Remington Model 51

The Remington Model 51 is a small pocket pistol designed by John Pedersen and manufactured by Remington Arms in the early 20th century for the American civilian market. Remington manufactured approximately 65,000 Model 51 pistols in .32 ACP and .380 ACP calibers from 1918 to 1927, though small numbers were assembled into the mid-1930s.

Development

John Pedersen designed or was instrumental in the design of many firearms for the Remington Arms Company. He had worked in concert with John Browning to design the Remington Model 17 which served as the basis for the Remington Model 31, Ithaca 37, Browning BPS, and Mossberg 500. He designed the Pedersen device that converted the M1903 Springfield into an autoloading intermediate-caliber longarm. Pedersen later worked for the US Army and provided competition to John Garand building an autoloading rifle to fire a full-power rifle cartridge. His design used innovative wax lubricated cases and a toggle-bolt system much like that of the Luger pistol but eventually lost out to the M1 Garand.

Made in .380 ACP and later in .32 ACP caliber, it was marketed as a pocket pistol. While the European market embraced small-caliber pocket pistols, the American market favored revolvers at the time. The complex trigger and safety mechanisms made the handgun more expensive than the Browning-designed competition, and the Model 51 was not much smaller. Furthermore, Remington was a company known for their long arms; their handguns had previously been limited to revolvers forced to play second fiddle to Colt in terms of sales. The Remington Model 51 also had only limited commercial success as it was priced around US$15.75 (in 1920, California minimum wage US$0.33 per hour ^[1]). This was in spite of the marketing claims of it be "self aiming" due to the advanced approach to ergonomics used by Pedersen. If competing with cheaper single-action blowback autoloaders made sales difficult, the stock market crash made sales nearly impossible. Impending autoloading pocket pistols like the Walther PPK ended any chance of further success by Remington pistols.^[2] For the smaller calibers it was made in, blowback operated pistols were cheaper, only slightly heavier, and did not produce excessive recoil.

An advantage of Pedersen's design is that it allows for a lighter slide than a straight blowback operated pistol, and hence an overall lighter short arm, with the hesitation lock contributing to less felt recoil for this intuitive pointing pistol. General George S. Patton owned a Remington 51 and was thought to favor the pistol.^[3] Despite critical praise, no government or private agency is known to have adopted the Model 51 for use. An anchor proof marking on some pistols has led to the mistaken belief that they were US Navy pistols bolstered by the fact that the Navy did indeed recommend a .45-caliber version for adoption. Some examples are seen today with inventory numbers, however their provenance is not well known and understood to have numbered one, two or six. Subsequently, the Navy ran extensive tests on the M53 and concluded it was “...a simple, rugged and entirely dependable weapon, which should be suitable in every respect for a service pistol.” ^[4][5]

In the 1970s and 1980s, inventor Ross Rudd designed and prototyped a .45 ACP caliber pistol based on the Pedersen layout but with an inclined surface in place of the locking surface. This served to delay the opening of the breech rather than locking it. The pistol was planned for manufacture but was never produced.^[6] The Italian firm Benelli produced limited numbers of B76, B80, and B82 pistols similar to the Rudd pistol however utilizing a lever-delayed blowback system.^[7]

The Remington R51 is a redesigned Model 51 initially released in February 2014^[8] before supply and recall issues by Remington, believed to be built by Para Ordnance, a company recently acquired by the Freedom Group.

Design details

The layout of the Remington 51 is similar to the Walther PPK pistol in the use of a stationary barrel and recoil spring surrounding the barrel. However, the unique feature is the use of a locking breech block within the slide. When the pistol is in battery, the breech block is held forward of the locking shoulder in the frame by the force of the recoil spring which holds the bolt face solidly against the end of the chamber. When the cartridge is fired, the bolt and slide move together a short distance rearward powered by the energy of the cartridge as in a standard blowback system. When the breech block contacts the locking shoulder, it hesitates, locking the breech. The slide continues rearward with the momentum it acquired in the initial phase forcing the hammer down and compressing the recoil spring around the barrel. This allows chamber pressure to drop to safe levels while the breech is locked and the cartridge slightly extracted. After the bullet leaves the barrel and pressure drops to a safe level, the rearward motion of the slide causes an inclined cam within the slide to lift the rear of the breech block free from its locking recess, continuing the operating cycle. One can insert a dowel into the barrel and push on the breech block. It will only move a fraction of an inch and stop against the recessed buttress. Only manually retracting the slide or firing a cartridge opens the gun. The Remington Model 51 was the only production pistol to utilize Pedersen's type of operating system.

Because the breech is locked, this pistol can handle greater pressures than a blowback firearm yet without the size and weight penalty of other locking systems. The design also allows the recoil spring to be placed around the barrel making for a shorter profile gun. Lighter operating parts and longer lock time provide less felt and actual recoil. A lower bore axis gives less muzzle rise which also lowers felt recoil. A fixed barrel allows for greater accuracy and reliability as well as simplifying construction compared to other locking systems. Overall, this system is lighter than a blowback, simpler than any conventional locking mechanism, and has less recoil than either of the other systems.

The Remington Model 51 uses an internal hammer and features a single-action trigger. A unique combination lever on the rear of the grip-frame acts as a safety, bolt hold-open device and bolt release. This is in addition to the grip safety, magazine safety disconnect, and relatively heavy trigger pull. The grips are held on with spring-tensioned studs rather than screws. Not a single screw is used in the entire pistol. Pedersen was greatly concerned with human engineering and developing a comfortable grip angle for his pistol while not sacrificing the slim profile. Field stripping the pistol is cumbersome but not overly complicated and is mastered with practice.

Variants

Despite its shortcomings, the design was recommended for adoption by the Navy Board during the First World War as the scaled-up .45 caliber Remington Model 53. Testing of the prototype against production M1911 showed the Remington design to be more reliable.^[9] Remington demanded a large advance payment to tool up for the gun, but negotiations were cut short by America's entrance into World War I. Available factories were tooled to produce the M1911 so investment in ramping-up production for another pistol did not make sense. Production of the 1911 kept pace with wartime demands and Remington itself was eventually contracted to produce the Colt weapon.

Because of a lower bore axis, lighter slide, and locked breech, the Remington 53 boasted much less felt recoil than the M1911. This fact was attested to by noted firearms expert Julian Hatcher.^[10] The Remington pistol was also more accurate, lighter, and had fewer moving parts than the 1911. Despite its advantages over the M1911, there was too little civilian market to support a large-bore pistol at that time, a military contract was now unlikely, and the M1911 already had a firm foothold. Remington abandoned the larger pistol and focused on the Model 51.^[11]

In 2014, Remington announced a redesigned Model 51 in 9mm Luger caliber called the R51.^[12]

See also

• Pedersen device
• SIG MKMS
• List of individual weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces

Notes

References

• Stern (September 1965). "American Rifleman."
• Karr, Charles. (1969). Remington Handguns. Bonanza Books. ISBN 1-111-83223-4
• Mathews, J. Howard. (1962) Firearms Identification, Volume 1. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 0-398-00784-5

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Remington Model 51.

• Remington Model 51 Pictorial
• The Remington model 51 by Ed Buffaloe

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