Hello all,
    Just picked up my new R51 today. Overall, very happy. Got it home this afternoon, disassembled her, did a thorough inspection and gave her a good cleaning as the gun was pretty dirty from the factory. Since I have seen many video reviews online where it seems that the action gouges up the internals a lot, I went ahead and used a fine ceramic stone that I use on my revolvers to polish and removed some burrs on the internals and then polished the same parts up with my dremel. Re-lubed and reassembled. The action feels real good now and doesn't have the gritty feel as before doing this so I am very pleased. I heard from others that the magazine floor plates are wobbly, but I did not experience this with mine. They feel solid and don't wobble. Again, everything feels good on the pistol, I like the trigger when dry firing, It's definitely different, but very crisp, sights seem normal and the fit and finish is good. I'll take it out to the range in the next few days to see how she shoots. Hopefully, the prep work I did today will pay off and will be shooting a variety of ammo. Will update once I shoot her.

Update:  Went to the range twice. First time I ran a box of regular Remington green / white box JHP's, a box of the Winchester white box JHP's, a box of regular white box and a box of federal 115gr range ammo. Didn't have any major malfunctions. Had to occasionally help push the slide into battery but it felt like if the ammo I was using maybe wasn't hot enough because the slide would return into battery kinda slowly. It was weird, but worked well. The second day, I mostly ran hotter stuff. Winchester PDX1 124 gr +P, Hornady 135 CD +P a box of some Fiocci range ammo and Winchester Train and Defend stuff I got. The second time around I had absolutely no going into battery issues at all. The PDX1's ran awesome, the slide functioned snappier and didn't seem sluggish and I actually chose this round as a carry round since the handgun ran so well with it. The Hornady stuff ran fine but despite being +P ammo, it didn't seem to rack the slide as well as the Winchester ammo and the train and defend stuff worked well too.

Overall, very happy with the little gun, It seems to like really hot ammo. The only observation I see that I can't seem to understand is that it acts like a Kahr pistol for loading it. I have to have the slide locked open and release the slide lock to load the firearm with ammo. At first I couldn't rack the slide to load ammo, now after the two shooting sessions, I can but you have to put some force into it. Also noticed it doesn't like to have a full mag + one in the chamber. When I shoot it, it jams. I'm thinking it may need to be shot more as I have read that people think it's a mag spring issue. I assume it must be the mag because if I load 6 in the mag and one in the chamber, it doesn't do this. Time will tell. If anyone has more information  or tips concerning this, I would appreciate it.

As a side note, I called Remington to inquire about sight options other than the Trijicons and they said that Novak sights work. They said I can contact Novak. Not sure how true this is but if it's true, that's nice. Another thing I noted is that 3" 1911 holsters fit. Reused one of mine. A Galco IWB holster. Appendix carries nicely.

Quote from: grivera on July 04, 2017, 08:57:42 AM
Update:  Also noticed it doesn't like to have a full mag + one in the chamber. When I shoot it, it jams. I'm thinking it may need to be shot more as I have read that people think it's a mag spring issue. I assume it must be the mag because if I load 6 in the mag and one in the chamber, it doesn't do this. Time will tell. If anyone has more information  or tips concerning this, I would appreciate it.

I've noticed that, too.  I don't think it's the spring, but is a case of the follower being jammed against the bottom of the magazine when 7 are loaded. This results in the top round being jammed against the underside of the slide.  I think 1911SHOOTER's suggestion of  trimming the bottom of the follower will probably solve that issue.  See here:  http://r51pistol.com/r51-general-discussion/feeding-problems/msg1468/#msg1468  I haven't tried this yet, but plan to soon.

Quote from: DUTCH Van Atlanta on July 04, 2017, 01:27:13 PM

Quote from: grivera on July 04, 2017, 08:57:42 AM
Update:  Also noticed it doesn't like to have a full mag + one in the chamber. When I shoot it, it jams. I'm thinking it may need to be shot more as I have read that people think it's a mag spring issue. I assume it must be the mag because if I load 6 in the mag and one in the chamber, it doesn't do this. Time will tell. If anyone has more information  or tips concerning this, I would appreciate it.

I've noticed that, too.  I don't think it's the spring, but is a case of the follower being jammed against the bottom of the magazine when 7 are loaded. This results in the top round being jammed against the underside of the slide.  I think 1911SHOOTER's suggestion of  trimming the bottom of the follower will probably solve that issue.  See here:  http://r51pistol.com/r51-general-discussion/feeding-problems/msg1468/#msg1468  I haven't tried this yet, but plan to soon.

Thanks for the info Dutch,  I went ahead and modified the followers as directed and I can now rack the slide to chamber a round like any other pistol I have. I'm assuming this resistance from the extra length of the legs on the followers were causing it to malfunction when topped off with one in the chamber. Will have to take to the range to test but so far it seems like it would work. Will update when I test fire. By the way, on one of the followers I screwed up and chopped off more than what I had to but it still works as long as the front of the follower is slightly shorter than the rear as it has to sit at an angle.

Quote from: grivera on July 04, 2017, 08:57:42 AM
As a side note, I called Remington to inquire about sight options other than the Trijicons and they said that Novak sights work. They said I can contact Novak.

You ever try to get a hold of Novak?  I see that the Novak website isn't specifically listing the Rem R51 in their Search by Handgun Model section.

Quote from: SCurmudgeon on July 06, 2017, 08:36:43 AM

Quote from: grivera on July 04, 2017, 08:57:42 AM
As a side note, I called Remington to inquire about sight options other than the Trijicons and they said that Novak sights work. They said I can contact Novak.

You ever try to get a hold of Novak?  I see that the Novak website isn't specifically listing the Rem R51 in their Search by Handgun Model section.

I haven't. I usually like changing out the sights on most handguns I own and carry but I took it out to the range last night to do a final test since the magazine follower mod and it all worked beautiful. Not a slight hint of any issues whatsoever. I was finally able to concentrate on actual shooting the handgun for precision, tried 7, 10, 15 and 25 yards and honestly it's dead on. It is true you have to hold a tad higher than normal but not enough (on my handgun) to really justify having to replace the sights at this point. At first I thought it was shooting slightly to the left but it was just me. Turns out the darn trigger is so crisp, it's easy to move the muzzle left from the trigger pull. When I concentrate, breathe correctly and squeeze correctly it's dead on. A lot more accurate than what I was expecting and groups were super tight. In conclusion, it was me, not the gun.