The
Remington 51 is a small
pocket pistolA pocket pistol is an American term for any small, pocket-sized semi-automatic pistol or, less-popular, any other handgun of small caliber, suitable for concealed carry in either a front or rear pocket of a pair of trousers, or in an exterior coat pocket...
designed by John Pedersen and manufactured by
Remington ArmsRemington Arms Company, Inc. was founded in 1816 by Eliphalet Remington in Ilion, New York, as E. Remington and Sons. It is the oldest company in the United States which still makes its original product, and is the oldest continuously operating manufacturer in North America. It is the only U.S....
in the early 20th century for the
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
civilian market. Remington manufactured approximately 65,000 Model 51 pistols in
.32 ACP.32 ACP , also known as the .32 Automatic is a pistol cartridge. It is a semi-rimmed, straight-walled cartridge developed by firearms designer John Browning, initially for use in the FN M1900 semi-automatic pistol...
and
.380 ACPThe .380 ACP pistol cartridge is a rimless, straight-walled pistol cartridge developed by firearms designer John Browning. The cartridge headspaces on the mouth of the case. It was introduced in 1908 by Colt, and has been a popular self-defense cartridge ever since...
calibers from 1918 to 1927, though small numbers were assembled into the mid-1930s.
Development
John Pedersen designed or helped design many firearms for the Remington Arms Company. He had worked in concert with
John BrowningJohn Moses Browning , born in Ogden, Utah, was an American firearms designer who developed many varieties of military and civilian firearms, cartridges, and gun mechanisms, many of which are still in use around the world...
to design the
Remington Model 17In 1915 John Browning patented a pump action, hammerless, under-loading, tubular-magazine, bottom-ejecting, take-down shotgun which became the Remington Model 17. The manufacturing rights were sold to Remington Arms shortly after, but due to the production efforts of World War I, Remington was...
which served as the basis for the
Remington Model 31The Remington Model 31 was a slide-action shotgun that competed with the Winchester Model 1912 for the American sporting arms market. Produced from 1931 to 1949, it superseded the John Pedersen-designed Model 10 and Model 17 and was replaced by the less expensive Remington 870.-History:While the...
,
Ithaca 37The Ithaca 37 is a pump-action shotgun made in large numbers for the civilian, military, and police markets. It utilizes a novel combination ejection/loading port on the bottom of the gun which leaves the sides closed to the elements. In addition, the outline of the gun is clean...
, Browning BPS, and
Mossberg 500Mossberg 500 is a series of shotguns manufactured by O.F. Mossberg & Sons. The 500 series comprises widely varying models of hammerless, pump action repeaters, all of which share the same basic receiver and action, but differ in bore size, barrel length, choke options, magazine capacity, and...
. He designed the
Pedersen deviceThe Pedersen Device is an attachment developed during World War I for the M1903 Springfield rifle that allowed it to fire a short .30 Caliber intermediate cartridge in semi-automatic mode...
that converted the M1903 Springfield into an autoloading intermediate-caliber weapon. Pedersen later worked for the
US ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and provided competition to
John GarandJohn Cantius Garand was a designer of firearms best known for creating the first successful semi-automatic rifle to be widely used in active military service, the M1 Garand....
building an autoloading rifle to fire a full-power rifle cartridge. His design used lubricated cases and a toggle-bolt system much like the
Luger pistolThe Pistole Parabellum 1908 or Parabellum-Pistole , popularly known as the Luger, is a toggle-locked recoil-operated semi-automatic pistol. The design was patented by Georg J...
but eventually lost out to the
M1 GarandThe M1 Garand , was the first semi-automatic rifle to be generally issued to the infantry of any nation. Called "the greatest battle implement ever devised" by General George S...
.
Made in
.380 ACPThe .380 ACP pistol cartridge is a rimless, straight-walled pistol cartridge developed by firearms designer John Browning. The cartridge headspaces on the mouth of the case. It was introduced in 1908 by Colt, and has been a popular self-defense cartridge ever since...
and later in
.32 ACP.32 ACP , also known as the .32 Automatic is a pistol cartridge. It is a semi-rimmed, straight-walled cartridge developed by firearms designer John Browning, initially for use in the FN M1900 semi-automatic pistol...
caliber, it was marketed as a pocket pistol. While the European market embraced small-caliber pocket pistols, the American market favored
revolverA revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The first revolver ever made was built by Elisha Collier in 1818. The percussion cap revolver was invented by Samuel Colt in 1836. This weapon became known as the Colt Paterson...
s. More expensive than the Browning-designed competition, the Model 51 was not much smaller. Furthermore, Remington was a company known for their long guns; their handguns had previously been limited to revolvers forced to play second fiddle to Colt in terms of sales.
Due to these factors, the Remington Model 51 enjoyed only limited commercial success. If competing with cheaper single-action blowback autoloaders made sales difficult, the stock market crash made sales nearly impossible. Impending autoloading pocket pistols like the
Walther PPKThe Walther PP series pistols are blowback-operated semi-automatic pistols.They feature an exposed hammer, a double-action trigger mechanism, a single-column magazine, and a fixed barrel which also acts as the guide rod for the recoil spring...
ended any chance of further success by Remington pistols. For the smaller calibers it was made in, blowback operated pistols were cheaper, only slightly heavier, and did not produce excessive recoil. While the locking mechanism is still superior in many respects, the disadvantages in its complex trigger and safety mechanisms made the pistol difficult to sell. In many respects, the pistol came too early. In the 1980s and beyond, companies like
GlockGlock Ges.m.b.H. is a weapons manufacturer headquartered in Deutsch-Wagram, Austria, named after its founder, Gaston Glock...
promoted their pistols multiple, intuitive safety systems and advanced human engineering. These were both features Pedersen had pioneered over half a century prior.
General
George S. PattonGeorge Smith Patton, Jr. was a United States Army officer best known for his leadership while commanding corps and armies as a general during World War II. He was also well known for his eccentricity and controversial outspokenness.Patton was commissioned in the U.S. Army after his graduation from...
owned a Remington 51 and was thought to favor the weapon. Despite critical praise, no government or private agency is known to have adopted the weapon for use. Some examples are seen today with inventory numbers, however their origin is unknown. An anchor proof marking on some pistols has led to the mistaken belief that they were
US NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
pistols bolstered by the fact that the Navy did indeed recommend a .45-caliber version for adoption.
In the 1970s and 1980s, an inventor named Ross Rudd designed and prototyped a
.45 ACPThe .45 ACP , also known as the .45 Auto by C.I.P., is a cartridge designed by John Browning in 1904, for use in his prototype Colt semi-automatic .45 pistol and eventually the M1911 pistol adopted by the United States Army in 1911.-Design and history:The U.S...
caliber pistol based on the Pedersen layout but with an inclined surface in place of the locking surface. This served to delay the opening of the breech rather than locking it. The pistol was planned for manufacture, but was never produced. The Italian firm
BenelliBenelli Armi SpA is an Italian firearm manufacturer founded in 1967, located in Urbino, Italy, best known for high quality shotguns used by military, law enforcement and civilians all over the world. Particularly famous is the Benelli M3 12 gauge, used extensively by American SWAT teams...
produced limited numbers of
B76, B80, and B82 pistolsThe B76 is a pistol manufactured in Italy by Benelli. It operates on the lever-delayed blowback system that Benelli called an "inertia lock". Despite the name, the system of operation is pure lever-delayed as explained in . Manufacture has been discontinued....
similar to the Rudd pistol however utilizing a lever-delayed blowback system.
Design details
The layout of the Remington 51 is similar to the
Walther PPKThe Walther PP series pistols are blowback-operated semi-automatic pistols.They feature an exposed hammer, a double-action trigger mechanism, a single-column magazine, and a fixed barrel which also acts as the guide rod for the recoil spring...
pistol in the use of a stationary barrel and
recoilRecoil is the backward momentum of a gun when it is discharged. In technical terms, the recoil caused by the gun exactly balances the forward momentum of the projectile and exhaust gasses, according to Newton's third law...
spring surrounding the barrel. However, the unique feature is the use of a locking breech block within the slide. When the pistol is in battery, the breech block rests slightly forward of the locking shoulder in the frame. When the cartridge is fired, the bolt and slide move together a short distance rearward powered by the energy of the cartridge as in a standard
blowbackBlowback is a system of operation for self-loading firearms that obtains energy from the motion of the cartridge case as it is pushed to the rear by expanding gases created by the ignition of the propellant charge....
system. When the breech block contacts the locking shoulder, it stops, locking the breech. The slide continues rearward with the momentum it acquired in the initial phase. This allows chamber pressure to drop to safe levels while the breech is locked and the cartridge slightly extracted. Once the bullet leaves the barrel and pressure drops, the continuing motion of the slide lifts the breech block from its locking recess through a cam arrangement, continuing the operating cycle. One can insert a dowel into the barrel and push on the breech block. It will only move a fraction of an inch and stop against the lugs. Only manually retracting the slide or firing a cartridge opens the gun. The Remington Model 51 was the only production pistol to utilize Pedersen's type of operating system.
Because the breech is locked, this pistol can handle greater pressures than a blowback firearm yet without the size and weight penalty of other locking systems. The design also allows the recoil spring to be placed around the barrel making for a shorter profile gun. Lighter operating parts and longer lock time provide less felt and actual recoil. A lower bore axis gives less muzzle rise which also lowers felt recoil. A fixed barrel allows for greater accuracy and reliability as well as simplifying construction compared to other locking systems. Overall, this system is lighter than a blowback, simpler than any conventional locking mechanism, and has less recoil than either of the other systems.
The Remington Model 51 uses an internal hammer and features a single-action trigger. A unique combination lever on the rear of the grip-frame acts as a safety, bolt hold-open device and bolt release. This is in addition to a manual safety lever, magazine safety disconnect, and relatively heavy trigger pull. The grips are held on with spring-tensioned studs rather than screws. Not a single screw is used in the entire pistol. Pedersen was greatly concerned with human engineering and developing a comfortable grip angle for his pistol while not sacrificing the slim profile. Field stripping the pistol is cumbersome but not overly complicated.
Variants
Despite its shortcomings, the design was recommended for adoption by the Navy Board during the First World War as the scaled-up .45 caliber
Remington Model 53. Testing of the prototype against production M1911 showed the Remington design to be more reliable. Initially, Remington demanded a large amount of money up-front to tool-up for the gun, but negotiations were cut short by America's entrance into
World War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Available factories were tooled to produce the M1911 so investment in ramping-up production for another pistol did not make sense. Production of the 1911 kept pace with wartime demands and Remington itself was eventually contracted to produce the Colt weapon.
Because of a lower bore axis, lighter slide, and locked breech, the Remington 53 boasted much less felt recoil than the M1911. This fact was attested to by noted firearms expert
Julian HatcherJulian Sommerville Hatcher , was a noted firearms expert and author of the early twentieth century. He is credited with several technical books and articles relating to military firearms, ballistics, and autoloading weapons...
. The Remington pistol was also more accurate, lighter, and had fewer moving parts than the 1911. Despite its advantages over the M1911, there was too little civilian market to support a large-bore pistol at that time, a military contract was now unlikely, and the M1911 already had a firm foothold. Remington abandoned the larger pistol and focused on the Model 51.
See also
- Pedersen device
The Pedersen Device is an attachment developed during World War I for the M1903 Springfield rifle that allowed it to fire a short .30 Caliber intermediate cartridge in semi-automatic mode...
- SIG MKMS
The SIG MKMS was sub-machine gun designed by Schweizerische_Industrie_Gesellschaft company in Neuhausen during the early 1930s and was first introduced in 1933. It was designed for the military and to increase firepower it had a larger capacity magazine as well as a longer barrel, one that would...
- List of individual weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces
External links