Diamondback DB9 - Have they gotten better or still garbage?

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Like Kokapelli I too liked the design of the DB.
The grip for me was very correct and the sights were above what's offered on most pocket carry 380's.
But,alas booboo22,they are not there yet in the reliability arena of what they are intended to be and that is a concealed handgun.
Nothing irresponsible at all calling it as it is...And if you do some backlog checking on that site you will see numerous problematic issues with these pistols.
I wish Diamondback Firearms the best and hope they can get a lot of these issues behind them.
But this has been my experience and numeous others as well.....Get back with us on your issues or lack there of after you have actually put 500-1000 rounds thru your DB.
 
Here is my point - I am happy with their customer service, and I HOPE my DB9 will perform like my DB380 has(about 1000 rds, and just sent it in for a trigger issue). Trust me guys, I am not saying that they are perfect pistols - they obviously have a track record of underperforming. To give you an idea of my thinking on a carry piece - my daily carry gun is a SW 340PD. Can't go wrong with a revolver! Again - I'm not a Diamondback fanboy. I was just letting you know my experience with them as a company. Hopefully they will continue to try and make things right for their customers....if they don't, they won't be around much longer.
 
I got an e-mail today and my DB9 has been sent back to my FFL dealer, may get it tomorrow. Hope the bugs have been worked out. LM
 
Well I got my DB9 back today, but won't get a chance to shoot it till this weekend. The repair note/invoice stated after repairs were made, they tested 18 rounds of Blazer brass FMJ with no failures. We'll see. LM
 
I'm sorry to report; I made it to the range today and while my DB9 fired & ejected as it should, but something broke. I got off 4 rounds, and the trigger would not reset. Couldn't even field strip it. Need-less to say, I'm dissappointed. Looks like it's going back for a second time. LM
PS. I wish they had fired 25 rounds and it wouldn't have been sent back to me, if it had broke while they had it.
 
Haven't heard anything good about any of these guns. Glad I talked my father into a P-64 instead. He was wanting a Diamondback for a while after hearing about them and seeing one, but I convinced him that he could save a lot of money and get a better gun by buying a surplus military pistol. $160 later, for both of us, and we each have pistols that are accurate and never jam, and are easy to conceal.
 
StrikeFire83,

Sorry, I have no direct experience with DiamondBack. Question: Is there a reason you're not looking at KelTec?

The P11 has long trigger pull, but I like that. Some people don't. The Pf-9 has a more mainstream trigger, but less capacity. They aren't expensive or refined, but I get the impression they're more reliable than diamondback.

I'll be honest, I AM looking for a higher quality (more refined) version of my P11 KelTec, but not because it's failed me. Other than a slide lock problem once at the range, it's been reliable - and MORE reliable with cheaper ammo than my S&W or Ruger autos.

Just a thought. Good luck.
 
Lightningman,I am quite sure the trigger bar mechanism on your DB9 has snapped and broken.
Fwiw, that's exactly what happened on my DB380 and like yours after it happened you could no longer field strip the pistol.
Very sorry.
Although I am very sure Diamondback will repair or replace the pistol just like they did on both of mine,twice each no less,as my experience with DB's customer service was really good.

But at what point do they finally get these MIM parts right and make these pistols reliable for daily carry?
 
I'm sorry to report; I made it to the range today and while my DB9 fired & ejected as it should, but something broke. I got off 4 rounds, and the trigger would not reset. Couldn't even field strip it. Need-less to say, I'm dissappointed. Looks like it's going back for a second time. LM
PS. I wish they had fired 25 rounds and it wouldn't have been sent back to me, if it had broke while they had it.
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Thanks LightningMan and I'm sorry they didn't fix it correctly for you. I'm sufficiently satisfied that Diamondback firearms are garbage, specifically the DB9, and I will not be buying one.

Jim NE, thanks for the rec, but I owned a Kel-Tec P3AT some time ago, and while i didn't have any problems with it, I sold it because I hated the trigger and couldn't hit squat with it. My Glock 26 fills the role that the P11 would, and I dig Glock's trigger. I'm still looking for a pocket gun, and I may buy another PM9 someday ... although the Springfield XDs is looking mighty nice (if it ever comes out)
 
The problem is they fixed one problem, but another one popped up. I got 4 rounds off in a row the first time I tried it, which was a big deal considering 99% of the time before I couldn't get more then 2 rounds to go off before a jam would occure. LM
 
Last I heard, the DB is still having tons of issues, especially in the .9mm offerings. If anyone has ever seen one, they are tiny and quite affordable. Seems like if you want a .9mm that small to work, you need to spend a lot more money.
 
These guns are complete garbage. I my cousin and a friend both had the misfortune of owning a db380 and a db9. Both had catastrophic malfunctions requiring trips back to the factory. The trigger bar broke on the db9 and both were jammommatics.
 
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Calling these guns throw away guns is insulting to throw away guns. Other gun forums are NOT mostly dedicated to problems with the guns Of their namesake. Most posts on glocktalk, xdtalk, hkforums etc are from happy gun owners and not ones with expensive paperweights. I'd say it's much more irresponsible to recommend a terrible gun as a possible carry gun.
 
Guy shooting next to me at the range had the frame fail while shooting Blazer aluminum case 9mm. That cured me of any desire to have one.
 
I wouldn't buy a pistol that's susceptible to limp-wrist'ing.
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Virtually all semi auto handguns are susceptible to limp wristing if the grip is loose enough.

I was amazed at my sister's ability to limp wrist a Beretta .25ACP - if the grip is loose enough the gun in recoil just follows the empty and the slide catches it coming forward causing a classic "stovepipe" jam. As soon as I got her to firm up her grip a bit the gun functioned 100%.
 
From what it sounds like I am not very smart for having bought a new db9 today. I had a chance to put 60 fmj rounds and 15 jhp rounds through it. Had 4 fte within the first 30 rounds with federal 124g range ammo, the jhp were flawless. I really like the gun, no problems the more rounds I got through it. There is much left to be said, hopefully I can report some good things after a few hundred more rounds and give those people out there looking to own the lightest most compact 9mm available some hope. 100% so far with premium carry ammo, and thats what matters.
I also limp wristed a couple mags on purpose with no problems.
 
Diamondback DB9 - Have they gotten better ?

I've never heard or read of Diamondback doing a recall, making a news release or telling anyone that they had changed anything.

There is no reason to believe that a DB9 you buy tomorrow is any different from the ones people purchased a year ago.
 
Here is my point - I am happy with their customer service, and I HOPE my DB9 will perform like my DB380 has(about 1000 rds, and just sent it in for a trigger issue).
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So you're hoping the trigger on your DB9 breaks at 1000 rounds?

My experience with Diamondback was very frustrating. Yes their cs is excellent. I know because I had to use it several times. On the third trip back to the factory they sent me a new gun (DB380). I immediately traded it for an LCP and haven't looked back. Now my Kahr CM9 has been another story. Perfect from day one. No DB9 in my future for sure.:cool:
 
Calling these guns throw away guns is insulting to throw away guns.
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Even throw away guns are expected to work for 6 or 7 rounds...
:D

I wouldn't mind paying $100 for a gun that would only fire 7 rounds if I could be sure it really would fire those 7 rounds before it had to be disposed of.
 
franco45 said:
So you're hoping the trigger on your DB9 breaks at 1000 rounds?

My experience with Diamondback was very frustrating. Yes their cs is excellent. I know because I had to use it several times. On the third trip back to the factory they sent me a new gun (DB380). I immediately traded it for an LCP and haven't looked back. Now my Kahr CM9 has been another story. Perfect from day one. No DB9 in my future for sure.:cool:
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What I said was I am happy with their customer service. I sent my DB380 in and they sent me a brand new gun that has been flawless. Seems kinda silly to trade away the new gun they sent you without trying it.
 
Like I said to the guy inquiring about a Jiminez JA22: it'd be more reliable than anything made by Diamondback. Any discussion about these guns always includes reports of parts failing that should NEVER fail. Parts that aren't even normally considered wear parts break randomly on these guns, indicating fundamental design flaws. They're clearly using components that are at their limits of structural integrity even under ideal conditions. Essentially, many components on these pistols are always on the verge of breaking, and it only takes a little bit or one minor manufacturing variation to push them over the edge. When cheap potmetal guns last longer and are more reliable, you KNOW there's a problem.
 
A guy I work with has the DB9 and he loves it but it has been back to the factory twice now. The trigger keeps going dead after a couple hundred rounds
 
mgregg85 said:
A guy I work with has the DB9 and he loves it but it has been back to the factory twice now. The trigger keeps going dead after a couple hundred rounds
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That's exactly what I'm talking about. Things like trigger bars should never break. They're not considered a "wear" component. The only way these parts would break is if they were at the limits of structural integrity to begin with. It just speaks to bad design.
 
like i said to the guy inquiring about a jiminez ja22: It'd be more reliable than anything made by diamondback. Any discussion about these guns always includes reports of parts failing that should never fail. Parts that aren't even normally considered wear parts break randomly on these guns, indicating fundamental design flaws. They're clearly using components that are at their limits of structural integrity even under ideal conditions. Essentially, many components on these pistols are always on the verge of breaking, and it only takes a little bit or one minor manufacturing variation to push them over the edge. When cheap potmetal guns last longer and are more reliable, you know there's a problem.
Click to expand...

bingo.
 
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