I have fired: (new magazines)   FTF=failure to feed

Hornady Critical Defense 115 gr - 75 rounds - no jams = accurate

Hornady Critical Duty 135 gr - 50 rounds - 1 jam - FTF - accurate

Hornady American Gunner 115 gr - 150 rounds - 2 jams - FTF - accurate

Liberty Civil Defense 50 gr +P (yes, 50) - 20 rounds no jam - accurate

Sig Sauer V-Crown 147 gr - 20 rounds - 3 jams - front lip catches mag

Remington Ultimate Defense 124 gr - 60 rounds - no jams - shoots low but groups well

Winchester white box 115 gr FMJ - 150 rounds - no jams - inaccurate

PMC 115 gr FMJ - 100 rounds - several FTFs and nose catches - sux all the way around

Blazer Brass 115 gr FMJ - 200 rounds - 1 jam (dirty gun?) - accurate


Most of my jams were from new mags and breaking the gun in except for the Sig Sauer and the PMC ammo. Those were definitely ammo related.

Over 800 rounds fired so far.

Found them. Very nice! How much thicker are they than stock? I was just handling my R51 last night and thinking perhaps thicker grip panels would help my grip. I have big hands.

Do you offer all the woods with checkering or just the couple that you have posted?

I really like the looks of the Padauk and the Lacewood but that cross grain Black Walnut set is really nice too...maybe checkering isn't what I want.

My experience with magazines so far is this:

I bought my R51 in October 2017. I was stoked to find a compact, light 9mm pistol that wasn't polymer framed. My first trip to the range was a disaster. I was having all kinds of magazine issues. They were hard to load, I was getting jams, I couldn't cycle the gun with a full magazine...needless to say I was pretty disheartened, but having lots of experience with 1911's and many other firearms I wasn't giving up.

I called Remington and spoke to a man named "Jennings". He told me I "have magazines from the first batch after the re-release of the R51" (I haven't been able to corroborate his comment).
He told me he would send me 2 new magazines, which he did, and he told me to try trimming 2 coils off the magazine spring and that might help.
It did. But, it would cycle on a full mag so I trimmed another half coil off the springs...yeah, I did both...duh! Anyway, the gun would cycle on a full mag and I had no jams until the last round with each mag, every time. The last round will always stovepipe.
So, I called Remington. They wouldn't replace the springs because they had none to replace them with. They aren't offered as a "spare part", yet. The nice lady I talked to said call back every month and see if they offer the springs as a spare part. So I have been doing that.
Yesterday I decided to call Remington and not talk to the parts department but I called the service department in the hopes I could sway them to just give me some springs or sell me springs. I spoke with a man that told me that they do not have the ability to offer springs or magazine parts because Remington does not make the magazines for the R51. They are made by another manufacturer. I asked him "who makes them?" and he told me that he could not tell me that, could not as in was not allowed to tell.
I asked him if magazines that are being sold are the newer magazines or if they could possible be from "the first batch" as Mr. Jennings had stated. He told me that he didn't know about a "first batch" but did know that some magazines where faulty when the Gen 2s were released and that has been a problem.
He told me that as far as he knew all aftermarket magazines should work just fine. I asked him if the mags that Remington sells from Customer Service are the same as the Remington magazines that can be found at Buds, Grab-a-gun, Midway, Brownells, etc... were all the same magazines that Remington sells and he said that he thought that they were IF they were sold with the Remington brand name on them....

Which is how I found this forum. I was looking for Magazines and debating on paying Remington $30 per or risking buying less expensive mags from other sellers and I found this forum and Blackie's mod recommendations on the followers of these magazines.

Blackie, thank you for finding and testing this mod. I appreciate it.

Have you called Remington and told them about this mod? Maybe they can help others with this info.

Anyway, after finding Blackie's mod I think I will try buying magazines from a vendor that sells them for less than Remington and if they have issues I will modify them using Blackie's recommendations.

I still have 2 mags with mag springs that are too short but if I can figure out who manufactures Remington's mags I will ping on them for springs.

Oh, I kind of figured maybe Mec-Gar may be the mag manufacturer because of the way the mags are made but the man I talked to at Remington said that the R51 mags are made in the US. Mec-Gar mags are made in Italy, or at least the ones I have encountered are. I also tried researching to see if Checkmate manufactured R51 mags but found nothing there either.

Regards,
Pat Riot

I bought my R51 in October 2017.
It's Serial Number is 347xxR51.It's made in Charlotte, NC.
It has a label on the box that says, "Not for Sale or Display Until Aug. 12, 2016."

Hi, My name is Pat RIot.
I found this forum searching for information my R51 and RM380.

I was very happy to find that there are others that like the R51 as much as I do. I do not love the pistol yet but I am working on it. 

I have a Gen 2 made in Charlotte in the 30,000 serial number range. I had magazine issues when I bought mine and was truly upset about it but Remington made good on it and I am very happy with my R51.

Anyway, I am glad I found this forum. I would like to thank Robert and anyone else involved for setting it up and keeping it going.

Thank you,
Pat Riot