Diamondback DB9 story..

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MikePaiN

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A few weeks ago I was on hunt for something small and easy to carry in 9mm. The shop owner talked me into a Diamondback DB9. He said he has sold 20-30 and none have had issues(he knows of). The little gun felt very solid, sights seemed decent and the trigger was smooth. 9mm's just don't get any smaller than this DB9, have to be careful not to mistake it as a credit card and pull it out on some unsuspecting store clerk :D For under $400 out the door I fell for it.

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Vs. my EDC SR9c
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The first range session went pretty good. I got close to 200 rounds through it of 115g UMC, AE, Blazer Brass and 125g Oracle loads). In the first 100 rounds there was a couple of "stove pipe" misfeeds across all the types. The later 100 settled right down with no problems. The gun is small and very tight(it has a non-captive, dual-spring, all steel recoil assembly), so it was very sensitive to limp-wristing. It did start breaking in after 100 rounds but the little gun gave me a workout. Anyway, little guns are always iffy with me as to accuracy but this one is fine. After getting used to it, I was easily keeping all rounds in 3" at 7-10yards. This DB9 was particularly accurate with the 125g Oracle cast loads. The last 40 rounds I let rip, firing and loading as fast as I could...the gun didn't miss a beat and as stout as its recoil is, the pulse is pretty much straight back, making the DB9 easily controllable in rapid fire.

After a cleaning and lube, Saturday I took the DB9 for its 2nd time out....Right off the bat I started getting the stove piping(this time I added another type of ammo Speer Lawman 115g TMJ) The fail-to-feeds continued for the entire session ~1-2 every 20 rounds with all types of ammo I used. Also, I fired 100 rounds for the day and had 2 light strikes. There rounds were put through twice with no light off(both rounds were subsequently fired with one hit through the SR9c).

I really like the little pistol so I'm going to give Diamondback a chance to repair my DB9. The shop is sending it out today. I will update as on how this goes and how long the repair takes.
 
nice review thanks.....yours seems to be like everyone else i know who owns them,........... consistently unreliable. i say that and watch the 3 owners who's guns actually worked out of the box, come and hammer on me.:)

too bad as they are cool little guns, and local to me about anyways.....
 
I find it strange that the shop sold so many and got none back. I'm a long time customer of the shop and they are straight-up, plus they had plenty of other guns they could have sold me.. :scrutiny:
Anyway, I hope we can get the reliability issues worked out...It'll be a shame to give up a gun this small that sports 7 rounds of 9mm in a 15.7oz(loaded) package, that shoots dead on and is an absolute breeze to carry...
 
nice review thanks.....yours seems to be like everyone else i know who owns them,........... consistently unreliable.
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My thoughts exactly.

With a number of reliable pocket nines out there in a similar price range (Kahr CW9 & CM9, Ruger LC9, Kel-Tec PF9), the Diamondback just isn't worth considering.
 
IIRC those Diamondback 380's and 9mm's were placed on the "verbotten" list for most local LE agencies here in Reidsville NC.

Again IIRC, it had to do with slides cracking/breaking. I heard this from a now defunct cop shop clerk about two years back. This shop had sold them for a short while and discontinued them due to all the problems. Especially reliability problems.

Hope you get it sorted out. :(
 
Thank you for the review

I see your DB9 is one of the newer ones with the third pin added to increase reliability and durability.

I hope DB can fix your pistol. Multiple stove pipes and failure to ignite, and FTFs would shake my confidence in a pistol and I'd never carry it for SD.

I put about 200 rounds through my Rohrbaugh R9 without any problems until I got to Remington Golden Sabres. My R9 does not like them, I've read where people who have LC9s have a problem with them too - failure to ignite because a tiny bit of metal comes off the primer and clogs the firing pin hole in the breach. So I ruled Golden Sabres out, but the R9 has been flawless with 124gr & 147gr Gold Dots, Winchester 147gr PDX and Ranger T- RA9T, as well as 124gr and 147gr Lawman TMJ.
 
@MikePain......... possibly it's because unlike us, most folks buy a new gun and don't shoot it for awhile...some never shoot them. i can't tell you how many people i work with have pistols they bought and have never shot them. when i realized this and questioned them....they just assumed guns always work out of the box always, and they wanted a self defense gun, but don't like shooting much or at all. i know shocking right? i love to shoot just can't right now due to ammo costs and shortages....but that's another topic.......

its a good looking little glockish style pistol...hard not to like it, except they are very unreliable.....hope those florida boys get yours working for ya.
 
I'm sorry you got burned by a Diamondback. My advice, and this will be the advice of many, is to turn around and sell it the moment you get it back. These guns are not structurally sound. One person even had their trigger bar break, which is not normally a wear part and something that should never break in a gun's lifespan. They have the bare minimum amount of material to be safe and function under ideal circumstances, which means they will break constantly and cannot be relied on. Don't trust your life to a Diamondback. Your life is worth much more than that.
 
I already had a PF9 when the DB9 came out, so I wasn't interested, but I did look at one anyway once. Until then, the Kel-Tec held the title of "lightest, flattest" commercially-available 9mm pistol made. When I saw the DB, my first thought was "as much a handful as my PF9 is, I don't think I'd wanna go any smaller in a nine."

Hope you get yours dialed in.
 
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Thanks for the write-up. I've been considering a pocket 9mm or .380, and I'm interested in reliability data on the DBs. So again, thanks!
 
I hope your DB9 works out better than mine did, as mine never reached 200 rounds through it without a breakage of some sorts. It went back 3 times and they sent me a new gun on the last trip back. I didn't bother to fire it, and promptly sold it. Now I hear Taurus has bought out Diamondback, so I don't know if this is a good thing or not.
 
I have a db380 with around 400 rounds through it. I haven't had any problems with it so far. I had one stovepipe due to limpwristing, but so far no other problems. It's a pretty accurate little gun as well. hornaday ammo seems to run perfect through mine.
 
My bd9 stove piped at least one round in every mag, 1 in 5 that i shot the first range trip with cheep ammo bout 150 rounds. 400 rounds in with my reloads and premium ammo i have had no problems. I did completely strip the gun down and clean it after first range trip. They come from factory pretty wet but like to be run dry.
 
What I should have done is more of my own research......instead of buying off someone's advice(even if I trusted that person). I really don't know where my head was at when I bought the DB.....right next to it in the case was two CM9s and a used PM9 :banghead:

Well, at least we have a good thread going, maybe it'll help someone else make a more informed decision...
 
I've had my DB9 for about a year. It had to go back to the factory as soon as I got it due to light strikes.

I have about 250 rounds through it now and all of them have been trouble free.
 
I had a DB9 once and liked it until I shot it. Recoil wasn't the issue, it's was a jam0matic. But to be fair, it was earlier production model. Still, as much as I wanted to like it I just couldn't and never felt confident in it. It is very small, probably one of the smallest 9mm's. Although slightly bigger (but still very small), the Kahr CM9 was a joy to shoot and very reliable.

Oh yeah, the DB9 was also slide bite city. There is next to nothing there to protect your hands from getting bit, so I had to hold it odd in order for it not to. I like that it's Glock-like, but only in looks, certainly not in function.
 
I really don't know where my head was at when I bought the DB.....right next to it in the case was two CM9s and a used PM9
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See if the owner will give you store credit against the CM9. I have one of those and it's an excellent little pistol - perfectly reliable with every ammo I've tried so far.

Mine was only $327 new (I'm sure they are a little more now in the post-panic market), so the price difference between it and the DB9 can't be that wide.
 
I went expensive and got the Rohrbaugh R9, but I am happy with it.

Having said that though I think the CM9 is a great little gun.
 
Mike I looked into them also and then did some research and found out their track record isn't so hot. The cm9 is a good little pocket 9 I had one and Jeff bought it off of me
 
Surprised to read of so many having issues with this pistol. My wife bought me one for 2011 Christmas and have been totally pleased with it. Yes it has been shot I am sure well over 200 rounds many being the bulk Winchester ammo with not enough issue to notice if any. Good enough my wife wants one and we have no issue buying another.

The dealer on that gun is two ex policeman and ex military and really will tell you quickly their honest thoughts on a gun and the best I know they still recommend it.

Could the issue on the not feeding be caused by the bullet? We had 380s we had feeding issues with to the point we sold both and months later a different dealer said the issue was the ammo you were using and I did not sell you the guns nor the ammo but you had flat nose ammo right? Yep, he went on to say on that small of gun the angle of the ramp requires round nose. Makes sense to me for he was totally correct on the 380 were jamming with Magtech which had a semi round nose with the very tip flat. Not sure they had any issue with truly round nose ammo.

Please don't think I do not believe there was those Diamond Back that broke or failed but not aware of any thing man made that does not. As to the Kel Tec 9, most uncomfortable handgun I have ever shot. It just hurt.
 
I have heard enough horror stories from Diamondback to avoid them altogether. There are lots of other pocket 9s with better reliability paying a little bit more like Ruger LC9 or Sig 938. And there is a video on the tube site that shows a DB 9 or 380 blowing open with a +p round.
 
Fishbed77 said:
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With a number of reliable pocket nines out there in a similar price range (Kahr CW9 & CM9, Ruger LC9, Kel-Tec PF9)
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You must have bigger pockets than me, those are all too big to fit in most of my pockets. I bought my DB9 to have something smaller than my PF9. Of course, I also got it used with four mags. Couldn't justify the new price. I find it fun to shoot the DB personally, but also enjoy the PF9.
 
Any handgun that can't handle +p ammo in limited doses is scary, to me at least.

I'm surprised that anyone is surprised that diamondback has a standing reputation as unreliable. Db started as a boat maker with guidance/leadership from ex keltec guy or guys, so their experience in firearm making was limited at best. That said taurus being involved now can only help the brand and hopefully good things will happen to quality and reliability, and maybe they will be able to handle hotter ammo without kabooming?;)
 
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