Triangle Tactical Podcast and Blog on Guns, Gear, and Competition Shooting
I lifted this picture from Miguel over at Gun Free Zone, because it shows the Remington R51 in someone’s hand at SHOT show.
Now, originally we received some size numbers on the pistol stating that it has a 6″ overall length, and a 4.5″ height. The 6″ length was really attractive to me, as it puts the R51 in smaller than many of the other pistols in its class.
Unfortunately after looking at the above picture, the picture taker either has the world’s smallest hands, or the R51 is a bit bigger than we originally thought.
This isn’t a deal breaker, but it is a little disappointing.
I took Andrews picture from the above link, and since we know the Benchmade Mini-Griptillian has an overall length of 6.78″, I was able to use that to compare the overall length of the Remington R51, and they are very close. Interestingly, nobody seems to have the exact size from Remington just yet, several places are listing different overall lengths, and Remington still doesn’t have specifics listed on their site:
[table]Site, Reported LengthThe Firearm Blog , 6″
Jorge Amselle (In the comments), 6.68″
Outdoor Hub, A little more than 6.5″
Wikipedia, 6″
Gun Digest, “a mere 6-inches in length”
Safety Solutions Academy, 6″
[/table]
All this over a measly 3/4″?
Yep. If the pistol is 6″ long, it’s the smallest in it’s class. Smaller than the S&W Shield, Springfield XDs, and all the rest. However, if the pistol is 6.78″ long, it becomes one of the biggest in it’s class, and I really don’t see any advantage with the R51 over the Shield or XDs.
March Update: I had the chance to shoot an R51 recently. I talk about it in detail in Episode 73 of the podcast. Listen here.
I looked at that too, but the distance to the bore axis is fairly small which has allowed a longer grip for the same size.
“and I really don’t see any advantage with the R51 over the Shield or XDs.” what about lower bore axis or fewer sharp edges?
Length doesn’t make as much difference in concealment as width or slide blockiness. the barrel isn’t the part that prints, its the grip or the butt of the slide,
There’s that, but I’ve never had any issues with the XDs digging me with sharp edges, except for the magazine baseplate when carrying appendix, and I remedied that with a sheet of sandpaper.
lower bore axis, less recoil, soft shooting, light slide spring.
check, check, check, check. sign me up.
What I want to know is when its double stack and full size versions come out, and its R53 version.
Less muzzle flip too…..check.
At 6.75 inches overall length it is half an inch longer than my P64. Readily willing to trade half an inch for what appears to be substantially reduced recoil and muzzle flip [and much of that length appears to be behind the grip]. Mr. P64ski is quite snippy for a 9×18.
Hope the R51 gets a pinky flair for the mag and/or a mag extension…..A nice hogue grip similar to the one they have for the ruger P85 would be nice too.
Its not about hiding it in my skivies. 😉 Be nice if the wife would use it for practice too, and that ain’t happening with Mr. P64ski.
I could care less that the R51 is longer than the Shield by only 1/2 of an inch.
It has the same height as the Shield, so it’s conceal the same as the Shield, but it has space for a full three finger grip and it shoots very flat. It’s definitely the top single stack sub-compact out there for me
Yeah, looks like it’ll be about the size of the XDs 4.0.
By the way, here’s a very interesting video I just found on the R51 I just found on youtube
http://youtu.be/ooTGk7ZdEhg
LOL.Funny kid. It is like 1911. I used to be able to take it apart and assemble it blind folded.
People keep on saying that Remington has not put out the official dimensions. Did anyone look at their Shot Show brochure? I mean – they must have given out thousands of copies of it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Remington_R51_2014_Shot_Show_Brochure.jpg
Unfortunately I wasn’t as SHOT, thanks, that’ll be very helpful.
Now, up date those comparison diagrams and finish dashing everyone’s dream.
Check back tonight or tomorrow morning, and I’ll have them up. Started them this morning, but didn’t finish.
I can send you a picture of the R51 with the Tirant 9s mounted to it. The Tirnat 9s is 5.07 inches long. By measuring the Tirant in the picture and then using that on the R51 in the picture, I get a measurement that is close to 6 inches. I also held it and it is small, felt smaller than my XDs or my wife’s shield. Also being a fixed barrel it has the potential of running a suppressor without a piston making the can even smaller allowing for holster option, if you are into that,:-)
I’ve got the official dimensions now, 6 5/8″ OAL. It’s right about the size of a Shield, but with a longer slide/barrel. I’ll have the comparison pics up this afternoon.