Remington R-51 – LonelyMachines

Ordnance

Everybody’s an Expert

The Truth About Guns has a review of the new Remington R-51 pistol in which the author perceives numerous shortcomings in the design. I might be inclined to take him seriously if he actually seemed to understand the gun in question.

It works more like a Luger P08 than anything else, with a fixed barrel and short-stroke style action.

The R51 doesn’t work anything like a Luger. It uses a delayed blowback mechanism, while the Luger has a unique toggle-lock system. I suppose we could stretch the criteria and claim that the pistols are similar because both fire the 9mm cartridge, both feed from a removable magazine, and both have fixed barrels. Of course, that would mean the R51 is also identical to the Steyr GB or the H&K P7, which is hardly the case.

It’s unfortunate he didn’t like the R-51 as much as his Glock, but if he’s going to sound credible, he needs to better understand the things he’s reviewing.

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Ordnance

The Remington R-51

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Of all the unlikely but cool things to resurrect, Remington is producing a new version of their Model 51. The original was a neat pistol with a unique “hesitation locked” blowback action designed by John Pedersen. That one was chambered in .380 Auto and .32 ACP and had a steel frame, while the new iteration will be chambered in 9mm.

To modern eyes, it may look like a hybrid of a VP70 and a Whitney Wolverine, but the 51 is a smaller, thinner gun, with a lighter trigger. It looks as if the grip panels are replaceable, which is a nice touch. Surprisingly, MSRP is $389, which should put it well under $350 on the open market.

While it’s a bit on the small side, it’s larger than some of the micro-9mm guns that are all the rage. That means it should actually be shootable. Looks like I just found my first gun for the new year.