mawkie
C&R Whisperer
-I put off acquiring a Remington 51 for such a long time, always distracted by something else shiny. So figured it was time to get serious about putting one into the safe. Chambered in both .380 and .32 I always leaned hard to the rarer .32 version. A nice 95 point example will sell around $650-750. Cleaner than that hovers in the $800 range. So to get a very clean example for well under that was a delight.
-John Pedersen's unique hesitation delay design allowed for a low bore axis and less felt recoil while also being much lighter than a blow-back design. It's also one of the best natural pointing handguns of all time, the result of Pedersen taking ergonomics seriously. I concur that it just points naturally, very much like a Luger which is my favorite in that aspect.
-If there is a downside to the 51 it is the complex trigger and safety mechanisms, which made it more expensive to produce versus its main competition from Colt and Savage. The 51 sports 3 safeties: manual lever, magazine and grip. The grip safety pops out when the gun is cocked, doing double duty as a cocking indicator.
-It also didn't help marketing that Remington didn't have much of a history in the handgun market as they were much better known for their long arms. So when you thought of handguns Remington didn't come to mind right away. In fact, after the 51 production ended Remington didn't build another handgun until the XP100 in the early 60s. Nevertheless it had its fans, most notable amongst them bein General George Patton who carried a 51.
-Production ran from 1918 to 1926 with reports of some examples assembled from spares up until the mid 30s. The total number built was approx. 65,000 with only 10,278 in .32 ACP. The SN on my example is in the late 64,000 range so I'm assuming it's one of the last built.
-There were two variants of the 51. The easiest way to tell them apart is by the slide serrations, with the early version sporting 9 wide and the later 15 narrow.
-The best article on the Remington I've run across was written by Ed Buffaloe. If you're curious about this neat pistol give it a read here.
-John Pedersen's unique hesitation delay design allowed for a low bore axis and less felt recoil while also being much lighter than a blow-back design. It's also one of the best natural pointing handguns of all time, the result of Pedersen taking ergonomics seriously. I concur that it just points naturally, very much like a Luger which is my favorite in that aspect.
-If there is a downside to the 51 it is the complex trigger and safety mechanisms, which made it more expensive to produce versus its main competition from Colt and Savage. The 51 sports 3 safeties: manual lever, magazine and grip. The grip safety pops out when the gun is cocked, doing double duty as a cocking indicator.
-It also didn't help marketing that Remington didn't have much of a history in the handgun market as they were much better known for their long arms. So when you thought of handguns Remington didn't come to mind right away. In fact, after the 51 production ended Remington didn't build another handgun until the XP100 in the early 60s. Nevertheless it had its fans, most notable amongst them bein General George Patton who carried a 51.
-Production ran from 1918 to 1926 with reports of some examples assembled from spares up until the mid 30s. The total number built was approx. 65,000 with only 10,278 in .32 ACP. The SN on my example is in the late 64,000 range so I'm assuming it's one of the last built.
-There were two variants of the 51. The easiest way to tell them apart is by the slide serrations, with the early version sporting 9 wide and the later 15 narrow.
-The best article on the Remington I've run across was written by Ed Buffaloe. If you're curious about this neat pistol give it a read here.
