Photos & Report
by J. B. Wood
Contributing Editor

Perhaps you’re a guy who bought the excellent and elegant Rohrbaugh in 9x19mm, and you’re very satisfied with it. However, your Significant Other found that its substantial felt-recoil was a bit much for her smaller, more delicate hand. Well, now there’s a solution to the problem: the new Rohrbaugh .380—same elegance, same high quality, and much “softer” to shoot.

Except for the necessary mechanical changes for the smaller cartridge, the .380 and 9mm pistols are essentially identical. The .380 has the same classic falling-barrel locking system, and a small amount of free-bore ahead of the chamber. Both of these elements help in taming the felt-recoil.

The Rohrbaugh was designed for personal defense. Thus, there is no separate manual safety. If you pull the easy double-action-only (DAO) trigger through its arc, expect the gun to fire. The double-action pull, by the way, is continuous, not reset-type. So, if you encounter a harder European primer, you can give it another tap. Also, I’m glad to note that the finger-surface of the trigger is smooth, with no annoying vertical ridges.

Speaking of smoothness, all of the exterior angles of the pistol are neatly rounded or beveled, so there’s nothing to snag on a pocket, holster or purse. Even the edges of the magazine floorplate are nicely rolled-over.

At the rear of the slide and frame, the pivoting hammer is fully recessed, emerging only when the trigger is pulled. This allows you to know when it’s “about to go,” and you can use the integral square-picture sights.

The magazine catch is where it should be on a pistol of this type, at bottom rear. The magazine holds six rounds, giving you seven for carry with chamber loaded. With one of the high-performance .380 loads, this should be adequate for any serious social encounter. The barrel has a beautifully-machined integral ramp, and there is no problem with feeding hollow-points. During test-firing, there were no malfunctions.

I tried the Rohrbaugh .380 with three different loads. All firing was one-handed at seven yards. On a regular Outers 25-yard target, some old Federal full-jacket rounds grouped 4 inches vertically, 2 inches across, and all five were in the 52-inch black. On a Champion VisiColor target, five rounds of the Black Hills 90-grain JHP were in the 8-inch black, three of them nicely centered. On the same type of target, the 85-grain Winchester Silvertip HP delivered a similar group, with one almost dead-center. I think we can say it will shoot where you aim it.

For those who want the technical details, the slide and barrel are stainless steel, and the frame is 7075 aluminum. These parts are CNC-machined from precision billets, and everything is hand-fitted. The Rohrbaugh in either chambering is pricey, but extremely high quality and custom assembly always cost a little more. And, when a situation turns serious, you can depend on it to make sure you’re the one who walks away.

The weight, unloaded, is 15.2 ounces. Length is 5.2 inches, height 3.7 inches, and width 0.935 of an inch. The barrel length is 2.9 inches. For the standard version, with the stainless slide and black frame, the suggested retail price is $1150. All-black and high-polish versions are offered for a little more. To contact the company, the mailing address is Rohrbaugh Firearms, PO Box 785, Dept. GWK, Bayport, NY 11705. The business-hours phone number is 631-242-3175, or, toll-free, 800-803-2233. You can visit them on the Web at: rohrbaughfirearms.com.