My Life with the Rohrbaugh R9 Stealth

US Defense Watch ^ | March 24, 2016 | Sturm Guilford

[pboyington]

I’m not going to use that tired chestnut, “What price safety?” The Rohrbaugh R9 is expensive; it’s also the smallest, most concealable autoloader, chambered in 9X19 para, available on the market today. It has all the features I wanted in a concealed carry pistol: hammer fired, double action only, European style heel mounted magazine catch, grip panels* and no safety.

My first excursion to the range after it arrived was an absolute disaster – I had treated it as if it were a service weapon. It is not. It’s so small, tolerances are so tight and heat dissipation is so slow, shooting anything more than three, six round magazines in quick succession will result in repeated jams. All of my jams on the first trip to the range were failures to feed and failures to eject – stove pipes. To say I was peeved, after spending more than a grand on a handmade little pistol, would have been an understatement. I’m pretty sure someone heard me cuss back in Ronneburg Castle.

I tested it at Freedom Armory in Glen Rock, Pennsylvania. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that was more than interested in helping, but had no idea what would possibly be causing the jams. Most all reactions were the same, “Never saw a Rohrbaugh before. Heard of them, never saw one”. When they held it, it nearly disappeared in some of their bear like paws. The look of astonishment on their faces when they noticed “9MM” on the side of the barrel and not “.380AUTO” was universal. “Nine millimeter, what?” Yes, it’s that small. After about a week, and several hours of cursing, loads of graphing data, while changing one variable at a time, I concluded the jamming – all of it – was caused by overheating. It swallows any ammo, I carry 115gr Hornady XTP 6+1 and have no qualms that if I ever needed it, it would surely go BANG! seven times. It is not rated for +P (+P+ is right out), even if it were, the 2.9” barrel wouldn’t be able to make any use of the increased chamber pressure anyway.

Fit and finish is extraordinary, the double action trigger is a very even, buttery smooth seven pounds, with zero slop between finger pressure and hammer movement. The bobbed hammer is slightly recessed in the back of the slide when at rest, and the grips are a smooth polymer, which can be a tad slick in a sweaty hand. There is no safety and no slide lock. The literature calls the grips “textured polymer”, if light logo engraving is considered textured, then they’re indeed textured. There is nothing on the outside of this pistol to snag on clothing, the edges are softened and almost micro-chamfered, it feels like a small, flat river washed stone. Take down is a challenge. Retract slide part way to line up hole in slide with pin in frame, tap pin out with a brass drift. Yes, that third hand is a requirement. After that it’s pretty straight forward. After the initial post purchase, pre-first fire cleaning and inspection, I’ve only cleaned it when I replace the recoil spring every two hundred rounds. Yes 200 rounds.

It has no sights, is a pain to change magazines, (I carry no spare mag), and the recoil spring is rated for only a 200 round service life. It sounds like a pistol upon which you’d never willingly stake your life, right? However, it has a niche: This pistol is designed to be the gun you always have on you. Always. It is never going to be at home in the safe because it’s too hot out, I just don’t feel like it, my date doesn’t want to see it print, I’ll be wearing black tie tonight and dancing foxtrot and rumba… there are no clothing, personal or relationship excuses for not carrying this pistol. It’s fired strong side, from the half ready position, while your weak hand is up protecting your face. Point blank, instinctive shooting, squeeze off three quick rounds, and adjust point of impact between rounds. Move the OWWIES towards center mass. This is not the gun used in affecting the classic British officer pistol stance. It’s for that “oh no, it’s here and now” moment, for which many of us train, but pray never comes. Four to ten feet, and twenty seconds of lizard brain instincts and muscle memory, tempered from countless training sessions.

“Shoot little, carried always.” I keep a round count with all my carry pistols, and it’s even more important with this one. I’m up to 185 rounds on the current recoil spring, replacement is due at 200. I shoot about a magazine every six months now, with lots of dry fire in between.

The Rohrbaugh R9 is available in several finishes and configurations. R9S has sights, almost insignificant, “why are they there” bumps, a two-tone shinny slide and black frame, and the R9 Stealth, all black frame, grips and slide. That’s the one I chose, sans sights. I don’t like shiny guns, and frankly there is no point of sights on this gun – If you take the time to align a sight picture on this, or any pistol in a defensive situation at five feet, you’re going to die.

*I don’t wear a holster, inside the waistband carry with a clippie thing called a Covert Carrier riveted to the right grip panel. The Covert Carrier is notched, and disappears behind a belt loop, and underneath the belt. A tucked in polo or dress shirt blouses over the top of the back strap. Poof – almost invisible. I love it. For me it’s the best way to carry discreetly.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Model: Rohrbaugh R9 Stealth

Caliber: 9×19 Parabellum

Capacity: 6+1 Rounds

Material: Black stainless steel slide, stainless steel barrel, black aluminum alloy frame, textured polymer grips

Weight empty: 14.3 ounces

Barrel Length: 2.9″

Length: 5.2″

Height: 3.7”

Width: 0.83”

Sights: None

Action: Hammer Fired DAO

Price: $1,350.00

Next time…

The Mauser C96 Model 1930… The Broomhandle. Just for the fun of an eleven inch muzzle flame.

[Don W]

I’m considering an Iver Johnson 1911 in 9mm. Any thoughts?

[Robert357]

generally, to be a pocket pistol the overall length and height need to be less than most of those in your list. Weight can also (but not always as it depends on the clothes you wear) be a significant factor.

While an older chart, you might want to look at the following that shows many pocket carry pistols. The number that are in the 9mm class are few and far between. I have tried a number of them.

https://s.yimg.com/fz/api/res/1.2/xtI436Szz.WxkehUBmjVRQ—/YXBwaWQ9c3JjaGRkO2g9NDMwO3E9OTU7dz0zMzM-/http://csgbenefits.org/mousegun_chart.jpg

[Robert357]

A hammer fired weapon is fairly simple. The main safety issue with it is if the firing pin is a floating firing pin or not. If it is, then in theory the weapon can discharge if dropped in exactly the right way, which is a low probability event. That if an issue can be solved by a grove in the firing pin or a ring on it that a safety claw prevents from moving past a certain point.

There are a number of stiker fired semi-automatic designs. Some have been around since the early 1900’s. There are two general kinds of striker fired weapons one where the firing pin has some to a lot of spring tension in it under most conditions and the other where it does not.

Those where it does not can sometimes require lots of trigger pull. What I don't like (and it is from a design preference) is that to actuate a striker requires a lot of tight tolerances in a firearm. The recoil of a slide moving back a hammer or a trigger lever actuating a hammer is usually over a broader area of contact than associated with a striker being fully cocked.

That means (to me) that more things can go wrong. Don't get me wrong there are thousands of people who swear by Glocks and Glock has done a wonderful job of improving the design of striker fired weapons. In my collection, though, I have seen a lot of striker fired semi-automatic pistols that I think are dangerous. Which is why as a general rule I favor a hammer fired pistol.

[Jack Black]

The Nano is pretty close to the Rohrbauch.
The Walther PPK/S is an all time classic pocket pistol:
6.1 X 5.3 — bigger than either.

[Jack Black]

6.1” X 4.3” I meant to type.

[Robert357]

Nano yes, a pocket carry (and if you like modern striker fired, one of those).

PPK sort of. My FEG PA-63 is a modified PPK but has many parts that are interchangeable with the PPK. FEG use to be a licensed mfg for Walther. The PA-63 is a little on the long side for pocket carry, but still as you say a pocket carry pistol in the right pants.

My KelTec PF-9 can be pocket carried in a holster that is large enough to not print, while the PA-63 in a pocket holster will have the butt visible in some pants pockets from the right angle (but not my standard jeans).

What I like about the PA-63 is that it is chambered for a slightly more powerful cartridge than the .380 Auto or 9mm Short. Buffalo Bore Ammo makes some hot 9mm Mak that seems to feed well in the PA-63.

[AppyPappy]

“Price: $1,350.00”

What??? I can buy 10 pistols from my cousin and they’ll already have the serial numbers filed off for me.

[Jack Black]

GUN	LENGTH	HEIGHT	WIDTH	WEIGHT	CAL
Vest Pocket	4.1"	xx"	xx"	13 oz	.25 ACP
PICO	5.1"	3.9"	.72"	11.5 oz	.380
Tomcat	4.9"	3.7"	1.1"	14.5 oz	.32 ACP
Rohrbauch	5.2"	3.7"	.83"	14.3 oz	9mm
Nano	5.6"	4.2"	.9"	18 oz	9mm
PPK/S	6.1"	4.3"	1.2"	22.2 oz	.380

The Rorhbaugh is still the smallest mini-9, I think but the Nano comes pretty close.

I built this chart to compare the Nano with the PPK/S, what many people consider the classic pocket pistol. Today's 9mm's are the size of the traditional .380s.

Today's .380's are the size of a traditional .32, which the Pico vs. Tomcat rows show.

Amazingly the Rorhbaugh is pretty much the size of the Tomcat - they have shrunk the 9mm all the way down to the size of a .32!

I'd love to see Beretta make a next-gen .32!

The master's smallest gun, the Colt Vestpocket. He also invented the cartridge for it, the .25 ACP, along with the .32 ACP, .380 and .45 ACP. Still a masterpiece of miniaturization.

[Jack Black]

I've always wanted a Mak. I agree it's a usefully bigger round than the .380, but the pistols are still pretty small.

I've got a PPK/S that a friend gave me. There is something just really perfect about the PPK/S, it's one of the most iconic guns out there, along with the Single Action Army, 1911 and S&W revolvers in several sizes.

[Jack Black]

Bulgarian Makarov.

[Jack Black]

Mak in comparison w/ a full size SIG, to give some size perspective.