New Remington R51

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Mike J

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I'm not saying it isn't a good gun. I'm just saying I think it wise to take a wait & see attitude. For whatever it's worth unlike many on the forum boards I like .40. I like it in a compact (G-19 or 23) sized pistol or a full sized. I own a Kel-Tec P-11 in 9mm that weighs 14 oz.'s unloaded. At one time Kel-Tec offered a .40 caliber version of this gun. I would not want to shoot a gun that size in .40. Maybe the R-51 would be better but like anything else I'll believe it when I see for myself.
 

Shooter III

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Mike J said:
I'm not saying it isn't a good gun. I'm just saying I think it wise to take a wait & see attitude. For whatever it's worth unlike many on the forum boards I like .40. I like it in a compact (G-19 or 23) sized pistol or a full sized. I own a Kel-Tec P-11 in 9mm that weighs 14 oz.'s unloaded. At one time Kel-Tec offered a .40 caliber version of this gun. I would not want to shoot a gun that size in .40. Maybe the R-51 would be better but like anything else I'll believe it when I see for myself.

The issue about re-assembly where not knowing if you did it correctly or not until it stops going "BANG" really bugs me. Personally, I don't want to worry about something like that.
 

pyth0n

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I like the way they incorporated a retro look and the semi blow back operation. If I didn't already have Kahr P9, which is about an .4" shorter, I'd consider one after they've been out awhile.
 
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I dunno, the Bersa has been a proven gun over the time we have had, and shot them over the years, and can recall welding up a few "broken" old Remington 51 from years ago, the lug inside the slide cracked off ..hope they 'redesigned' it for the newest.380s, let alone a bigger boomer .40 cal ???
the proof will be in the shooting over and over, out in the field, seems like all too many are so quick to come out with something that just does NOT get "tested" in house, today the 'consumer' is the testing & QC people :roll:
as granddad liked to say "always time to send it back ,under recall and rebuilt it , than taking their time and building it RIGHT in the first place" 8)
 

22/45 Fan

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rugerguy said:
...as granddad liked to say "always time to send it back ,under recall and rebuilt it , than taking their time and building it RIGHT in the first place" 8)
A paraphrase of the old cliché: "There's never time to do it right but there's always time to do it over."

The new R51 is highly modified from the 100 year old original both internally and in the materials used. I hope they got it right.
 

gc70

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Shooter III said:
Mike J said:
Shooter III you might be interested in checking out this review. http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2014/02/foghorn/gun-review-remington-r51/
There are some things he doesn't like about it. I tend not to pay too much attention to some reviewers. Especially if they have never met a gun they didn't like. I prefer to wait until people on the forum boards have them & see what their observations are.
LOL !!!!! Well there ya go, women and guns ... ya never know what you'll get until you run a few rounds through them, that's the first upfront honest review I've seen on this weapon, I'm beginning to lose hope.

Thanks !
You might want to look around a few forums where that "upfront honest review" has been discussed. The review has been substantially changed in response to criticism since it was originally posted.

The original article contained TTAG's sixth complaint of not being invited to Remington's preview testing of the R51 by gunwriters ("But TTAG wasn't on the guest list to Big Green's all-expenses-paid junket in the desert to test Stage One guns..."), which was subsequently deleted. A reference to the R51's action being like a Luger's toggle action was roundly ridiculed and that characterization has also been deleted.

TTAG published a separate justification for describing the R51 as painful to shoot, but a "real pussycat" with +P ammo; that description was changed to say +P was no more painful to shoot than regular ammo.

There was a companion article to the review that compared the size of the R51 to other guns and described the R51 as "almost exactly the same size" as a "Commander-size 1911." That description was later changed to a "smaller Officer sized 1911." The comparison gun was actually a Bill Wilson Carry Pistol, which is nearly an inch longer (7.6" vs 6.625") and over a quarter-inch taller (4.9" vs 4.625") than the R51 - hardly "almost exactly the same size."
 

ArmedinAZ

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The first 9mm R-51 hasn't hit Gunbroker yet and we want the 40? :mrgreen:

At least you won't be one of the first beta testers. The fact that this particular action design was used on 1 handgun and shelved is enough reason to be cautious.
 

Shooter III

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ArmedinAZ said:
The first 9mm R-51 hasn't hit Gunbroker yet and we want the 40? :mrgreen:

At least you won't be one of the first beta testers. The fact that this particular action design was used on 1 handgun and shelved is enough reason to be cautious.

Who knows why it got shelved ... lack of interest ? lack of sales ? If I was a shareholder at Remington and a weapon didn't sell I'd discontinue it, at its inception it was only available in .32 and .380 and at that time the .45 1911 was a big hit, if I was around 100 years ago I would of went with the Forty-Five regardless of how innovative it was for it's time.
 

gc70

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Shooter III said:
Who knows why it got shelved ... lack of interest ? lack of sales ? If I was a shareholder at Remington and a weapon didn't sell I'd discontinue it, at its inception it was only available in .32 and .380 and at that time the .45 1911 was a big hit, if I was around 100 years ago I would of went with the Forty-Five regardless of how innovative it was for it's time.

The original Remington Model 51 -and all other American semi-autos except the 1911- died out during the Great Depression. The 1911 would probably have ceased production if it had not been supported by military contracts.
 

Shooter III

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gc70 said:
Shooter III said:
Who knows why it got shelved ... lack of interest ? lack of sales ? If I was a shareholder at Remington and a weapon didn't sell I'd discontinue it, at its inception it was only available in .32 and .380 and at that time the .45 1911 was a big hit, if I was around 100 years ago I would of went with the Forty-Five regardless of how innovative it was for it's time.

The original Remington Model 51 -and all other American semi-autos except the 1911- died out during the Great Depression. The 1911 would probably have ceased production if it had not been supported by military contracts.
Very good point ...
 

Mikeomatic

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I am new here so take this for what its worth.
I purchased an R51 at Shooters of Jacksonville fl monday evening. Took it to the range Tuesday evening. The Jury is still out. The recoil is as advertized..very managable. I was going to get the LC9 (I love my Rugers) But was attracted to the R51 hype because of the SA only. The SA does give the R51 a nice trigger but it was gritty (break in might resolve it as it did on my SR9).
That said, I cleaned the gun before going to the range (it had the most grease I have ever seen on a new pistol) Oiled and went to the range. The slide was very stiff and very bumpy to chamber a round. The mag release was almost imposiable to push and have the mag drop free.After 30 rounds I took it home and cleaned it. It is a pain to take apart/put back together as everything fits so close. I was not happy. This morning I called Remington service department and described the Issue. Remmington rep stated "they had a staff meeting this morning to discuss this very complaint" His response was "the gun is manafactured to extremely tight tolorances and will need 100 or so rounds to "break in". The rep assured me the slide would loosen up along with the mag release. He also suggested I run some +P ammo through the R51 as that would help the break in(thats what he said).
So this weekend I will run several hundred rounds through through it and we will see if it smooths out.
Other observations, feels very good in my hand, accuracy....way low from POA (that could be me). I don't mind the weight of an all metal gun. I don't know if it will be my carry or replace wifes LCP or if I just dont like and get the LC9 as I had planned.
Mike
 

ProfessorWes

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Via George "Mad Ogre" Hill, this review of the R51. Between snappy recoil and frequent failures to feed/go fully into battery, it wasn't a pleasant shooting experience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yicodN7BrgU

I've heard/read quite a few complaints about this gun, especially with initial reliability. A shame; it looked good on paper...
 

Mike J

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I'd think in about a year these will probably be a good choice. I still remember my father telling me to never buy the first year model of anything (he was service manager of a Ford dealer at the time). It seems like every gun manufacturer debugs their new releases after they have been on the market for a while these days.
 

Shooter III

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Very interesting ..... I've seen Youtube videos and reviews go both real good and real bad on this pistol.
Either way its getting attention ! LOL !
 

gc70

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Easily 80% of the R51 reviews (or any other gun reviews, for that matter) I have read are useless. People either report that the gun is great or trash, with substantially no critical evaluation of what it is that is good or bad about the gun. However, to me, the most useless reviews are those that complain the R51 is not like some other gun; duh - it should not require buying an R51 to figure out that it is not a Glock, Ruger, Sig, or XD.

A small number of reviews actually provide valuable observations about the R51's operation and performance. Praise and complaints are not only listed, but their causes are evaluated. If the trigger feels good they try to explain why and if racking the slide is difficult they try to identify what is causing the problem. I really appreciate the time and effort people put into the detailed and thoughtful reviews because those are the reviews that provide real information I can use in making a purchase decision.
 

Mikeomatic

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Again, I am new here so take this for what it is worth. Also I am not a gunsmith. Anything past a field strip is beyond my capacity.
Took the R51 back to the range last weekend. The R51 had alot of issues that trip. FTF,FTF,FTE and would not go into full battery. After clearing each mal function I would get a light strike and FTF, finally no strike at all. Put it away and continued to enjoy my other firearms. Driving home I was disapointed that I was going to have send the R51 back to remington :-(
Once I got home I field stripped it and discovered the firing pin was jammed in the breech block. Soaked the block in solvent then hit it wit 120 psi of air. A small metal shaving came out and lodged in the white rag I was holding the block with. Re assembled the R51 and went to the range thursday evening. Was a whole diffrent gun. I still had a an issue with it going into full battery when chambering the 1st round of a magazine. Put 120 rounds thru it and it got better and better. The trigger is now very smooth and crisp with very little take up and a short squeeze. The grip safety is now also "clean" for a lack of a better description. I left the range feeling a bit better about the R51 but was still troubled by the lack of full battery on the chambering of the 1st round.
Took it home and stripped it for cleaning (now that I understand the field strip process its pretty easy).Went back to the range yesterday at lunch,25 rounds and no issues. I did make sure the slide was fully foward when chambering the 1st round by hand. Releasing the slide on a new fully loaded mag from empty lock back had no issues.
IMO I think Remington could have done a better job with initial fit of internal parts so the firearm functions better out of the box. That said, after considerable break in I think the R51 will live up to its advertized features.
BTW I am shooting my own reloads, all of which (1000's of rounds) have worked perfect in my SR9.
I will give the R51 several hundred more rounds to see if it is 100% reliable. I am still not sure if I like it or not.
Mike
 

Mike J

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It seems as if you are working through the issues Mikeomatic. Keep us posted. I hope it turns out to work well for you as I am kinda interested in one myself. I'm just not inclined to be an early adapter.
 

gc70

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Woo-hoo! Mikeomatic 'gets it' about writing a review. Thanks for providing useful information that others can use in evaluating or troubleshooting an R51.
 

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