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.

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

...................... 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.


.

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.

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!