Remington is Apparently Abandoning the R51

[Bravo-4-2]

All mention of it has been removed from their website. With all the ridicule the Remington reps were forced to endure at the NRA Expo, this does not come as a surprise.

 

[SpaldingPM]

Not surprised. I am very surprised however, they even had them on display at the convention. Every single one that I picked up had no consistency of slide function compared to any other display model... not to throw aside the fact that each and every slide felt very gritty and nasty. I WAS NOT IMPRESSED.

 

[sparkyfender]

How long before they are being touted as "collectible?"

 

[gabrigger]

Not surprised. I am very surprised however, they even had them on display at the convention. Every single one that I picked up had no consistency of slide function compared to any other display model... not to throw aside the fact that each and every slide felt very gritty and nasty. I WAS NOT IMPRESSED.

+1 to this. I was seriously underwhelmed by every one that I picked up at the NRAAM.

 

[throttletony]

How long before they are being touted as "collectible?"

This was my first thought as well... it was a cool idea, and reviving an old product is neat, but man Remington sucks lately

 

[x10]

This was my first thought as well... it was a cool idea, and reviving an old product is neat, but man Remington sucks lately

"Sucks Lately" kinda harsh

Ok the R51 was an answer to a question nobody asked.

The 700 line of rifles is a standard and EVERY one I've picked up including bought and shot shoots very well for an out of the box rifle.

The 870 is still an industry standard, Remington needs to be carefull not to "walmart' it down to a Mossburk 5hunnert

the versamax is rock solid

the 1911 is a solid 1911 and people who have them like them

Maybe they were smart enough to see the r51 wasn't' getting received so they decided to pull back and regroup.

 

[Tyler-The-Piker]

How long before they are being touted as "collectible?"

if they weren't so dangerously unreliable then it wouldn't take long.
but with all of the severely bad press and reviews/videos...it will take people awhile to forget.
people still look down on Ford because of the Edsel

 

[88E30M50]

The R51 really was a disappointment. I have a Remington R1S 1911 and really like the thing. In fact, it's one of my favorites of a collection that includes an Ed Brown, Sigs and Kimbers. I was looking forward to the R51 because it was an interesting gun. If the quality was where it should have been, I might have ended up adding one to the collection eventually.

The whole R51 debut seems like it was the brainchild of an enthusiast inside of Remington but with a project that was not adequately funded. The development should have continued longer to resolve the quality issues found in production. But, if it were underfunded and development cut short to get it to market, then it would follow that the poor reception would cause the company to quickly abandon the project.

The question is: what do they do to support the small base of R51 owners out there? If there's a problem with the pistol while under warranty, do they replace or refund? Those folks that bought one are going to be screwed if Remington abandons the gun. There will be zero aftermarket support. No mags, holsters, grips or anything else. I can see these becoming collectible, but it might take 40 years to achieve that. That's a long time to hold onto a gun that does not work that well from the get go.

 

[FireBirdDS]

When I was at the NRA convention and handled the R51, I verbally noted the total absence of a trigger reset, and the rep's answer to that was basically "who really needs a 'trigger reset'?" and "you're not gonna notice it during a high stress gunfight anyway".

 

[SpaldingPM]

When I was at the NRA convention and handled the R51, I verbally noted the total absence of a trigger reset, and the rep's answer to that was basically "who really needs a 'trigger reset'?" and "you're not gonna notice it during a high stress gunfight anyway".

Oh God. Thats embarrassing.


Speaking on behalf of other remington products... they are a quality company. The 700 is hands down the best out of the box precision rifle money can buy IMO (in any caliber). The R1 is definitely a quality 1911. Heck, even their AR15 is a very good product... but goodness, the new r51 is awful.

 

[88E30M50]

I'd love to hear the inside story on the failure of the R51 some day. It's probably an entertaining mix of egos, budgets and mis-managed timelines. I've been in large corporations long enough to have seen someone's pet project get hyped up as the next great thing, then bungled through bad assumptions, poor management and budget overruns, only to end up cancelled with the top players leaving the company to pursue other opportunities. The worse ones are when the responsible party successfully scapegoats a different team and they are the ones to take the heat for the failure. I'm sure that all of these are probably in play right now at Remington if they really are abandoning the R51.

Does anyone think they could pull it back, fix the gun and then ever be successful with it once re-released? It could happen, but they'd need some top names to sing it's praises as the greatest fighting implement in our time.

 

[WebSnyper]

The question is: what do they do to support the small base of R51 owners out there? If there's a problem with the pistol while under warranty, do they replace or refund? Those folks that bought one are going to be screwed if Remington abandons the gun. There will be zero aftermarket support. No mags, holsters, grips or anything else. I can see these becoming collectible, but it might take 40 years to achieve that. That's a long time to hold onto a gun that does not work that well from the get go.

I'm guessing they will support while they still have some parts, but I doubt replacement/refund will be an option.

if this is true, the folks that bought one are already jacked... this type of thing (holster/mag/parts availability) is actually a big consideration in my choices for carry gun, and why I hesitate to jump on a completely new platform, even from an existing company.

 

[MCgrease08]

It doesn't help that the R51 is one of the ugliest designs ever conceived.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

This one is all on marketing. Remington had a brilliant pistol in the 51 designed by the "greatest gun designer" to walk the planet, John D. Pedersen, and what did they do? Make it "modern" and hip with all that crap metal and polymer because all those people that marketing talked to with their hip and happening "polymer is cool" crowd instead of the people that know what a mother-loving Model 51 is!

Dear Remington,

Do not defile the name of John Douglas Pedersen, bring back the real Model 51.

/s/ Grumpy Old Guy

 

[ryan3030]

The 870 is still an industry standard, Remington needs to be carefull not to "walmart' it down to a Mossburk 5hunnert

You clearly haven't bought an express model lately with the freedom group treatment.

Give me a 500 any day.

 

[indykid]

There was a day when Remington made high quality products at reasonable prices. The 870 and 1100 are shotgun legends, the 700 series rifles were amazing, and even the early 7400 a semi auto dream.

Unfortunately cost cutting and money save became the mantra, and quality was replaced by price. The 11-87 was case in point being so bad that they brought back the cancelled 1100.

The R51 could have been a nice pocket pistol if they maintained the old standards, but somewhere cost over road quality again and the final product was nothing like what Mr Pedersen had designed.

A shame from my point of view as the ones I looked at fit my hand very nicely. Too bad no two had the same trigger or slide feel.

 

[Bigtanker]

Another great firearm manufacturer makes a complete dud......and this time no didn't buy one!

Dad and I bought a Colt All American 2000 in the 90's. All my hard earned lawn mowing money down the drain.

But they ARE somewhat collectable now!

 

[M67]

Haha. Remington, what a joke

They cant make the r51 work, they disown it

So they reinvent their muzzleloader, which they disowned years ago

Joke of a company

 

[xM3RC1L3SS1x]

I ghink they're ugly.

 

[Principal Skinr]

It's a shame the R51 didn't work out. I really liked the concept and the look. That said, I've got a beautiful R1 Stainless sitting in my safe that shoots and functions like a dream. I went to Africa last July with two new 700 rifles and we never missed an animal. They were tack drivers and functioned flawlessly. One was blued with a polymer stock, and the other was stainless with with a gorgeous wood stock. Both shot 1/2 MOA with Barnes VorTex ammo. I've got two 870's that have been flawless, as well.

I'm not abandoning Big Green yet. They make some good products. I'm just glad I waited on the R51 and avoided the trouble. Hopefully, they'll learn from it and will bounce back and be better for it.