The professional's pistol: full-caliber 9mm in a true pocket pistol

American Handgunner, Sept-Oct, 2004 by Roy Huntington

Rohrbaugh took design ideas working in the "big" world and combined, changed and then "miniaturized" them to fit their needs. "Our first one was a .380--we were learning. But when I saw Seecamp's .380, I knew ours had to be a nine," said Karl. "Our drawings were turned into AutoCad files and then friend and master-machinist/gunsmith Steve Reuter turned our dreams into solid form." And a dandy form it is.

Design Ideas

Karl wanted a small, potent, pocket pistol meeting some stringent requirements. Quality had to be the first priority and meant a corresponding quality of materials. Frames are of billet 7075 aluminum and the steel bits are 17-4 stainless. Grips are machined carbon fiber and there are no castings or MIM parts anywhere to be seen. The astounding thing is virtually everything is made in-house. The mags and springs (Wolff's) are out-sourced, but can be forgiven since, like Karl said, they didn't try to invent everything.

Design ideals meant the R9 had to be small and light enough to be carried constantly without being obtrusive. It had to be devoid of any sharp edges, and last and easy to put into action. Hence the DAO design with no external safeties. The mechanism had to be simple and easy to maintain and the slide-to-frame fit had to be designed to keep the dust buffaloes out.

Weighing a mere 12.8 ounces, and only 5.2" by 3.7" in length and height, the R9 is dwarfed by the "small" Glocks, SIGS, "chopped" 1911s and even most of the Kahr autos seem big by comparison. With an appropriate pocket holster, the R9 or R9s (with sights) is truly a pocket-auto with power. Praise be.

Since the R9 is made on CNC machines, tolerances are held to within one ten-thousandth of an inch. All final assembly is done by the crew at Rohrbaugh and each gun receives the attention of a sharp eye and an uncompromising attitude when it comes to fit, finish and quality. It really is "old world" craftsmanship--augmented with CNC machinery and computer-aided design.

Essentially, Rohrbaugh started with a clean slate and designed a pistol that tens of thousands of us have yearned for. Small, lightweight, reliable, well-made and in a "real" caliber, the R9 is a CCW dream come true. Cops will love it as a back-up, regular Joes and Janes will love it for its size, weight and power and, as accurate as it is, even the odd backpacker and "let's go hiking" sort of fellow will cherish it. The R9 answers questions posed across the spectrum.

Range Surprises

Karl made it clear, "No plus-P amino!" Which is fine with me, since there are dozens of high quality standard velocity loads available for the 9mm. I was concerned about recoil so brought a wide-range of 9mm loads to the range with me. What I found out was startling.

I began the shooting test with standard 115 gr. ball amino. The R9s ran fine and recoil was very manageable. Stout--certainly not a .380--but nonetheless no problem. I worked my way through the loads and discovered a thing or three. First off, the R9 does not like truncated nose amino. If it's got a flat point, the R9 balks. I tried a firmer wrist, more oil on the working bits, etc., but it simply didn't like it. And, who cares anyway?