Remington's Newly Released R51 9mm +P Part 1

The R51 is described by Remington as a fixed barrel, delayed blowback, single action autoloading pistol. Subcompact in size, it is chambered for the 9mm Luger round, +P ammo approved.  The Model R51 is based on a J.D. Pedersen design, Patent No. 1,348,733, application filed on July 30, 1915 and awarded August 3, 1920. The design became the original Remington Model 51 that went into production in 1918 and out of the Remington catalog in 1927 chambered for the 32 Auto and 380 Auto cartridges. A 45 Auto version Model 53 was produced as a military trials prototype, but it never saw production.

The R51 is not a Browning 1911 design and not one of the many variations of striker designs. This is important to keep in mind when examining the pistol as its function and norms are different from the others noted. The R51 is Pedersen’s hybrid. It combines blow back and locked breech features where the pistol discharges, drives a breech block into a locked position against a stop shoulder in the frame, until the slide cam releases the breech block and cycles as bore pressure drops to zero.

The Petersen design provides practical advantages as it moves the recoil spring from a traditional guide rod position below the barrel, to around the barrel, which allows the bore centerline to be moved down closer to the shooter’s hand. This change provides increased control with recoil coming almost straight back to the hand and reduces the barrels leverage and ability to create muzzle rise. In the case of the new R51, Remington took this one step further by undercutting the trigger guard, which brings the shooting hand even closer to bore centerline and positions the trigger finger in a straight line to the trigger. The increased duration of a locked breech, not lock time, improves overall ballistic performance.

Between the ill fated 2014 launch of the Remington Model R15 and the current relaunch, the design was revised and enhanced in numerous ways. A very stand up response to what I will politely call “customer feedback”. Enhanced features include a precision-built fast-reset polymer trigger, an improved extractor design, a refined spring and many other finesse features that greatly improved the R51’s reliability. Remington deserves a good deal of respect for sticking with the product and ultimately making good on their commitments. The two year redesign was overseen by Michael Snyder, a Remington research engineer, whose background is roller coaster design for Disney, and incredibly challenging and complex applied physics environment.

Some personal observations

The R51’s art deco styling makes for a streamline firearm with virtually no sharp edges and corners. This makes the pistol easy to conceal and offers no purchase to grab onto clothing or a holster. The 20º grip angle and thin, but hand-filling frame, gives the R51 a very natural feel. What does that mean? In hand, the R51 fits like it belongs there and it becomes an extension of the hand when pointed.

The smooth, full length contoured grip safety, 25 LPI front strap checkering, the slightly scalloped surface along the side of the frame are all engineered to conform to the hand. The slide stop and ambidextrous magazine release are well positioned for one hand operation and the contour of the grip safety requires no “speed bump” to assure actuation when properly grasped.

At 1″ and a smidgeon, the R51 is narrow and will lay flat under clothing. The sights are good for the application; a little wider U notch (0.178″), a little wider front blade than typical on subcompact 9mm pistols (0.175″), make target acquisition a quick proposition. The rear sight is the ultimate in no snag profiles. The small port on the top permits chamber checking for a loaded round without having to pull the slide back, although the manual suggests limited use of this feature.

Below: aluminum frame, stainless slide, breechblock, barrel, magazine, action spring bushing, and action spring… and I will bet you can tell which is which without number assignments or labels.

Takedown is… different and perhaps a bit awkward. That said, the disassembly process becomes routine after a few cycles. No, it is not as easy as disassembling as most tilting barrel designs, but not by much. A disassembly video on the Remington web site is nicely done. The manual illustrations are of relatively low quality, making it difficult to see the referenced detail in images. I’m sure Remington could easily improve this minor annoyance.

The Remington Model R51 without reading the gossip…

We passed on reviewing the R51 when it was initially introduced in 2014. There was a colossal group grope going, with everyone from firearm magazine editors to janitors offering their two cents or mimicking the caustic words of another without even seeing the firearm. The indication that at least some of the problems were real was substantiated by Remington’s withdrawal of the R51 from production, with the assurance that customers that they would eventually receive the firearm they thought they had purchased.

Customers were given the choices of receiving a Model 1911 R1, Remington’s 1911 design pistol, or getting a refund on their purchase or they could wait for the reintroduction of the R51. Half took the R1, a quarter took the refund and the remaining quarter waited for this new generation R51. That was a pretty comprehensive offer and, at 75%, an impressive stick with Remington in one form or another constituency. Not being a participant in any of the above, I received the subject new generation R51, pulled it from its box, put it on the bench and made my assessments without regard to standing opinion.

The subject pistol was disassembled, cleared of rust preventative gunk, then reassembled, loaded and fired… only to find that the slide locked open after every shot. Rather than reach for a video camera to record the malfunction, I scratched my head, looked at what I had done, and came to the conclusion that the slide stop return spring was not resting on the slide stop tab. I corrected the spring’s position and had no further reoccurrence of the slide inappropriately locking open. My fault, not the fault of the R51. I missed picking up the leg of the return spring when I reinserted the slide stop and it took only seconds to correct.

The R51 saw 300 rounds, fed from both supplied magazines; flat nose target ammo, FMJ and hollow point +P. Some magazines were filled with a single type of ammo, others were mixed. They all fed, cycled and fired each round without incident. No parts shot loose and no pins were driven out of position, no sights moved of their own accord. Of course we all know what that means. Remington, through some luck of the draw, sent me the only working R51 on earth and, based on the paint and oil splattered T-Shirt and torn pocket shorts I am wearing, Remington obviously paid me dearly to write this paragraph. Actually, my relationship with Remington is a lot like my relationship with Catholicism; I love the teachings, but I couldn’t care less about the institution.

Impressions? Sure How about Jay Leno imitating Tim Allen?

The comparative reduction in muzzle rise is obvious and the pistol is easy shooting despite the narrow grip frame. But then I don’t bruise easily. Is it a 25% reduction in muzzle rise? I don’t know for certain, at least not in absolute terms as I did not have an accelerometer wired to the pistol or a digital Goniometer glued to my arm to measure that dynamic. Let’s just say that after sixty year of shooting handguns, when I pulled the trigger on the R51, a little voice in my head said, “Hey! This thing doesn’t jump much and it is pretty easy for an old guy to keep it on target”.

All was not a handgun love fest. I did not find the slide particularly easy to rack and the action spring takes some effort to overcome on disassembly. My thumb and index finger wear the indentations of the barrel lug, the action bushing and the grooves at the muzzle end of the barrel. Does that make it a difficult pistol to shoot? Not at all, but as would be expected from a pistol of this size chambered for the 9mm Luger, the slide is a bit stiff. Disassembly complexities have subsided with experience and I can now take the R51 down in under 30 seconds without putting the toes on my right foot into play.

The trigger did not feel gummy or imprecise in pull. The break was clean, over travel wasn’t noticeable, but the pull was consistently heavy at a measured and verified 7 Lbs 3 Oz. The trigger does have some side movement… alright, a good deal of side movement, but I tend to pull triggers straight back rather than side to side, so the movement didn’t matter much. I don’t like the plastic trigger. I think it looks out of place on the pistol and, aesthetically, it does it a disservice. The pistol’s price increased from 2014 to 2016 by $28, which should have covered the cost of a decent trigger.

A note on Internet critics…