So, I did a detailed and slow read of the RM380 manual (haven't we all done this?).

Now some have said that the spacer in the RM380 magazine indicates that there may be a 9mm in the works.

With this in mind, the manual is interesting in that "RM380" or ".380 auto" only appear three times in the manual - once on the cover and in fig. 2 and fig. 3 on page 10. The cover can easily be changed and figs. 2 & 3 can easily be substituted with photos of a different caliber. There are several places in the text where the terms "RM Semiautomatic Pistols" (pg. 9 top), 5 references on pg. 10, 1 "RM's" reference on pg. 11, 1 "RM" reference on pg. 12, 1 "RM" reference on pg. 13,and "Model RM Series Semiautomatic Pistol" at the top of pg. 31 Exploded View and pg. 32 Parts List.

All of these RM references are generic and do not refer to a specific caliber. This leads me to think there may just be another caliber RM pistol in the works or planned. Obviously, a 9mm would need a stronger recoil spring, different barrel and magazine to work. It would be a handful but may be interesting.

Yes, I have some spare time on my hands.

MarkB wrote:All of these RM references are generic and do not refer to a specific caliber. This leads me to think there may just be another caliber RM pistol in the works or planned. Obviously, a 9mm would need a stronger recoil spring, different barrel and magazine to work. It would be a handful but may be interesting.

Yes, I have some spare time on my hands.

I like this game - can I play too?

I have, at last count, 8 small pocket pistols in .380 out of at least a dozen small pocket pistols if I include other chamberings. I was drawn to the RM380 because of all of those pistols my hands down favorite was a Rohrbaugh R9. A bit over a year or so ago Remington (well really Freedom Arms) bought the Rorhbaugh company and the design of the R9 and an R380 (same pistol but chambered for .380 instead of 9mm) and the first pistol released for production based on the Rohrbaugh is the RM380. I can't really begin to tell you how similar the RM380 is to an R9.

I think we've all noticed that the back of the magazine on the RM380 has a filler piece and can take a longer cartridge. In fact, without that filler piece the magazine fits a 9mm perfectly, and a Rorhbaugh magazine from an R9 fits the RM380, although it doesn't lock into place because there's no provision in the magazine follower for the slide lock and the R9 used a heel magazine release instead of the RM380 grip style release. There would be no problems in adapting an RM380 to feed 9mm.

The frame of the RM380 is very very close to that of an R9; some small details but nothing that I can see that would have to be changed to handle 9mm. Same with the fire control mechanism (connector / disconnector and sear) and extractor / ejector - all virtually identical to an R9 in 9mm.

The only real changes necessary would be barrel, maybe some machining details in the slide, and the recoil spring. Of those changes the most difficult (in my opinion) would be the recoil spring.

Running a 9mm load in a pistol this size pushes the envelope pretty much to the limit and the slide and recoil spring have to be engineered to survive some rather violent forces. The Rohrbaugh got roundly criticized over the factory recommendation to replace the outer recoil spring every 200 rounds; most pundits blamed the design for using cheap springs but that's not the case - all the springs in the R9 were Wolf and were the best springs money can buy. The problem was the stresses on the recoil spring assembly from handling the pressures and violence of a 9mm round in a light gun with a small and light slide. The rifeling in an R9 was cut a bit on the shallow side in an effort to keep chamber pressures as low as possible and without measuring anything I am inclined to believe that the RM380 also has shallow rifeling like an R9 does.

From a marketing standpoint, Remington might do well to offer an "RM9" - same gun as the RM380 but in 9mm. It might be a bit risky because they would have to find a way to deal with the recoil and still have a gun that can stand up to the forces involved.

And as to your comment that an "RM9" would be a handful, I think it would; the RM380 is a couple of ounces lighter than a Rorhbaugh and a Rohrbaugh is a handful so an RM9 would be more of one. But - I would be one of the first to buy one.

Check this. It shows popular defensive calibers 380Auto/9mm. May be true?


http://truthaboutguns-zippykid.netdna-s ... .46-PM.png

MarkB wrote:Check this. It shows popular defensive calibers 380Auto/9mm. May be true?


http://truthaboutguns-zippykid.netdna-s ... .46-PM.png

Good catch Mark. It always seemed logical to me after Remington announced the RM380 that it would be a logical "stepping stone" to an RM9 (same gun in 9mm) since the "prototype" for the RM380 was the Rohrbaugh R9 - a 9mm from the very beginning. It seems like Remington is thinking the same way because there's no reason to have a graphic mentioning 9mm unless they have plans to release a 9mm version. It also would be a pretty easy venture as they already have the basic design down pretty pat in my opinion.

This came from a post on 12/30/2014 prior to the 2015 SHOT Show on "The Truth About Guns' site. I mentions three Remington pistols.

R51 - again
RP45 - 45 ACP
and the RM380

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2014/1 ... uding-r51/

The administrator of the Rohrbaugh Forum is attending the SHOT show in Las Vegas this week, and he visited the Remington booth, and reported that they have 'a big portion of their new products area devoted to the RM380.

When he asked if there were plans for a 9mm the best answer he could get from Remington was "well the original Rohrbaugh was offered in 9mm."

They didn't say YES but they also didn't say NO! Feed the speculation! Go for it!