DiamondBack DB9, in 2014, still...crud?

One might do well to think of the DB9 as a super hot .380

Click to expand...

Yup we've talked about this a few times:


The "355 AUTO"

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=751217

This would be like a 9mm Luger on tranquilizers, or maybe a more appealing way to say it is a .380 AUTO on steroids.

Click to expand...

Not adding, replacing.

Click to expand...

Credible source? Nothing in your link that would cause a reasonable person to deduce that, especially with the header on that page reading:

Diamondback is continually growing and seeking qualified employment candidates.

Click to expand...

I own three DB pistols and have never had a problem with any that I own. I have a friend whose father has the 380 and it has been perfect. The friend had the older DB9 and it was junk. We took it out and shot it side by side with my older DB9, using the same ammo for comparison, and his was a jam o matic. Neither of us is a gunsmith so we couldn't determine what the difference was.
I don't see them closing anytime soon. I THINK they are privately owned so they could always be setting up to sell the company. Based on all the recalls I have experienced in the past 10 years I can't see any reason to bash DB any more than Ruger, or Smith, or Ford, or GM, or Toyota. They all occasionally have design flaws, employee issues and malfunctions.

You can get them for $279.00 now

jrdolall does your new DB9 have the longer extractor?

I see pictures of some DB9 pistols now where the extractor starts at the rear slide serrations

I will need to look.
I had a stovepipe yesterday using Federal 115 FMJ. I ran 3 mags and had this on the fourth mag. Then ran 3 more mags of FMJ and had no more problems. 2 mags of JHP (don't recall what brand) with no issues.
I am shooting with 6 rounds rather than 6+1. I have not yet cleaned the gun other than before the initial range trip. Due to family issues I have had to move into town so I am not 50 yards from my range and it is a bit more difficult to walk outside and fire off a few rounds. Darned neighbors!

I just bought a new DB9. Since shooting my Nephews gun , I had to get one. His worked flawlessly. I paid $275 for it and the serial Number is YDxxxx. Mine had problems with FTF and I went on the DB9 forum and took the advice of those with much more experience than me and did the following 3 things: 1-Polished the feed ramp 2- opened the breech face to the chamber slightly, so that it will feed easily from the feed ramp, as it was too small an opening. Look at other pistols to gauge the difference. I did it with a very small file and then polished it, 3- Replaced the mag spring with a Keltec PF9 mag spring and cut 2 coils off and THAT DID IT. I shot 3 boxes through it with no problems with 115 gr UMC and Hornady CD. I plan to shoot it more today, and hopefully this will make a lightweight pocket nine for me. Fully loaded it is about 14.7 oz on my scale. Much smaller and lighter than my PM9.

3 things: 1-Polished the feed ramp 2- opened the breech face to the chamber slightly, so that it will feed easily from the feed ramp, as it was too small an opening. Look at other pistols to gauge the difference. I did it with a very small file and then polished it, 3- Replaced the mag spring with a Keltec PF9 mag spring and cut 2 coils off and THAT DID IT.

Click to expand...

OMG that's a lot of stuff to do

One of the problems that I think plagues the DB9 pistol is that they sacrificed strength and stability for light weight. It weighs only 12.7 oz with an empty mag in place. Most polymer pistol frames , including KT pf9 have an inner aluminum "frame" that gives stability where the fire control parts can attach to. We do not see this in the DB9. All parts are attached directly to the thin, and I must say weak polymer frame. If one looks at PM9 , pf9 and many other 9mm polymer pistols in their exploded view , there is this sub-unit of aluminum that can be removed from the polymer frame. Any slight movement of parts upon firing and the aftermath of recoil can affect a polymer pistol that is made this weak. This is not something that I have proven, but only an opinion based on my own observations of polymer pistol construction. Snoop

That said, there has to be a reason for the short life span of DB9 pistols that do function. After a few hundred or 1500-2000 rounds something breaks or comes apart from the weak attachment to the polymer frame. We see these complaints repeatedly on the Diamondback forum. My take is that it is the lack of the inner aluminum "frame" unit. Snoop

Most polymer pistol frames , including KT pf9 have an inner aluminum "frame" that gives stability where the fire control parts can attach to. We do not see this in the DB9. All parts are attached directly to the thin, and I must say weak polymer frame. If one looks at PM9 , pf9 and many other 9mm polymer pistols in their exploded view , there is this sub-unit of aluminum that can be removed from the polymer frame. Any slight movement of parts upon firing and the aftermath of recoil can affect a polymer pistol that is made this weak. This is not something that I have proven, but only an opinion based on my own observations of polymer pistol construction. Snoop

Click to expand...

A great many polymer pistols have no "inner frame". Glock, S&W, Springfield, HK, Sig, Taurus, FN, Beretta, Tanfoglio. They use front and rear inserts, just like the Diamondback (some removeable, some overmolded). In point of fact, Kahrs and Kel Tecs are about the only pistols that have the substructure you're talking about.

OMG that's a lot of stuff to do


Basically he ramped and polished it... same as you would do with any .45....

<yawn>..


Willie

.

Basically he ramped and polished it... same as you would do with any .45....

Click to expand...

Huh?

I've had or shot plenty of .45s that worked flawlessly out of the box.

Well at least people know now to add the cost of a Kel-Tec mag spring and a Dremel tool to the TCO for a DB9.

I bought a new one this month (Oct 2014) and bummer for me they are still horrible weapons. I was led to believe some of the problems have been worked out but no. I'm selling mine.

I swear to you I would rather carry a Jimenez Arms, Saturday Night Special. At least they work (I never had a problem with mine except I wouldn't feel safe carrying with a round in the chamber).

Here is some of the problems I found myself and from others:

1. There is a serious design flaw with the firing pin/striker mechanism and Diamondback refuses to fix/redesign it. If you load a magazine into the weapon and rack the slide the base of the round will hangup on a firing pin that is protruding thru the breechface. This happens even if the striker has been reset by racking the slide and sear engaged prior to inserting the mag.

This will get you killed in a gunfight if you ever have to chamber a round manually by racking the slide, reload a mag or clear a stoppage. The only way to prevent this from happening is by racking the slide slowly and carefully while pointing the muzzle slightly upward. Pretty stupid and pretty dangerous, right?

2. I've seen pictures of split barrels and sheared barrel lugs, even when using only standard pressure ammo. By the way, using +P ammo will void your warranty and they tell you to never use bullets heavier than 124 grns.

3. Parts are NOT AVAILABLE! Nothing, only magazines. If you bend a firing pin you need to spend $50-$75 shipping the whole gun in for repair and current turn around time is beyond 7 weeks.

Listen friend get ANYTHING but a Diamondback. It's just a little larger but I would really recommend a Ruger LC9, Rohrbach, Sig, Walther, Kel-Tec, Glock but please as a favor to me don't buy a Diamondback.

I will toss my two cents in here and state my opinion. Kahr guns are excellently designed and crafted firearms. Justin Moon has a workable solution to the 9x19 tapered cartridge single stacking dilemma. Just take (8) 9x19 rounds and lay them on a flat surface and then squeeze them together. You will see that the tapered design will cause them to arc. The patented Kahr designed offset feed ramp and magazine angle of presentation designs seems to address this problem better than any one else in the single stack 9x19 realm.

I don't think Glock will ever make a single stack nine but a single stack .40 is a very real possibility though.

I think Kahr CM/PM 9's can work though.

Click to expand...

My Kahr CW9 was great until it wasn't. Front frame rail broke at a bit under 6000 rounds in about 2.5 years. Customer support wasn't there. I've switched to S&W Shield and couldn't be happier, not being much of a revolver guy the Kahr trigger was always a struggle hence all the practice rounds.

Everybody just keep on bashing the DB-9. My new one now has over 500 rounds through it with one stovepipe around round 250 or so. Fed, Win and Fiocchi 115 FMJ as well as one box of Hornady Critical Defense. I have not used any of my reloads in the gun yet but probably will at some point. I have absolutely. positively ZERO desire to use +p ammo in a tiny 9mm pistol. I have used it in my PF-9 as well as the S&W Airweight and don't like it at all. It is fine for the CZ and other full sized guns.
I spent last weekend at a friends place and he too carries the DB-9. His dad carries the DB 380. We put around 200 rounds combined through the guns with ZERO malfunctions. The DB-9 is noticeably lighter than the Kahr or the KT PF-9.

There are multiple articles in the on-line magazines about how smaller semi-autos are more and more being sent out with restrictions on bullet weights and velocities. Kimber's Solo is one that is currently on-line. With the smaller guns, cycling time is critical. To get these tiny little things to run, you need to be ever more specific on bullet weights, recoil impulses, and cycling speeds.

It appears to be the price of admission. The SOLO also recommends replacing the recoil spring every 1000 rounds. Rorhbaugh and Kahr also have shorter replacement recommendations for their small guns.

Oddly enough, there is a 9x19 pistol that was on the market for a decade or more, rated for +P and +P+, with a polymer frame WITHOUT inserts or a sub-frame. The Ruger P95. Amazing how the experts seem to think that a full polymer frame can't last.

Ever wonder why people seem to hate some guns, telling us that they aren't trustworthy, yet ignore others? Look at the Issue with the Glock 22 and exploding barrels, or the Glock 21 and firing pin debris. Nobody is out here telling us how terrible Glocks are because of those potentially lethal issues. The DB9 has improved, much like the SCCY, or the Kel-Tecs. At least they aren't blaming the operators. or the ammunition for manufacturer issues.

It's actually very simple. The Owners Manuals make recommendations about things like cleaning, lubrication, ammunition, and parts replacement. If you don't like them, don't buy one.

My grand daughter wanted a CPX-1. When she fired it, the ridge, designed to prevent accidentally applying the safety (which she wanted), bruised her hand. A couple of minutes with a Dremel solved the issue. I didn't wander all over the Errornet, whining that it was a design flaw. It wasn't, except to her small, skinny hands. Instead, I fixed it, and she's put over 500 trouble-free rounds through it.

To the expert who states that the firing pin protrudes enough to prevent chambering a round, I'd be more concerned with slam-fires once I manged to get that round chambered. If the firing pin actually protruded that much, the round would fire every time the slide closed. Perhaps a little more accurate complaint?

Can't recommend the "Rohrbach" over the DB9.

Unless something changes at Remington, the current turnaround time for warranty repair with the Rohrbaugh = ∞

I suspect the biggest problem with Diamondback is that they introduced what was essentially their first big market item (DB9) with TERRIBLE QC. In the first year I swear we got 5 back for every 4 we sold with issues. I could not find a good report on a forum for them. They may have improved but so what? If your a gun company with a long and storied history and have problems with 1 or 2 production runs that can be forgiven.

But a new gun company whose initial models are defect plagued and pathetically unreliable? I can't in good conscious give them another chance, unless they were under new ownership. An owner that will allow that stuff to leave the shop just can't be trusted.

The thing about guns is this, people buy them for SD. When they have to use them, they have to work, no exceptions, because you may die if they don't. When a gun company allows garbage to go out of there back door, to me they are risking the lives of everyone who buys one.

makarovnik did your pistol have 3 pins and a longish extractor that extended back into the slide serrations?

That would be a new pistol.

A shorter Glock-looking extractor would be older, and if it only had 2 pins then it was definitely an older model. The DB9 was redesigned and a third pin was added to increase durability and reliability of the pistol.

They may have improved but so what? If your a gun company with a long and storied history and have problems with 1 or 2 production runs that can be forgiven.

But a new gun company whose initial models are defect plagued and pathetically unreliable? I can't in good conscious give them another chance, unless they were under new ownership. An owner that will allow that stuff to leave the shop just can't be trusted.

The thing about guns is this, people buy them for SD. When they have to use them, they have to work, no exceptions, because you may die if they don't. When a gun company allows garbage to go out of there back door, to me they are risking the lives of everyone who buys one.

Click to expand...

Sadly, unless you have some supernatural ability to see into the future, NO gun that you buy can be said to be 100% reliable, or durable, or even accurate. We practice with our firearms to determine what they are capable of, and to discover flaws in them. Nobody with an IQ over ice buys a gun, loads it with just any ammunition, and goes out into the world feeling safe. Those who qualify in the group that does so usually meet their end long before a self-defense scenario appears.

I have bought brand new guns, from highly acclaimed manufacturers, that, even after inspection, failed on the first shot. For me, that wasn't a matter of rick, it was a matter of a missed paper target opportunity.

I also call into question the idea that a manufacturer "with a long and storied history" means anything. I mentioned Glock, with a storied history of 32 years, has had multiple issues with virtually every model past the 17 and 19. Their response was to immediately blame the ammunition, or the operator. Then, they made "running changes" that solved the problem. Those who sent their guns in had the "running changes" put in as an "update". It would appear that Glock is just as guilty of what you accuse Diamondback as anyone could be.

There's a certain amount of common sense missing here. Most people have learned to stay away from first-year introductions in almost everything out here. While many things have been tested to death, the one thing that is often missed is the creativity of the idiot. If the gun isn't supposed to be dry-fired without a magazine, and it's prominently mentioned in the Owner's Manual, you'll be assured that there will be the usual attempts to explain why that shouldn't be allowed. Usually by those too lazy, or simply too stupid, to read their Manual. Same with restrictions on shooting lead cartridges in polygonal rifled guns, the use of +P ammunition in some, or the use of bullet weights outside of those recommended.

Doing these things should be the result of a deliberate decision. It should also be accepted that doing so may result in less than satisfactory results.