"They should just reissue the 51 instead"
Yeah, I'm sure they still have all the metal shapers oiled up and ready to go
The 51 was hardly perfect, originally. Broken slides and breechblocks, dontcha know. The R51 is a distinct improvement in several ways, but you still have to make the stupid thing to a decent standard --and that goes for any design.
The early positive hands-on reports of the newer models being rolled out does suggest that Rem has either fixed their QC problems, or at least taken the Pineville Para USA plant out the loop (who would have thought a plant full of employees about to be laid off would give their work quality short shrift?)
"at least nine MAJOR malfunction types"
Ooh, list please
. The Pedersen action does have some real and potential advantages over others, but I do agree it seems to have the potential for types of issues we aren't used to normally (the non-catastrophic out of battery thing, for one).
"I don't see how they can take a gun that had so many major issues and turn it into a gun that has zero issues. It just defies reason."
Nonsense. The Model 51 worked fine, as far as general reliability (the break issues were due to fatigue after many years and a lack of understanding of fracture mechanics at the time), so logic suggests the same is true of the R51. The trick is just figuring out exactly where Remington screwed up.
--Bad machining all over at basically every interface
--Extremely loose disconnector boogers up the whole FCG function generally
--Poor finish or design of the slide interior, which pits sharp nitrided steel against MIM bolt components
--Some of the worst barrel chambering that has been seen this or last century
--Plainly cheap magazines
We have to keep in mind that the Pedersen action was contemporary with Browning designs; they don't respond well to modern crap manufacture standards. While Remington has updated some aspects of the design, it has clearly not had enough time to mature into a super-simplified, incredibly tolerant and fool proof invention like your tilting-barrel Browning and SIG pistols have. And even those guns are only as consistent as they are since decades of fumbling around producing jammomatics has yielded
processes that can be copied by makers for new products. The R51 simply isn't a turn-key project yet, though it is obvious Remington did not realize that at the time and tried to 'wing it'
TCB