, where the case would be stuck in the slide horizontally, about 30% of the time. There was however, anew problem that arose. After firing two to three rounds from a full magazine, I would get the horizontal failure to eject. This is ever harder to remove since the unejected case doesn't just fall free, it is wedged in there. Then the next round is being pushed from the magazine spring upward. When the gun functions properly, it is very accurate, but I can't trust my life to this weapon at this point. Yesterday, I was using 115 grain blazer ammunition.
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I do not believe the gun was overheating as there was plenty of time between magazines. The above issues occured when using both factory magazines.
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I hoped you would have used Gold Dots 115 gr. or some of the other recommended ammo. However, since this is a sensitive issue for sure, I would call the factory and tell them of your problelm. They will work with you. Wish I could have helped.
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Your issues are frustrating, indeed, and don't appear to be ammo related; but, if I read you correctly the full magazines of GD 147 gr. functioned normally. Why did you switch to Blazer on your last visit?
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I guess I will wait till I can fire more gold dots before contacting the factory. I do appreciate your input in the past.
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You are very welcome and I hope your failure problems are resolved to a full confidence level.
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If you have some Gold Dots 147 gr. left, try them again, doing the cool down thing, between mags, don't switch ammo, shoot 3 mags, and see if there's a difference in performance.
Let's hope it works.
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It could just be a simple thing like the length of the round that will affect your feeding and ejection.
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I guess it could be length of the round but I have had issues with 115 grain FMJ and hollow points, 124 gr hollow points and 147 grain hollow points. I don't know how I could really get any shorter ammo, except maybe a 32 acp cartridge. ;)
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I'll be anxious to hear of more Gold Dots being fired, letting it cool down with the one ammo. This may not help, but hope it does. If not, give Rohrbaugh a call. Again, wishing you the best.
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Third range visit today. I fired the remainder of my Speer Gold Dot 124 grain and 147 grain ammo, which was about 25 rounds. I got to failure to feeds, midway through the magazine and 1 failure to eject on last round. The gun wasn't warm at any point and these issues happened with both magazines. The good news is that the FTE's have calmed down a little, but the failure to feed issues concern me. I didn't have any issue with about 10 rounds of 115 grain WWB or 20 rounds of Hornady 115 gr FTX ammo. I might try one more visit with my last box of Hornady FTX and some WWB. For now, my gun hates Gold Dots. I don't have any 115 grain gold dots to try but I still think the gun should handle 124gr and above.
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I think you're getting closer to the Rohrbaugh call.
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crfish:
I've read through this thread, but I do not think I saw any reference to what you might have found during the cleaning of your R9 between sessions. My off-the-cuff impression would therefore be that your pistol might just need a detailed strip, clean, and lube to remove what I call "break-in dreck" -- shards of brass, aluminum, powder residue, etc., which can build up as the various parts of a 13-ounce locked-breech DAO pistol chambered for a full 9mm Parabellum cartridge and with tolerances as tight as those of the R9 "get to know each other." If you have been performing such detailed clean and lubes between range sessions, I apologize for even bringing up the subject.
The NAA Guardian pistols have been mentioned above in connection with last-round FTEs. As most will know, the Guardians are straight blowback DAO pistols with extractors but not ejectors. They are built like tanks (I own Guardians in .32 ACP and .380 ACP), and their occasional last round stovepipes are, as above noted, considered as a "feature" indicating the need to insert a new magazine and rack the slide.
These R9s are masterpieces. Mine has been my EDC for nearly six years now and has never malfunctioned. (Of course, I treat it like royalty -- cleaning it after every range session and even every week or so even if it has not been fired, changing springs every 200 rounds or so, alternating magazines when I change the clocks, and otherwise treating it as my last line of defense in an increasingly uncertain world.
Good luck in resolving your problem. I'm confident that the factory will make things right if your R9 does indeed have some inherent vice.
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I have cleaned and lubed my pistol after each range session, of which I only fired about 50 per session. I don't think that is the issue but thank you for the concern. I really appreciate everyones help!
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I would go ahead and call Rohrbaugh and hear what they had to say. Keep us posted. Thanks.