It was nearly three years ago a group of us were exposed to pre-production samples of the Remington R51 pistol. These 'proof-of-concept' pistols were shot to the tune of about 5,000 rounds total and they worked remarkably well. The rest of the story is actually mass producing the design was problematic and caused Remington no end of headaches. The 're-engineered' R51 has been out a short while now and one showed up at the shop for examination. The Remington Model 51 pistol was designed by John Pedersen, an engineer who developed and co-developed a number of guns for Remington. It was made in .32 ACP and .380 ACP from 1918 to around 1927. An asset of the design was a lighter slide than a straight blowback pocket pistol, this due to the hesitation lock, a way to delay unlocking while keeping the fixed barrel of the typical blowback pocket pistol. The hesitation lock – a locking breech block – is used in the modern R51 in 9x19 as it was in the Remington Model 53 in .45 caliber, prototypes of which were tested against the production 1911. The Remington pistol had some advantages against the Browning pistol, but the advent of the U.S. entry into WWI stopped the proceedings and development was stopped. "The lower the gun sits in the hand, the less muzzle flip and the less perceived recoil. The design also makes it easy to rack the slide. The trigger is single action that's fairly light and breaks clean. There is a grip safety and no manual safety lever. The grip frame is a bit longer than other guns in its class making it extremely comfortable to shoot." – This was from our original piece on the R51 from January 7, 2014.

Outdoor Wire Publisher Jim Shepherd shooting one of the pre-production R51 pistols at Gunsite, December, 2013.

The ergonomic rake of the gripping portion of the Model 51 frame was originally said to "self-aiming." The R51 shares that heritage. Still there are significant differences and, like the M51, the R51 has a unique look. Unlike the M51, the R51 has no magazine disconnector. There is no manual safety but a grip safety, making the gun reminiscent of – but not actually like – a "squeeze cocker." The Model 51 had a 3 ¼" barrel, was 6 5/8" long, was .9" wide and weighed 21 ounces. The 9mm R51 has a 3.4" barrel, is 6.6" long, is 1" wide and weighs in at 22 ounces – not a lot of difference there. Compare it to another 9mm compact single stack, the S&W Shield: it holds 7 or 8 rounds in the magazine (the R51 holds 7). The Shield has a 3.1" barrel, is 6.1 inches long, is .95" wide and weighs 19 ounces. The frame of the Shield is a polymer, while the R51 is an aluminum alloy. The R51 is hammer fired and the Shield is striker fired – both have a consistent trigger press, first shot to last. The gun just recently arrived and there was just time for one short range outing so far. The ammunition used was Creedmoor 115 grain JHP/HAP (Hornady Action Pistol bullet), Remington/UMC Leadless 115 grain Flat Nose Enclosed Base and Hornady American Gunner 115 grain XTP.

At seven and fifteen yards, the R51 was 'okay.' Considering this was the first trip, it's not a deal breaker. It's notable that the group from each distance was the same size.

A slow fire string at seven yards with the Creedmoor ammo wasn't much about which to write home – around 2" – but it was the first rounds fired through the gun. The same drill was followed at fifteen yards and while the group was a little higher on the bulls-eye, it was about the same size. I thought that this could get interesting, but my 25 yard effort was disappointing. I defaulted to the six inch swinging plate from fifteen yards and knocked it back and forth with boring regularity. Trying the Pedersen "self-aiming" ergonomics I worked on some Applegate point from seven yards. I was surprised how well that worked – I'm no "instinctive" shooting type. There was one failure to feed after the slide got to feeling sluggish toward the end of the exercise. The excess of oil on the piece when it arrived was such that I may have been too zealous in drying it up. Regardless, after the stoppage, it hammered a quick seven round magazine load into the target with no trouble. This was just the first trip to the range for this heater. There will be more. Stay tuned. -- Rich Grassi