R9 -- First, Second & Third Shoots

[bluegun]

First:  Yikes!  A real firecracker.  Can I control this little guy?  Three different 124 gr. loads -- Speer, Remington, Federal.  Function was absolutely flawless, even with a mixed mag.  Still came away sour -- my trigger finger was getting absolutely pounded from below as the muzzle climbed and the pistol shifted upwards in my grip.  Grumble . . . not comfortable . . . grumble.

Second:  Before this shoot I went to the skateboard store (yes, we have such a thing) and bought some board (grip) tape.  It's like 80 grit sandpaper with an adhesive backing.  It's black, so it blends right in with my receiver.  I go crazy.  Strip on back strap, front strap, each side panel, front of trigger guard.  Hit the range, shoot up the rest of my 124 gr.  Shite!  My trigger finger isn't getting pounded, but with all this tape I've sanded about half the skin off my hand.  Grumble ... grumble.

Third:  Pulled off all the tape except a small strip on the front an back.  Additionally, filed off some of the grit on the back.  Got some more 124 and a couple of 115 gr.  (Magtech hardball and hollow point).  Took it to the indoor range to see if I could get comfortable with the idea of using him in my upcoming concealed carry class.

Eureka!  What a pistol.  The touch of grit on front and back completely stabilized my hold.  No mangled trigger finger.  No sanded palms.  Just a nice solid grip and a handful of 9mm power.  I can't MAKE this gun malfunction.  I shot 115s and 124s, FMJ, gold dots and some weird pointy thing.  I mixed mags.  I limp wristed.  I rode the recoil up from the elbow and from the shoulder.  It turns out this is a really fun gun to shoot.  I'm absolutely hooked. It's so cool to get such a big blast from such a little gun.

My only problem now is that, after one week, I'm already approaching the 250 round "replace your recoil spring" point.  I guess I've got to stop treating this little guy like a target pistol.  Don't want to.  Maybe I'll just buy that R9S on GunBroker.  It's only money.

Michael Hildebrand
Juneau, Alaska

[RJ HEDLEY]

This may [should] indicate to the "Brothers" the PUP needs some front and rear checkering,  as an OPTION ??


Great post, bluegun..

[harrydog]

Wow! You couldn't even MAKE it malfunction. That's amazing and good to hear. I hope mine becomes that way now that it has some rounds through it.
Even though I can manage without it, I've got some grip tape ordered which I'll add to the front and back straps. Like you said, it just makes your grip that much more solid, which can only help.

[Michigunner]

I've been trying to remember who first used the grip tape, or at least who told about it on the forum.

A quick search indicates that user musician may have been the first to mention it.

Way to go, musician!

[Newt]

I have never found the recoil to be that bad but I would like checkering on the front and rear straps.

[RJ HEDLEY]

Let's see who messes up the frames finish and decides to Checker front and rear with a frame refinish !  

How 'bout it Brent , Richard, Gator ?

[MountainMan]

Michael (bluegun) - I really enjoyed your post.  How much Alaska sun are you getting this time of year?   I was at you city this past summer - beautiful

Dave

[Richard S]

Let's see who messes up the frames finish and decides to Checker front and rear with a frame refinish !  

How 'bout it Brent , Richard, Gator ?

RJ:

I plead "not guilty."  The only modification I have attempted to obtain for my R9s is a pair of sterling silver grips.  (Vanity, vanity . . . .)

[bluegun]

Dave:  we're getting about 7 hours right now, but it doesn't make much difference, since we're so overcast.   Winter has been really mild and rainy.  I keep looking at the garden, waiting for the crocus to pop . . . they're not very smart you know  . . . then get frozen off.  happens about every third year.  were you touring the inside passage when you visited?

michael

[MountainMan]

Michael
Did the inside passage and went north of the Artic Circle over land and by small plane.  A lot of good memories.
Dave

[Newt]

RJ I am considering having one of mine done! Who, in everyones opinion, would be the best choice to do this?

[Richard S]

Newt:

Clark Custom Guns did an absolutely superb job of customizing my 1911, and they offer checkering as one of the available services.  I would assume that they could checker one of the R9s.

http://www.clarkcustomguns.com/1911serv.htm#front

[bluegun]

Thought I'd close out my "getting acquainted with the R9" thread by relating my cleaning & post-cleaning firing experience for any of you newbies.

Here's a little tip to keep you fellow newbies from feeling like an idiot -- you don't need the channel locks to DISassemble the recoil assembly.   I'm sure you old timers will be laughing -- I had fixated on the pretty pictures of the channel locks nicely compressing the springs, and spent about 15 minutes trying to figure out how to get a hold of both ends while the unit was still in the slide.  Ah, well.  Now I can smile, but 24 hours ago I assure you I was not.

Anyhow, cleaning was routine after I reengaged my brain.  I felt virtuous having found some SuperLube at our local Alaska Industrial Hardware store.  A little bath in Hoppes #9.  A little blow drying.  A  judicious slathering of grease.  My patented hypo-applied oil drops here and there.  My recoil spring was only one round shorter than the new one, so I left it in.  Everything slipped back together nicely and off to the range for firing number four.

Nothing much to report on the firing.  Another flawless 14 rounds.  Wiped him down.  Stuck him in my Bianchi #215 shoulder rig.  That's a total of about 150-175 rounds without any hint of trouble, so I'm calling him good.  I plan to run a magazine through about once a month, but other than that he's now "on duty."

Any hints from you wiser heads on long-term program of care, feeding & firing?

Thanks for all your friendly posts.

Michael Hildebrand
Juneau, Alaska

[harrydog]

RJ I am considering having one of mine done! Who, in everyones opinion, would be the best choice to do this?

There are plenty of pistolsmiths who could do an outstanding job. Pete Single is considered to be one of the very best and many top name pistolsmiths actually use him to do their checkering.
http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=125040&highlight=pete+single
Here's a list of pistolsmiths by location. Maybe you can find one close to you. Who you end up using may depend on how soon you need it, because some of them have a huge backlog of work.
http://www.m1911.org/full_gunsmiths.htm

[Newt]

Great news bluegun, it's always nice to here positive feedback and I didn't mean to hijack you're thread, sorry. Thanks guys for the links. I will keep you posted as to how it goes if I can find someone who can do it with a decent turn around time.