Remington To Replace All R-51 Pistols

Phil White
by Phil White

Contrary to some people’s speculation the R-51 is neither dead in the water or being repaired. Yes you heard that right there will be no repairs. Think replacement!

Remington has been dealing with the R51 situation for some time. In fact a team of engineers was put on the project and dedicated to address and correct the R-51’s problems and the contributing production methods. They are very confident the new R-51 pistol will be ready for sale in late October early November once the present customers guns are replaced.

A great deal of work has been put into changing the manufacturing process as well as the problems of the previous production pistol. The whole problem centers on the difference between prototypes, pre-production pistols and production guns. Other companies have experienced this as well. It’s not an unknown situation when a gun works through all the testing done and then falls flat when it goes into regular production. That’s what’s happened here.

Remington Outdoors wanted a resolution as soon as possible and that solution had to be fair to the customer. As the press release says these guns will be replaced with new guns. In addition two extra magazines and a custom Pelican case will be given to each customer in addition to the standard accessories. I agree it’s taken a good bit of time to get this right but it seems a fair solution, which is what we all wanted to see.

The attached press release should provide all the information needed to send in your old R-51 for a new model with the two extra magazines and Pelican case. Remington has also tried to provide what they believe will be enough customer service people to handle all the calls.

I have one of the new pistols being sent to me in October when production allows. I intend to shoot 1,000 rounds through it in a single session. I’ll then report the results to our readers.

By all means email us and let us know about your replacement experience as well as how your new pistol runs. Our emails are listed under “contact” at the top of each page. TFB is the first in bringing you this news.

July 25, 2014

Remington R51 Pistol Product Update

Earlier this year, we launched the innovative R51 subcompact pistol to critical acclaim. During testing, numerous experts found the pistol to function flawlessly. In fact, they found it to have lower felt recoil, lower muzzle rise and better accuracy and concealability than other products in its class.

However, after initial commercial sales, our loyal customers notified us that some R51 pistols had performance issues. We immediately ceased production to re-test the product. While we determined the pistols were safe, certain units did not meet Remington’s performance criteria. The performance problems resulted from complications during our transition from prototype to mass production. These problems have been identified and solutions are being implemented, with an expected production restart in October.

Anyone who purchased an R51 may return it and receive a new R51 pistol, along with two additional magazines and a custom Pelican case, by calling Remington at (800) 243-9700.

The new R51 will be of the same exceptional quality as our test pistols, which performed flawlessly.

We appreciate your patience and support.

Phil White
Phil White

Retired police officer with 30 years of service. Firearms instructor and SRU team member. I still instruct with local agencies. My daily carry pistol is the tried and true 1911. I'm retired as associate editor since December 14th 2017. My replacement is my friend Pete M email: pete.m@staff.thefirearmblog.com you can reach Pete for product reviews etc.

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  • Guest Guest on Oct 19, 2014

    I have bought many Remington guns including the R-51 , they are A quality company, with
    quality people!, and they have a customer service that serves the consumer very well.
    Thanks Remington!.

  • Caesar Merlin Caesar Merlin on Nov 15, 2014

    fair enough and kudos to remington for doing the right thing but I never quite understood the appeal of this gun or the pederson mechanism. The compact concealed carry handgun is saturated as is with plenty of good guns so im not sure why the r51 was a serious contender in the first place.

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