Friday, April 18, 2014

Remington R51 Summary and Opinion

After 200+ rounds, I'm only half way through break in, but I have made a few discoveries and formed an opinion. As with all opinions, it is subject to change as new facts develop.

The gun design is solid and so is the gun if made properly. Remington recently absorbed Para-USA (formerly Para Ordinance) and the gun is built by Para in Clintonville, NC. I don't know, but it appears they might have laid off the Quality Control department. Remington is taking a lot of guns back for warranty work (which may explain why there are no spare parts for sale) but turn around is a couple of weeks or more. Some of these problems are probably resolvable by tech-savvy owners willing to tear into the gun so if you like living on the bleeding edge, go for it. If not waiting until the production problems are resolved may be your best bet. But waiting is not the same as giving up. If you need a very accurate, controllable, concealable, 9mm+P rated gun for home or self defense, this is a gun worth waiting for.

At the price, I didn't have high expectations of quality, I just expected the gun to function, and perhaps need some tweaking to function reliably. The gun I have meets those expectations. The only major problem I have right now is the chamber/barrel, and I can fix that myself if Remington does not.

I still suspect the possibility of apathy at Para towards producing this gun resulting in careless production and QA. If they can get that under control, firm up the trigger wobble (which just screams CHEAP even when it causes no functional problem), and cut a proper chamber they will clear up a lot of the problems people are having IMO.

Another thing, Remington "introduced" the R51 at surprise session for writers at Gunsite in Dec. 2013. The guns there were pre-production models and the writers burned through a few thousand rounds of ammo and raved about the pistol. These demo guns had solid, not skeletonized, triggers and there as no mention of side wobble. Also, the slides were very easy to rack. MSRP was estimated at $375 with a mid Feb release

When SHOT 2014 rolled around a moth later, there were guns at the Remington booth, but the trigger had changed to a skeletonized version. And the gun was not available for shooting on media day. This sent up red flags. MSRP was now $420 another flag. Mid Feb came and went without guns, yet another flag. When the gun started hitting the stores in March, it was different beast than the writers saw at GunSite.

I think there was some hard pressure to cut costs, maybe to get to the $375 MSRP level, may just to increase the profit margin. the cost cutting was done in little things. A cast skeletonized trigger saved metal and machine time. But it also lost some precision and gained some side play. Longer machine runs before changing tools may have saved a little on production cost, but added rough finish. marks in places and poor tolerances. The barrels were rough chambered and not finish reamed of polished, QA inspections were reduced and rejections limited. More guns reached the shelves in conditions that should never have made it out the door. The preceeding is just wild speculation but it does make some sense.

These are the only issues I have with mine in what I consider order of seriousness:

1. Firing pin sticks in channel resulting in light strikes and failure to fire.

 Serious because of difficulty of recovery during fire. Cycling may or may not jar pin loose. Could be a fatal malfunction in an SD situation.

The firing pin (at least mine did) has burrs around the cut for the retaining pin. Quick polish with 1200 grit emery paper removes the burrs and eliminates problem.

2. Chamber not finished.

Most problems reported seem to stem from failure to fully chamber some brands of ammo as a result of no throat being cut to allow the cartridge to chamber without the bullet contacting the lands.
   
Needs to be finished reamed. This requires a gunsmith or factory service. I can do it myself, but I don't want to have to.    

3. Slide action is erratic. Sometimes it is harder to rack then others 

This problem is deeper than it might seem. The source of the problem seems to be in the disconnector, which is engaged at 3 distinct times during the cycling. The slide is easiest to cycle when the pistol is not cocked and the trigger and safety are both held down while cycling the slide. If the trigger is not held down, the disconnector offers stiff resistance right at the beginning of the cycle when slide momentum can't assist in defeating it.

There are several points during the cycle of the slide that the trigger is not disconnected and can be pulled, tripping the sear and releasing the hammer. Pulling the trigger while the slide is cycling (perhaps in anticipation or trigger reset?) can depending just when it occurs, result in the hammer falling to half cock and locking the slide partially open.

The disconnector needs to be redesigned so that it is activated just after the breech unlocks and ideally, does not reconnect until the pistol goes into battery. This would prevent the pistol from firing out of battery (with the breech locked) and insures the pistol con only be fired when there can be enough momentum imparted to the slide to cycle the action.
   
Finish polish/deburring of the recoil spring bushing, and channel in the slide in which it rides will help as well.    

4. Trigger side wobble

The trigger wobbles from side to side, sometime binding in the channel

A problem for some because if excessive, can cause the trigger to hang up on sides of the trigger channel in the frame.
   
A bushing that could also serve as an assembly slave pin would correct a of to this, as would widening the trigger to lengthen the pin hole.   

5. Magazine issues

Hollow points hang on the front lip of the magazine.

The magazine is overly long, front to back for 9mm. This is because it fits the mad well and it is oversized, probably to accommodate multiple calibers in the same frame. The front feed lip seems to serve the purpose of guiding shorter rounds back into the feed lips just before they are picked up by the slide. I think this is necessary to get the rim under the extractor, so removing the front lip is not really an option. Perhaps it can be made wider so it can't enter the wider hollow points, or perhaps a full length spacer can be pressed into the sheet metal.
   
Base plate recessed into frame makes mag difficult to seat reliably. Also makes it hard to remove if jammed.

Remington need to offer extended base plates.If they don't, someone probably will if the gun sells.
   
Followers sometimes stick   
Dry silicone lube helps. A Teflon follower would help more.

Other complaints I consider non-issues

Slide bite
The really high grip adopted by many shooters in an attempt to lower the bore axis of other guns is not needed with the R51 as the bore is already 25% lower. The high grip lets the web of the hand "flow" over the grip tang where it is exposed to the slide when cycling.
   
A high thumbs forward grip can expose the strong hand thumb to the slide edges. The R51 slide rides outside the frame, not inside, so a high thumb is not protected by the frame. The cocking serrations can act like a cheese grater on a high thumb
       
Shooters need to learn how to grip the pistol.
   
Grip Safety hard to engage
A thumbs forward grip generally employs side to side tension, rather than front to back tension. It is entirely possible to grip the gun thumbs forward without disengaging the grip safety unless a conscious effort is made to do so.
   
Once again, shooters need to learn how to grip the pistol.
   
Mag release hard to access
Makes it hard to drop a magazine.
   
It is an ambidextrous mag release. It can be accessed by the trigger finger or either thumb. Figure out which works best and use it. Practice it. Most shooters have developed muscle memory for other guns, not this one. This is a different gun. Don't expect it to be exactly the same as something else. Wait a bit and someone will offer an extended/oversized mag release that will cause other problems.
   
Grips are too flat
Yes they are. It is part of what makes the gun so slim. But I'm sure someone will be making custom grip panels, or you can make your own. I think a maroon linen micarta would be nice.
   
Sights hard to see.
What? These are perhaps the most visible stock sights on any gun of this type. Granted, they are not night sights and are hard to see in the dark. But like the grip panels, someone will be making after market sights. Crimson Trace already makes a laser ($199 at Midway).
   
Now we wait and see what Remington decides to do.

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