Another American pre war pocket pistol Remington Model 51

[mbliss57]

I have been purposefully accumulating ( is that collecting)
older 32 ACP and 380s from pre 1950. Remington model 51 is the only (Commercial?) pistol ( semi auto) Remington ever produced until their recent attempt at a reproduction.
Here is one I’ve been hunting for a while. My LGS just happened to know this and he suddenly had one to sell!
This is the 380. I really want the .32 ACP so I will eventually have both.

Here is a very good article explain Pedersons design and genius. In the end it was just to expensive to manufacture to compete with all the others.

Remington 51

 

[robertrwalsh]

These are fine pistols. I own one in .380. Too bad magazines are very difficult to locate and very expensive to buy.

 

[Bro. Dave]

These are really nice shooting pocket pistols. I am fortunate enough to have one in .32 and it shoots very "naturally," for lack of a better term.

I have also found that pocket 32's can be addictive. One of my unexpected favorites is a Sauer 38h, which has not only a de-cocking lever, but uses the same lever to re-cock the pistol.

Your .380 Model 51 looks great. Thanks for sharing.

 

[DWalt]

Not quite the first Remington semi-auto. There were some M1911s produced by Remington-UMC during WWI. There was also a much larger Remington .45 M53 pistol built along the same lines as the Model 51. Remington M53 – Forgotten Weapons
There were actually four variations of the Model 51 (not counting the much more recent R51 in 9mm which was a marketing flop) - two variations of the .380 and two of the .32. George Patton had one, I think it was a .380. But he had lots of guns. The Known and Lesser Known Carry Guns of George S. Patton :: Guns.com

 

[Absalom]

A nice one.

Ergonomically I also, like Bro. Dave, find these to be the most naturally pointing of the compact autos of that period, especially compared to its primary competitors, the Colt 1903/1908 and the Savage 1907/1915/1917.

Apart from the production cost issue, however, they also missed the bus by a decade. When all-out production started in 1919, also the top year with over 22,000 of the .380 version made, both Colt and Savage had been well established in the market for too long. Contrary to what Ed Buffaloe writes, production didn‘t “decline steadily”, it crashed precipitously, from those 22,000 to about 12,000 in 1920 and less than 5000 in 1921.

Yours is a fairly late one; the serial PA 55343 puts production in 1926.

 

[4T5GUY]

They are amazing pistols. The fact that many hand studies were done during the design period should be mentioned. A good pistol has to feel good and point naturally. Too bad that idea has been lost today.

I found mine in the back of a gun shops case covered in dust. I couldn’t believe they wouldn’t even keep it clean. It’s a .32 acp so it feels at home with all of the other vintage 32’s I have.

There is a lot of information on line on them including copies of owners manuals.

I think mine was made in 1921-23 but I could never do any better than that. I actually filled out an on line survey for someone that was developing a data base but didn’t hear back.

Jim

 

[Absalom]

...
I think mine was made in 1921-23 but I could never do any better than that. I actually filled out an on line survey for someone that was developing a data base but didn’t hear back.

Jim

PA 62329 was made in 1922, according to the .32 serial ranges I have in my notes. These are unofficial as far as I know. I copied the info from somewhere several years ago when I researched my 51, but unfortunately didn’t note the source; I must have considered it credible

 

[Echo40]

Beautiful gun, it's a real shame that Remington didn't simply reproduce the Model 51 a few years back rather than attempting to modernize it and push an action designed for .32 ACP to handle 9mm Luger +P, thus resulting in one of the most unreliable firearms since the Colt All American 2000.

I know that supposedly newer R51s actually function reliably, (the firearms themselves, not the magazines) but I doubt that it's a popular option for carry, wereas a reproduction of the Model 51 in .380 ACP most likely could have been successful, considering the success of the Bersa Thunder 380.
Heck, if they had reproduced the Model 51 in .380 ACP and sold it for around $300 back in 2016, then I would have bought one over the PPK/S.

 

[LVSteve]

Not quite the first Remington semi-auto. There were some M1911s produced by Remington-UMC during WWI. There was also a much larger Remington .45 M53 pistol built along the same lines as the Model 51. Remington M53 – Forgotten Weapons

That M53 is an extremely interesting weapon. Very sleek looking, for sure. Sort of a Steyr GB of its day.

 

[huthike]

I too like the older pocket 32’s and 380’s. The Remington is one of my favorites along with the Savage 32’s.


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[Walter Rego]

I'm a big fan of the Remington PA51. It's a great design and fairly pleasant to shoot even given its light weight. Interestingly, the .32's were produced in much lower numbers than the .380's, exactly the opposite of production numbers of the Colt 1903 & 1908 pocket autos and Savage M1907 and M1917 pocket autos. But my experience is that many sellers don't know this and ask more money for the .380 caliber PA51.

If you walked into a gun store or hardware store 100 years ago, which of these models would you choose ? For the guns in this photo, the Savage sold for $16, The Remington for $19.50 and the Colt for $20.50 (when new).

 

[Broke Hoss]

I got 1 in .380. It belonged to my FIL.

I've only shot it once, & it was easy on the hand. But mine has problems feeding. Most likely due to the magazine lips being cracked/wrong angle.

I wouldn't mind making it a shooter again, but mags, when you find em are more than I've been willing to pay. It'll stay around no matter.

 

[Gene L]

The Army gave these to General Officers in WW 2. A colleague of mine in the Army had a father who was a General and his son had the pistol after he passed. Back in 1970 or so. I read somewhere recently that Gen Patton ALWAYS carried a R 51 in .32 concealed on his person.

I would love to have one. Very elegant.

 

[Absalom]

The Army gave these to General Officers in WW 2. A colleague of mine in the Army had a father who was a General and his son had the pistol after he passed. Back in 1970 or so. I read somewhere recently that Gen Patton ALWAYS carried a R 51 in .32 concealed on his person.
...

The Army‘s official General Officers pistol during WW II was the Colt 1903/1908; Patton had one of those too and had it decorated with his number of stars on the grip panel. They are visible in several photos, like the attached one, Germany 1945.

Patton did indeed have a 51, and I’m sure so did the general you refer to, but these are unlikely to have been issued guns.

 

[Swiftflyer]

You need to add an Ortgies to your collection. Beautiful little pocket pistol in .25, .32, or .380 with so many variations they can lead you down a completely different path.

 

[DWalt]

The Army‘s official General Officers pistol during WW II was the Colt 1903/1908; Patton had one of those too and had it decorated with his number of stars on the grip panel. They are visible in several photos, like the attached one, Germany 1945.

Patton did indeed have a 51, and I’m sure so did the general you refer to, but these are unlikely to have been issued guns.

Patton's 51 was a presentation gift from a friend, who was, I think another general officer. It was an earlier pistol which the friend had sent back to the Remington factory to be refurbished. The 51 was never a military issued item.

 

[DWalt]

You need to add an Ortgies to your collection. Beautiful little pocket pistol in .25, .32, or .380 with so many variations they can lead you down a completely different path.

And they have no screws.

 

[vrichard]

Remington 51 are nice,
This one 32 cal.ser.#PA65136 is 100% with no box.(what would a box look like?)
Dick

 

[pawncop]

Do the serial numbers for the.380 ACP and the.32 ACP run together or are they unique to the model?

I have a .380 with a lower number and am curious if the sidearm was manufactured before 1922.

 

[Absalom]

Do the serial numbers for the.380 ACP and the.32 ACP run together or are they unique to the model?

I have a .380 with a lower number and am curious if the sidearm was manufactured before 1922.

According to my info (see caveat above ), the .32 pistols had a separate serial sequence ABOVE that of the .380 model. The lowest .32 is reportedly PA 60801 from 1921.

What makes me a bit suspicious about my source is that the highest reported .380 is the number below that, PA 60800, assembled from parts in 1934. How could they have known in 1921 how many more .380 pistols they‘d produce until the end of parts manufacture in 1927? So take all this for however much faith you want to place in it