Ammunition Restrictions for the Diamondback 9mm Pistol Reviews

The decade of the 9mm? Possibly. I've seen a lot of new 9mm comport guns introduced in recent years. Following a couple of decades of exotic round development, the 9mm seems to be regaining in popularity with many people for both self-defence force and law enforcement use.

Special Note

Since I wrote this article, Diamondback Firearms redesigned the DB9 pistol. Potentially problematic issues, including the lack of a slide stop, tiny sights and the apply of standard pressure level ammunition only, have all been corrected or improved.

Check out my Diamondback DB9 Gen iv review for additional data.

This commodity takes a look at the original Diamondback DB9 pistol. I originally examined this handgun in 2011, just have since updated the article several times to include additional data and experiences with the handgun. As such, this article is probable to exist the most comprehensive and longest-term look at the original gun anywhere.

1. General Information
   • Size Matters
   • Sights
2. Armament Selection
3. Range Time
   • Reliability
   • Ammunition Performance
   • Drawbacks
4. Terminal Thoughts
   • Disclosure

Full general Data

At its core, the DB9 is a polymer-framed, subcompact 9mm handgun. Based on its size, it appears to be angling to be one of the easiest to conceal 9mm handguns. An extremely modest handgun has both benefits and drawbacks – this Diamondback is no different. It is a compromise of competing interests.

The double-action-merely pistol is striker-fired. This isn't terribly surprising, equally many (virtually?) new pistol designs hit the market seem to be continuing this trend.

The DAO trigger pull measured 6 pounds, 9 ounces on an boilerplate of 10 pulls. Diamondback lists the trigger pull as five pounds. The pull was long simply smooth. I found it to be amend than both the Ruger LCP and the Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 380.

The DB9 uses half-dozen-round magazines, giving the shooter a total of seven rounds on tap. The gun ships with only one magazine. The MSRP of the pistol is $431, a relatively modest price, but large enough that I would recall the pistol would transport with two mags.

An aggressive texture pattern is on the pistol's grip. It is non painful, though with long range sessions it can wear a little on the hands.

Size Matters

The 9mm Diamondback weighs only 11 ounces unloaded making it one of the lightest 9mm pistols on the market place. A very low-cal handgun tin can be more than prone to felt recoil and malfunctions – you lot will desire to skip down to the range time department below for more data on these topics.

At only 0.eighty″ wide, the DB9 is one of the thinnest semi-automatic pistols on the market. The pistol near disappears in a pocket or on an talocrural joint.

The DB9 notwithstanding manages to clasp a 3″ barrel into the package. Overall length of the gun is only five.half dozen″ and the height is four″ with the magazine inserted.

There are no external controls on the DB9, which contributes to the flatness of the gun. The lack of external controls ways there are less things to foul the draw from concealment. The downside is the DB9 does non have a slide stop.

Interestingly, the DB9 is adequately close in size to the Ruger LCP. All the same, the DB9 is chambered in a more than powerful caliber. Take a look at these photos for a comparing to the LCP:

…and…

…and finally…

Sights

Sights on the Diamondback DB9 are not bad for a pistol this modest, but they are not without their downsides.

The front sight is a hard plastic ramp with a surprisingly visible white square. To say it is a "low contour" sight is an understatement, nevertheless the white square was much more than visible that I had expected information technology would be. It is not a miracle product, still, and information technology is less visible than the front sight of a duty-sized handgun.

The rear sight is also a difficult plastic with a wide, shallow notch. On either side of the notch are modest white dots. The rear sight is dovetailed and is drift adjustable.

This may not exist a meaning concern to you, just the rear sight is sloped in such a way that it could not be used for ane-handed slide manipulation. The odds are pretty remote that you would e'er need to use it in this manner, but it is worth consideration.

I don't care for three-dot sights due to the unnecessary visual complexity they present for shooting under loftier stress. Nonetheless, with the front sight being a white foursquare, it is visually different and larger than the rear sight dots. It tends to draw the eye to it.

For target shooting, the sights are proficient enough to keep rounds in a four″ circle at 7+ yards. The sights on a small-scale Kahr similar the CM9 are better, simply the DB9 sights are an infinitely improve system than what is on the Ruger LCP. Regardless, I doubtable they might be too small to exist seen in combat.

Ammunition Selection

The Diamondback is rated only for standard pressure 9mm armament. Firing +P and +P+ ammunition will void the warranty on the DB9. With such a small firearm, sacrifices have to be made. Presumably, to be this sparse and light the gun will not stand up upwardly to the repeated firing of the college pressure rounds.

Additionally, Diamondback does non recommend any bullet sizes larger than 124 grain. This is likely due to heavier bullets, like the 147-grain bullets, that tend to take lower slide velocities. While nigh 9mm bullet weights above 124 grains tend to be 147-grain projectiles, in that location are a few other heavies like the Hornady 135 grain Critical Duty and the Federal 135 grain Hydra-Shok loads.

This limits the Diamondback to a narrower range of ammunition for personal protection, but there are still some very good choices. Speer offers their 115 grain and 124 grain Gilt Dot loads in standard pressure. Federal offers 115 grain JHP, 124 grain Hydra-Shok and 124 grain HST bullets in standard pressure loads. Winchester, Remington, Corbon and others all brand good self-defense ammo that will work fine in the Diamondback.

For my money, I'd go with the standard pressure level 124 grain Gold Dot or HST rounds.

The standard pressure 9mm compares very favorably to the most frequent pocket gun: the snub nose .38 revolver. The .38 Special snubs typically take barrels around 2″ and in even +P loadings volition typically be 100 fps slower than the 9mm in a like bullet weight.

Range Time

During my time with the DB9, I did a moderate amount of dry firing and put hundreds of rounds through the gun at the range across several trips.

Although the gun is very sparse, I was able to grip the gun and maintain a solid concord on the pistol while shooting. The gun feels a bit odd in the mitt with it feeling longer than it should be for its width.

Fifty-fifty with the aggressive grip texture, unless I had a crush grip on the pistol, it would wiggle and cause a significant change in finger placement on the trigger. The slight extension on the bottom of the magazine worked very well to keep the pinky on the gun.

Recoil was not inconsequential, but not nearly as bad as I had predictable. By way of comparing, I felt recoil was much softer than the Taurus 709 and 740 sub-compact pistols, and slightly easier to control than that the Ruger LCP. The Smith & Wesson G&P Shield and the Glock 43 are both much easier to command than the DB9.

Shooting more than 100 rounds at a fourth dimension is probably more than well-nigh people will want to tackle. At about 200 rounds, I would imagine even experienced shooters would be washed, or peradventure even picking upward a small flinch.

Reliability

Reliability was flawless – the DB9 digested every kind of ammo I stuffed in the mag without any stoppages. In my initial evaluation, I ran both FMJ and JHP style bullets through the gun including standard pressure Federal HST and Speer Gold Dot (both 124 grain bullets). Everything worked every bit it should.

After, I've run boosted tests on the pistol with at least nine additional loads. These loads were over again a mix of JHP and FMJ rounds in both 115 grain and 124 grain varieties. Reliability remained 100%.

Even though Diamondback suggests that bullets weighing more than 124 grains may cause cycling issues, I ran a box (20 rounds) of Hornady's standard pressure 135 grain Disquisitional Duty ammunition through the gun. The DB9 ran the ammo without any trouble whatsoever.

Ammunition Operation

During my initial testing of the gun, my chronograph had gone downward on me. Since that fourth dimension, I replaced it and ran the below loads across information technology to measure velocity. Unfortunately, at this time some of the loads like the Gilt Dot and HST were not bachelor to me for testing.

	Velocity	Free energy
Blazer Brass 115 gr FMJ	1,062 fps	288 ft-lbs
Federal Champion 115 gr FMJ	ane,058 fps	286 ft-lbs
Hornady Critical Duty 135 gr FTX	932 fps	260 ft-lbs
HPR Ammunition 115 gr JHP	1,030 fps	271 ft-lbs
HPR Ammunition 124 gr JHP	928 fps	237 ft-lbs
Perfecta 115 gr FMJ	1,039 fps	276 ft-lbs
Remington UMC Target 115 gr MC	1,041 fps	277 ft-lbs
Remington UMC 115 gr JHP	1,059 fps	286 ft-lbs
Winchester USA (white box) 115 gr JHP	one,048 fps	280 ft-lbs

Performance measured with a Competition Electronics ProChrono Digital Chronograph at an guess distance of fifteen′ from the muzzle of the pistol. All measurements are an average of five shots.

Drawbacks

At that place are things I really like the DB9 but did find two drawbacks that annoyed me. The first was the lack of a slide stop. Without a slide stop, it is incommunicable to lock the slide to the rear. Combined with a stiff recoil leap, this can create a challenge – particularly for new shooters.

While I would similar to have a slide stop, I also empathise that adding i increases the width of the gun. Consider information technology a compromise, merely one I'm not happy with.

The second thing I dislike about the DB9 is the magazine release. I constitute the recessed button was difficult to access, and releasing the magazine was a slow process. I suppose the upside is yous are not likely to release the magazine accidentally while conveying or shooting the gun.

Additional drawbacks to the gun include the relatively small-scale sights, long trigger pull that is heavier than advertised and the harsh recoil. Nevertheless, all of these things are balanced by the very meaty size of the pistol and its absolute reliability during testing.

Terminal Thoughts

This was my first experience with a Diamondback pistol. I accept not shot the DB380, which is the predecessor to the DB9. I was not sure what to expect when the gun arrived, nor what to wait over the long term that I've evaluated the pistol.

I was very pleased with the operation of the Diamondback DB9. The gun has performed flawlessly. It does accept its drawbacks (meet above,) but information technology worked every time I pulled the trigger.

The DB9 is chambered in a serious caliber, and even though it is restricted to standard pressures, the 9mm is still a pace upwardly from the .380 ACP.

I retrieve the DB9 makes a good pocket or ankle gun. Personally, I would carry information technology every bit a support gun instead of every bit a primary concealed behave gun. All the same, with 7 rounds on tap, it is likely to suffice in most armed encounters.

Final update: Baronial 30, 2021

Disclosure

In this article, I wrote about a pistol that was provided to me past Diamondback without charge and for the express intent of testing and evaluation. No one at Diamondback or elsewhere asked or suggested that I do a "positive" evaluation of the firearm.

At no time accept I been in whatever discussions with Diamondback or Taurus for either of them to be an advertiser or sponsor of this site.

This article was originally written in 2011 and was substantially updated in June of 2015. The conclusions take remained the same, though some of the diction was inverse to brand the article easier to read. (Hey, I've improved my writing a lilliputian…)

GunsHolstersAndGear.com is a for-turn a profit website. I exercise not accuse readers a dime to access the data I provide.

Some of the links on this page and site are chapter links to companies similar Amazon and Palmetto State Arsenal. These links take you to the products mentioned in the article. Should you decide to purchase something from 1 of those companies, I make a pocket-sized committee.

The links practice not change your purchase price. I do not get to run into what whatever individual purchases.

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