Author Topic: Gloom, despair, agony on me..  (Read 46462 times)

Offline Erich

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Re: Gloom, despair, agony on me..
« Reply #105 on: November 23, 2005, 11:54:05 AM »
They fitted my gun with a new upper last Friday (the 18th), but Karl wasn't totally happy with it and wanted to play with it more.

I'd told Maria that "I'd rather have a good job than a fast job," so I'm just as happy that he's taking the extra time.

Hang in there - I'm sure we'll get our guns back soon.  :)

Offline Skyhook

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Re: Gloom, despair, agony on me..
« Reply #106 on: November 23, 2005, 12:42:54 PM »
Well, Erich, as you can tell I have no immediate action plans RE this little gun.

Just sittin' and a-waitin'. Thet's me. 8)

Offline musician

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Re: Gloom, despair, agony on me..
« Reply #107 on: November 23, 2005, 09:37:57 PM »
Can't resist the "guitar" sub-thread in here.  I've been in one kind of band or another since the early '60s: folk, rock, country, even jazz.  My current acoustics are a Martin SP00-16RST (only 75 made) and a J40.  The J40 is a masterpiece of balanced tone, volume, and beauty and is a close to the "perfect" guitar that I've ever played.  It's a high-end piece (MSRP about $4K); you can get one from Musician's Friend (www.musiciansfriend.com) a lot cheaper.  Now in my early 60s, I'm moving toward acoustic bluegrass and back to folk (I've got an 18 wheeler in my left ear from too many years of loud amps).  If you're interested in building your own guitar, Martin (www.martinguitar.com) sells complete kits: you can build your own Martin, but they don't sell the Martin decal to put on it.  Guitars and guns: I think they go together nicely.

Offline MountainMan

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Re: Gloom, despair, agony on me..
« Reply #108 on: November 23, 2005, 10:35:12 PM »
Musician
Wish I had learned to play the strings.  Since you mentioned folk - the sweet memories of folk in the 60's - now there was a special time in history.  At work I leave an internet radio station playing most days that features the start of folk though the 60's.  There was some good early 70's folk also.
Dave
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but the moments that take our breath away..."


Offline Calvin Cooledge

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McGuin and Maguire just a gettin higher...
« Reply #109 on: November 23, 2005, 11:11:13 PM »
Quote
Musician
Wish I had learned to play the strings.  Since you mentioned folk - the sweet memories of folk in the 60's - now there was a special time in history.  At work I leave an internet radio station playing most days that features the start of folk though the 60's.  There was some good early 70's folk also.
Dave

I saw a GREAT folk fest on PBS recently with Barry Maguire singing Eve of Destruction (STILL a great song!!) and Roger McGuin singing all the famous Byrds/Dylan hits. Ahhh. Dylan. The good ole days... Rickenbacker guitars. Hand wired tube amps. And for a price you could afford. At least back then...

Sigh!

Steve
"I'm spreading my loyalty around..." - Calvin Cooledge

Offline Skyhook

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Re: Gloom, despair, agony on me..
« Reply #110 on: December 02, 2005, 09:37:37 AM »
As much as I HATE to break up the discussion on guitars, I will just to let those who still follow R-9 topics know my gun has returned home. It's been gone just about a month.

UPS dropped it off yesterday afternoon and I'll be taking it to the backyard range later today.

I have my fingers crossed and will try a couple of different loads to see what happens.

From the note enclosed with the gun, the slide was replaced and Karl & Co. put several mags of various makes of ammo through it w/o a hiccough.


Offline Erich

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Re: Gloom, despair, agony on me..
« Reply #111 on: December 02, 2005, 10:34:50 AM »
Same here!  :)

Offline Michigunner

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Re: Gloom, despair, agony on me..
« Reply #112 on: December 02, 2005, 10:43:07 AM »
Skyhook,

I'm glad it's back home.

Please tell how it is working as soon as you can.

As far as I'm concerned, this is important enough to deserve:

"Flash.......Interupt all services........Bulletin follows....".

Bill

  

Offline Skyhook

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Re: Gloom, despair, agony on me..
« Reply #113 on: December 02, 2005, 11:39:19 AM »
The facts, mam, just the facts..

Today, 12/02/05, I went to my backdoor range (temp 35deg F, wind WSW@ 5kts gusting to 10, humidity 50%), and fired 19 rnds of ammo from four different makers. I would have fired twenty, but my gun will not feed the Speer GD 124s w/o misfeeding. I had two FTF out of five on the very first mag load of five.

Here's a summary:

Make--------------- Ammo---------Results---------Mag----

Magtech                  124Gr              2FTF/10rnds    1 each
Aguila                      124Gr              1ftf/10 rnds    1good 5,
                                                                       2nd 1ftf
Speer Lawman           124Gr              10 good/10

Speer Gold Dot          124Gr              2FTF/five---   1 mag
                                                                       only

Conclusions: 1) This particular gun does not like the Gold Dot.
                  2) It seems to like the Speer Lawman.

Notes: I will obtain some 115Gr ammo and try that before making any changes or further conclusions.
IF I can shoot the rest of the box of Lawman 124s w/o problems, I'll keep the gun and use it just with that load.

What is of interest is with all the 100s of shots fired with my Glock 27, Glock 36, and Glock 30, I have had not one FTF. And I have fired numerous of my handloads in the -36 and -30.

Until I get more reliability I will not even think of carrying the R-9 as primary defense weapon.

(Insert 'disappointed' smiley here)

Offline Michigunner

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Re: Gloom, despair, agony on me..
« Reply #114 on: December 02, 2005, 12:47:12 PM »
Well, it's discouraging to see any failures after the pistol received all that attention at the factory.

Because the pistol is so tiny, with a unique holding relationship between the hand and gun, would you consider installing some abrasive tape on the front and back of the grip?

It has already been well established that the tape makes a big difference.  Chris even used the word "profound", and I heartily agree.  I cannot even use the pistol without tape.  It may work OK, but the pain is overwhelming.

If this is a case of your pistol trying to have a personality clash with its owner, then tape should put a stop to that, right away.

In addition, it would be interesting to see if a friend has any problems shooting the gun.

Meanwhile, like you said, that one brand seems to be doing fine.

Bill

« Last Edit: December 02, 2005, 12:50:40 PM by Michigunner »

Offline Brenden

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Re: Gloom, despair, agony on me..
« Reply #115 on: December 02, 2005, 05:36:02 PM »
Skyhook,

My guns have fired very well with the WWB and the STHPs-both 115s of course..
Also the GDHPs-115s..Even the "reclassifieds"

I have not shot anything but 115 grainers in any of them.That's just me-I like the way they feed and the way I can keep em on a "plate" ;)

Please try the Winnie STHP 115s,If your results are anything like mine,I think you'll be pleased.. :)

Good shooting..

Brenden
NRA Life Patron Member
GOA
Molon Labe

Offline TW

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Re: Gloom, despair, agony on me..
« Reply #116 on: December 02, 2005, 05:54:17 PM »
 
>>Hi Skyhook...

 I really don't think it's fair to compare the results of your R9 to that of your Glocks.  I have five Glocks, and like yourself - I've never experienced a feed problem.  However, if I were to compare the function of my Glocks to every other gun I own...I would probably have surplused half of the guns I own before fully understanding them.

 This is NOT to say you shouldn't expect reliability with your R9...just that the R9 is a different critter, as in one of those guns which can require some work to find the right ammo for...can take some re-think/focus in shooting technique...can benefit from mods - like abrasive tape on the grips...AND, I now firmly believe where as before it was a notion - is NOT for everyone = some few folks just canNOT get the things to work for them.  I hope this is not the case for you, and that with a bit more trial and error work it will come to serve you like a faithful Hound.

 Now before you lay into me for being nuts, I would like to share with you some of my R9 thoughts and experiences...

 As mentioned a while back I own two R9s, one from early production, the other new.  Up until last Summer I have been fortunate to enjoy/trust both guns with hardly a hitch after a bit of tinkering finding the right ammo and technique.

Catching up a bit from my earlier posts, this thread...  Mid-Summer all of a sudden…just after a successful outing/both guns, and a good clean and re-lube BOTH guns started experiencing Failures to Feed with favorite defensive rounds (.115gr GDHP)…this being from the same batch of ammo they had been fine with...used seven different magazines with varying but not acceptable results.  Simultaneously, both guns continued to cycle round nosed practice ammo just fine (.115gr Winchester White Box, .115gr Blazer in copper case).  

 I spoke to the factory about my probs and was asked to send the guns back ASAP.  Instead, because I was so discouraged, I let them sit in my safe for several months before returning them around the time you sent yours back.  

 I Recently got my guns back along with a call from Karl and notes on repair (don't have them in front of me.)  Going from memory here…there were no big smoking gun(s) to report, although they did remove some metal I think from the back of the barrels, and I believe they also did a good polish on the feed ramps…perhaps a bit more but I don't remember.  Since the guns were there they replaced all the springs, although the large mainsprings had been replaced by me not all that long ago.  A variety of ammo was run through both guns with no probs before sending them back to me.  Interestingly, Karl said he is using .115gr Winchester Silver Tip Hollow Points in his gun…although I got the feeling it was more a matter of convenience than trial and error.

 Before testing the guns myself, which I did only yesterday, I made some mods of my own just to make the guns more user friendly.  First off a while back I got some pinky extension base plates from Pearce which were made for the Kahr Mk 9…with a little bit of whittling to fit the R9 I had a perfect fit.  Next I tried to attach some grip tape I found in a hardware store (meant for deck use on boats), but could not get the stuff to stay on even after careful attachment – in black it looked pretty cool though…!…might have worked with another type tape.  Also mentioned and used by Karl I added Pachmayr Rubber Grips, size #4 to both guns…these added two finger knobs (what else do you call them?), which in conjunction with the pinky extensions gave me a rock solid full two finger hold (might be three for other users) that was enhanced on the back of the grips by the rubber = niiiiiiice feel.  So yesterday I finally made it to the range…

 Admittedly I did not run extensive tests to both guns this time out, but I did run one mag each of four different types of ammo…two practice (.115gr Winchester White Box and .115 Blazer, this time with aluminium cases as used by the factory) and two defensive (.115gr Speer GDHP…same batch that failed last summer, and .115gr Winchester Silver Tips…as used by Karl).  Guys…all I can say is every round cycled and fired perfectly…and with the grip mods the guns were almost pleasant to shoot…!!…at least this time my fat knuckles were not racked when shooting, which is a big improvement, and after firing 48 rounds total there was no fatigue…!!  I can add that this control of the guns improved my accuracy dramatically (at five yards).

 **See next post as this is deemed too long**

Offline TW

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Gloom, despair, agony on me..
« Reply #117 on: December 02, 2005, 05:56:49 PM »
** This is the is the follow up ending of my last post, which was deemed too long**

So now what…?  Do I now trust these guns for my personal carry…??  I'm really not sure what to think long term just now.  Call me stupid, but I'm going out of the house in a few minutes with an R9 in my pocket (and a Glock 26 in the car).  Still, I plan to do more testing although not by blowing through 500 rounds…!  One thing I'll do is find a safe place to cycle a bunch of rounds by hand.  I'll also probably shoot only one gun for now…keeping the other in the safe until further notice.  So unless something new causes me to loose confidence, again, I will do as Karl suggests…shoot a little, carry a lot…put a mag or two through it at the range every month or so, in part just to keep ammo fresh….although the R9 may just serve as a BUG to something else until I determine long term if this gun is really for me.  And that’s all I have to say about that, for now.

Meanwhile, like so many others I see value in the Rohrbaugh Forum, not only as a vehicle to enhance old friendships and make new ones, but to share and learn more about the R9...and other stuff...TW<<
« Last Edit: December 03, 2005, 06:29:48 PM by TW »

Offline Skyhook

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Re: Gloom, despair, agony on me..
« Reply #118 on: December 02, 2005, 06:33:44 PM »
Well, TW and Bill, it is a simple world from my point of view as I am a very simple country kid. Either something works for me or it doesn't.
If it works, I keep and cherish it (I've been married 43 years!)

If it does not work for me, I just get rid of it and will not let one of my friends invest in that same item without warnings.

See? It's that simple. Period.

When I invest in a machine, and want with all my heart for it to be a good machine, that machine either performs or I trash it. I  have neither the inclination nor the personality to become a cheerleader for some failure-- mine or someone else's. I did not get where I am by wasting time and energy on junk.

Do (did) I want the R-9 to be a success-- JHC!, I invested about $1K into it-- would anyone with an ounce of good, American, conservative judgment suspect me of wanting a failure??

I am left with a smallish firearm which is providing me with numerous incidents which seriously cast a pall upon its reliability. Now, that has been absolutely established as fact.

My only hope- and it is a small one at that- is that the R-9 will digest the Speer Lawman with some dependability.

As to being "unfair" in my mentioning other, similar, firearms' reliability-- you've gotta be kidding. At least I hope you are.

Offline jarcher

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Re: Gloom, despair, agony on me..
« Reply #119 on: December 02, 2005, 06:46:04 PM »
Quote
As to being "unfair" in my mentioning other, similar, firearms' reliability-- you've gotta be kidding. At least I hope you are.

It is unfair to compare a Rohrbaugh to a Glock.  The R9 cost more than twice as much, is made from higher quality materials and gets more attention by the people who make it than the Glock.

So yes, it's an unfair comparison.  Unfair ro Glock.  The Rohrbaugh should win hands down in every way.  It should be more reliable, more robust and more accurate.

But I think Skyhook has the correct standard in mind.  Does it work?  That's the bottom line.