Potent Pocket Guns

This week we take a look at a very well made pocket pistol, the Rohrbaugh R9 and compare it with the pocket gun standard the Smith & Wesson “J” frame revolver, this one being a model 340 PD. First let’s take a look at the comparables:

Rohrbaugh R9s versus S&W 340 PD
Function: semi-automatic pistol versus revolver
Caliber: 9mm versus 357 Magnum
Action: Both are Double Action Only
Capacity: 7 versus 5
Barrel Length: 2.9 in versus 1 7/8 in
Weight: 14.3 oz versus 12oz
Length: 5.2 in versus 6 3/8 in
Sights: Minimal fixed versus Fixed with Hi-Viz front
Grips: Carbon Fiber versus Rubber
Material: Stainless Steel & Aircraft Aluminum versus Scandium Alloy,
Titanium/Stainless Steel

About the Rohrbaugh:

The R9 (without sights) and R9s (with sights and reviewed here) are the smallest 9mm pistols available. The R9 is basically the same size as the Kel-Tec P-3AT .380 ACP pistol with the Rohrbaugh being a scant inch longer, .042 inches wider, .2 inches taller, and 6 ounces heavier. Rohrbaugh looked at the concealed pistol market and knew that if he was going to compete he would have to come up with something better than the micro .380’s produced by Kel-Tec, North American Arms, and Seecamp. As a lot of people think a .380 is too small a caliber for self defense he worked for many years to build a micro 9MM pistol. The one thing that will strike you as you look over the Rohrbaugh…it is an amazing well made pistol. The action is very smooth and the individual parts seem as if they were handfit.

How They Ran:

Semi-automatic versus revolver?
In a pocket gun who cares? Individual shooters may have a bias one way or the other but in a handgun of this size it is not really important. In terms of these two firearms the Rohrbaugh is finicky regarding ammunition. I had read about this on the Rohrbaugh Internet Forum and it initially did not surprise me. When engineering something so small with such tight tolerances there are bound to be some minute differences in ammunition that may cause problems. Many may remember when Mr. Seecamp brought out his micro .32 ACP many years ago he informed the buyer that it would only function with Winchester Silvertip ammunition. My surprise with the Rohrbaugh is that there seems to be no particular standard; every person who posted on the internet had a Rohrbaugh that functioned differently with different ammunition. Mine both fed and shot well with Hornady 124 grain HP-XTP ammunition.

(click photo to enlarge image. Left 10 round of Hornady 124 grain HP-XTP ammunition fired at 10 feet. Right 20 rounds of the same ammunition fired at 21 feet)

It did not like Federal, Winchester, and Remington ammunition which resulted in failure to feed jams. One (Click photo to enlarge image. 30 rounds of Remington 115 grain JHP ammunition fired at 10 feet)

additional problem was the Rohrbaugh’s grip length and magazine release. The grips only allowed me to get one and a half fingers around it. While the shorter grip makes the pistol easier to conceal it also made it more difficult to control during firing and less pleasant to shoot. Also the magazine release is a “European Style” catch mounted at the heal of the grip. While firing the magazine release catch bumped the heal of my hand disengaging the magazine at least once (occasionally twice) in each magazine fired. The magazine would release as the slide was retracting causing the magazine to fall about an inch. This meant that there was no round for the slide to pick up as it returned to the closed position. If you pulled the trigger again all you heard was a “click”. In fairness this did not happen when I was not wearing a shooting glove. However the pistol is fairly unpleasant to shoot without a glove so an intensive barehanded session to determine if this was only a problem when wearing a glove was not possible.

The Smith & Wesson, in terms of accuracy, did seem to favor the HSM 158 grain lead semi-wadcutter .38 Special and the Winchester 125 grain + P semi-jacketed hollowpoint ammunition. As would be expected there were no
(click on photo to enlarge image. Left: 10 rounds of HSM 158 grain SWC ammo fired at 10 feet. Right: the same ammo fired at 21 feet)

reliability problems with this revolver and the rubber after-market Pachmayr grips allowed me to get two a two and a half finger hold and the 340 PD was much more pleasant to shoot even with the + P ammo.


(Click on photo to enlarge image. Left 20 rounds of Winchester 125 grain SJH .38 Special fired at 10 feet. Right 15 rounds of the same ammo fired at 21 feet)

A lot of people on the internet do not like the fact that the Rohrbaugh’s slide does not stay back after the last round is fired. While I am used to the semi-auto’s slide locking in the rearward position after the last round is spent, the fact that the Rohrbaugh does not lock back is really a minimal problem. Somehow revolver shooters have been able to overcome this disadvantage for almost 200 years.

The double action only trigger pulls on both handguns were long but smooth and neither were a problem.

The sights on the Smith & Wesson definitely give it the advantage. The Rohrbaugh sights are barely visible. In fact the pistol is also available without sights which was its original configuration. The gun buying public wanted sights and Rohrbaugh, to his credit, gave them what they wanted. Being realistic, this is a highly concealable, arm’s length pistol. By that I mean that this handgun, like the Smith 340 PD, was designed for close quarter’s combat. I however, like the gun buying public, like sights on my guns even if they are “belly guns”.

Conclusion:
I have to go with the Smith & Wesson 340 PD. It weighs less than the Rohrbaugh, does not malfunction, and is more pleasant to shoot which means I will practice with it more often. I fear that, under stress, the Rohrbaugh would be harder to shoot causing a considerable drop in accuracy. I also fear that the slight grip might make the pistol easy to drop. While it would make the pistol less concealable I would like to see Rohrbaugh extend the grip by one more inch and use rubber instead of carbon fiber grip panels. This would add a round or two to the capacity and the extra length & rubber panels would allow me to get a better grip on the pistol. The long grip may also eliminate the problem with the magazine release as it would be more firmly settled in my hand. For now I’ll forgo the extra 2 rounds that the Rohrbaugh offers and continue to carry my Smith.

(click on photo to enlarge image. Size comparison from Top: S&W K-frame Model 15, S&W J-frame Model 340 PD, Rohrbaugh R9s)

Smith & Wesson Model 15 Combat Masterpiece .38 Special

History
This revolver’s pedigree goes back to the turn of the 19th Century. President McKinley was in the White House and Smith & Wesson was battling Colt for revolver supremacy. Smith & Wesson had evolved from producing breaktop handguns to revolvers with the new swingout cylinder. Colt had been evolving in the same realm and came out with their revolvers chambered for the .38 Long Colt. The U.S. Military jumped on board and soon regreted it as the new cartridge was not a good manstopper (see last week’s posting for the Taurus PT1911 which includes the history of the .45 ACP cartridge). Smith & Wesson lengthened the cartridge and introduced their 1st Model Hand Ejector in the more powerful .38 Smith & Wesson Special (most commonly referred to as just the .38 Special) and in doing so the .38 Special became the most popular centerfire revolver cartridges in History. (Note: the .38 Smith & Wesson Special/.38 Special should not be confused with the .38 Smith & Wesson which is a different cartridge and is not interchangeable with the .38 Special. Similarly the .38 Super is also a different round designed for semi-automatic pistols only. The .38 Super semi-automatic round should not be confused with the .38+P/ .38 Special+P, the later referring to a .38 Special revolver cartridge that is loaded to a higher pressure making the round more powerful. By now you should be thoroughly confused…so let’s continue.) Both Smith & Wesson, Colt, and many, many other manufacturers, both domestic and foreign, have produced revolvers for the .38 Special and prior to the high-capacity 9mm bonanza of the early 1990’s this cartridge was the overwhelming choice of police departments across the country. Even departments who issued a .357 Colt or Smith & Wesson revolver generally only allowed their officers to carry it with a .38 special load. The 1st Model Hand Ejector was a handsome revolver with a tapered barrel available in several different lengths and fitted with basic fixed sights.

Smith & Wesson continually found ways to improve their handguns and, in 1905 the .38 Special which was issued in Smith’s familiar and famous K-frame became designated the .38 Military & Police Model. Fixed sights remained and while different barrel lengths were available 4 or 5 inch barreled revolvers were the most common versions produced.
From 1905 until 1940 Smith & Wesson produced some 1 million .38 Special Military & Police revolvers. During World War II Smith & Wesson produced a variation on the M&P called the Victory Model. This was war-time production and these revolvers generally seem to be a little rough around the edges. The four inch barrel was by far the most common length and most were parkerized rather than sporting a blued finish. In fact I have seen some that appear to have been painted black. The Victory Model was issued to a lot of Navy Airmen and Army tank crews many of which were carried in shoulder holsters. Victory models also went overseas to England chambered in the shorter and less powerful .38 Smith & Wesson Cartride (as opposed to the .38 Special). The .38 Smith & Wesson was, at the time, the standard military handgun cartridge issued to Great Britan’s soldiers and when Webley was unable to manufacture enough of their own revolvers the Crown turned to Smith & Wesson. By the end of WWII Smith & Wesson had cranked out another 1 million M&P/Victory model revolvers.

In 1949 Smith & Wesson came out with a new .38 Special model entitled the Combat Masterpiece. This revolver was basically a Military & Police with a 4 inch ribbed barrel and adjustable sights. In 1957 Smith & Wesson changed it’s cataloging system with their descriptive handgun names being replaced by a drab numerical moniker. As such the M&P became the Model 10 and the Combat Masterpiece became listed as the Model 15. Both the fixed sighted Model 10 and the adjustable sighted Model 15 became stalwarts in the police arsenal and this takes us to the revolver being examined in this review

Smith & Wesson Model 15
Return with us now to those golden days of law enforcement yesteryear as we go all the way back to…the 1980’s. This revolver is curiously marked as belonging to “OR. CO. CAL. (presumably the Orange County, California Sherrif’s Department).
This is a basic K-frame Smith & Wesson with the ribbed barrel and plain black adjustable sights (no white dots, no gold beads, no red ramp, no fiber optics, no glow-in-the-dark inserts). This specimen also sports finger-grooved rubber grips with very slight palm swells. In the 1980’s rubber grips were very popular and Smith & Wesson did offer them as a standard option most being from Uncle Mike’s of Oregon. This set however, has no exterior markings as to the manufacturer. Upon removing the grips the interior of both panels are marked “S&W K Frame—Square Butt—Made in Italy”. Therefore nothing definative was gained as to their origin.

As mentioned earlier, at one point the blued S&W K frame .38 Special revolver ruled the law enforcement roost for many years and has since pretty much vanished. While it is easy to think that the move toward the high capacity 9mm semi-automatic pistol in the late 1980's caused the demise of the blued .38 Special revolver the decline actually came several years earlier with the advent of stainless steel .357 Magnum revolvers. In the 1970's the Smith & Wesson Model 66 Stainless Steel .357 Magnum revolver became the holy grail of the law enforcement crowd as well as the civilian shooter and Smith & Wesson could not keep up with the demand. I remember putting a $100.00 down payment on a Model 66 in the summer of 1978 (and $100 was a lot of money for me at the time) at my local Em-Roe Sporting Goods store in Indianapolis, Indiana. The revolver was ordered and my name went on a waiting list. In December I got the deposit refunded and used the money to buy Christmas presents. The demand for the revolver was hyped by many misconceptions about the Stainless .357 revolver. The three most common were:
1. Stainless Steel is rustproof. False--while it may be considered rust-resistant, it will rust if mistreated.
2. Stainless Steel handguns do not need to be cleaned. False again and if left uncleaned you would eventually discover the difference between rust resistant and rust proof.
3. Here's the biggest misconception I heard in those days: A .38 Special cartridge fired from a .357 revolver became somehow magically more powerful than if fired from a .38 Special revolver. Again, false. In fact, the longer .357 cylinder chamber also allowed more gas and energy to escape while the bullet jumped the gap into the barrel's forcing cone. Not a huge amount but there was some loss of velocity and energy. I will admit that advances in higher pressure .38 Special ammunition rendered .38+P cartridges unsuitable in vintage, President McKinley-era revolvers. Both the ammunition manfacturers and firearms producers did a lot of advertising to educate the gun shooting consumer that these new +P cartridges should only be fired in modern revolvers. Many shooters gravitated to the .357 revolver for the +P .38 Special ammunition, but a modern .38 Special revolver would work just fine.

But let's get back to this Model 15. One of the first things noticable on this revolver is the condition. The barrel and rifling are in outstanding shape with no evidence that the revolver has been fired. The finish is original and probably in 95% condition or slightly better with absolutely no holster wear. Is it possible that Orange County never issued this revolver and it sat in the armory virtually unused? I am really curious about this piece. If anyone knows a retired O.C. deputy who worked in the armory and can provide some color, please let me know.

The second thing noticable about this revolver is the trigger. My assumption would be that this trigger had been tuned, possible by the Orange County Department Armorer or possibly by some civilian gunsmith. I wish I knew who worked on the trigger because I would send them every revolver I own. The double action pull is extremely smooth and just about as light as you would want on a defensive revolver. The double action pull is so good that there is no need to fire it in the single action mode.

This brings me to accuracy. It doesn’t get much better than this. While I have owned two Model 10s in the past, this is the first Model 15 I have ever fired. It is easy to understand why Smith & Wesson originally dubbed this revolver the “Combat Masterpiece”.

(Click on image to enlarge. Six rounds fired at each target from 21 feet)

Living in Los Angeles at the time I remember that soon after the Military retired their Model 1911 .45 ACP pistols in favor of the Beretta Model 92 in 9mm the L.A.P.D also switched from their Model 15 .38 Special revolvers to the Beretta. This was around 1988 and I am sure that Orange County followed suit soon after. While I can understand the rationale behind the argument for the Beretta’s higher capacity 9mm magazine I cannot imagine finding a Beretta (or Glock, which has become the current law enforcement standard) that is more accurate and easier to shoot than this Smith revolver.
(Click on image to enlarge. 2o rounds fired at 50 feet.)

Taurus PT 1911 .45 ACP Pistol

In a recent posting about the Taurus Tracker in .44 magnum I outlined the history of Taurus Manufacturing and their track record in the United States. Rather than repeat that let’s look at the history of the pistol design being reviewed this week. I am sure most readers will already know this but anyway here we go:
The model 1911 is a single action, semi-automatic handgun chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge designed by firearms genius John M. Browning. The “.45” became the standard issue handgun for the U.S. armed forces from 1911 to 1985 serving through World War I, World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

It is farily well known that the .45 ACP was designed to meet the needs of our armed forces after it was found that the handgun and cartridge issued at the later part of the 19th Century, the Colt New Service chambered in .38 Long Colt, was a less than stellar manstopper. The Colt New Service was a double action revolver with a swing out cylinder which was faster to load and fire than the Model 1873 single-action .45 Colt revolvers that it replaced. However, during the Philippine-American War it was found that the Moro guerilla warriors could absorb several hits from the .38 Long Colt revolvers and continue to attack. Before the fight the Moro warriors woud tightly wrap their torsos in leather and work themselves into a drug induced frenzy. Many of our military units put their single action .45 Colt revolvers back into service causing the government to procure and ship new double action Colt revolvers chambered for the .45 Colt cartridge. This also caused the government to open up bids for a new handgun specifically a semi-automatic in .45 caliber. Colt offered their John Browning design and manufacturers as diverse at the Savage Arms Company and DWM (Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken) of Germany answered the call. DWM offerred up their famous Luger in .45 Caliber which has become a quite a collector’s item with only a few known to still exist today.

John Browning’s design prevailed and the Colt .45 ACP semi-automatic pistol was adopted in March of 1911 thus gaining the designation of Colt M1911. As we enterred World War I the pistol was greatly coveted by the soldiers involved in both the defense and attack of trenches. General John J. Pershing wanted one issued to every soldier. Unfortunately manufacturing could not meet the demand and the Springfield Armory was allowed to manufacture the pistols while both Colt and Smith & Wesson supplemented the Armed Forces with revolvers chambered for the .45 ACP. These revolvers utilized half moon clips to feed and extract the rimless round in these revolvers which normally require a rimmed cartridge for positive extraction.

In World War II the demand was so great that the M1911 was produced not only by Colt but also by Remington, Ithaca Gun Company, Union Switch and Signal, Springfield Armory, Rock Island Arsenal, and the Singer Sewing Maching company.

The Demise of Colt
For reasons, way beyond my understanding, Colt has failed to maintain their handgun manufacturing advantage. Witness first the Colt Single Action “Peacemaker-styled” revolver. This style of handgun is synonomous with name of Colt. However if you went out to buy this type of revolver today you would probably come back with one manufactured by Ruger or by Uberti of Italy (which manufactures the vintage styled revolvers for Beretta, Cimarron Arms, and EAA). The Rugers and Ubertis are plentiful, reasonably priced, updated and improved.

Witness second the M1911. The Colt moniker was again synonomous with this handgun design. After WWII if you mentioned a “.45” you were probably talking about the Colt 1911. There were other manufacturers, primarily foreign, but their offerring were usually less expensive, less accurate, poorly made and generally disrespected by the gun buying public. The Colt dominance began to shift over the last 20 years. First many 1911 purists were not happy with some of the design enhancements Colt put on their “Series 80” pistols. Most handgunners lamented the way that the magazine safety affected the trigger pull. The Second blow to Colt’s supremacy was the adoption of the Beretta 92 9mm to replace the Colt M1911. After this occurred it seemed that Colt made fewer and fewer handguns and toward the end of the 1980’s and as they manufactured fewer the prices steadily climbed. Then enterred Kimber. Kimber dealt the death-blow to the Colt manufactured 1911 by making it cheaper and better! Kimber produced a pistol with most of the custom goodies you would want for the same price of a stock Colt 1911. The American gun buying public flocked to Kimber and this opened the way for Springfield who also began to produce a high-quality 1911 .45 ACP pistol. While high-capacity 9mm pistols gained a lot of favor in the 1990’s the .45 ACP still ruled the roost as a better manstopper. The great Miami FBI massacre first showed the limitations of the 9mm cartridge in a semi-automatic pistol. Then came the famous North Hollywood LAPD Robbery shootout. Shortly thereafter the resergence of the .45 ACP as a Law Enforcement round began. LAPD SWAT now carries a .45 ACP pistol as do many other municipal, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies carry. Some favor a M1911 single-action pistol while others have adapted double action pistols from Glock, Para Ordnance, Springfield and Smith & Wesson. Ironically many military special unts are opting to carry a M1911 in .45 ACP not being happy with the performance of the 9mm cartridge.

Taurus PT 1911 .45 ACP Pistol
This leads us to the Taurus. There are those handgun snobs who still disrespect the Taurus handguns. To them I say "too bad for you", you are missing out on great firearms at reasonable prices. The Taurus PT 1911 is a prime example of this. Here are the features included in the PT 1911:
Full length guide rod & reverse plug.
Henie Straight Eight sights.
Serrated slide rear and front.
Checkered 30-lpi trigger guard.
Checkered 30-lpi mainspring housing.
Checkered 30 lpi frontstrap.
Ambidextrous safety.
Beavertail grip safety with memory pad.
Target Hammer.
Skeleton serrated trigger.
Trigger job.
Custom fit barrel (air guaged bushing).
Custom slide to frame fit.
Polished feedramp and barrel throat.
Lowered and flared ejection port.
Custom internal extractor.
Extended magazine release button.
Beveled magazine well.
Extra 8 round magazine (both with base pad included).

Some of these refinements may be superflous (I don’t know what checkering the bottom of the trigger guard adds to the pistol) and some are not (Heine sights, custom fitting, polished feed ramp and barrel throat, trigger job, and extra magazine). Regardless you get all of this on a pistol that cost me $449.00 before sales tax. That’s right…all of this for $449.00 or about a third of the price for a basic customized Colt, and less than half the cost of a similarly featured Kimber (heck, Kimber never gives you an extra magazine).
(Click on image to enlarge. Target on the right: 8 rounds of 230 grain FMJ fired at 21 feet. Target on the left: 50 rounds of the same ammo fired at 50 feet)
The trigger is outstanding. No creep and it breaks crisply at 3 pounds. The Heine Straight Eight sights take a little getting used to after being raised on 3-dot sights but they are very fast to pick up and make an outstanding combat accessory. The Black finish is not pretty, but appears to be very durable. The grips are very thin, but I like ‘em. This is not really a target pistol but a very fine combat pistol indeed. Yes, a very fine combat pistol with many target pistol add-ons. If you see one on your gun dealer’s shelf buy it quickly. If you procrastinate it won’t be there when you come back, not with the price and value Taurus is offerring.

Advanced Laser Weaponry
The advent of a War always brings about new technology. Afterall, war is a very violent form of competition and out of competition comes ingenuity, innovation, and achievement. It is no surprise then that the "bar has been raised" for "State of the Art" close quarter combat technologies in the last 16 years. Two Gulf Wars have seen the enhancement of missle and bombing delivery systems but little news has trickled out about advancements in hand-held anti-personnel arms. Last week I was priviledged to attend a hush-hush training session in Southern California which gave me a strong glimpse at what the wizards of weaponry have been working on.

Advanced Laser Technology:
Because of it's precise properties Laser Beam technology has been used in everything from presentation pointers, to carpenter's levels, to advanced sighting systems for handguns, rifles, and missle systems. The thought of the Laser as a weapon has been a sci-fi staple since Flash Gordon was first issued his "Ray Gun" all the way to the light sabers used in "Star Wars". However, the fantasy is now a devastating reality.

Our instruction on the new weapons system was very basic and, quite frankly, there was not much need to over complicate matters. The military has long been looking for ways to simplify small arms training and, as seen in the Manual of Arms below, this has been achieved with astounding success:

Now I fully understand the necessity of keeping things simple, but I do balk at the moniker of "Astro Blaster" which the military has bestowed upon this new weapon. I just feel that this has "dumbed down" the training concept a little too far. Although, with the military's penchant for acronyms "ASTRO" actually might stand for some long-winded military title like "Advanced Systems To Reduce Opposition"...or something along those lines. After going over the printed manual, a brief indoctrination was given by one of the instructors and then it was off to the combat range to begin the training. The instruction session was hardly necessary as this is an instinctive point and shoot weapon with no safeties or other external controls with which to contend. My youngest daughter accompanied me on this trip and she had absolutely no problem with the "Astro Blaster" in terms of operation or recoil.




It would be appropriate at this point to discuss what I liked and disliked about this weapon. The Blaster's exterior components are made of polymer, which I normally do not like, however the polymer construction has certainly made this a light-weight weapon. Unfortunately the Blaster is rather bulky so the light-weight does not translate into making this a good weapon for concealled carry. This is definately a service pistol and quite frankly, that is what is was designed to be. The lack of recoil makes follow-up shots very easy and the fixed sights seemed to be fairly well regulated. Unfortunately the puny sights were difficult to immediately read and this made accurate first shots very difficult. Most of the people involved in the training session opted to used a modified point-shooting style, see where the first shot (or blast) hit and then compensate on their follow-up shot for windage and elevation. Due to the red laser beam it is easy to see where the first shot landed and, as a plus, the white circle at the rear of the Blaster indicates when it senses that you have scored a direct hit by flashing a short red strobe. While there is a lot to like about the Blaster I must point out that the trigger is horrible. It is very spongy and therefore may cause the shooter to jerk the trigger finger causing the muzzle to be pulled down and to the right. This is probably a factor caused by the fact that this weapon is so new that the makers were not sure how to contruct the trigger or firing mechanism. After, the trigger on the Blaster is not cocking and dropping a hammer or otherwise propelling a firing pin forward. When pressed the trigger actually completes an electrical circuit which generates the laser blast.

Overall the Blaster has great potential, but could stand further refinement in terms of sighting and the trigger. As I said earlier, my daughter had no problems with it...although I smoked her in competition.