SSA GHO 005 – Paul Carlson and Grant Cunningham discuss firearm reliability and issues with t…

[svp]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwsY-dfEcWw[/svp]
Welcome to the Safety solutions academy where everyday people come to learn how to live a safer life through understanding personal security, unraveling defensive training, and demystifying the gun.

Grant and I have been talking about some foundational defensive firearm concepts over the past few weeks and we are going to continue on talking about why reliability is such an important trait to look for in a defensive firearm.

We will approach things from a conceptual stand point and then hone in on some specific issues with the Remington R-51.

11 replies
  1. Safety Solutions Academy
    Safety Solutions Academy says:

    Check out Safety Solutions Academy Google Hang out 005. This episode Grant
    Cathy Cunningham and I talk about defensive handgun reliability and
    specifically but Remington R 51.

    Reply
  2. RyeOnHam
    RyeOnHam says:

    I have talked with two other people that have said their guns were
    assembled FROM THE FACTORY with the slide stop above the spring. Please
    check out my video where I show out-of-battery discharge issues I had. I
    also gave you a shout-out as you had the same “nipple-primers” issue as I
    did.

    Reply
  3. RyeOnHam
    RyeOnHam says:

    24:30 — you state that the No-Go gauge should not allow the gun to close.
    This is incorrect. On a locked breech firearm such as a bolt action,
    Browning recoil-operated Glock, etc., it will provide that functionality.
    However, you have a blowback pistol in your hand. Headspace cannot be
    measured bad the way you are doing it.

    Reply
  4. Safety Solutions Academy
    Safety Solutions Academy says:

    +RyeOnHam my thumbs hate your comment as I have spent the last 45 minutes
    with the slide off the gun putting gauges in and out. Bottom line, you are
    correct. The Pederson action block floats. I can see a slight difference
    with the no go case gauge in. Time to read up on gauging a blow-back gun!

    Reply
    • Aaron Shuler
      Aaron Shuler says:

      If you can just take a little extra time to convince my WIFE that I was right, I would be much obliged.  Headspace is a funky concept even for experienced gunsmiths.  The worst are "API" guns (blowbacks that have short chambers) and floating chamber guns like the Winchester Model 50.  Did you get a chance to check out my video and TacticalExistence's?  They confirm the issues you are having.

      Reply
    • Aaron Shuler
      Aaron Shuler says:

      If you can just take a little extra time to convince my WIFE that I was right, I would be much obliged.  Headspace is a funky concept even for experienced gunsmiths.  The worst are "API" guns (blowbacks that have short chambers) and floating chamber guns like the Winchester Model 50.  Did you get a chance to check out my video and TacticalExistence's?  They confirm the issues you are having.

      Reply
  5. Calvin Ledford
    Calvin Ledford says:

    Seeing primer flow on all of my cases as well. There is a R51 forum at
    Remington Owners Group. I’ve posted pics there.

    Reply
  6. Calvin Ledford
    Calvin Ledford says:

    Interestingly, my R51 barrel seems to have a chamber issue – in that the
    case mouth does not seem to be making good contact with the shoulder in the
    chamber it is to headspace off of. In fact, the bullet seems to be making
    contact with the lands (rifling) in the barrel before the case is fully
    into the chamber and the slightest pressure on the rear of the case makes
    the round “stick” as it engages (wedges into) the rifling. Firmer pressure
    seats the bullet deeper into the barrel/lands and makes the round
    impossible to remove without a rod to push the cartridge back out from the
    muzzle end. I colored a cartridge with a sharpie to verify this and it was
    for certain making contact with the rifling.

    This (assuming a larger issue than just with my gun) might speak to the
    problem of the slide “sticking shut” with a round in the chamber, which
    I’ve seen 2-3 reports of occurring. I would guess this would have pressure
    implications as well.
    For reference I was using Federal 115 grain ball ammo during this
    observation. I will try other brands tonight. I was unable (due to time
    constraints) to check my wife’s R51 for the same issue, but can say that it
    was sticking shut with Remington “Golden Saber” ammo when we first bought
    it and were cycling rounds through it. The Golden Saber bullets are pretty
    long, making the cartridge OAL near the max. In her case (without looking
    at it further) we switched ammo to Hornady Critical Defense and it cycled
    fine (no sticking) so I didn’t think further about it at the time – as we
    only have a single box of the Golden Saber, it is just happened to be what
    I’d grabbed to try cycling the gun with and not what we’d intended to
    carry, and it is a really long cartridge.

    It would be nice to know if others are having this issue as well. It is
    easy to test for. Note: this involves placing a live round into the barrel
    once the barrel has been removed from the gun. While there shouldn’t be
    any real danger from this – do this this at your own risk!

    If you choose to try the test, disassemble the gun, then take just the
    barrel and point it at the floor. Next, take a loaded round and drop it
    into the chamber. The rim of the case mouth should hit the “edge” that
    extends into the chamber area. The 9mm cartridge headspaces off of the
    case mouth and the loaded round should easily sit against this shoulder.
    Tilt the barrel up to see if the round easily drops out of the barrel. (It
    should) Next, put the round back into the barrel and put slight pressure
    on the base of the cartridge with your thumb. Did you feel anything? (A
    tiny click possibly?) When you tip the barrel up now, does the round stay
    in the chamber or easily slide out? If it sticks, there might be an issue
    with the chamber that is allowing the bullet to engage the rifling before
    the entire cartridge is fully seated. The test can be repeated one final
    time by placing the round in the chamber and pressing hard on the base with
    the thumb. Given that the round is slammed into the chamber when deposited
    there by the force of the slide, you are checking to see if the round can
    be forced into the lands. Note, this test is not for the faint of heart –
    if the round does stick, a rod (preferably wooden dowel) will need to be
    inserted down the muzzle to tap on the nose of the bullet to pop it back
    out of the chamber.

    While looking at my barrel I noticed a couple of other things. I used a
    Glock 17 barrel for reference and first noted that the R51 barrel (to my
    eye, assisted with an optivisor) looks to have about twice as much of the
    very bottom of the case head unsupported as the Glock. This is no small
    thing considering the liberties Glock is known to take in this area in
    favor of reliability.

    Having said that, the R51 chamber is much, MUCH tighter than the Glock. A
    poster elsewhere suggested that this is probably intentional and required
    for blow-back style handgun such as the R51.

    Reply

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