"Reverse the rear sight and it'd look great."
Reverse the rear sight and it'll snag on your holster, too. Looking at this gun reminds me of the scene in
The Aviator where Hughes is insisting on countersunk rivets on his racing monoplane to the frustration of his staff; "She needs to be slippery"
I haven't been this instinctively excited about a new gun since the Boberg was introduced. And while that gun is very interesting on the inside, the exterior is the same carry gun formal we've all seen for like ten years now; box on a comfy grip. This new Remington is both truly innovative (in as much as a dusted-off 100yo design can be called "innovative," which it can when everyone has been riding JM Browning's corpse's coat tails for 100 years) and offers something aesthetically unique in a market crowded with angular clones covered in levers. It's about time Ortgies came back into fashion
Pederson was at least the same level of genius as Browning, so anyone shrugging off an execution of a principle he developed is speaking from ignorance. The design basically marries the low recoil of a locked breech and the simplicity/reliability of a roller-delayed blowback. From the animation, the critical factor determining its durability appears to be the quality of steel Remington uses; easy enough to figure out early on before buying. The rest of the action looks like it doesn't depend on Rube-Goldbergs or super tight tolerances to function. It's basically a recoil action except the barrel doesn't move with the slide (the breech is still locked internally)
We'll soon see if my long-held belief that the innovation-demanding gun public actually
hates innovation is correct or not. At best, I'll have a fantastic carry gun that looks and functions well, while being noticeably smaller in profile than competitors. At worst, I'll have a rapidly appreciating collector's item.
Not nearly enough people realize just how
stagnant the modern duty-pistol market has been mechanically. You have your 1911's, your Hi-Powers, your SIGs, PX4s, and some blowbacks in small calibers. Yes, there's bit players like Boberg, Wildey, and Desert Eagle out there, but not in any real capacity. Bringing a new player to the game which appears readily competitive is, by definition, a game-changer. I'm most interested in how Remington managed to produce this action affordably; the Army passed on the 45cal variant because it cost too much (i.e. they couldn't disqualify it on other grounds,
and a 1911 was somehow cheaper by comparison)
"FUGLY....I have never liked the look of the Euro style blowbacks."
Yeah, the slide looks wrong, but only because it's not the same thickness as the grip. Notice how much skinner it can be when there's no need to drop it down inside the frame
(compare to a P228, for example). The "swoop" on the side which someone on page one photoshopped away to make it look more "normal" looks to remove a substantial amount of dead weight. How else would you thin the slide while still retaining slab sides to cut grip notches into? At least they didn't cut striations at the front of the slide or leave it flat (and heavy) with an ugly rollmark. Personally, I like the neo-Deco look to it; it's curvy enough for ladies to be drawn to it, but still looks fast/modern to attract men --just like a Ferrari
I've seen pictures of the gun with and without a polished/blued slide; I sincerely hope Remington ponies up to deliver the guns with polished slides instead of the crummy/rusty matte "park" they put on so many of their guns now.
TCB