The R51 Remington

[<*(((><]

Now this is not an attempt to start a new discussion about how much people hate the R51

I just found a post of mine from 2006:
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...-like-to-see-made-in-9mm.201222/#post-2457783

Think I can get a royalty check from Remington?

If your royalty check is based off of Remington profits on the R51, I don't think it'll be worth the gas money to get to the bank to deposit.

 

[Hasaf]

I still want one. They are just different in both design and appearance. I like the art-deco styling.

This years Christmas still has me right side up. I expect I will have one sooner rather than later.

 

[kemikos]

They are $270 on Bud's right now. I've always kind of wanted an R51, at that price, I may just be stupid enough to take the plunge.

I'd hold out for a little better price myself; I see them under $250 pretty regularly.

Other than that, if you keep an open mind and open the slide before you load a mag, I bet you'll have a ton of fun shooting it.

 

[MikeInOr]

I bought my new R51 about 9 or so months ago. I guess I lucked out in that I haven't had much of a problem in the way of feed issues. My complaint is the grove cut into the beaver tail has such sharp edges that it cuts into the top of the web of my hand when I shoot it. Every time I take it to the range I would get two nice crisp cuts in the top of the web of my shooting hand. I now keep a roll of athletic tape and tape the web of my hand when shooting it. Anyone else have this problem?

Someday when I decide to tackle Cerakoting I would like to round off all the sharp edges and refinish mine. I really like that optical site shown in a previous post!

Unfortunately I consider my R51 a nicer looking gun than it is a fun to shoot gun. How are those old original R51's when it comes to shooting? They are 380's, aren't they?

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

I bought my new R51 about 9 or so months ago. I guess I lucked out in that I haven't had much of a problem in the way of feed issues. My complaint is the grove cut into the beaver tail has such sharp edges that it cuts into the top of the web of my hand when I shoot it. Every time I take it to the range I would get two nice crisp cuts in the top of the web of my shooting hand. I now keep a roll of athletic tape and tape the web of my hand when shooting it. Anyone else have this problem?

Someday when I decide to tackle Cerakoting I would like to round off all the sharp edges and refinish mine. I really like that optical site shown in a previous post!

Unfortunately I consider my R51 a nicer looking gun than it is a fun to shoot gun. How are those old original R51's when it comes to shooting? They are 380's, aren't they?

The originals are just "Model 51" - no R, lol.

About 75% of them were .380, the rest were .32.

They are fit and finished like a swiss watch and have a trigger like a buttered glass rod- though there is a bit of extra clickety-clack going on as the slide cycles. Great guns.

 

[Patocazador]

How are those old original R51's when it comes to shooting? They are 380's, aren't they?

My first handgun was my Remington 51 in .32. I bought it for $35 at a local pawn shop in Tuscaloosa when I was a student. It was/is pretty beat up but functioned perfectly and still does. I bought another .32 and a mint .380 in the mid-70s. I have not fired the .380 as it looks as if it was never fired.

No sharp edges, no feed problems, everything is slick on the originals. I don't know why Remington didn't just re-issue them instead of trying to "improve" them.

 

[kemikos]

I don't know why Remington didn't just re-issue them instead of trying to "improve" them.

Two reasons I can think of: first, at the time they were designing the R51, the conventional wisdom was that no one wanted a medium-sized .380. If it's bigger than an LCP (the thinking went), it better be a 9mm.

Second, given the level of fit and finish on the Model 51s, I can't imagine Remington would have been able to make them at a profitable price point today.

 

[<*(((><]

Yeah, a 380 the size of the older Model 51's would have had a very small target market. In 9mm you have a much larger market to capture if when you release the new R51 you can miss your foot when the proverbial gun goes off.

 

[kemikos]

Yeah, a 380 the size of the older Model 51's would have had a very small target market. In 9mm you have a much larger market to capture if when you release the new R51 you can miss your foot when the proverbial gun goes off.

It's funny; since then, a number of mid-sized .380s have hit the market, to general acclaim. The Shield EZ, the Browning and RIA baby 1911's, the EAA Pavona...

Remington could have set the trend with a simple modernized Model 51 in .380. As a bonus, it probably would have been far more reliable; as I understand it, the root cause of many if not most of the R51's feeding problems is the fact that it's trying to feed the tapered 9mm cartridge in a design that was intended to feed the straight-walled .32 and .380 ACP.

 

[Zendude]

I am a R51 fan too. I can’t say it has been completely trouble free, but the benefits outweigh the drawbacks for me.

 

[<*(((><]

It's funny; since then, a number of mid-sized .380s have hit the market, to general acclaim. The Shield EZ, the Browning and RIA baby 1911's, the EAA Pavona...

Remington could have set the trend with a simple modernized Model 51 in .380. As a bonus, it probably would have been far more reliable; as I understand it, the root cause of many if not most of the R51's feeding problems is the fact that it's trying to feed the tapered 9mm cartridge in a design that was intended to feed the straight-walled .32 and .380 ACP.

I guess I'm of a different opinion of some out there, and that's alright with me. When I get into size and weight of something like the Model 51 I want the affordability and power of 9mm. It's $0.03-0.04 / round cheaper buying 9mm these days than .380. I don't really think that the ones that you mentioned are that great of sellers (the best probably being the Shield followed by the Browning) but with the price on the Browning I'm sure buyers are far and few between), I'm sure they have some sales but the pale in comparison to 9mm's with those attributes.

But I'm glad the companies are making them, I just don't know how keen the bean counters are with their ROI on those when they look at the 9mm numbers.

 

[Zendude]

It's funny; since then, a number of mid-sized .380s have hit the market, to general acclaim. The Shield EZ, the Browning and RIA baby 1911's, the EAA Pavona...

Remington could have set the trend with a simple modernized Model 51 in .380. As a bonus, it probably would have been far more reliable; as I understand it, the root cause of many if not most of the R51's feeding problems is the fact that it's trying to feed the tapered 9mm cartridge in a design that was intended to feed the straight-walled .32 and .380 ACP.

My take on the feeding issues is that the magazine design is weird. The follower stop is an indention on the front of the magazine near the top. The nose of the bullet must drag across the indention to move into the top position in the magazine. Sometimes the nose of the bullet will stick on the indention (especially hollow points) which prevents feeding.
I have never seen a magazine designed this way and am puzzled as to why it was designed like that.

The action of the R51 seems to work just fine. Haven’t had a problem with extraction or cycling.

 

[gc70]

Multiple posts on Remington forums suggest earlier magazines had feed lips that were narrower at the front than the back, resulting in a tendency to cause rounds to nose-dive. New magazines supposedly have parallel feed lips and no feeding problems.

 

[<*(((><]

Just a follow up, my R51 came in today, so as far as being able to recommend GunProDeals to purchase from, I can. They communicated quickly and shipped very fast, I ordered it on Tuesday and have it today (Thursday).

Haven't handled it much but initial impressions are the trigger leaves some to be desired. The reset is non-existent, and the polymer trigger has side to side wiggle. The rest of the gun feels and looks to be of quality, I don't know what they were thinking with the trigger though.

I'll try and get some pictures up tonight of the gun along with the magazine feed ramps.

 

[Tommygunn]

Just a follow up, my R51 came in today, so as far as being able to recommend GunProDeals to purchase from, I can. They communicated quickly and shipped very fast, I ordered it on Tuesday and have it today (Thursday).

Haven't handled it much but initial impressions are the trigger leaves some to be desired. The reset is non-existent, and the polymer trigger has side to side wiggle. The rest of the gun feels and looks to be of quality, I don't know what they were thinking with the trigger though.

I'll try and get some pictures up tonight of the gun along with the magazine feed ramps.

Yea .... a lot of people have observed that trigger wobble effect. It's common, and my 2.0 version has it too.
It should still work. You're going to have to decide for yourself whether you can accept the trigger ... or not. Your call.

 

[ulflyer]

Just ordered one from GunProDeals for $209.00 +14.95 S&H. So for $224.94 I'll give it a try, I was always interested in the Pederson action, and for that price it won't be a bad investment in learning.

Just FYI when you go to GunProDeals it will show $239.00 for the price until you add it into the cart then it will reflect the $209.00 price. CAVEAT: I've never done business with them, so we'll see how they do.

View attachment 815744

In my reading in the past it seems like getting past the magazine issues solves a majority of the problems that people were having. Hopefully that is the case and that Remington has resolved most of these magazine issues. I believe there is 3 different magazine follower/spring designs out there for the R51. There are some who have modified the posts on the underside of the follower and have had good results. We'll see, but regardless for $225, it seemed like a no brainer, especially since it is a different design in the world of vanilla striker fired pistols, and kudos to a manufacturer who is trying to bring something different to the market. I just wished it would have got off the ground in 2014 better than it did.

 

[ulflyer]

Luke, has it come in yet and what do you think about it?

Just ordered one from GunProDeals for $209.00 +14.95 S&H. So for $224.94 I'll give it a try, I was always interested in the Pederson action, and for that price it won't be a bad investment in learning.

Just FYI when you go to GunProDeals it will show $239.00 for the price until you add it into the cart then it will reflect the $209.00 price. CAVEAT: I've never done business with them, so we'll see how they do.

View attachment 815744

In my reading in the past it seems like getting past the magazine issues solves a majority of the problems that people were having. Hopefully that is the case and that Remington has resolved most of these magazine issues. I believe there is 3 different magazine follower/spring designs out there for the R51. There are some who have modified the posts on the underside of the follower and have had good results. We'll see, but regardless for $225, it seemed like a no brainer, especially since it is a different design in the world of vanilla striker fired pistols, and kudos to a manufacturer who is trying to bring something different to the market. I just wished it would have got off the ground in 2014 better than it did.

 

[<*(((><]

Luke, has it come in yet and what do you think about it?

It did come in, I put about 60 rounds (all ball ammo) through it with no cycling problems. One problem I was having is when inserting a full 7 round mag it seems as if there isn’t enough followers motion to get the slide over the first round in a full mag, like the follower legs on the bottom are bottoming out on the floor plate. This happened twice and it really locked the slide up in the open position. I removed the mag and reinserted and had the same issue, so I manhandled the slide with the push pull technique in front of me and could get it to slide and chamber.

I had read about this issue going into buying it and what some have done is take a 1/16” or so off the bottom legs of the follower to allow more motion, so I’ll try that.

In regards to shooting it, it was ok, nothing special. There is some sharper edges around the grip safety that I started to feel after 30 rounds or so. The web of my hand between my thumb and pointer was a little red after shooting which is not the case with my other carry weapons.

I didn’t really notice any recoil reduction between that and my Walther PPS M2 but I wasn’t shooting it side by side. I shot it ok, a little worse than my PPS but I have a lot more time on it.

It is a nice looking pistol, the lines are nice on it and I would think it would carry really well with it’s thin and rounded edges everywhere. The breakdown isn’t as bad as everyone makes it out to be, if one is used to taking pistols down the it won’t be much of an issue.

All in all, I bought it because it was a different action and it was $220. I’m happy for what I paid, but I wouldn’t tell any one to pay much more than that as there are better handguns out there. But I’m sure it’ll be worth more than I paid down the road as it’s a well built pistol in regards to materials.

I’m a away from it for Christmas but I’ll try and get out with it and my Walther and shoot them side by side. After tweeking the mags a little.