The Rohrbaugh Forum
Rohrbaugh Products and Accessories => Rohrbaugh R9 (all variations) => Topic started by: tattoo on July 26, 2015, 11:10:45 AM
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In order which r9s are the rarest? Variant wise? Coyotes?eliets?stealths?2 tones?coverts? I am sure u am missing a few. Thanks in advance. Mickey
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Most Rare? The ones that have only been test fired @ the factory. Most love to shoot them. I read some threads on this forum about production amounts of the R9 & 380. May have to do a search with help from other forum members.
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Anyone please help me..
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Hello Tattoo. . . . .
Tough to really say exactly how many of each model was produced at this point. We had our Standard (Base) Two-Tone model, The Stealth, The Elite, The Elite Premium, The Coyote (very rare) a.k.a. The Desert Storm Model and a few one-off customs that I would come up with when bored and offer those to a few of our high volume dealers to showcase and sell. That all said, I would put the breakdown something like this, starting with the most popular and ending up with one-off models.
Keep in mind I no longer have any records of this but going from memory. The exact figures for the standards and stealth are going to be simply: Thousands. . . . . The others I can do much better at guessing a number:
Standard Two-Tone (Base) Model: Thousands
Stealth Model: Thousands
Special Forces Model: Approx. 70 - 80 or so
Stealth Elite Model: approx. 50 - 70 or so
The Robar/Rohrbaugh Model: 35 to 45 or so. (Special note: I did make a matching pair for a doctor friend of mine. His was a 9mm and his wife's was made in .380ACP. . . . . so there is one official Rohrbaugh manufactured Robar/Rohrbaugh in .380 caliber out there. . . . . they moved down south and I did not stay in contact with them!)
R9 Tribute: (Last special model we ever made really): About 35 - 40 or so
The Elite Premium Model: 16 (Definite count here as they were serialized: 1 of 16, 2 of 16, 3 of 16, etc.) and we did not build extras either. :-(
Coyote Model: Very Rare at around 7 or 8 made
One-Off Models: Somewhere around 8 to 10 or so
The Covert Model: This is an interesting R9 as it was never a factory Rohrbaugh R9 model, but rather a Standard Two-Tone R9 Model sent to Arego’s Guns in Hot Springs, Arkansas and they sent batches of them to Wilson Combat for their treatment. We ended up warrantying those firearms even though we did not do the custom work on them. . . . Not a fair deal on our end, but “we did what was right for the R9 owner” and covered the repairs when needed at no charge. ;-)
Should I remember any other odd models, I will let you know.
I hope this information helps you and others.
Regards to All,
Eric C. Rohrbaugh
NOTE: This list is being updated as information comes in, so if you do not see a model mentioned here, please mention it to jog my memory!
Most recent update as of July 28, 2015: The addition of The Special Forces Model and a correction on my regular Elite Model count. . . . yes, it was a typo error on my part that a forum member caught. Sorry about that. Also, as I think about our production runs, some numbers are beginning to come back to me a little bit better, so I also updated the count for The Tribute Model, upping it by about ten pieces. Keep working with me folks, a mind is a terrible thing to waste! lol. Enjoy the day! ecr
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Tribute?? ( I know of at least one.)
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Ah yeeeeees . . . . . . . The R9 Tribute. That was really the last special design R9 model we ever made. Karl and I really liked that one too!
I just updated the list above. Tough getting old. . . . ya start to forget things. lol ;)
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ECR: Thank You Thank You for taking your dream to reality. I would like to hear, at your convenience when the R9/380 idea was born. I am sure their were many struggles along the way. Thanks again
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You are welcome mannylinda. Our father was a firearms instructor of the Colt .45 handgun and the Thompson 45 sub-machine gun at Hickam Field in Hawaii when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Dad showed us how to shoot in the early 1960s and we have had "the bug" every since! Dad would have been proud to see this dream come true, luckily, our mother is still here and she saw it happen and is so proud. She even would come to the shop to help build sub-assemblies for the R9, which included installing the hammer strut to the hammer in a jig on one of the workbenches. Truly a family business it was. . . . . . The best thing in our lives for me besides playing Radio City Music Hall years ago. Ah. . . . Memories are great, aren't they! ;)
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So this is really a MOTHER of a gun!!
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ha ha ha . . . . . . ;D yes manny. . . it truly is. . . . . I do miss making them every so often though. . . but I must say I am enjoying my retirement now, especially having returned to the arts of music composition again. Very fulfilling. ;)
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How about the Robar?
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Wow. . . . . Good thing we have enthusiasts around! :-\ lol. Yes, Robbie Barkmann of Robar fame met us at the first S.H.O.T. Show we were at just post 9/11 in January of 2002. He had a booth at the end of an isle and we were the first booth in the isle right alongside his. Robbie came over, introduced himself to me and pointed to his booth and said: "I like the way you spell yours better." and we were friends since then. A very very nice man. Ahhhh. . . The Robar/Rohrbaugh Model. We did a few of those for sure. . . . . I would put those somewhere around the 35 to 45 number. I'll have to correct the list once again. Thank you. . . . and let's keep 'em coming folks! ;D
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ECR-How many Elites? ( Is the Elite Premium the same as the Elite? ). I think that there were some Special Forces too?
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Thanks Eric for taking the time....went to go pick up an elite today and someone out of state bought it hours before I got there....needless to say I was SICK.....
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It would be so nice if we had a thread that showed pics of each model....if someone has something ou of the norm please post pictures for us pup lovers...
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I believe there is a thread on the forum somewhere Tat that has photos of all things R9. I'm sure one of the regulars will show you around to that one as I do not know where it is here.
Have a good evening. . . . . I'm signing off for the day now. . . . .
ecr
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ECR-How many Elites? ( Is the Elite Premium the same as the Elite? ). I think that there were some Special Forces too?
Norm,
I caught that too. I think he added an extra zero to the number of Elites - 50 ish is what has been tossed around the forum for years.
The elite premiums are actually quite a bit nicer than standard elites. I did not have an appreciation for how much of a difference until I bought one. At some point I plan on doing a nice photo shoot post of some of my guns and the elite premium would be a good one to start with.
Rumor on the original run of special forces was 24 guns but they also started producing them again right before they were acquired so I didn't know how many total guns there were.
There is also the NRA gun and the 3 engraved guns.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Thanks for the info! Can't wait to see your Elite Premium!
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Thanks Eric for taking the time....went to go pick up an elite today and someone out of state bought it hours before I got there....needless to say I was SICK.....
Keep looking. . . .they come up for sale every so often Tat. :-)
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Bump up for the new members
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Who did the 'bluing' on the Stealth and Elite models? I know bluing can not be applied to stainless but Fords Refinishing in Fla did a type of 'blue' for a very short time. They quit after a year or two. Too many problems.
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I believe the Stealth and Stealth Elite have Diamond Black coating on the slide.
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I believe the Stealth and Stealth Elite have Diamond Black coating on the slide.
That was my question. About the coating. With stainless the pores are so tight, nature of stainless, it is very difficult to get anything to stick.
I dan into a similar situation with a LNIB S&W Bodyguard. The blueing was gorgeous on the aluminum frame but they could almost NEVER get the steel cylinder to match. They were purple. I know two local guys who do nickel and blueing and they gave the cylinder a 'shot.' Turned out PERFECT.
Many years ago I was co-owner of a machine shop. We had parkerizing tanks but unless it's a AK, parkerizing looks like crap on firearms. Lots of fun equipment though. Amazing what a beed blasting can do to remove old carbon.
kevinqjhps