I purchased my R51 ser # 0006**0R51 this past weekend at Gander Mountain. The rear sight is tight, some of the pins seemed recessed, but are holding. The slide action is very rough. The primer strikes look like a lot of the others, but are not backing out of he pocket. I was told by my gunsmith that this is most likely caused by oversized firing pin hole or a weak firing pin spring. I don't have any case bulging problems. Extraction and ejection are good. I put about 150 rounds of Winchester white box and Blazer brass FMJ through it. I agree the felt recoil is much less then my other 9MM pistols. I pulled the gun apart for cleaning and noticed some wear areas on the frame, similar reports from others. The only real issue at the range was after the first 120 rounds or so the magazine will drop after a round fires. At first we thought we were bumping the mag release but that is not the case. When chambering a all aluminium Azoom snap cap from the magazine by releasing the slide causes the mag to drop out. Despite the R51's short comings I really like this gun. It points well and the trigger is different and grows on you. Trying to get a feel for the trigger while I was dry firing it left me wondering if I would ever get used to it, it really is quite nice when your live firing. I like it a lot. The accuracy is very good. We were shooting from 30- 35 yards with center mass hits on a silhouette target. I'll get my R51 back over to my GS to check out and offer some suggestions on what needs to be done with it at Remington. It may take a trip or two back to Remington to get it right, I hope Big Green is as commited as I am.



TD  

Good luck...keep us in the loop !!

I'm also returning my R51 for repair.

My primary reason for sending my R51 in for repair is that the Breech Block has gulled up the frame and the gun is hard to rack. It seems to get worse the more you lube it.

The distorted primers are also a concern, oversized firing pin hole or incorrectly shaped firing pin.

The magazines also drop out when firing the gun and when hand cycling the slide. I'm also returning both magazines with the gun.

The mag release & trigger pivot pins seem to be walking out a little.

The chamber is tight when chamber gauging it, although I have not had any extraction or other issues. I would like it checked. I also hope to get my same barrel back as its very accurate. 

I called them on Monday and the prepaid label and UPS mailing pouch came on Wednesday.


 

Keep us updated with how the handle the return.

Thanks for posting your experience ToneDeath. My R51 also started dropping the magazines as well as several FTE and a slide lock up. I too hope they get this sorted out so I can get mine back to the range.

Took my R51 to the range yesterday along with several 22's. Shooting only four magazines, 28 rounds without a problem, the gun was accurate and is getting much smoother to operate. Only issue was one failure to return to battery when I released the slide, should not have used the slide release.

Man, I really want one of the R51's that one of the LGS have on their shelves, but I am a little nervous about buying. I know a guy at work that bought one of the first ones he saw, and had to send it back for the same "galling" issue as stated in one of the above posts. He sent it back a week ago, but has not got it back yet.

I love the look of this pistol and how it feels in the hand, but until they get these bugs worked out, I'll have to just wait.