epk49's Profile
As luck would have it, when I called Academy in Little Rock later that day (about 150 miles from where I live) they had one and they put it on hold for me. Three hours later I was taking it back home.
In that time I have put about 350 rounds of ball ammo through it, mostly Winchester Target (White Box), a few Federal, some Walmart Italian and Turkish ammo too. (All FMJ)
Yes, my slide was very stiff at first and I had a small number of FTFs. I have learned to field strip and reassemble more quickly too. I did fail to insert the locking pin correctly once leading to a failed function test.
I must add that this is my first personal automatic pistol. My EDC is a S&W 638 (the humpbacked DA/SA one) loaded with Hornady Critical Defense 38 Special. It will remain my carry gun until I become more confident in the R51's reliability. I once read that the main reason revolvers fail to fire is either they are not loaded or all of the bullets have been fired. FYI, my nightstand holds a S&W 686+ (also with Hornady Critical Defense 38 Special).
Other than the R51I would not have bought any autoloader. I liked the looks, the single action, and the Pedersen design. I believe Glocks are too bulky, the Shield and the XD-S too rectangular, but that's just me. I did like a Beretta Storm I handled at a Pawn Shop but it was a little to chunky for my taste. Plus the ambidextrous safeties looked like little wings
Yesterday, my oldest son and I shot the R51 at our local range. We probably shot it 75 times. The only problem we had came when a Winchester casing failed to eject. Upon inspection it was about halfway out of the rear of the barrel and stuck. It had been fired. We had to use a cleaning rod to dislodge it.
Other than that the R51 shot perfectly and my son shot a nice 3" group of 7 from 10 yds. The slide racks more easily now although not like those shown in the videos of the SHOT show. Maybe soon, we'll see.
We also shot my father-in-law's Armalite AR 24, a much heavier 9mm pistol. It had been in the shop at our LGS for FTF problems. We were testing it and it worked without any hitch. Its recoil was less than the R-51's but that's just physics (nearly 35 ounces vs. 22 ounces).
Still, neither of us found the R51's recoil objectionable. Me, I'm used to the 38 Special snubby so the R51's recoil seemed less than its.
In sum, I bought the R51 despite all of the negative publicity. I went into the sale with my eyes open and hoping for the best. The pistol seems to be breaking in nicely and the spray can of Rem Oil I bought also seemed to help too. My serial # is in the low 6000s, btw.
My best group so far (if I measured correctly) was 2.5" from 25' away.
