The Remington R51 Returns
2.5 Years After First Try, Remington Re-Launches Their Compact 9mm
It has been a bit of a rough ride for the Remington R51. Two and a half years ago, the 200-year-old arms maker launched the R51 at SHOT Show 2014. By July of that year, Remington had ditched the R51 project citing “performance issues” and scrubbed any mention of the R51 from the product lineups in their catalogs and online.
In their “oops” memo, Remington stated that “anyone who purchased an R51 may return it and receive a new R51 pistol, along with two additional magazines and a custom Pelican case.” They also thanked customers for their patience and promised that “the new R51 will be of the same exceptional quality as our test pistols” which, to hear them tell it, performed flawlessly.
Now, more than two years after the recall, the R51 is back and, hopefully, better than ever. Remington announced the official re-launch of the R51 today with the following statement:
Because the R51 is so unlike any other handgun on the market, it posed unforeseen challenges in manufacturing when it was first introduced in 2014. Since then, our engineers have worked tirelessly to address the issues and extensively test the solutions, and we’re proud to say the redesigned R51 surpasses even our initial expectations.
Remington claims that the pistol has now been re-engineered from the ground up and thoroughly tested (again) to deliver “ultimate reliability.” The 7+1 capacity R51 is supposedly designed to get on target faster and point more intuitively than other subcompact pistols on the market and thanks to the barrel and recoil spring configuration, have 25% less muzzle flip.
Updated features in the rebooted R51 include a precision-built fast-reset polymer trigger, a more aggressive and durable extractor design, enhanced recoil spring – which were among the issues with the initial pistol.
Beauty or Beast – Ergo Delta Grip for Revolvers
Change Isn’t Always Easy but, Sometimes it’s for the Better
We got our first look at Ergo‘s Delta Grip a couple years ago at the NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits. My first thought was that it was bizarre looking – maybe even a little ugly. They certainly do not look like traditional revolver grips. When we handled the chained-down demo unit in the Ergo booth, it felt every bit as foreign as it looked and, always being one to judge a book by its cover, I decided that it wasn’t for me. Frankly, I wondered how they got it so wrong given how much I liked the original Ergo Suregrip on AR-15 builds.
Fast forward to the most recent SHOT Show Range Day. The GunLink team stopped by the Ergo tent, where they were showing off the new Delta grip for the Ruger LCR in addition to the original Smith & Wesson model, to speak with the company rep. While there, I mentioned my limited experience with the Delta grip and how my initial reaction was to be turned off by it, despite never having fired a shot from a revolver outfitted with the chunky stocks. After he explained some of the reasoning behind the Delta’s design and offered to send us a test set, we agreed that it was time for us to pull the trigger – so to speak – on the new revolver grips and we soon had a set inbound to install on an AirWeight J-frame Smith & Wesson.
The Delta grip – to be sure – is a substantial paradigm shift for revolver shooters. There are grips made of hard plastic, soft rubber, and wood; there are bird’s head, over-molded, flared, fat, and skinny grips; and there are slip-on and wraparound grip covers. However, until the Delta, we had not seen a grip quite like this. Continue reading
NRA: Hypocrite Hillary Leaves You Defenseless
The National Rifle Association has really been nailing it with their television ads. From their “Freedom’s Safest Place” spots to their latest one below, we like what they are doing. This demonstrates why, although very important, joining the NRA isn’t enough; it is also important to support the NRA-PVF (Political Victory Fund) to make ads like this possible since general funds and membership dues can not be used for lobbying or political purposes.
She’s one of the wealthiest women in politics. Combined income: $30 million. Tours the world in private jets. Protected by armed guards for 30 years. But she doesn’t believe in your right to keep a gun at home for self-defense. She’s an out-of-touch hypocrite. And she’d leave you defenseless.
Shot-Force Pro Brings Innovation to AR500 Targets
Several members of the GunLink team have spent at least some portion of their lives in southern Ohio, so the area has a place in our hearts. Although most of us have since spread throughout the country, we were happy to discover Nelsonville-based Shot-Force Pro while wandering the SHOT Show dungeon this past January. It is always nice to run in to someone from “back home” when travelling.
In addition to catching up on Ohio news and being introduced to company founder Steve Davis and his team while visiting their booth in Las Vegas, we were also introduced to some of their innovative targets. On a recent trip back to our old AO, we had the opportunity to stop by and visit the Shot Force facility and see where the magic happens. While there, we also got to put rounds on just about every kind of target that they currently produce as well as getting a behind the scenes look at some of the new target systems that are still in the R&D phase.
After a lively discussion on guns and politics, we got to take a look at the Shot Force production area, including stacks upon stacks of hardened steel plates, the plasma cutting table that transforms them from generic plates into their various shapes, and finished products – clad in brightly colored powder coating – waiting to be shipped out. Continue reading
Gun Salesman of the Year Award
Gun Salesman of the Year – Eight Consecutive Years!
Time may tell, but it may end up being Gun Salesman of the Century. How many NICS check records have been set and then broken under this administrations constant attacks on gun rights?
Great Guns – And who is responsible for this big boom in gun sales?
Meet the GunLink Defensive Fighting Rifle SBR
How We Built Out Our Go-To Short Barreled Rifle
A short barreled rifle, while requiring some extra hoops to jump through to obtain (more or less depending on your filing method, now that 41F is in full effect), can be a valuable tool, offering numerous benefits over a full-length rifle as a defensive weapon.
As anyone who has had practical training can tell you, maneuvering through the hallways and rooms of your home to investigate a bump in the night is exponentially easier without those extra inches sticking out past your support hand. While firing any firearm indoors will likely lead to permanent hearing damage or loss, that risk can be substantially mitigated by using a suppressor. Putting a can on an AR can push OAL past 40″ on carbines or closer to 50″ on rifles – hardly maneuverable at all – while mounting one to an SBR might make it only as long as an unsuppressed rifle by itself. While those benefits really shine when clearing rooms and maneuvering through halls and doorways, the likelihood of having to use your AR to defend your home is relatively remote; however, there are also practical benefits. An SBR is lighter, shorter, and much easier to store and transport, both in terms of the space it takes up as well as the options for covert carry cases.
I have always been interested in NFA firearms and one of the things that you frequently hear from owners of such firearms is that one of the big joys of ownership is the ability to share them with others. Before jumping into the world of NFA, I always figured that this was nonsense and all of the fun came from the fact that one owned a machinegun, SBR, SBS, silencer or other fun, interesting weapon. After Team GunLink started “stamp collecting,” we realized that it is truly a pleasure to see the smiles on people’s faces when they shoot with them.
One of the NFA firearms that we most frequently take to the range and classes and post about on social media is an AR-type modern sporting rifle based SBR. Here is how we configured our go-to SBR – the GunLink Defensive (Fighting) Rifle – it’s GDFR.
