The R51 - the gun everybody wanted to love, but Remington made sure they couldn't. I have 2 of them, they shoot okay, but I wouldn't trust carrying them.
@@Rick_Sanchez_C137_ I have a sub mod2 also. Shoots great but it never leaves the house anymore since it is HUGE compared to the P365 and 43x I recently acquired. Pretty much a nightstand gun now
@@Rick_Sanchez_C137_ The mechanics' Rick, the R51 has an interesting lockup, they were cheap enough someday to tinker with, and maybe someday, they will be reliable carry guns, right now though, I have too many other projects. I have many guns I have more than one of, it is, after all, a Hobby.
It’s a real shame they got it wrong on that pistol. The old Remington pistols were amazing. R51 is as bad or worse than Remlins! That’s right I said it Remington couldn’t make a marlin lever action worth beans. Great video by the way!
I spit my coffee out at the silicon ball. Classic Remington, designed by a bunch of corporate executives. Probably saved two Pennies in production. Their rationale was that it’s not meant to be a range gun for thousands of rounds.
I'm sure Remington invested a lot of money in the design of this pistol and it was all wasted because they didn't use a simple, cheap spring under the extractor.
Tavor's use a polymer cone as their extractor "spring". Never seen or heard of one melting even after thousands of rounds. including mag dumps. Safe to say the ones in the Travor's are far higher quality than what Remington uses. Also look under an AR extractor and you'll often find rubber rings and a rubber insert inside the spring on many.
That was an old box of Winchester Silvertip. I remember as a kid in the early 80’s when my dad bought a beautiful Browning Hi Power and the salesman opened the box to show him the bullet. That box brought back memories.
@@nelbax2084 Never would I ever stake my life on the integrity of bit of plastic foam to make my personal protection device function. I hope you don't edc it.
I had an original Remingtlon Model 51 in .380. It was a fantastic little pistol, small, reliable, could feed hollow point and ball ammo without jamming.. Bought it for $80 used. Lost it in a home burglary years ago. Miss that little pistol.
Even though the R51 stinks, 15 years from now everyone will want one was a collector's item. Remington will probably be out of business. Thanks for the video
What I don't get is why some of their products are selling for high prices. I looked up the RP series and they were selling very high. I thought maybe with the company being kaput the prices would be low
One thing I will say, I look foward to what Ruger will do with the Remington and Marlin Lines. I bought a used Ruger Mini-30 and recently had some issues with it feeding properly. It was failing to feed every other round. I thought the mag was sitting too low in the reciever based on the Ruger Forum. I called Ruger, they paid to have it shipped to them and did an inspection free of charge. Turns out a bad batch of magazines made it out of the factory. They replaced my ejector, repaired the trigger guard as it was way too stiff for dissasembly, and sent me back 4 in spec magazines to replace my two bad ones. I really couldn't be happier with Rugers customer service and really look foward to any handling they do of the Marlin and Remington brands
Ruger only bought Marlin. Remington Arms is owned by Roundhill Group, an investment firm. As for the rest of the Freedom Group sell off, Franklin Armory bought Bushmaster, JJE that owns PSA bought DPMS, AAC, H&R, Vista bought Remington ammo, Sierra bought Barnes.
I don’t know for the past five years I’ve been hearing bad things ,about the Remington pistols it is a good looking little gun though but reliability is what counts ,good video like always
@@rob6850 With a slide that droops down toward the front. Just an optical illusion but the design is just weird looking overall. Don't get me started on those grip panels. Cheaper looking than the Ruger P-series. I didn't think that was possible. LOL.
Life's too short to spend time shooting crappy guns. Time to ditch it and get something better. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and probably saving others from a frustrating purchase.
Exactly...save for a few extra weeks and get the best up front. Whether it be a HK, Glock, Springfield Armory or a M&P Shield you decide on. In the long run, no one wins a race to the bottom by compromising on cost or a poor design.
In the words of Hop: "i hate this gun...but i love this gun..." For me, its the best $160 i ever spent. The sheer entertainment it brings at the range when you let your friends shoot it is priceless.
I bought one when it was first released. Figured it was a good looking little pistol and would be good for concealed carry. It was without a doubt the worst new I've ever purchased. That thing had issues I had never even seen in a pistol. It was a pain to disassemble, and worse to put back together. It was very accurate, but if I could get four shots out of the thing in a row, I was lucky. I sent it back to Remington twice for repairs, and got it back with the original issue fixed, but a new one then popped up. The second time they sent me back a new pistol altogether. I was great for the first couple of boxes of ammo, then it completely took a dump. I was going to sell the thing, but the last thing I wanted to do was pass on a headache that could cost someone their life, so I sent it back to Remington for a complete refund. When the refund is the best part of owning a gun that should tell you something.
@@mixup98 I own a original one and I think it’s great. The outside of it is a little beat up but really cool and I like it. When I first disassembled it I had a hell of a time getting it back together and now I only clean it but don’t take it apart. I completely agree with you on selling a shit firearm to anyone so what I do is sell them to buyback program and get good cash without feeling bad about selling them to anyone.
How often did you guys need to draw an concealed on somebody? People trying to rob you etc? Why carry such a small gun around when you can carry a slightly large one that holds better in the hand and has more capacity?
Although it’s a piece of junk internally, I find it to be quite attractive visually. Very futuristic and as someone else pointed out, very shark looking.
Greetings from Venezuela, excellent video, thanks for that, a hug for you and your Family and my advance congratulations for Father's Day, may you continue wonderfully well.
This fast food gun crap has to stop! That’s pistol is absolutely hideous. Such a shame what’s happened to Remington. I own many vintage 700’s which I consider the finest production rifle ever made.
@@uncleremus5046 I have a couple 700s the new ones are absolutely garbage as well as the new shotguns the fit and finish is awful and it's a complete travesty... I can no longer support them but that's fine because it's not the same company....
@@brettscott3759 Your right I agree completely. They are absolute garbage. 700’s & the 1100 were some of the most beautiful mass produced firearms ever & their down the drain. In 700’s I consider C prefix the height of Remington quality. Don’t buy any Remington past that prefix.
11:56 I heard that the green rubber ball for the extractor is actually a piece of spearmint gum. Not only does it give the extractor a little bounce, but the gum also holds it together. Remington was focused on the future, because if you are hunkered down in a gun fight and sweating cause your pistol is broken, you can cool off with some icy mint gum. It's basically a little gum compartment, pretty sweet. In the aftermarket community, some are even offering a replacement part, which happens to be a CBD gummy bear. It's just the right amount of spring tension and you can really chill out for when things get hairy.
There are two more pieces of that Spearmint gum hidden inside the trigger area too. Increased use destroys them as springs or buffers. Forget about firing 500 rounds through this gun in practice every year. The R51 usually starts to fail by shot number 60.
Wow, what a shame. All Remington needed to do to make the R51 a success was reproduce the old Model 51 internals, with perhaps a few minor cosmetic changes externally. They would've had a grand-slam of a pistol and sold 'em as fast as they could make 'em.
That there was also a .45acp version, which the USN after testing preferred over the 1911 and which was sitting in Remington's own museum is further proof of Remington stupidity.
I often wonder how much money that pistol ended up costing Remington and how much it contributed to their downfall. Seems like for several years you couldn't open a gun magazine without seeing a huge recall notice for them!
Bad. They started eating the cost immediately and the recall didn't fix all the issues. The RP9 was their last trainwreck. You could grab them for $179 in my area and people were still getting the $220 Taurus instead. My friend bought the last 10 RP9's in his store for a laugh and tried to run them all to failure.
It's a good question. Remington's 870 line of shotguns was a mainstay in their lineup and they were decent field and fowl pieces. I never owned or fired any of their centerfire rifles, but I never heard anything bad about them either. The 1911 clone they made for a couple years was a nice pistol with a smooth-as-glass action, beautiful bluing, and an overall good feel. They screwed the pooch with the Gen 1 R51, though - royally. I guess they're back at making guns again under the name "Remarms." Notably missing from their stable is the R51. They might have had a hit instead of a miss if they'd resurrected the original Model 51 exactly as it was. Not sure why they didn't.
I think it's such a cool looking gun, a real 'phaser' looking piece perfect for when you beam down at the beginning of each video. But I've heard the same thing about the take down and reassembly that you addressed and that extractor silliness just confirms that I'll pass on one. I do wonder if a gunsmith could configure a real spring to make it work better though. Probably not worth the expense.
This gun can't be made good. The problem is, Remington did not design it with a sufficient slide throw. The overall length of 124-grain 9mm causes reliability problems. It only works properly with 115 grain ammo, which is all low-end range junk. And it's a Pedersen action, which means it's highly flaky and sensitive to even minor changes in ammo specs. Pedersen actions really only work with military-standardized ammo. If you genuinely look at the history of John Pedersen's design submissions, you will see what an idiot he truly was; he kept making the same core mistakes over and over again, just in different ways. Always too complex and fragile actions, and always too fast cycling that outruns magazines unless their springs are brand new. And always very flaky and requires the ammo be perfectly to-spec. His designs have no place in the modern world.
@@WardenWolf Were the mistakes that Pedersen made the kind of mistakes caused by trying something new at the time, or were they mistakes almost any trained engineer/designer should have foreseen? I suppose your comments on repeating different iterations of the same mistake probably already answers my question but still maybe you have some answer? I only ask purely out of interest, not attempting to question your statements here at all.
@@Stigstigster While he submitted several designs to military trials, he failed to step back and analyze _why_ his designs failed to be adopted. The complaints were always along the lines of "Too complex and fragile", "Outruns the magazine", and "Requires extra steps to make work". So, he designed a toggle lock rifle that required the cartridges be oiled before insertion (this attracts dirt), so the rifle actually had to have an oiler built into it. And the toggle lock was both too fragile, too complex, and liked to outrun the magazine. Instead of actually analyzing the root of the failures (that he made it too complex and not robust enough, and the action was too fast), he created new designs which implemented those same failures in a different way. Instead of designing around and avoiding the reasons the design was rejected, he just came up with a new way to fail again. He didn't even have a lick of sense.
The fact it looked like a "phaser", should have been your first warning. Buy some lawn -care/ home hardware equipment based on such a POV. You'll figure it out.
I had one, did some research on it, took it out and put 200 rounds through it, it quit jamming, never had another problem with it. Sold it to a friend. He still shoots it with no problems.
I gace a few Model 51s and had a lot of hope that the R51 would be a worthy successor. I bought a new Gen II version and began my tests. A few years ago I did at least 3 videos on the process. Long and short is the more I fired it, the less reliable it got. The first 50 - 70 rounds fired with no issues. Then the hang ups began. Then ejections of loaded cartridges while the fired one remained in the chamber. Then after cleaning I had cases eject with no new cartridge being chambered, then misfires. I tried new magazines it made no difference. I began posting my results and firearms dealers who sold them began reacting in a negative fashion in my comments section. Some in very hostile fashion. Then I tried numerous bullet makes and weights but that made no difference. The gun's performance continued to deteriorate. I also began experiencing random magazine drops. Ultimately complete and total failures to fire no matter how tightly the grip safety was squeezed. Examining the gun much closer with magnification and auxiliary lighting I detected more instances of the silicone bearing spring you mention. If you tilt the frame carefully from some angles you can see into the trigger area we are not supposed to disassemble. Some of those silicone springs are visible inside the frame. No worries about me doing taking it apart once I saw those little blue green pieces of silicone. My suspicion is that those little balls of silicone do not withstand use nearly as well as Remington designers expected them to. I do not know if they lose elasticity, deform or split under use. It doesn't matter. Their presence makes the pistol useless junk. The whole world, and Remington, would have been much better off if instead of trying to make a cheap knockoff of a once great design they had just exact cloned the original .45acp version then sitting in the Remington museum and also introduced a 9mm version of that. The 1920s Remington M51 was such a great little .32 and .380 that Colt literally paid Remington to stop making it because consumers were choosing the Remington instead of the Colt .32s and .380s and sadly Remington took the money and complied. . At the end I got nothing but clicks with no strikes against the primers. Many of those efforts were shown in my final R51 video. The R51 pistol is gun is a good fishing weight. I found a buyer and sold it soon after and used that money to by a used Ruger LC9S which behaves 1,000x more reliably.
Wow, that's a shame. I think everyone watching this video wanted that little pistol to perform well. Too bad. Well, thanks again for the very informative video. It's always a pleasure.
I started out really liking the pistol until it started to have extraction problems after just fifty or sixty rounds. As always, I thank you for watching and commenting on my videos.
Once again, you've saved me from making a big mistake on a handgun! I've been eyeing an honest to goodness, new in the box R51 that a local dealer has marked down to $125.00! I should have just taken a friend's advice and never even considered an R51 because his 2nd Gen model almost ended up costing him $600.00 because no FFL dealer wanted to take it in trade for a better pistol. One finally took mercy on my friend and made a trade with him for a slightly used Glock in .40S&W which he now carries on and off duty.
@@mixup98 I'll have to take that under consideration.....Even though there is a sweet old Savage 99 in .303 Savage on the rack behind the handgun cases that keeps calling out to me.
@@stonefree1911 I'd would be more likely to utilize a pocket full of smooth flat river rocks and harsh language for personal defense than an R51 based on what I know of the model. If I was a collector of such firearms I might be lead to purchase the R51 in question but I'm more the type that only buys, and keeps, firearms that work and work well all the time. I do have a friend that collects "odd ball" firearms. He has a pretty big collection of such firearms in his vault, some of which seem to defy their own existence they are so bad, so I suspect he might be more inclined to buy a new in the box R51 and never put a round into/through it. I'm going to give my friend a call today and let him know about the R51 and leave it up to him. Besides, the more I think about it, that old Savage 99 needs a new, loving home, where it will again see use in the hunting fields.
I got one of these Gen 2's for just under 300 bucks new at a sporting goods store hoping it was going to be a decent gun. My experience was much like yours, I called customer service and they even told me to cut some of the spring off that sits inside the magazine as they thought the problem was with the mags being oversprung! I will say the gun runs better clean and lubed. I will keep it just for a history piece to show what Remington was making when they went under.
I like the looks, it's different. To bad u couldn't replace the rubber ball with a spring. Nothern Nevada looks like it has more trees. Happy Fathers day
I've ended up with two of them, not because I think they're good guns but because I like them. There are two things that make a bad gun a bad gun, they're bad quality or a bad design, Remington managed to do both on nearly everything they brought out. I remember when they were announced there was quite a bit of excitement for them on the gun forums, but man was it short lived.
Maybe a good gun smith can modify the extractor with a metal spring of some type. The rubber ball definitely a bad idea because even it did work the ball will deteriorate with age and use. Nice little pocket firearm though. Have a Blessed Day
I purchased the Gen 2 model for $200. Even though I saw some bad reviews, I couldn't resist. It seemed like the problem was usually with the second round in the mag. Fortunately for me, mine shoots fine. I love the sleek design, although it is heavy and only carries 7 rounds. For $200 I consider it a win.
Honestly, I thought the same thing. Very Sharkey looking and quite an attractive pistol. It made me sad that it was such a terrible design though, internally I mean.
I picked up an R51 for $199 about a year ago. Shoots very nicely, and is actually a lot of fun. However, the magazines have an odd lip design to them which, at times, results in the nose of the bullet diving low and not feeding properly. So, while it's fun to shoot for range time, it's never going to replace my P365 for carry purposes. Good and fair review, as always.
When I was shooting other day, I noticed the mags have a slight bend at the top right corner. This caused me to have feeding problems with longer length cartridges because they they end up snagging on that lip due to clearance problems. I switched to slightly shorter ammo that cleared the lip and then I had zero malfunctions. So I recommend using a shorter overall length cartridge and the gun works fine. It also handles 124 grainers very well. I have to agree that disassembly is not too much of a problem, but reassembly can definitely be troublesome. Your tip about rocking the slide slightly back and forth to clear the rails was a godsend. Thanks for a really thorough and honest review. Reply
Amost ten years ago I remember seeing this art-deco style sidearm and thought it seemed the zenith of high speed, low drag pocket pistols. Glad I waited. That being said, there's got to be an mechanical engineer or two at Ruger who can design a never fail spring for that massive extractor, even if it needs an insert like the extractor spring on an M4. Tweak the frame so the slide is 1/8" higher or the beavertail is better placed, chamber it in .380 to have the gun's weight weight dampen the recoil and VOILA! the company Ruger paid so much for now has a pistol they can market without all the development costs... and unlike their little plastic pistols, one you can actually grip.
I don’t think u understand the market those tiny little plastic staplers are selling like discount hotcakes ! And now they have a max double stack and the 30 super carry is getting hot. So no it wouldn’t sell even with those changes
As I recall, Remington gave owners of the gen 1 R51 the option to put the value of the gun toward the purchase of a 1911 if they didn't want the gen 2. They were very resistant to giving the owners their money back. My initial impression of the R51 when they first hit the market was "Wow! This gun feels amazing in my hand!" but I was hesitant to buy a firearm design that was brand new, especially from Remington. I decided to wait a few months and see how the word of mouth went. So glad I did that.
We have an old Italian Star in .380 and it bites me hand just like this Remington. That ball as a spring must have been some sort of cost cutting measure but WOW that is dumb.
I think that rubber ball was added by a prior owner just to make shootable and able to be sold off! It was never in the parts diagrams..........................elsullo
Everyone who had problems said that the pistol ran fine for about 50 rounds then after that just wouldn't work right, wouldn't feed consistently, once they get hot they never run the same. It was crazy to see that extractor ball thing thank you for showing that!! Never seen that before myself
I bought a 2nd gen when they first came out. I think it was $199. I love mine. I think the design is awesome. Its light weight. Thin. The shape is easy to take in and out of the holster. Its not big and boxy and squared off like most other 9mm. I cary it every day. So far shooting its been flawless. I dont shoot it as often as other might. Especially with the price of ammo. Maybe I got the one exception out there. As far as the rubber instead of a spring is beyond me. But I love mine. I wish other manufacturers would aim to design similar to this style instead o the squared off ribs on every edge like most are.
Any chance of changing out the rubber ball with a bespoke spring? I find the design absolutely beautiful, a mixture of old-school single-stack concealed hammer (like the P7) and a bit of 2000's 'space gun' ergonomics (like the Vektor CP1).
@@TheAmateurEditor That I'm not sure of yet. If Remington comes out with a fix for that I might look into it. Or if some aftermarket company does, I might look into that also. But for now I'm just going to leave it the way it is. It's working fine so far. I guess the old adage, if it aint broke (some might say it was built broke) Don't fix it.
I carry my R-51 also. 1800 rounds and zero failures. Learned the correct way to disassemble and reassemble, takes me 35 seconds. I can also do it in 1 minute 15 seconds while blind folded.
Thanks for the info! You gave me the answer I have been asking myself between the R51 and the Bersa Thunder Plus. I rather have a .380 that works all the time versus a 9mm that works "most of the time". Hell, i would go with a Rock Island Armory .38 snubby over the R51.
that extractor ball is just nutz ! So many problems this can have from cleaning solvents to even just weather conditions ... no wonder this was an el-floppo-supremo ! yeet that *
I always liked the look of that pistol, very 1930's version of what the future would look like. Unfortunately was a total failure, and seems like a perfect symbol of Remington's decline.
I may have told you this before, but I want you to know how much I appreciate the safe way you physically handle your firearms and I especially am grateful for your lack of political drama on your channel. In this day and age its unusual and refreshing.
Hello Chris. I like to keep politics out of my videos, although I have been known to slip in a few jabs overs the years. I figure my viewers want to see how a firearm performs, not listen to my political views. Safety is always my number one concern when handling firearms and fortunately I had several great teachers when I was younger, including my dad. Your comments are always greatly appreciated.
It took a trip to Remington for some quality time with one of their gunsmiths. Mine came back perfect after Remington replaced the slide, the magazines, and polished the bolt.
Mixie...that's the Remington "DW 51"... that model was the short lived version designed with the experimental "Dentyne Wintergreen" extractor ball....the thought was a cheaper easier replacement then an extractor spring and would also keep your weapon smelling fresh as a daisy!Remington thankfully shit canned the "JF" or Juicy Fruit conceptual model....👍💥🇺🇸💥
The most beautiful gun I never wanted. Also, please cover up the Huntsville, AL on the side. We're trying to get the Space Force, we don't need the bad press.
As the slide continues rearward, lugs on the side of the breechblock are riding in channels on the sides of the slide. These initially horizontal channels now angle upward and the breechblook is lifted over the frame lug unlocking the breech. Another lug on the slide top engages the breechblock and carries it backward, opening the breech and extracting the case. Hesitation time between the locking and unlocking of the breechblock is sufficient to allow the bullet to exit the muzzle and chamber pressure to drop to a safe level. To further impede the speed of the initial blowback, the chamber walls are unpolished resulting in higher friction increasing the inertia that must be overcome to start the case moving. This results in the fired cases have a distinctive "frosted" appearance. In inherent weakness of this action is that in order for the action to cycle properly, the slide and breechblock must be fully forward in battery when fired, but due to the unlocked breech, they can be held out of battery (and still be fired safely) if a round fails to fully chamber. This condition can often occur with some common and popular brands of ammo. The throat of the barrel of the R51 is cut with a very short lede. As a result, bullets that are not seated to the beginning of the ogive and thuse have the straight sides of the bullet exposed beyond the case mouth can engrave on the rifling before the cartridge is fully chambered and prevent the breech from fully entering battery. Because the recoil of the slide is dependent on the momentum imparted by the breechblock, the breechblock must be free to travel the designed 0.10" before the slide disengages but this is not possible when the breech is out of battery when fired. In fact, the closer the breechblock is to the frame lug, the less momentum is imparted to slide which will cause the slide to short-cycle and cause failures to extract or failures to feed. The user manual clearly states that only Remington or Barnes ammo should be used, and indeed, all Remington and Barnes ammo so far encounterd has deeply seated bullets which chamber properly. Other brands, not so much, and this is especially true of +P ammo which tends to be seated long to reduce pressures. Adding to this is the fact that the height of the magazine follower does not allow a full magazine to be inserted and fully seat on a closed slide. It can be forece into place, bt the resulting pressure from the top round against the bottom of the slide furture impedes recoil often causing a failure to feed on the first shot, as well as releasing the not fully locked magazine. If the gun does cycle with a fuil magazine, the pressure of the slide on the top round may force the round into a positon where rather than rising to engage the feed ramp, the nost of the bullet is forced against the front of the mag and fails to feed. These are the two major causes of the failures of the R51 under fire. They are easily aleviated but not inexpensively for the user. The magazine is the easiest. Disassemble the magazien and remove 0.i0-0.20" from the bottom of the follower. This allows more room for the 7th round to be properly positoned against a closed slide.Remington actually did this with the Gen2 magazines so Gen2 R51s do not have this problem. The other fix requires either testing all ammo for proper chambering-easily done with a plunk test-or having a gunsmitl open the throat and increase the lede in the barrel to allow full chambering of all brands of ammo. This is something that Remington could have and should have done with Gen 2 but didn't. Perhaps they saw no reason to encourage the use of other ammo brands when not addressing it would encourge the use of their own. A gunsmith can cost $100 or more, and is not a cost that the user should have to bear. Unfortunately, Remington was sold off in bankuptcy so they are not going to pay and the user may not consider the gun worth the additional expense since there is ammo available that will chamber properly.
The first thing I noticed right before the extractor problem was the gun was throwing the empty brass in all directions, That has happened to me with a couple pistols several years ago, and it is usually not a good thing to see. I was pretty amazed when I saw the little green ball used for an extractor spring. Someone who owns a Colt All American 2000 might enjoy this R51 to keep the 2000 company. Still a great video as always.
I bought one when Sportsman's had them for $250 brand new. CDNN had the Crimson Trace specifically for the R51 for $30 not much later. I've only shot about a hundred rounds through it, but haven't had any issues so far. The owner's manual does show the "elastomer extractor button" in the exploded view, so it's a "design feature" from the factory on my Gen 2.
@@mixup98 To be fair to the doubters, it does look like someone took a caulking gun and pumped a blob of silicone under the rear of the extractor after losing a spring. Well, the ReverendJasper here confirms it as you say. Also, Mixup98, I love your videos, your style and your delivery. Great stuff and thanks. *Oh also, the "spring" design there has to be one of the silliest things I've ever seen on a gun and that's saying something! For that to be the choice of a designer just boggles my mind when good springs have existed for such a long time.
I remember how everyone shilled hard for this gun before launch, tons of “excitement,” around it. Then they were shipping guns to reviewers and dealers with loose sights, and guns that could barely circle a few rounds before failures occurred. This deserves a Forgotten Weapon’s video, with the rest of the latest Remington pistols.
1. Can you replace that ball with an appropriate spring and test it? Maybe worth a try. 2. Tip: Any time you get blood on a gun it is a good idea to get it off right away. It is very corrosive and can start a rust issue very quickly on exposed steel parts.
"All I'm asking for is the right to the same weapons that I paid for the Taliban to own." - Michael Malice (Author, Podcaster, Internet Troll for Liberty) LET'S GO BRANDON!
I brought an old Remington pistol made in 1907 from the auction house in RI for $420.00 in 2016. The gun is in .32 ACP and in excellent original shape will old factory cosmopolitan on it. I never fire the gun, but I think it is a good defense choice in some neighborhood in a big city.The OEM box is cost more than the gun and the cost for permit to buy and carry this gun in NE even added up higher.
I loved the way they look. Wanted one badly. First reports were terrible so I abstained. Waited on the new edition and still terrible reports. I wish they had been made better because I really did want one. That said, I am thankful I never bought one.
mine works perfectly. I carry it everyday. I put 500 rounds thru it a month.. it does in fact need maintenance.. I had 5 ftf in the first 100 rounds, after a good cleaning and lube and has been flawless ever since.. its not a gun for you beginners or glockenspiel guys
I got one of these with a big rebate, it took a pound of flesh every time I went to use it. The disassembly and reassembly would cut my hands. The grip safety would cut my hands. It would eject live ammo sometimes, it would shave off brass and copper everywhere. Traded it for a Ruger Security 9 and didn’t look back. The Ruger serves my purpose as a dirt cheap 9mm
I tried 9mm once. That was enough to make me stick to 357. I carry a 5 shot revolver for defense. Needless to say I don't expect to have time to reload although I do carry 5 extra rounds.
I had one of the orginals that Remington bought back. A couple years later, I bought a Gen 2. MISTAKE!!!! At 25 yards, I could not hit a paper plate, at 15 yards it was hit and miss (pun intended) at 10 yards if I amied at the bottom of the plate, I would hit the top. After 400 rounds I traded it in on something else. Field strip and re-assembly was difficult and time consuming. I will stay with 1911's and S&W revolvers.
I saw these in one of my local gun shops back when they originally came out. I liked how they looked but I didn't buy one. The salesman was the one who actually talked me out of it which is usually going to be a HUGE red flag with me lol. I guess I dodged a bullet (no pun intended).
Thanks for another excellent review and video. I've gone thru hundreds of firearms to see what I liked best and wish we had you-tube back in those days. I could have been a rich man. I watched the first gen R51 and knew from that point on they'd never get it right. Trade it off and do another review. We really enjoy them. Happy Father's Day.
I also owned many great firearms before youtube and they sure would have made for some great videos today if I still had them. Have a great Father's Day tomorrow.
Just to be fair, the Remington today is not the Remington that produced this pistol. After reorganization, the new Remington got rid of stuff they were not intending to produce. There are several guns, good and bad, that are not being produced today.
@@fullmentalalchemist3922 I have not heard that. Marlin was purchased by Ruger. Dokota Arms has opened under new ownership and name. Remington Ammo was purchased by Vista, the same company that owns CCI. I would doubt that Soros would own a gun company.
Good review. Enjoyed it. I had one and I loved it. It never malfunctioned, and just chugged along and shot great. Where we parted company was the first time I tried to field strip, clean and reassemble the blanking thing. I thought I would NEVER get it back together, and I knew if I ever did, I'd never take it apart again. Knowing what I know now, I'd just shoot it with Gunscrubber, the put a few drops of oil here and there, and call it good, but I just traded it off for something else.
Yea, we had these in the gun store I worked in, we clearenced them out for 100 bucks after testing a few and told people before they bought them what they were getting into.
IMO. I think the last thing you want is to be in an unexpected fire fight with a jammed pistol. Your last thoughts might be "Oh so that's the problem!"
I have a M-51 (1923 vintage) I like it, so I bought the R51 gen 2 for 199.00. When I first got I shot and shot it, until I didn't want to waste any more ammo. Not one single failure. I carried it in my range bag for 4 months. When I was done practicing for a competition. I'd pull it out and shoot it. it got banged up being in the bag, carried around, dirty, never cleaned it. IT SHOOTS PERFECT. I know the story of the gun. I'm starting to think the gun got a bad rap. It actually shoots better that a few of my other CC guns. Maybe some are better than others, I don't know , But mine is a good one.
@@mixup98 Nothing, I do Spray cleaner/ lubercant into the action and rub a little on the mag, never field stripped, I concentrate on my competition guns. I have well over 250 rounds thru it (5 boxes of ammo). it just shoots. the guys in my club kid me about it. I call it a junk gun, but it's really not. My theory is like everything manufactured, some come thur as lemons like my mark 4. Colt. others are better than average
Every time I read about or see a video on a firearm like this one that was just a dud all the way around, I have to wonder if the designer/manufacturer even shoots it before releasing it. You'd think this would've been caught before it was sold. It's not as if it was revolutionary in any way -- they weren't dealing with completely new concepts.
I once used the original model 51 in.380. It worked fine most of the time despite having a worn barrel. The jams that occured were mainly due to faulty magazines. It was very slim and could be easily concealed. The recoil spring was rather stiff.
The R51 - the gun everybody wanted to love, but Remington made sure they couldn't. I have 2 of them, they shoot okay, but I wouldn't trust carrying them.
Then why did you get two?
I have five Springfield XDs in .45ACP; two 5” barrels, two 4” barrels, and one subcompact mod2….. I trust them!
@@Rick_Sanchez_C137_ why do you have 5?
@@Rick_Sanchez_C137_ nobody cares about your compensation
@@Rick_Sanchez_C137_ I have a sub mod2 also. Shoots great but it never leaves the house anymore since it is HUGE compared to the P365 and 43x I recently acquired. Pretty much a nightstand gun now
@@Rick_Sanchez_C137_ The mechanics' Rick, the R51 has an interesting lockup, they were cheap enough someday to tinker with, and maybe someday, they will be reliable carry guns, right now though, I have too many other projects. I have many guns I have more than one of, it is, after all, a Hobby.
I wanted so badly for this gun to be reliable and for Remington to reclaim it's greatness. You dont always get what you want in life,
I don't get it... Remington is out of business.
I "heard" when Remington bought Marlin and fired all the Marlin personnel, the Marlin employees did a number on the tooling before they left.
@@m4rvinmartian came out in 2014 he got it used .
@@m4rvinmartian no, they aren't. Look up the website
It’s a real shame they got it wrong on that pistol. The old Remington pistols were amazing. R51 is as bad or worse than Remlins! That’s right I said it Remington couldn’t make a marlin lever action worth beans. Great video by the way!
I spit my coffee out at the silicon ball. Classic Remington, designed by a bunch of corporate executives. Probably saved two Pennies in production. Their rationale was that it’s not meant to be a range gun for thousands of rounds.
I'm sure Remington invested a lot of money in the design of this pistol and it was all wasted because they didn't use a simple, cheap spring under the extractor.
Tavor's use a polymer cone as their extractor "spring". Never seen or heard of one melting even after thousands of rounds. including mag dumps. Safe to say the ones in the Travor's are far higher quality than what Remington uses. Also look under an AR extractor and you'll often find rubber rings and a rubber insert inside the spring on many.
Or designed by lawyers
That rubber ball has the smell of a mechanical engineer all over it.
very classy .hope do well
That was an old box of Winchester Silvertip. I remember as a kid in the early 80’s when my dad bought a beautiful Browning Hi Power and the salesman opened the box to show him the bullet. That box brought back memories.
I have had one for two years and it has always ran flawlessly, love this gun!
Better buy a lottery ticket then.
I suspect that you're lying 🤥
@@M60gunner1971 I just went out and fired 3 mags at my farm, no problems at all. Did I get the only good one?
@@nelbax2084 Never would I ever stake my life on the integrity of bit of plastic foam to make my personal protection device function. I hope you don't edc it.
Thanks for the honest review. Your pain was our gain!
Thanks for the great comment!
I had an original Remingtlon Model 51 in .380. It was a fantastic little pistol, small, reliable, could feed hollow point and ball ammo without jamming.. Bought it for $80 used. Lost it in a home burglary years ago. Miss that little pistol.
Even though the R51 stinks, 15 years from now everyone will want one was a collector's item. Remington will probably be out of business. Thanks for the video
I have to agree with you and it just might become a collectors item someday. Maybe I will keep it.
What I don't get is why some of their products are selling for high prices.
I looked up the RP series and they were selling very high. I thought maybe with the company being kaput the prices would be low
Lay it up on the top shelf way in the back & forgetaboutit
Like my 1st gen S&W Sigma that I purchased before the lawsuit...Glock Clone
Ian's new channel runner up "forgotten junk"
One thing I will say, I look foward to what Ruger will do with the Remington and Marlin Lines. I bought a used Ruger Mini-30 and recently had some issues with it feeding properly. It was failing to feed every other round. I thought the mag was sitting too low in the reciever based on the Ruger Forum. I called Ruger, they paid to have it shipped to them and did an inspection free of charge. Turns out a bad batch of magazines made it out of the factory. They replaced my ejector, repaired the trigger guard as it was way too stiff for dissasembly, and sent me back 4 in spec magazines to replace my two bad ones. I really couldn't be happier with Rugers customer service and really look foward to any handling they do of the Marlin and Remington brands
Ruger has the best customer service. I've never had an issue with them. Plus they make great guns that usually work.
I don't think Ruger bought the Remington line. I do know they have the marlin trademark
Ruger only bought Marlin. Remington Arms is owned by Roundhill Group, an investment firm.
As for the rest of the Freedom Group sell off, Franklin Armory bought Bushmaster, JJE that owns PSA bought DPMS, AAC, H&R, Vista bought Remington ammo, Sierra bought Barnes.
@@stevennewman4778 maybe Ruger will fix Marlin. 🙏
I don’t know for the past five years I’ve been hearing bad things ,about the Remington pistols it is a good looking little gun though but reliability is what counts ,good video like always
I agree. Nice looking but perhaps not reliable.
It looks like an early 1990s future-gun
@@rob6850 With a slide that droops down toward the front. Just an optical illusion but the design is just weird looking overall. Don't get me started on those grip panels. Cheaper looking than the Ruger P-series. I didn't think that was possible. LOL.
So opposite of a glock?
@@aliceakosota797 No comparison
Life's too short to spend time shooting crappy guns. Time to ditch it and get something better. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and probably saving others from a frustrating purchase.
i carry a 1924 colt 380 auto pocket pistol works every time masterpiece thanks dad miss you
May I add life is too short for any tool or machine that doesn't work properly.
But I really like your point.
Spot on.
Exactly...save for a few extra weeks and get the best up front. Whether it be a HK, Glock, Springfield Armory or a M&P Shield you decide on. In the long run, no one wins a race to the bottom by compromising on cost or a poor design.
In the words of Hop: "i hate this gun...but i love this gun..."
For me, its the best $160 i ever spent. The sheer entertainment it brings at the range when you let your friends shoot it is priceless.
I bought one when it was first released. Figured it was a good looking little pistol and would be good for concealed carry. It was without a doubt the worst new I've ever purchased. That thing had issues I had never even seen in a pistol. It was a pain to disassemble, and worse to put back together. It was very accurate, but if I could get four shots out of the thing in a row, I was lucky. I sent it back to Remington twice for repairs, and got it back with the original issue fixed, but a new one then popped up. The second time they sent me back a new pistol altogether. I was great for the first couple of boxes of ammo, then it completely took a dump. I was going to sell the thing, but the last thing I wanted to do was pass on a headache that could cost someone their life, so I sent it back to Remington for a complete refund. When the refund is the best part of owning a gun that should tell you something.
It's really too bad that Remington couldn't figure out how to fix this cool looking pistol. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Wow. You basically got to rent one lol
@@mixup98 I own a original one and I think it’s great. The outside of it is a little beat up but really cool and I like it. When I first disassembled it I had a hell of a time getting it back together and now I only clean it but don’t take it apart.
I completely agree with you on selling a shit firearm to anyone so what I do is sell them to buyback program and get good cash without feeling bad about selling them to anyone.
@@luisp1174 "This one's for the gas torch"
How often did you guys need to draw an concealed on somebody? People trying to rob you etc? Why carry such a small gun around when you can carry a slightly large one that holds better in the hand and has more capacity?
Although it’s a piece of junk internally, I find it to be quite attractive visually. Very futuristic and as someone else pointed out, very shark looking.
Yes but don't bring it to a gun fight.
@@bobjones9727 Might be useful as a throwing object.
@@jllucci Only if your a gangster in the 1950's
@@jllucci Only if you're a 1950s gangster
Greetings from Venezuela, excellent video, thanks for that, a hug for you and your Family and my advance congratulations for Father's Day, may you continue wonderfully well.
Do you have any recommendations on how to cook family pets ? We will be needing some recipes in America. Let's go Brandon
That extraction setup is crazy. Never in my expected to see that. Wow what were they thinking
When High Points are considered a better quality and better looks than what Remington can do you know the apocalypse is upon us! 🤣
High points are definitely better quality but will never look better than this gun.
hi point is excellent
This fast food gun crap has to stop! That’s pistol is absolutely hideous. Such a shame what’s happened to Remington. I own many vintage 700’s which I consider the finest production rifle ever made.
@@uncleremus5046 I have a couple 700s the new ones are absolutely garbage as well as the new shotguns the fit and finish is awful and it's a complete travesty... I can no longer support them but that's fine because it's not the same company....
@@brettscott3759 Your right I agree completely. They are absolute garbage. 700’s & the 1100 were some of the most beautiful mass produced firearms ever & their down the drain. In 700’s I consider C prefix the height of Remington quality. Don’t buy any Remington past that prefix.
You kept shooting even after the thing made hamburger out of your hand. What a trooper!
11:56 I heard that the green rubber ball for the extractor is actually a piece of spearmint gum. Not only does it give the extractor a little bounce, but the gum also holds it together. Remington was focused on the future, because if you are hunkered down in a gun fight and sweating cause your pistol is broken, you can cool off with some icy mint gum. It's basically a little gum compartment, pretty sweet.
In the aftermarket community, some are even offering a replacement part, which happens to be a CBD gummy bear. It's just the right amount of spring tension and you can really chill out for when things get hairy.
🤣
😂😂
Double your pleasure, Double your fun, just don't spearmint in your gun.....
There are two more pieces of that Spearmint gum hidden inside the trigger area too. Increased use destroys them as springs or buffers. Forget about firing 500 rounds through this gun in practice every year. The R51 usually starts to fail by shot number 60.
Wow, what a shame. All Remington needed to do to make the R51 a success was reproduce the old Model 51 internals, with perhaps a few minor cosmetic changes externally. They would've had a grand-slam of a pistol and sold 'em as fast as they could make 'em.
I still wanna kick my own ass for passing up an original 51 at a gun show years ago. $300, and I just kept walking like an idiot.
That there was also a .45acp version, which the USN after testing preferred over the 1911 and which was sitting in Remington's own museum is further proof of Remington stupidity.
I often wonder how much money that pistol ended up costing Remington and how much it contributed to their downfall. Seems like for several years you couldn't open a gun magazine without seeing a huge recall notice for them!
That little green ball instead of an extractor spring was a baaaad idea.
Bad. They started eating the cost immediately and the recall didn't fix all the issues. The RP9 was their last trainwreck. You could grab them for $179 in my area and people were still getting the $220 Taurus instead. My friend bought the last 10 RP9's in his store for a laugh and tried to run them all to failure.
@@dukesilver702 It will be a bad idea over the years in existing pistols as it breaks down chemically into a mushy gum
It's a good question. Remington's 870 line of shotguns was a mainstay in their lineup and they were decent field and fowl pieces. I never owned or fired any of their centerfire rifles, but I never heard anything bad about them either. The 1911 clone they made for a couple years was a nice pistol with a smooth-as-glass action, beautiful bluing, and an overall good feel. They screwed the pooch with the Gen 1 R51, though - royally. I guess they're back at making guns again under the name "Remarms." Notably missing from their stable is the R51. They might have had a hit instead of a miss if they'd resurrected the original Model 51 exactly as it was. Not sure why they didn't.
Even their 870 went to crap when they dropped the wingmaster and went to the express.
It'll be one of those forgotten weapons that Ian can showcase years from now
That slide bite reminded me of what I got every time I shot the Walther PPKS that I used to have. Great video, thank you.
This is why I am a subscriber to your channel. Good honest reviews. Thanks mixup.
You are very welcome and thank you for always watching our videos.
I think it's such a cool looking gun, a real 'phaser' looking piece perfect for when you beam down at the beginning of each video. But I've heard the same thing about the take down and reassembly that you addressed and that extractor silliness just confirms that I'll pass on one. I do wonder if a gunsmith could configure a real spring to make it work better though. Probably not worth the expense.
even with a crazy mod ,i would even less depend my life on it.
This gun can't be made good. The problem is, Remington did not design it with a sufficient slide throw. The overall length of 124-grain 9mm causes reliability problems. It only works properly with 115 grain ammo, which is all low-end range junk. And it's a Pedersen action, which means it's highly flaky and sensitive to even minor changes in ammo specs. Pedersen actions really only work with military-standardized ammo. If you genuinely look at the history of John Pedersen's design submissions, you will see what an idiot he truly was; he kept making the same core mistakes over and over again, just in different ways. Always too complex and fragile actions, and always too fast cycling that outruns magazines unless their springs are brand new. And always very flaky and requires the ammo be perfectly to-spec. His designs have no place in the modern world.
@@WardenWolf Were the mistakes that Pedersen made the kind of mistakes caused by trying something new at the time, or were they mistakes almost any trained engineer/designer should have foreseen? I suppose your comments on repeating different iterations of the same mistake probably already answers my question but still maybe you have some answer? I only ask purely out of interest, not attempting to question your statements here at all.
@@Stigstigster While he submitted several designs to military trials, he failed to step back and analyze _why_ his designs failed to be adopted. The complaints were always along the lines of "Too complex and fragile", "Outruns the magazine", and "Requires extra steps to make work". So, he designed a toggle lock rifle that required the cartridges be oiled before insertion (this attracts dirt), so the rifle actually had to have an oiler built into it. And the toggle lock was both too fragile, too complex, and liked to outrun the magazine. Instead of actually analyzing the root of the failures (that he made it too complex and not robust enough, and the action was too fast), he created new designs which implemented those same failures in a different way. Instead of designing around and avoiding the reasons the design was rejected, he just came up with a new way to fail again. He didn't even have a lick of sense.
The fact it looked like a "phaser", should have been your first warning.
Buy some lawn -care/ home hardware equipment based on such a POV. You'll figure it out.
I have an old model 51 in 380 and it shoots great even after it gets hot. Good video and thanks!
I had one, did some research on it, took it out and put 200 rounds through it, it quit jamming, never had another problem with it. Sold it to a friend. He still shoots it with no problems.
I gace a few Model 51s and had a lot of hope that the R51 would be a worthy successor. I bought a new Gen II version and began my tests. A few years ago I did at least 3 videos on the process. Long and short is the more I fired it, the less reliable it got. The first 50 - 70 rounds fired with no issues. Then the hang ups began. Then ejections of loaded cartridges while the fired one remained in the chamber. Then after cleaning I had cases eject with no new cartridge being chambered, then misfires. I tried new magazines it made no difference. I began posting my results and firearms dealers who sold them began reacting in a negative fashion in my comments section. Some in very hostile fashion. Then I tried numerous bullet makes and weights but that made no difference. The gun's performance continued to deteriorate. I also began experiencing random magazine drops. Ultimately complete and total failures to fire no matter how tightly the grip safety was squeezed. Examining the gun much closer with magnification and auxiliary lighting I detected more instances of the silicone bearing spring you mention. If you tilt the frame carefully from some angles you can see into the trigger area we are not supposed to disassemble. Some of those silicone springs are visible inside the frame. No worries about me doing taking it apart once I saw those little blue green pieces of silicone.
My suspicion is that those little balls of silicone do not withstand use nearly as well as Remington designers expected them to. I do not know if they lose elasticity, deform or split under use. It doesn't matter. Their presence makes the pistol useless junk.
The whole world, and Remington, would have been much better off if instead of trying to make a cheap knockoff of a once great design they had just exact cloned the original .45acp version then sitting in the Remington museum and also introduced a 9mm version of that. The 1920s Remington M51 was such a great little .32 and .380 that Colt literally paid Remington to stop making it because consumers were choosing the Remington instead of the Colt .32s and .380s and sadly Remington took the money and complied. .
At the end I got nothing but clicks with no strikes against the primers. Many of those efforts were shown in my final R51 video. The R51 pistol is gun is a good fishing weight. I found a buyer and sold it soon after and used that money to by a used Ruger LC9S which behaves 1,000x more reliably.
I have never seen you not like a gun. This video is pretty interesting just like whatever was on the engineer's minds when they came up with this.
Ya must have missed the episode where Mixup threatened to hurl a Derringer into the weeds!
@@kathyarmstrong649 🤣🤣🤣 OH definitely I'm new to the channel
Wow, that's a shame. I think everyone watching this video wanted that little pistol to perform well. Too bad.
Well, thanks again for the very informative video. It's always a pleasure.
I started out really liking the pistol until it started to have extraction problems after just fifty or sixty rounds. As always, I thank you for watching and commenting on my videos.
Once again, you've saved me from making a big mistake on a handgun! I've been eyeing an honest to goodness, new in the box R51 that a local dealer has marked down to $125.00! I should have just taken a friend's advice and never even considered an R51 because his 2nd Gen model almost ended up costing him $600.00 because no FFL dealer wanted to take it in trade for a better pistol. One finally took mercy on my friend and made a trade with him for a slightly used Glock in .40S&W which he now carries on and off duty.
Honestly, I would snap up that R51 for $125 and keep in it unfired in the box. I'm willing to bet it will be a collector's item someday.
@@mixup98 I'll have to take that under consideration.....Even though there is a sweet old Savage 99 in .303 Savage on the rack behind the handgun cases that keeps calling out to me.
For $125 I would buy it just for it's oddness and historically bad reputation. Just for giggles. DO NOT use it for defense though...
@@stonefree1911 I'd would be more likely to utilize a pocket full of smooth flat river rocks and harsh language for personal defense than an R51 based on what I know of the model. If I was a collector of such firearms I might be lead to purchase the R51 in question but I'm more the type that only buys, and keeps, firearms that work and work well all the time. I do have a friend that collects "odd ball" firearms. He has a pretty big collection of such firearms in his vault, some of which seem to defy their own existence they are so bad, so I suspect he might be more inclined to buy a new in the box R51 and never put a round into/through it. I'm going to give my friend a call today and let him know about the R51 and leave it up to him. Besides, the more I think about it, that old Savage 99 needs a new, loving home, where it will again see use in the hunting fields.
For $125 I would get it just for the history.
I got one of these Gen 2's for just under 300 bucks new at a sporting goods store hoping it was going to be a decent gun. My experience was much like yours, I called customer service and they even told me to cut some of the spring off that sits inside the magazine as they thought the problem was with the mags being oversprung! I will say the gun runs better clean and lubed. I will keep it just for a history piece to show what Remington was making when they went under.
I like the looks, it's different. To bad u couldn't replace the rubber ball with a spring. Nothern Nevada looks like it has more trees. Happy Fathers day
You probably could, it wouldn't be difficult to experiment with a few different springs to find one that works
i know a guy who did have a smith do that he also had the chamber honed, that was another problem on his a tight chamber!
I've ended up with two of them, not because I think they're good guns but because I like them. There are two things that make a bad gun a bad gun, they're bad quality or a bad design, Remington managed to do both on nearly everything they brought out.
I remember when they were announced there was quite a bit of excitement for them on the gun forums, but man was it short lived.
Maybe a good gun smith can modify the extractor with a metal spring of some type. The rubber ball definitely a bad idea because even it did work the ball will deteriorate with age and use. Nice little pocket firearm though. Have a Blessed Day
Have a great Fathers Day tomorrow Michael.
Remington’s got balls designing that extractor.
I purchased the Gen 2 model for $200. Even though I saw some bad reviews, I couldn't resist. It seemed like the problem was usually with the second round in the mag. Fortunately for me, mine shoots fine. I love the sleek design, although it is heavy and only carries 7 rounds. For $200 I consider it a win.
Decades ago, I had one in.32 caliber. I foolishly traded it to a police officer wanting it tor a backup. It was a great gun.
I actually like the looks of the R51. Reminds me of a shark.
Honestly, I thought the same thing. Very Sharkey looking and quite an attractive pistol. It made me sad that it was such a terrible design though, internally I mean.
I was thinking of ordering one, not now. Thanks, mixup98, you saved this Veteran’s life! 💯🇺🇸👍
Glad I could help you Richard !!
Somewhere in a drawer at the factory is a prototype with a silicone recoil spring.
👍😁
The nice thing about revolvers, no failure to feed/extract.
I picked up an R51 for $199 about a year ago. Shoots very nicely, and is actually a lot of fun. However, the magazines have an odd lip design to them which, at times, results in the nose of the bullet diving low and not feeding properly. So, while it's fun to shoot for range time, it's never going to replace my P365 for carry purposes. Good and fair review, as always.
It's really not a bad range pistol, especially for two hundred bucks, but yeah, I also carry my Sig P365 for defense. Great minds think alike!
I tweaked the lips on the Gen 2 mag. It fed well after that.
If the extractor flaw was corrected, it is an attractive firearm.
Good morning Sean. I agree, it was a very attractive pistol. Thanks for the comment and I also thank you for the recent sub.
@@mixup98 I enjoy your no nonsense presentation, and the fun stuff as well. Thanks for the videos.
Those are cool as a curio standpoint but the original r51 would be great companion to my savage 1917 32 acp
I really need to get a savage 32acp sometime
When I was shooting other day, I noticed the mags have a slight bend at the top right corner. This caused me to have feeding problems with longer length cartridges because they they end up snagging on that lip due to clearance problems. I switched to slightly shorter ammo that cleared the lip and then I had zero malfunctions. So I recommend using a shorter overall length cartridge and the gun works fine. It also handles 124 grainers very well. I have to agree that disassembly is not too much of a problem, but reassembly can definitely be troublesome. Your tip about rocking the slide slightly back and forth to clear the rails was a godsend. Thanks for a really thorough and honest review.
Reply
Amost ten years ago I remember seeing this art-deco style sidearm and thought it seemed the zenith of high speed, low drag pocket pistols. Glad I waited. That being said, there's got to be an mechanical engineer or two at Ruger who can design a never fail spring for that massive extractor, even if it needs an insert like the extractor spring on an M4.
Tweak the frame so the slide is 1/8" higher or the beavertail is better placed, chamber it in .380 to have the gun's weight weight dampen the recoil and VOILA! the company Ruger paid so much for now has a pistol they can market without all the development costs... and unlike their little plastic pistols, one you can actually grip.
I don’t think u understand the market those tiny little plastic staplers are selling like discount hotcakes ! And now they have a max double stack and the 30 super carry is getting hot. So no it wouldn’t sell even with those changes
As I recall, Remington gave owners of the gen 1 R51 the option to put the value of the gun toward the purchase of a 1911 if they didn't want the gen 2. They were very resistant to giving the owners their money back.
My initial impression of the R51 when they first hit the market was "Wow! This gun feels amazing in my hand!" but I was hesitant to buy a firearm design that was brand new, especially from Remington. I decided to wait a few months and see how the word of mouth went. So glad I did that.
We have an old Italian Star in .380 and it bites me hand just like this Remington. That ball as a spring must have been some sort of cost cutting measure but WOW that is dumb.
Star pistols are made in Spain.
@@everready19373 Ah tank you. It still bites though 😸
I think that rubber ball was added by a prior owner just to make shootable and able to be sold off! It was never in the parts diagrams..........................elsullo
Everyone who had problems said that the pistol ran fine for about 50 rounds then after that just wouldn't work right, wouldn't feed consistently, once they get hot they never run the same. It was crazy to see that extractor ball thing thank you for showing that!! Never seen that before myself
I bought a 2nd gen when they first came out. I think it was $199. I love mine. I think the design is awesome. Its light weight. Thin. The shape is easy to take in and out of the holster. Its not big and boxy and squared off like most other 9mm. I cary it every day. So far shooting its been flawless. I dont shoot it as often as other might. Especially with the price of ammo. Maybe I got the one exception out there. As far as the rubber instead of a spring is beyond me. But I love mine. I wish other manufacturers would aim to design similar to this style instead o the squared off ribs on every edge like most are.
Any chance of changing out the rubber ball with a bespoke spring? I find the design absolutely beautiful, a mixture of old-school single-stack concealed hammer (like the P7) and a bit of 2000's 'space gun' ergonomics (like the Vektor CP1).
@@TheAmateurEditor That I'm not sure of yet. If Remington comes out with a fix for that I might look into it. Or if some aftermarket company does, I might look into that also. But for now I'm just going to leave it the way it is. It's working fine so far. I guess the old adage, if it aint broke (some might say it was built broke) Don't fix it.
I carry my R-51 also. 1800 rounds and zero failures. Learned the correct way to disassemble and reassemble, takes me 35 seconds. I can also do it in 1 minute 15 seconds while blind folded.
Good, honest review. Those pawn shop finds can't always be winners.
Thanks for the info! You gave me the answer I have been asking myself between the R51 and the Bersa Thunder Plus. I rather have a .380 that works all the time versus a 9mm that works "most of the time". Hell, i would go with a Rock Island Armory .38 snubby over the R51.
that extractor ball is just nutz ! So many problems this can have from cleaning solvents to even just weather conditions ... no wonder this was an el-floppo-supremo ! yeet that *
That is one sweet target pistol.
If you use it as a target. 😁
😁😁
well done, honest video, thanks. my bersa thunder 380 similarly chewed up my shooting hand so away it went.
I always liked the look of that pistol, very 1930's version of what the future would look like. Unfortunately was a total failure, and seems like a perfect symbol of Remington's decline.
It looks like a futuristic 1930s pistol because the original design is from around then lol.
I may have told you this before, but I want you to know how much I appreciate the safe way you physically handle your firearms and I especially am grateful for your lack of political drama on your channel. In this day and age its unusual and refreshing.
Hello Chris. I like to keep politics out of my videos, although I have been known to slip in a few jabs overs the years. I figure my viewers want to see how a firearm performs, not listen to my political views. Safety is always my number one concern when handling firearms and fortunately I had several great teachers when I was younger, including my dad. Your comments are always greatly appreciated.
Whoa, Beautiful Northern Nevada! Haven't heard you say that in a while, very nice.
Um, can you say, "Lake Tahoe?"............................elsullo
It took a trip to Remington for some quality time with one of their gunsmiths. Mine came back perfect after Remington replaced the slide, the magazines, and polished the bolt.
Mixie...that's the Remington "DW 51"... that model was the short lived version designed with the experimental "Dentyne Wintergreen" extractor ball....the thought was a cheaper easier replacement then an extractor spring and would also keep your weapon smelling fresh as a daisy!Remington thankfully shit canned the "JF" or Juicy Fruit conceptual model....👍💥🇺🇸💥
At least Remington attempted to treat customers fairly unlike Berretta who doesn't know you when you have malfunctions in their small handguns.
The most beautiful gun I never wanted.
Also, please cover up the Huntsville, AL on the side. We're trying to get the Space Force, we don't need the bad press.
"The most beautiful gun I never wanted" Best quote of the year...thank you.
As the slide continues rearward, lugs on the side of the breechblock are riding in channels on the sides of the slide. These initially horizontal channels now angle upward and the breechblook is lifted over the frame lug unlocking the breech. Another lug on the slide top engages the breechblock and carries it backward, opening the breech and extracting the case.
Hesitation time between the locking and unlocking of the breechblock is sufficient to allow the bullet to exit the muzzle and chamber pressure to drop to a safe level. To further impede the speed of the initial blowback, the chamber walls are unpolished resulting in higher friction increasing the inertia that must be overcome to start the case moving. This results in the fired cases have a distinctive "frosted" appearance.
In inherent weakness of this action is that in order for the action to cycle properly, the slide and breechblock must be fully forward in battery when fired, but due to the unlocked breech, they can be held out of battery (and still be fired safely) if a round fails to fully chamber. This condition can often occur with some common and popular brands of ammo.
The throat of the barrel of the R51 is cut with a very short lede. As a result, bullets that are not seated to the beginning of the ogive and thuse have the straight sides of the bullet exposed beyond the case mouth can engrave on the rifling before the cartridge is fully chambered and prevent the breech from fully entering battery. Because the recoil of the slide is dependent on the momentum imparted by the breechblock, the breechblock must be free to travel the designed 0.10" before the slide disengages but this is not possible when the breech is out of battery when fired. In fact, the closer the breechblock is to the frame lug, the less momentum is imparted to slide which will cause the slide to short-cycle and cause failures to extract or failures to feed. The user manual clearly states that only Remington or Barnes ammo should be used, and indeed, all Remington and Barnes ammo so far encounterd has deeply seated bullets which chamber properly. Other brands, not so much, and this is especially true of +P ammo which tends to be seated long to reduce pressures.
Adding to this is the fact that the height of the magazine follower does not allow a full magazine to be inserted and fully seat on a closed slide. It can be forece into place, bt the resulting pressure from the top round against the bottom of the slide furture impedes recoil often causing a failure to feed on the first shot, as well as releasing the not fully locked magazine. If the gun does cycle with a fuil magazine, the pressure of the slide on the top round may force the round into a positon where rather than rising to engage the feed ramp, the nost of the bullet is forced against the front of the mag and fails to feed.
These are the two major causes of the failures of the R51 under fire. They are easily aleviated but not inexpensively for the user. The magazine is the easiest. Disassemble the magazien and remove 0.i0-0.20" from the bottom of the follower. This allows more room for the 7th round to be properly positoned against a closed slide.Remington actually did this with the Gen2 magazines so Gen2 R51s do not have this problem.
The other fix requires either testing all ammo for proper chambering-easily done with a plunk test-or having a gunsmitl open the throat and increase the lede in the barrel to allow full chambering of all brands of ammo. This is something that Remington could have and should have done with Gen 2 but didn't. Perhaps they saw no reason to encourage the use of other ammo brands when not addressing it would encourge the use of their own. A gunsmith can cost $100 or more, and is not a cost that the user should have to bear. Unfortunately, Remington was sold off in bankuptcy so they are not going to pay and the user may not consider the gun worth the additional expense since there is ammo available that will chamber properly.
Probably would have been better off getting a Hi Point
...or a Nambu.
The first thing I noticed right before the extractor problem was the gun was throwing the empty brass in all directions, That has happened to me with a couple pistols several years ago, and it is usually not a good thing to see. I was pretty amazed when I saw the little green ball used for an extractor spring. Someone who owns a Colt All American 2000 might enjoy this R51 to keep the 2000 company. Still a great video as always.
You'd think that you could replace that ball with a proper spring with enough stiffness to it that it would fix that problem.
My thoughts as well. Wonder if anyone has tried such a replacement and what the results were?
Worth a try 👍
Southern or northern.... do not matter. Nevada is beautiful. Greatings from southern Brazil!!!!
I bought one when Sportsman's had them for $250 brand new. CDNN had the Crimson Trace specifically for the R51 for $30 not much later. I've only shot about a hundred rounds through it, but haven't had any issues so far. The owner's manual does show the "elastomer extractor button" in the exploded view, so it's a "design feature" from the factory on my Gen 2.
Thank you for confirming the elastomer extractor button, which some viewers believed was not original to the pistol.
@@mixup98 To be fair to the doubters, it does look like someone took a caulking gun and pumped a blob of silicone under the rear of the extractor after losing a spring. Well, the ReverendJasper here confirms it as you say. Also, Mixup98, I love your videos, your style and your delivery. Great stuff and thanks. *Oh also, the "spring" design there has to be one of the silliest things I've ever seen on a gun and that's saying something! For that to be the choice of a designer just boggles my mind when good springs have existed for such a long time.
I remember how everyone shilled hard for this gun before launch, tons of “excitement,” around it. Then they were shipping guns to reviewers and dealers with loose sights, and guns that could barely circle a few rounds before failures occurred. This deserves a Forgotten Weapon’s video, with the rest of the latest Remington pistols.
1. Can you replace that ball with an appropriate spring and test it? Maybe worth a try. 2. Tip: Any time you get blood on a gun it is a good idea to get it off right away. It is very corrosive and can start a rust issue very quickly on exposed steel parts.
I will try and find a spring that might work, and I'll do a follow up video if I get it to work properly.
Or the gun is stolen and used in a felony,your DNA will stand out.😎🌴
we've known these are trash for 8 years. but Im glad these reviews still come out to remind anyone looking in a pawn shop to steer clear
"All I'm asking for is the right to the same weapons that I paid for the Taliban to own." - Michael Malice (Author, Podcaster, Internet Troll for Liberty)
LET'S GO BRANDON!
I brought an old Remington pistol made in 1907 from the auction house in RI for $420.00 in 2016. The gun is in .32 ACP and in excellent original shape will old factory cosmopolitan on it. I never fire the gun, but I think it is a good defense choice in some neighborhood in a big city.The OEM box is cost more than the gun and the cost for permit to buy and carry this gun in NE even added up higher.
I really wanted one of these, but haven't found one positive review on it. 😔
I loved the way they look. Wanted one badly. First reports were terrible so I abstained. Waited on the new edition and still terrible reports. I wish they had been made better because I really did want one. That said, I am thankful I never bought one.
Surely someone can make it work
mine works perfectly. I carry it everyday. I put 500 rounds thru it a month.. it does in fact need maintenance.. I had 5 ftf in the first 100 rounds, after a good cleaning and lube and has been flawless ever since.. its not a gun for you beginners or glockenspiel guys
My grandpa's favorite expletive was "stinker"...reminded me of him. He's been gone 30 years now.
Thanks for sharing your videos and keep them coming please.
More to come!
I got one of these with a big rebate, it took a pound of flesh every time I went to use it. The disassembly and reassembly would cut my hands. The grip safety would cut my hands. It would eject live ammo sometimes, it would shave off brass and copper everywhere. Traded it for a Ruger Security 9 and didn’t look back. The Ruger serves my purpose as a dirt cheap 9mm
I tried 9mm once.
That was enough to make me stick to 357.
I carry a 5 shot revolver for defense.
Needless to say I don't expect to have time to reload although I do carry 5 extra rounds.
I have one and I adore it. Runs great, no problems.
Thanks for the feedback, it is greatly appreciated.
That gun has a cool look to it. I'd also love to find an RP45.
Also if you could you should do a comparison between this and the RP9.
Very good non-bias review. Keep 'em coming.I watch every week mixup98.
I had one of the orginals that Remington bought back. A couple years later, I bought a Gen 2. MISTAKE!!!! At 25 yards, I could not hit a paper plate, at 15 yards it was hit and miss (pun intended) at 10 yards if I amied at the bottom of the plate, I would hit the top. After 400 rounds I traded it in on something else. Field strip and re-assembly was difficult and time consuming. I will stay with 1911's and S&W revolvers.
Dude, you found at least two problems with a gun I had high hopes for.
Revolvers ALWAYS WORK!
I saw these in one of my local gun shops back when they originally came out. I liked how they looked but I didn't buy one. The salesman was the one who actually talked me out of it which is usually going to be a HUGE red flag with me lol. I guess I dodged a bullet (no pun intended).
Sounds like a gun dealer id go.out of my way to buy from
I appreciate you buying and reviewing this. You save a lot of people from wasting their money.
Looks fantastic, love the design, if only it’s build quality was better
Thanks for another excellent review and video. I've gone thru hundreds of firearms to see what I liked best and wish we had you-tube back in those days. I could have been a rich man. I watched the first gen R51 and knew from that point on they'd never get it right. Trade it off and do another review. We really enjoy them. Happy Father's Day.
I also owned many great firearms before youtube and they sure would have made for some great videos today if I still had them. Have a great Father's Day tomorrow.
@@mixup98 Thanks you Sir.
The third failure to extract looked the rim got ripped out. Did you ever look at the cases that didn’t extract?
Thank you, very much! I'll avoid it like the plague!
Just to be fair, the Remington today is not the Remington that produced this pistol. After reorganization, the new Remington got rid of stuff they were not intending to produce. There are several guns, good and bad, that are not being produced today.
Didn't Soros buy them?
@@fullmentalalchemist3922 I have not heard that. Marlin was purchased by Ruger. Dokota Arms has opened under new ownership and name. Remington Ammo was purchased by Vista, the same company that owns CCI. I would doubt that Soros would own a gun company.
@@Mauser304 well that's good. It seems brilliant for someone with money who hates a certain thing to buy into that thing to destroy it.
Good review. Enjoyed it. I had one and I loved it. It never malfunctioned, and just chugged along and shot great. Where we parted company was the first time I tried to field strip, clean and reassemble the blanking thing. I thought I would NEVER get it back together, and I knew if I ever did, I'd never take it apart again. Knowing what I know now, I'd just shoot it with Gunscrubber, the put a few drops of oil here and there, and call it good, but I just traded it off for something else.
There's so many quality proven brands of pistols out there. Why take a chance on something like this?
Yep
Looks like something out of a Buck Rogers movie waiting for a death beam to come out the barrel
HEY BOSS THAT,'S A NIGHTMARE , THANK"S HAPPY'S FATHER'S DAY GUY'S GOD BLESS !
Thank you Jose and Happy Fathers Day to you too!
Yea, we had these in the gun store I worked in, we clearenced them out for 100 bucks after testing a few and told people before they bought them what they were getting into.
IMO. I think the last thing you want is to be in an unexpected fire fight with a jammed pistol. Your last thoughts might be "Oh so that's the problem!"
You wouldn't be fortunate enough to have that much time.😂
@@aldousorwell3807 Hail the revolver.
I have a M-51 (1923 vintage) I like it, so I bought the R51 gen 2 for 199.00. When I first got I shot and shot it, until I didn't want to waste any more ammo. Not one single failure. I carried it in my range bag for 4 months. When I was done practicing for a competition. I'd pull it out and shoot it. it got banged up being in the bag, carried around, dirty, never cleaned it. IT SHOOTS PERFECT. I know the story of the gun. I'm starting to think the gun got a bad rap. It actually shoots better that a few of my other CC guns. Maybe some are better than others, I don't know , But mine is a good one.
Thanks for sharing your experience Ron. Did you have to make any modifications to the magazines?
@@mixup98 Nothing, I do Spray cleaner/ lubercant into the action and rub a little on the mag, never field stripped, I concentrate on my competition guns. I have well over 250 rounds thru it (5 boxes of ammo). it just shoots. the guys in my club kid me about it. I call it a junk gun, but it's really not. My theory is like everything manufactured, some come thur as lemons like my mark 4. Colt. others are better than average
@@ronguziejka2602 Thanks for the reply Ron....I really appreciate it.
Every time I read about or see a video on a firearm like this one that was just a dud all the way around, I have to wonder if the designer/manufacturer even shoots it before releasing it. You'd think this would've been caught before it was sold. It's not as if it was revolutionary in any way -- they weren't dealing with completely new concepts.
I once used the original model 51 in.380. It worked fine most of the time despite having a worn barrel. The jams that occured were mainly due to faulty magazines. It was very slim and could be easily concealed.
The recoil spring was rather stiff.