Semper Noctem
Desk Rabbit
Remington R1 Enhanced... Repair Issues.
I picked this baby up from Engage Armament (Thanks Guys!) on the 12/10/2011 and, after a thorough cleaning, I took it to the range to test it out on 12/11/2011. Here is what I have to say about it:
Packaging: The first and most noticeable thing about the new Remington R1 line is the BRIGHT “Remington Green” case it comes in. And, in case you were wondering what was in this bright green case - it says REMINGTON in huge black letters across the front of the case. The R1 Enhanced comes with two (2) 8 round magazines, a Remington cable lock (in green as well), and a plastic Remington bushing wrench. It also comes with the Platinum service plan – marketing mostly, but entitles you to a free inspection and cleaning at the end of your twelve month warranty (or something like that – I don’t really know).
My first impression upon opening the case was "damn, this thing is beautiful" – and it is! I will say, however, that Remington ships these things really, really dirty. It took me ages to remove all the crap that come with it at no extra charge. They say that the Remington R1 needs no break in period and is good to go right out of the box. Part of me thinks it’s because they send a hundred or so rounds down range before shipping and they don’t clean it after the do… needless to say, it was a bit of a turn off. None the less, I cleaned it out and it’s right as rain. Another note: The slide rails had some minor wear (nothing major) on them, as though it had been put through a function test before shipping.
Fit and Finish: The Remington R1 line comes standard (for now at least: Stainless Steel R1) with a satin black oxide finish which I find to be very attractive. I’ve been wanting a “non-stainless steel” 1911 for some time now, and this one fit the bill.
The fit and finish of this weapon is excellent. It’s snug in fit and there is no audible rattle between the slide and frame. The slide is also smooth as silk compared to some other 1911s that I’ve owned from reputable manufacturers. I had heard and read horror stories about Remington’s quality control with this new line and admittedly I was a bit nervous about picking it up and there being something really off with it. My fears were squashed when I took it home and did a thorough breakdown of this weapon. I broke it down to bare frame and it did not disappoint. There were no visible tool marks on the frame, and from what I could tell there are no visible blemishes to speak of… yet. I’m sure I’ll muck it up somehow.
Barrel and Bushing: The R1 Enhanced comes with a “match barrel and bushing”, and from what I can tell it does seem to be fit very well. Just below the loaded chamber slot in the barrel there is an “M” stamped in the barrel, presumably to indicate that it is match grade. I’m not really sure if it is… in fact, I’m not really sure what makes a barrel match grade in the first place. Sure I’ve heard people say what they think it means, but there are so many explanations that it’s hard to know which one is true. It seems like every manufacturer defines what their level of match grade is. Anyways…
The bushing is very, very tightly fit to the barrel – which makes it a bit of a challenge to remove. The first time I disassembled it, I sent the recoil spring plug into my ceiling at 100 miles an hour. I assume that’s one of the reasons Remington includes a bushing wrench with every purchase. Be careful though, there is almost no mass to the wrench and the plug can get away from you if you aren’t careful.
Trigger: The R1 Enhanced comes with an adjustable anodized aluminum trigger that is rated from 4 – 6#. I would say that my trigger is very good and breaks consistently like glass at about 4.5#’s. I didn’t experience trigger creep, and I probably won’t bother having the trigger worked on – I’m happy with it.
Sights: The R1 Enhanced comes with a fiber optic front sight and an adjustable rear sight. Remington’s website says that they are a Novak cut, but I have read that there is some confusion amongst owners as to if it really is a “true” Novak cut. I’m going to replace the stock sights with some quality Novak night sights after my platinum service warranty expires. I initially thought that the fiber optic front sight was a bit goofy, and it is, but I do really like the sight picture. It’s nice to have a bright red dot on the target. It came set up point of aim, but I prefer to shoot point of impact so I adjusted the rear to compensate.
EDIT 1: (From Novak) - "The dovetails on the Remington are not the same as our sights and we do not make a set that will drop in to there dovetails. It will take milling to install our sights on that pistol."
EDIT 2: (Sights Found) - I recently found that the sights are supplied by Kensight and there are multiple options replacements without milling to the slide.
Mainspring Housing/Serrations: The R1 Enhanced comes with a really nice aggressively checkered mainspring housing (20 lpi) and front grip serrations. I plan to replace the stock mainspring housing with a Smith & Alexander with a mag well. I have nothing against the stock housing, but I prefer to have a mag well. Unlike some other mainspring housings, like a few Kimber’s, it’s not a plastic part.
Grips: The R1 Enhanced comes with “custom” grips with a thumb groove and ambi-cut. They aren’t bad, nothing to write home about, but I will be replacing them when I install the new mainspring housing.
Magazines: The R1 Enhanced comes with two (2) 8 round magazines with bump pads. I’m not sure who makes them, but they seem to be of decent quality. I didn’t have a single instance of the slide failing to lock back or a FTF. I’m going to look for more of these as 2 isn’t nearly enough. I wish that, with the Enhanced model at least, they would give you more of them – say 5.
Grouping: I was mostly shooting 230 grain FMJ WWB at 25 meters, however I did shoot some 230 grain Winchester PDX1 Bonded hollow points to see how it functioned (as it is my personal defense load). The WWB shot as you would expect, decent grouping and dirty as all hell. The PDX1 was another story. Tight, very tight – as you would expect from the standard issue FBI round. Remington recommends that you stick to 230 grain ball ammunition for this weapon, and I’ve heard some people get pretty upset about this. All I can say is that mine had zero issues with hollow points, and I would have no reservations about loading up with more.
Overall Rating: I’m very happy with my purchase. I would recommend this to a friend and I think I’ll hang on to it indefinitely. A few minor tweaks to it and I’ll be set up with exactly what I wanted in a 1911. Break from your brand snobbery for a second, and recognize this for what it is – a solid 1911. It’s not a Les Baer, or a Nighthawk, but this is a quality piece that is well built and will serve me well.
I picked this baby up from Engage Armament (Thanks Guys!) on the 12/10/2011 and, after a thorough cleaning, I took it to the range to test it out on 12/11/2011. Here is what I have to say about it:
Packaging: The first and most noticeable thing about the new Remington R1 line is the BRIGHT “Remington Green” case it comes in. And, in case you were wondering what was in this bright green case - it says REMINGTON in huge black letters across the front of the case. The R1 Enhanced comes with two (2) 8 round magazines, a Remington cable lock (in green as well), and a plastic Remington bushing wrench. It also comes with the Platinum service plan – marketing mostly, but entitles you to a free inspection and cleaning at the end of your twelve month warranty (or something like that – I don’t really know).
My first impression upon opening the case was "damn, this thing is beautiful" – and it is! I will say, however, that Remington ships these things really, really dirty. It took me ages to remove all the crap that come with it at no extra charge. They say that the Remington R1 needs no break in period and is good to go right out of the box. Part of me thinks it’s because they send a hundred or so rounds down range before shipping and they don’t clean it after the do… needless to say, it was a bit of a turn off. None the less, I cleaned it out and it’s right as rain. Another note: The slide rails had some minor wear (nothing major) on them, as though it had been put through a function test before shipping.
Fit and Finish: The Remington R1 line comes standard (for now at least: Stainless Steel R1) with a satin black oxide finish which I find to be very attractive. I’ve been wanting a “non-stainless steel” 1911 for some time now, and this one fit the bill.
The fit and finish of this weapon is excellent. It’s snug in fit and there is no audible rattle between the slide and frame. The slide is also smooth as silk compared to some other 1911s that I’ve owned from reputable manufacturers. I had heard and read horror stories about Remington’s quality control with this new line and admittedly I was a bit nervous about picking it up and there being something really off with it. My fears were squashed when I took it home and did a thorough breakdown of this weapon. I broke it down to bare frame and it did not disappoint. There were no visible tool marks on the frame, and from what I could tell there are no visible blemishes to speak of… yet. I’m sure I’ll muck it up somehow.
Barrel and Bushing: The R1 Enhanced comes with a “match barrel and bushing”, and from what I can tell it does seem to be fit very well. Just below the loaded chamber slot in the barrel there is an “M” stamped in the barrel, presumably to indicate that it is match grade. I’m not really sure if it is… in fact, I’m not really sure what makes a barrel match grade in the first place. Sure I’ve heard people say what they think it means, but there are so many explanations that it’s hard to know which one is true. It seems like every manufacturer defines what their level of match grade is. Anyways…
The bushing is very, very tightly fit to the barrel – which makes it a bit of a challenge to remove. The first time I disassembled it, I sent the recoil spring plug into my ceiling at 100 miles an hour. I assume that’s one of the reasons Remington includes a bushing wrench with every purchase. Be careful though, there is almost no mass to the wrench and the plug can get away from you if you aren’t careful.
Trigger: The R1 Enhanced comes with an adjustable anodized aluminum trigger that is rated from 4 – 6#. I would say that my trigger is very good and breaks consistently like glass at about 4.5#’s. I didn’t experience trigger creep, and I probably won’t bother having the trigger worked on – I’m happy with it.
Sights: The R1 Enhanced comes with a fiber optic front sight and an adjustable rear sight. Remington’s website says that they are a Novak cut, but I have read that there is some confusion amongst owners as to if it really is a “true” Novak cut. I’m going to replace the stock sights with some quality Novak night sights after my platinum service warranty expires. I initially thought that the fiber optic front sight was a bit goofy, and it is, but I do really like the sight picture. It’s nice to have a bright red dot on the target. It came set up point of aim, but I prefer to shoot point of impact so I adjusted the rear to compensate.
EDIT 1: (From Novak) - "The dovetails on the Remington are not the same as our sights and we do not make a set that will drop in to there dovetails. It will take milling to install our sights on that pistol."
EDIT 2: (Sights Found) - I recently found that the sights are supplied by Kensight and there are multiple options replacements without milling to the slide.
Mainspring Housing/Serrations: The R1 Enhanced comes with a really nice aggressively checkered mainspring housing (20 lpi) and front grip serrations. I plan to replace the stock mainspring housing with a Smith & Alexander with a mag well. I have nothing against the stock housing, but I prefer to have a mag well. Unlike some other mainspring housings, like a few Kimber’s, it’s not a plastic part.
Grips: The R1 Enhanced comes with “custom” grips with a thumb groove and ambi-cut. They aren’t bad, nothing to write home about, but I will be replacing them when I install the new mainspring housing.
Magazines: The R1 Enhanced comes with two (2) 8 round magazines with bump pads. I’m not sure who makes them, but they seem to be of decent quality. I didn’t have a single instance of the slide failing to lock back or a FTF. I’m going to look for more of these as 2 isn’t nearly enough. I wish that, with the Enhanced model at least, they would give you more of them – say 5.
Grouping: I was mostly shooting 230 grain FMJ WWB at 25 meters, however I did shoot some 230 grain Winchester PDX1 Bonded hollow points to see how it functioned (as it is my personal defense load). The WWB shot as you would expect, decent grouping and dirty as all hell. The PDX1 was another story. Tight, very tight – as you would expect from the standard issue FBI round. Remington recommends that you stick to 230 grain ball ammunition for this weapon, and I’ve heard some people get pretty upset about this. All I can say is that mine had zero issues with hollow points, and I would have no reservations about loading up with more.
Overall Rating: I’m very happy with my purchase. I would recommend this to a friend and I think I’ll hang on to it indefinitely. A few minor tweaks to it and I’ll be set up with exactly what I wanted in a 1911. Break from your brand snobbery for a second, and recognize this for what it is – a solid 1911. It’s not a Les Baer, or a Nighthawk, but this is a quality piece that is well built and will serve me well.
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