Okay… Okay… I admit it. I bought an R51 and right now, I regret it.

*Note- This was a personal purchase of a retail model. TFB’s formal evaluation pistol has been on hold since its release with no ETA.

At the NRA show in 2014, I was keen to get my hands on the little single-stack 9mm. Having handled the R51 on multiple occasions, and knowing full well the reviews of others, I decided to buy one on the spot through Davidson’s (if you didn’t know, they set aside special allocations for the major trade shows).

When I walked into the shop for the transfer my friend Randy stated emphatically:  “Dude! That gun has something wrong with it.”

Sure enough, racking it for myself was like trying to scrape velcro over sand paper. Nevertheless, I transferred it, took it home, and cleaned the pistol thoroughly. The scrubbing helped, but something was still grating in the action. Hoping to smooth it out at the range with some rounds, I headed out with my wife and experienced a myriad of problems.

In short, 28 of 92 rounds loaded and fired had a malfunction.

It wasn’t just one, it had a malfunction of nearly every type! Stovepipes, Failure to Extract, Failure to Feed, Double Feeds, and one Out-of-Battery Detonation at which point we stopped shooting.

I contacted Remington via their website on May 16th and finally received a response back today. It took them almost a month to get back to my e-mail asking for the very information I provided in my initial contact (Name, serial number, details of malfunctions, etc.). The customer service is lacking.

Silver lining: At least Big Green promises to pay for shipping both ways.

More to come after the pistol is sent back and returned.