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
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.
Cloud-Based Firearms Guide Releases 6th Edition
We told you about the Firearms Guide’s jump from DVD to “the cloud” back in January and all of the new features and capabilities that this change allowed.
Firearms Guide editor Chris Mijic is delivering on his promise of frequent updates in the ever-changing world of firearms as the 6th edition of the new ONLINE Firearms Guide makes its debut this week.
Chris describes the Guide as the “most extensive firearms, air guns and ammo reference guide” with more than 61,000 firearm and ammo entries from over 900 manufacturers. In addition to details about the firearms, the Guide also provides values based on 100% – 30% condition ratings on all firearms as well as over 5,500 printable firearm parts lists and diagrams.
To check out the latest addition to the Firearms Guide series, visit the Firearms Guide website.
More Controversy for Couric’s Anti-Gun “Documentary”
Did Crew Send a Producer to Commit a Felony?
Not long after the deceptive editing used in Katie Couric’s “Under the Gun“ was brought to light, it looks like there might be more controversy surrounding the anti-gun film masquerading as a documentary.
If you are not familiar with the situation, Couric’s film crew edited in roughly 8 seconds of silence and uneasy glances from gun owners after she asks them a question about how to prevent bad guys from obtaining firearms. To many, this made the interviewees look like “idiots.” What actually happened was that several of the interviewees immediately provided sound, cogent responses to her question.
Now, in a recent interview with LipTV’s Ondi Timoner, Under the Gun producer Stephanie Soechtig seemingly admits to sending another producer (from Colorado) to Arizona, where he “was able to buy a Bushmaster and then three other pistols.” Unfortunately, this is a federal crime – despite what Soechtig says – as interstate purchases of long guns must be performed through an FFL in that state (when allowed at all), and interstate purchases of handguns are flatly illegal.
Soechtig says:
We sent a producer out and he was from Colorado. He went to Arizona and he was able to buy a Bushmaster and then three other pistols without a background check in a matter of four hours. And that’s perfectly legal. He wasn’t doing some sort of, like, underground market.
As many readers likely already know, to legally purchase a handgun from out of state, the firearm must be shipped to an FFL in your state, and then transferred to the purchaser as usual, including a NICS background check.
A number of producers are listed on the film’s credits page, however, it appears that there are only two male names which would match up with Soechtig’s claim that the producer they sent was a “he.” Interestingly, one of the male producers named operates a twitter page listing his location as Denver, Colorado – where Soechtig claims the producer who made the illegal purchases was from.
We hope for the sake of the producer and the Arizona seller of the firearms, that what this “documentary” film maker says in the interview is just more lies from the anti-gun left, otherwise she may have just created two new felons!
Meet Yuri Sivitski – The Soviet-Born Shooting Enthusiast with Muscular Dystrophy
How One Disabled USSR-Born Shooting Enthusiast is Chasing the American Dream
If you are surfing GunLink, then chances are good that you are a shooting enthusiast or, at least, have some interest in self defense, hunting, plinking, or other shooting sports. For many of us, picking up a firearm and hitting the range is a perfect way to spend a weekend. For others, however, as enjoyable as it sounds, that is not a possibility. Such is the case for Yuri Sivitski.
We recently made the online acquaintance of Yuri through Twitter. Yuri was born and grew up in the Soviet Union – in the Belorussian Soviet Socialistic Republic, now known as the Republic of Belarus. There, he was diagnosed at a very young age with muscular dystrophy – a disease without specific treatment or cure that weakens the musculoskeletal system and hampers movement. You can see how this would be problematic for someone interested in the shooting sports. Yuri has shared more of his story here on the GunLink Forums, where he has opened himself for an Ask Me Anything (within reason) Q&A session.
Yuri notes the irony of being a 46 year old man who is still working with “the rest of the same muscles I was born with” – which continue to deteriorate. Although he has never been able to walk, and could never lift objects weighing much more than one pound, he has a great interest in firearms and the shooting sports.
I cannot remember, how it started, but everything about firearms has always been one of top interest in my life. As you can imagine, in the Soviet Union access to guns for citizens was, let’s put it softly, restricted.
Given the nature of the Soviets’ harsh restrictions on firearm ownership by the general public and Mr. Sivitski’s condition, he did not have much opportunity to enjoy the shooting sports that he dreamed of, or even to go to a library to learn more about the subject that he loved. For years, a meager selection of a few books and magazines were his only source of information on the topic, so he read and re-read them over and over. And then… the internet came. With this nearly limitless supply of information and knowledge now available to him via the internet through the use of assistive technologies, Yuri described himself as a “dimensionless sponge” to soak up information. He was finally able to pursue knowledge about his passion, even if he was not able to put it into practice on the firing line. Continue reading
