Remington R51? Mixed feelings abound.
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So a quick background and on to the main issue. I work at a gun shop, and we finally have some of these things trickling in. My grandfather has wanted one since he heard about them, so I gave him a call and he came and bought one. He left it with me for me to try out after work.
Here is where the fun starts. I put 150 rounds through the gun. 100 115gr Aguila, and 50 124gr Blazer Brass were put through the gun. There was no rhyme or reason regarding what I put through in what order. There was no mixing of loads in the magazine though. During the first 50-75ish rounds I would have a stoppage fairly religiously on the last round of every magazine. After that everything seemed to run smoothly.
After shooting I got home to clean out the lovely mixture of packing oil and powder fouling. Apart from the gun being slightly more difficult to take apart than a 1911 everything went smoothly. The issue I found is on the front left rail and chamber support area it looks really battered where the breech block is supposed to cam upwards on the rear edge.
I might think this is normal except there is a good bit of aluminum shavings in the action which I can only guess is from there where that section of the frame has been worn away.
Seeing as this is a new gun, and I am the only person I know personally to have fired one I am interested in getting opinions.
Here is where the fun starts. I put 150 rounds through the gun. 100 115gr Aguila, and 50 124gr Blazer Brass were put through the gun. There was no rhyme or reason regarding what I put through in what order. There was no mixing of loads in the magazine though. During the first 50-75ish rounds I would have a stoppage fairly religiously on the last round of every magazine. After that everything seemed to run smoothly.
After shooting I got home to clean out the lovely mixture of packing oil and powder fouling. Apart from the gun being slightly more difficult to take apart than a 1911 everything went smoothly. The issue I found is on the front left rail and chamber support area it looks really battered where the breech block is supposed to cam upwards on the rear edge.
I might think this is normal except there is a good bit of aluminum shavings in the action which I can only guess is from there where that section of the frame has been worn away.
Seeing as this is a new gun, and I am the only person I know personally to have fired one I am interested in getting opinions.
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Here are the pictures. Sorry they are from an iPhone, and unfortunately thats the best I have.
Hopefully you can see what I mean. It almost reminds me of how barrels looks when an oprod is making contact.
Also I know my finger is on the trigger. Im a righty and my left hand hasn't learned subconscious trigger discipline like my right haha.
Hopefully you can see what I mean. It almost reminds me of how barrels looks when an oprod is making contact.
Also I know my finger is on the trigger. Im a righty and my left hand hasn't learned subconscious trigger discipline like my right haha.
I have wondered how Remington approached the aluminum frame interfacing with the steel breechblock. Old Model 51 .380s had steel heat treated frames to take the load. Slides, too, but that's not an issue here.
Having not had one of the new fangled versions in hand yet, I'm relying on y'all for info!
Having not had one of the new fangled versions in hand yet, I'm relying on y'all for info!
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Ill stick to my M700 and leave it at that.
I think your biggest problem is that it was made by Remington. That wear doesn't seem like normal break in wear and tear and I agree that aluminum doesn't look right at all. Something is not meshing well. I would recommend calling Remington to see what they say, but I've not had the best customer service from them in the past. They will probably tell you that its either your fault, or they can fix the problem but its a 6-15 month turn around.
Good luck.
Good luck.
I have put @250 rnds standard velocity FMJ thru mine with no problems or stoppages and no particular wear like you are showing. I did discover that the slide release lever can be put in two different ways, one of which causes the slide to lock open with no magazine; haven't figured the trick out on that yet, but I did get it to function normally. The pistol I have is quite accurate and pleasant to shoot. Finding a spare magazine has been an issue.
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I checked out another one at Cabela's yesterday (different one than the first one I saw... the front sight wasn't as buggered up... hopefully they didn't sell the first one but rather returned it to the factory). This one also locked back without a mag in the gun... in fact no mag was in the pistol or in evidence... and upon dry firing (with permission) the slide locked shut so that neither I nor the counter guy could retract it.
I handed it back to him and said "I think I'll wait on that one." He replied, "I don't blame you."
I handed it back to him and said "I think I'll wait on that one." He replied, "I don't blame you."
I haven't had the time to get in touch with Remington, although the pistols owner AKA my grandfather is about livid.
Hopefully this will be a early issue and will be resolved shortly. I will try and get some better pictures up tomorrow, and put up a very pic heavy post.
I really hope Remington didn't royally mess this up, because the original Model 51 is really just too cool.
Hopefully this will be a early issue and will be resolved shortly. I will try and get some better pictures up tomorrow, and put up a very pic heavy post.
I really hope Remington didn't royally mess this up, because the original Model 51 is really just too cool.
Only slightly! Best .380 I've ever used. Curses on Remington if they did it wrong after all these years.
Here are some better pictures. Sadly I am restricted to the iPhone camera.
Hopefully you all can get a better look at that wear I'm talking about.
Also thank you very much jmoore for making me incredibly jealous! It isn't like money has a hard time staying in my wallet anyways!
Hopefully you all can get a better look at that wear I'm talking about.
Also thank you very much jmoore for making me incredibly jealous! It isn't like money has a hard time staying in my wallet anyways!
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