Have any of you been able to load 7 + 1 and have the pistol function properly through all 8 rounds?
Not mine. Sometimes it works but sometimes it will double feed. Always works 6+1, so that's how I carry it.
I understand that some other handguns have the same issue, so it's not completely unique to the R51.
Mine won't either. I have 10 additional semi-automatics and all of them work with mag capacity +1. Mine works usually with 7 rounds. I have issued a problem report with Remington. I'm hoping the newest magazines have their tolerances perfect!
We shall see! Thanks for responding..
HR Funk uploaded some YouTube videos and posts here on the forum a few months ago and reported the same problem. After a couple of return trips to Remington, it appears that Remington fixed the problem by doing some polishing and minor machining to the Pederson block.
Cool!
I watched Sootch's video, but he only loaded 7 rounds each time. He never topped it off.
I'll see if I can find HRFunk's thread...
Thanks, Zen
Has anyone tried swapping a mag spring from a diff brand 9mm? For example, I have a Bersa BP9 with 8 round mags whose spring would likely work. Don't yet have an R51 but seriously looking.
I put some Glock 43 mag springs in from Ghost Inc. It didn't solve the 7+1 double feed issue but I haven't had a nose dive malfunction since using the new springs.
Mine works fine...
Since I shortened the followers on my magazines by about an 1/8 inch it has worked with full magazines without issue.
Vic
I made one more trip to the range today. I tried all three of my gen 2 magazines with 7+1. One 2 of them I had live ammo stove pipes on the last round. On the other mag I had a nose dive on the first round.
I've tried calling customer service but they are closed until Wednesday. So I'll call them then and discuss the options. I will keep y'all posted.
I just got off the phone with Remington. I had talked to them on January 2. They were sending a box/envelope for me to return the pistol and mags. Unfortunately, it fell through the cracks. I was assured today that my packaging would be sent. :P
Quote from: CW3Retired on December 31, 2018, 10:54:51 PM
Since I shortened the followers on my magazines by about an 1/8 inch it has worked with full magazines without issue.
Vic
Out of the box, If I inserted a full mag into the gun with the slide open, and then closed the slide to chamber, everything worked fine. If I inserted a full magazine with the slide closed, and tried to rack the slide to chamber the first round - no dice, the slide couldn't quite clear the brass case head to feed the round properly. Likewise trying to shoot in the 7+1 configuration resulted in failure to properly feed that first round from the magazine.
Following Vic's suggestion, I decided for one of my magazines to shorten the follower by a millimeter at the rear (I can always go in and remove more if needed). At the front, I left the leading edge untouched (I decided to leave the support there to help prevent nosedives), but I then shaved an angled cut up to a millimeter toward the rear on both sides of that front leg.
At the range, this modified magazine experienced a major improvement; firing several 7+1 loadings with no issues (except for a couple that were really my fault - don't ride the slide forward, and make sure the magazine is fully inserted).
Just to verify that I wasn't imagining my success, I saved that last rounds to shoot in my unmodified factory original mag. Three tries (shooting 7+1)- first two wouldn't feed that first round from the magazine. The third try fed the first round, but the second round nosedived. :P Yesterday, I did the same mod to the second magazine. will report back after I have a chance to try it out.
Yes, do let us know...
Don't you think it's somewhat ridiculous for us (the consumers) to be forced to try to overcome the production failures of Remington? Some have measured and adjusted the distance between the lips of the magazine. Others have trimmed the magazine follower to change its height. Some have substituted magazine springs from other pistols. And yet, several have received 100% functional R51s right out of the box!
When the R51 is working as intended, it is amazing and I love it! I'm hoping Remington will fine tune mine as they did HR Funk's pistol. Either that or replace it with a "100%er"! I'll keep sending it back on their nickel until they get it right! :o
Quote from: shinerjohn on January 13, 2019, 07:34:47 PM
Yes, do let us know...
Don't you think it's somewhat ridiculous for us (the consumers) to be forced to try to overcome the production failures of Remington? Some have measured and adjusted the distance between the lips of the magazine. Others have trimmed the magazine follower to change its height. Some have substituted magazine springs from other pistols. And yet, several have received 100% functional R51s right out of the box!
When the R51 is working as intended, it is amazing and I love it! I'm hoping Remington will fine tune mine as they did HR Funk's pistol. Either that or replace it with a "100%er"! I'll keep sending it back on their nickel until they get it right! :o
Meh. Magazine flakes are a long time, well known, bugaboo for semi-auto pistols. Check out the 1911 forums and history. When new 1911 shooters start having feed problems the advice is ALWAYS to junk the current mag and buy an expensive one from a short-list manufacturer for $50 per mag. Back before there was was a short-list of "high quality" mags, 1911 shooters would tweak their own mags, just like we're talking about here. And this is a design that's more than a century old, you'd think they'd have it figured out now, right? ;)
example: https://rangehot.com/1911-troubleshooting-feed-failures/
Peace favor your sword,
Kirk
Kirk, interesting read. One would think, indeed, that they would have 1911 mags down pat!
Well, mine is on the way to Huntsville, AL! Hope they get it right this time!
I noticed on my 2 new mags that one allowed the 7th round to be pressed down maybe .15" from the top and the other barely moved. The one that pressed down ~.15" was fine with 7+1, while the other was not. I shortened the legs on the other, and it now depresses and functions with 7+1.
Sorry for the delayed follow-up.
Finally a combination of free time and warmer weather has inspired a trip to the range. When last I posted I had just modified a second magazine by removing a millimeter from the legs of the follower. Since then, I also acquired two new magazines - so off to the range I went with the two modified (original) magazines, and two new unmodified mags fully loaded (7 rounds each) for testing.
A quick recap regarding my gun's prior performance: out-of-the-box my gun would easily chamber and fire all seven rounds from the magazine - if the loaded magazine was inserted with the action open, and then the slide was closed to chamber the first round. If, however, the full magazine was inserted with the action closed, or even with a round in the chamber (7+1) some sort of jam or failure to feed would result with either magazine. Long story short, for various observed reasons, the theory that the magazine follower was bottoming-out seemed the most likely culprit; so I decided to remove a millimeter from the rear leg of one magazine, and trim a wedge shaped cut from the front leg - leaving the length at front the same while tapering up by a millimeter along the sides toward the rear of that front leg. My thought being to leave the support at the front so as to keep the cartridges 'nose-up' in the stack while allowing for the rear of the cartridge to go down enough so that the bolt could clear the head of the cartridge for chambering; this proved successful for that first magazine, so I performed the same mod on the second original magazine. This brings us all to the present.
Results: With the two modified mags I could now shoot 7+1 with no issues at all. I could even insert the fully loaded magazine into the gun with the action closed and, as long as I used a firm grip and a sharp pull-back and release at the back of travel, I could also chamber that top round and shoot all seven without incident.
To my pleasant surprise I found that the two new unmodified magazines gave the same result. Huzzah!
Indeed, between the four magazines, I put about 100 rounds through the gun at that range session; focusing mostly on the newly modified second magazine, and the two new unmodified magazines. I'm going to be perfectly honest here, all the mags were performing so flawlessly that I was looking excitedly forward to coming here with a thoroughly glowing report - and then, with only seven rounds left, I inserted the last magazine of the day with the action closed and tried to chamber that top round. Sigh, I couldn't clear the cartridge head. So I transferred the 7 bullets into the second new magazine - same result. So I transferred the 7 bullets to the second modified mag ... - same result. Then deciding that my hands and fingers were probably tired from loading a hundred rounds, and transferring these last rounds, I decided to take a couple of minutes and rest my hands; after which I grabbed that second modified (and fully loaded) mag and (as described above) gave it hell - she loaded and ran just fine.
Point being, you really cannot wimp out on that top round - grip it hard, pull it back hard and sharp, and don't even think about trying to ride it forward.
I will do some more testing with the new 'unmodified' mags; and will report back with further results. Like so many here, I would like to believe that the magazine issues have been sorted out, but it might be that I just had a good day at the range; FWIW, it is the first time I've shot the gun at over 50˚F. We'll see.
Since I have about 30 years of history with defensive carry, I always load 7+1. Didn't work well until after I sent my V2 gun back to Remington, but it works now, with no mods to the magazines (1 of them is replaced by R). I try to use the slide release for chambering to get the best shot at it and that seems to work fine. This works with all the ammo I have tried, including Underwood Extreme Defense.
A couple of my magazines work with 7+1 and others do not. When I load the magazines with 7, I can push the stack down farther in the ones that work. I can't determine why some magazines will compress more than others. Seems like the same spring and follower but something must be different.
Quote from: Zenshot on September 05, 2019, 11:02:23 AM
A couple of my magazines work with 7+1 and others do not. When I load the magazines with 7, I can push the stack down farther in the ones that work. I can't determine why some magazines will compress more than others. Seems like the same spring and follower but something must be different.
Check the over-all height of the follower, particularly the length of the legs.
Peace favor your sword,
Kirk
Had mine out last week and since it simply doesn't like 7, i load 6 and let it go at that. It functioned fine with my reloads which was satisfying and the accuracy always surprises me.
I've (now) tried 7+1 a couple of times, both times failed. I'm not particularly concerned about it as I only very occasionally do n+1 loading on any pistol - I just did it this time to see if it would work as once in a blue moon it can be a minor convenience.
WITH THAT SAID - I'd be interested in seeing a detailed picture of how to mod the follower. I already smoothed that dingus in the front with a few file strokes on all 5 of my mags with the result that none of them have exhibited a nose down problem since I did that. Pictures are preferable to videos for things like this methinks.
once, only once.
So far my brand new R51 works with 7+1..