Early models of the DB9 were plagued with problems, a search of any internet gun forum will reveal reams of dissatisfied customers. Luckily, Diamondback is a small American owned company that listens to its customers. They worked to resolve the issues, mainly related to pins falling out and a magazine follower that needed redesign. I am happy to say, from my initial experience, they have fixed the issues.

I picked up the DB9 at Bill's Gun Shop & Range in Robbinsdale, MN. They were having their annual shooters show and I was able to get the DB9 for $344 before tax.

Included with the DB9 was one magazine, a trigger lock, manual, ticket for free online safety etc. I tried to buy another magazine for testing, however the shop didn't have any and they seem to be out of stock everywhere online.

First Impressions:
The DB9 is THIN, measuring only 0.80" and is almost as small as the Kel-Tec P3AT. For a 9mm pistol I was truly impressed. The slide is well made (some small machine marks visible) and has sharp cocking serrations front and back.

The trigger is rated at 5lbs and has a long smooth revolver like pull.

Sights are high visibility 3 Dot, much better than on any pocket gun other than the Kahr PM9.

Magazine capacity is 6+1 and magazines are made by Act-Mag a very well respected Italian company that specializes in high quality OEM magazines.

The DB9 field strips exactly like a Glock.
1. Remove the Magazine
2. Pull the slide to the rear and make sure chamber is clear
3. Release slide and press trigger with pistol pointed in a safe direction
4. Pull slide just slightly to rear (1/4") with right hand
5. With slide back pull takedown lever down and slide will release

With the gun apart you can see there is a dual spring recoil assembly much like in the Sub-Compact Glocks. One thing to note is the highly polished feed ramp.  Diamondback is clearly paying attention to detail.

At the range:

I took the DB9 to the Burnsville Pistol Range today for an initial break in and to get an impression of how it shot. After hearing some of the reports on the internet I was worried it would be plagued with malfunctions,  it was not. The DB9 is a snappy little pistol that requires a FIRM grip. Shooting two handed at 21 feet I had no problem keeping all the shots in a tight group and head shots were, um, dare I say, easy? The recoil wasn't unmanageable but it was stout. The most uncomfortable thing about shooting it was the trigger bite in my index finger. If I used the pad of my index finger I got a nasty "bite" under recoil; using more of my finger on the trigger made it considerably better, but made accuracy more difficult.

I am sad to say that my long term review of the DB9 has been cut short. Yesterday evening I had the chance to get the DB9 back to the range. I added a Houge Handall Jr. to the DB9 increase my grip on the small pistol, and it worked great! I was able to shoot 1 and 2 handed with no issues. However, about 75 rounds into my range session it started having failures to feed and then the gun just stopped feeding completely; I couldn't even hand cycle a round into the chamber. At this point I field stripped the DB9 and my problem became apparent. The recoil assembly had failed and the frame of the gun was eating itself apart, small chunks of plastic fell out of the frame when the slide was removed. All I had was my cell phone, so you will have to excuse the poor quality of the pictures. I am very disappointed that this little pistol didn't work out! A 9mm in that size is the perfect BUG (Back Up Gun). Sadly, the 9mm may just be too much for that small of a package.

Quoted:
Not being able to shoot it with one hand w/o worrying if it will eject or feed is not what I would call a reliable pistol. I shoot my LCP one-handed all the time without a single problem.