Remington R51

[kellyII]

Recently received quite a few handguns from a good friend that passed away and one of them was a Remington R51. Curious to find out if anyone owns one and has any opinions on it? 
 

I haven’t shot any of them yet. The design is most definitely different from any others that I own and some features I like and others I don’t. Not a fan of the safety on the rear of the grip. 

[Chucktshoes]

Is it an original R51? 

[kellyII]

2 hours ago, Chucktshoes said:

Is it an original R51? 

Yes pretty sure it is

[Chucktshoes]

Is this an old, small, steel .32 or .380? Or is it a polymer 9mm? If it’s the former, it’s an awesome little piece of history. If it’s the latter, I’m sorry to be blunt, but it’s a turd that you should forget exists. 
 

 

[gregintenn]

9 hours ago, Chucktshoes said:

Is it an original R51? 

You're thinking of a Model 51. The R51 is the recent turd foisted upon us by Remington. The Model 51 is a masterpiece in handgun engineering and manufacturing.

[Chucktshoes]

1 hour ago, gregintenn said:

You're thinking of a Model 51. The R51 is the recent turd foisted upon us by Remington. The Model 51 is a masterpiece in handgun engineering and manufacturing.

Yeah, I realized my small (but super important) mistake with the model name. 

[kellyII]

8 hours ago, Chucktshoes said:

Is this an old, small, steel .32 or .380? Or is it a polymer 9mm? If it’s the former, it’s an awesome little piece of history. If it’s the latter, I’m sorry to be blunt, but it’s a turd that you should forget exists. 
 

 

I stand corrected after a little research, it is the polymer turd you speak of. But, it’s not an EDC, it’s just another collection to keep in the safe. 

[1gewehr]

The more recent production R51 is actually supposed to be a nice little 9mm.  If so, it's a shame the Remington released a piece of junk originally and ruined its reputation.

I'm always amazed when manufacturers decide to go into full production with a product with known issues.  

[DaveTN]

If it was made in 2014 it’s the one that was pulled out of production for being a POS.

If yours was made in 2016 or later; it may be okay. They were completely reengineered and brought back to market in 2016. I wouldn’t be afraid to buy one of those guns; they have had good reviews. But of course, once you’ve failed to the point of having to remove a gun from the market and reengineer it; you will have plenty judging you on the past.

The reviews are mostly good, but it appears they have a break-in period. I’m never okay with that, but these have an MSRP of $448 and sell for $240-$260 at GAG or Buds, so it is what it is. They are in the “Cheap American Made” category. Supposedly they will be offering this in 40S&W, I might buy one of those for my collection of “Range Toys”.

But….keep in mind, only 3000 of those bad R51’s were shipped, and Remington offered a refund to owners that wanted it. So if you have a bad one that is in “mint” condition; it could be a collectable many years from now. 

Edited April 12, 2020 by DaveTN

[Chucktshoes]

TFBTV got one of the reintroduced R-51s. Their results weren’t really any better than the old recalled ones. 
 

 

[Steves2]

I got one of the newer ones. It shoots ok, at the range, but is ridiculously hard to take apart to clean.

i am still interested in getting one of the classics.

[Wade195]

I bought one of the new ones a few weeks ago.

Love it.

[Colt4530]

I bought one and had to send it back.  After I got it back, it has been excellent.  I'd like another one. 

It IS a PITA to disassemble/reassemble to clean. 

Edited February 17, 2022 by Colt4530

[gun sane]

I'm pretty sure they didn't sell enough of them to pay off the Sandy Hook plaintiffs.

[Sleep profit]

Take it to the range you will soon be able to access performance let us know 

[Wade195]

As stated earlier.

I bought the last generation of them.

No issues. Period.

It shoots very well.

Very quick to aim.

Fits my smaller sized hand very well.

[Wade195]

I would consider.

[Colt4530]

Also, the bore is low, so muzzle flip is visibly less, even with a girl shooting it. 

[crowtalks]

They are OK

Edited April 22, 2022 by crowtalks

[Gurn]

I bought one of the CT Crismon Trace version and so far it’s been perfect. Speaking of hard to disassemble, try fully taking apart and reassembling an old classic original. Now that’s fun  

[gregintenn]

2 hours ago, Gurn said:

I bought one of the CT Crismon Trace version and so far it’s been perfect. Speaking of hard to disassemble, try fully taking apart and reassembling an old classic original. Now that’s fun  

Pre internet, I called Remington and they mailed me a photocopy depicting how to disassemble/reassemble a model 51. I would have never gotten one apart and back together without it.

[hipower]

Got one of the later models(Guess I should check the production date.). It came to me from my late brother-in-law just before he passed. Had it with a Springer EMP4. Wanted to sell as a package deal.

Didn't really want the R51, but he need the money, so I bought them both. Put them both in the safe and haven't touched since.

Really should take them out and test them. Not really concerned by the EMP4, but worry about the R51. After all the horror stories about them, I had pretty much decided it would be a safe queen forever.

Now, seeing all these comments, I'm tempted to try. It just feels good, and it is a good looking pistol. Maybe I will. Or not.

[Wade195]

I heard all of those stories as well.

All I can speak for is myself. It hasn’t malfunctioned yet.  

If you get a chance to run one? I would love to hear your thoughts.

 

[Gurn]

After I bought mine I did read somewhere that the slide spring and magazine springs were thought to be an issue. That they needed broken in being overly strong.  So I decided to try something. Before I even shot it I locked the slide open and fully loaded the three magazines and left it that way for about a month. When I finally got it to the range it functioned flawlessly through around 200 rounds of mixed ammunition. All target ammo, I did not try any hollow points. Wasn’t thinking about this as a carry weapon anyway. Will eventually try defensive ammo nevertheless.