p1390930-900x601_1

Remington has been busy recently striking out into some interesting new areas for the company. Who really thought Big Green would come out with a kick-ass competition shotgun that would be the envy of 3-gunners? As part of this broadening of their line expansion Remington has released the RP9 pistol, a Remington-made polymer pistol in 9mm (hence the name) that’s also available in 45 ACP for those so inclined. This is Remington’s first foray into the world of striker fired polymer handguns. So, how did they do?

The first thing that came out of my mouth when I opened the box: “Did they swap my gun for a Walther PPQ?” The profile is almost a dead ringer for the Teutonic plastic fantastic, but closer inspection reveals that Remington’s made some changes…nearly all for the better.

img_20161205_182657

Improvement number one — and probably the biggest one — no finger grooves. European gun manufacturers seem to like to mold finger grooves into grips of their handguns. While that might fit the typical delicate European digits, their grooves definitely do not fit my large paws. Remington’s choice of a straight (and slim) grip with three backstrap options is music to my palms.

Then there’s the slide release. Walther likes their extended version, but Remington seems to subscribe to the “KISS” principle. The slide stop/release looks more like one from the classic SIG SAUER line, a small bent piece of metal that jams into the appropriate slot. It may seem simplistic but that’s the reason I like it.

The last improvement: The Rp costs $300 less than the Walther.

We know…you want the full-on review. In fact, just last night I was out stress testing the Rp. Watch this space for our patented, authoritative, straight dope take on Remmy’s latest and greatest.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

70 COMMENTS

  1. zzzzzzzzzz
    Oh look another striker fire like Glock. Develop something new and quit acting like you have done something

    • Zzzzzz
      Another Glock fanboy who almost certainly wasn’t born when Glock was released and therefore doesn’t realize that Glock was not the first striker fired polymer handgun. The comparison of every new striker fired handgun to Glock has gotten to be a major bore.

        • @ PAX: Totally DisAgree!! The “Plastic Pistol” designs are Lighter and absorb Recoil Much Much Better. Favorites are Smith&Wesson SD9VE, Sig 2022, M&P9, RockIsland EAAWitness MPP 9MM and the List of these venerable pistols just keeps Going!!
          LOVE “Plastic guns”!!!!!!!!!!

    • 1. American designed AND manufactured.
      2. MUCH less expensive than Walther or Glock.
      3. How many new firearms have YOU designed in the last 100+ years?

      Sounds like THEY did something new after all…pull your pants back up little John…

      • Not a gun designer. I do my profession though and don’t wait 20 years to bandwagon it.
        Time will tell on this.

  2. Gentlemen, I have a confession to make here:
    I think I’ll be buying a R51 after that tax return gets in.
    Yes, I’ve seen all the recent reviews and videos and I’m not convinced its completely without merit… it’s just… so… PRETTY.
    let the flames begin!

    • I like the R51’s looks too. Actually considered getting it over the Ruger LC9s a few years back and then found out about all the issues and said no.

      I may get one in the future if the price is like, $150 for a used one.

    • I was planning on it as well. On a range day last week I dropped $20.00 on a gun rental and a box of 9mm. Best 20 I’ve ever spent. It saved me adding another gun to the never shoot pile. It functioned flawlessly for the 21 rounds I put through it. I’m not recoil sensitive, and I don’t think the recoil was a problem. I was done after 21 rounds though because my hand hurt. I think it had more to do with the shape than anything. There is no reset to the trigger. If you haven’t shot it I would suggest you rent one. If you like it enjoy.

    • No flame from me: eye of the beholder and all that. I’ll just say that the swoop curve on the R51 slide reminds me of today’s bulbous SUVs and the silly fat squiggle stripes on the side of road barge RVs. Yecch.

  3. Personally I cannot stand Remington Outdoors or their predecessor Freedom group. They use Bean counters and shoddy assembly processes two very cheaply manufacture and produce Firearms rifles and shotguns. Remington was once a family-owned and privately traded company and when it was it was a decent American company. Now it’s run by a bunch of stockholders and bean counters turning out the cheapest least expensive easiest to example pieces of crap I’ve ever seen in my life that last released by Remington that pistol that nightmare pistol that the guys here at the truth about guns gave a rating of like a negative star. They are habitual people that require gun manufacturers such as DPMS peral ordinance Marlin and a bunch more oh yeah Bushmaster and then they fire everyone at the company and relocated to their Remington Outdoors production facility in Alabama and tell all those people that have worked for years sometimes decades at these companies to take a long walk off a short pier I have personally spoke with guys that used to work for DPMS and they basically got one of the most crappiest Severance packages on the planet. Basically if you weren’t ready to pick up your whole family and move to Huntsville Alabama you were Sol. You got a couple of weeks worth of pay and a nice firm kick Square in the ass. If any of our gun manufacturing companies needs an enema it’s Remington Outdoors. They treat people like possessions. Anything Remington has the offer I’m not interested just look to see what they did to Marlon Marlon used to be a fairly priced quality rifle that you could purchase for less than $300 and get a rifle that would last you and your children a lifetime. Now they look like they’re assembled in Malaysia where the wood doesn’t even match the handguard doesn’t even match the stock on the lever action rifles I’ve had bolts and screws completely fall out of the rifle during shipping to our gun shop Just Junk is what Remington Outdoors makes anymore. I know a lot of the guys here at the truth about guns feel the same way about this Monopoly of crap that Remington has developed over the last 15 years. That’s what happens when you take gun people out of the gun business and replace them with being Counting accountants that know nothing about Firearms or the people who buy them and use them out of touch with there Market and their values.

    • + ^ ^^

      However, I do like the ‘beavertail’ ‘overhang?’ of the rear slide/frame of the RP9. The Sig Sauer P226 “Tactical” is much more of a ~ ‘comfortable’ [?] better gripping pistol than the standard P226 / Mk 25, in any caliber. Even Zastava’s EZ-40 grips nicer to me than the regular P226.

      The RP9 is a little me-too / late-to-the-party, and Remington (aprt from their R-1) tends to make a rattle-y firearm, I hope this one’s different, and I hope it shoots like a 5th of Gin.

        • Ya, weirdly clunky and yet even more refined than a P226 in some ways. Definitely needs breaking-in, but shoots nice and on the heavy side for the size so it eats recoil especially one-handed.

          Only thing I did to the EZ-40 (before shooting at the range and then burying it at sea in a fire-y grave) was bend down the slide-release ‘lever / tang’ slightly. It was a little less than ‘positively’ self-positioning when not engaged but I even shot mine upside down and it didn’t catch, so. . .

      • I also hate Grammar and think it should be spelled Grammer with a schwa e.

        I also hate POS mf’n liberal_progressive_communist_globalist [&] (D). Don’t forget that. If it wasn’t for those POS’s (in addition to freeing the World of a Fing Scourge) we could have a nice conversation about guns and shooting.

        Again, don’t forget it.

  4. The highly sculptured grip is the major reason I rejected the Walther Q5 Match in favor of a ported Performance Center M&P 9 even though the Walther has a somewhat better trigger. Had it been available, the Rp9 would also have been a candidate. The winner would have been the gun with the better trigger.

    • The S&W pistols rattle too much, and (regardless of how sound a pistol they are) pass too much light (for my taste) between the slide and the frame (in the right back-lighting, it almost makes it look like someone didn’t get the slide assembled on there correctly). I like the ‘look’ (in that regard) of the Springfield XD / XDm line much better and it shoots better for me. Remington and Ruger (IMHO) make pistols the way MOPAR used to do front ends. They would never break but they would rattle before you drove them off of the lot.

        • Ya, the newish polymer ones do (that I’ve come across). I liken it to the fit and finish differences on GM products. Cadillac’s will be a little tighter than a GMC over a Chevrolet. Buick over a Pontiac. Most of the older ones I’ve encountered were ‘used’ but they were still ~ flimsy and loose feeling.

          Definitely the polymer ones though. It’s like a Diamondback compared to (still somewhat ‘loose’) Sig Sauer 2022, or a Kel-Tec mini-anything to a Taurus mini-anything.

    • Another candidate was a Browning Hi Power. Before I was ready to make a final selection, I came across a fifty year old example at a gun show. It had adjustable sights, the original safety and a good trigger. (Probably had the magazine disconnect removed.) It might have been a good purchase. Aside from being extremely expensive, brand new ones suffer from a very stiff trigger.

  5. I don’t see the Walther in its design at all. Reminds me more Beretta’s APX. Look at the beaver-tail, that is one, serious undercut!

    • Speaking of the APX….Still waiting/ wanting. Maybe my grandchildren’s grandchildren will be able to buy one.

      • + ^ & ^^

        Yes, although the Beretta’s APX’s undercut / overhang [?] ; P seems a lot more subtle in the backstrap arch like the Springfield XDm.

        I like the XDm but I think (for me / my hands) the more aggressive the curve of the undercut the better.

    • I wish someone would do one (just to see, and regardless of cost) with an alloy frame. I know it’s a lot, but I like alloy over polymer. [Maybe a different blog, but???] I think it was JWT’s review [?] of that FNH with the squishy polymer frame magwell in 140 degree heat ??? No bueno.

      Beretta and Sig make their DoD contract weapons with an alloy frame and (IMHO) I think it’s better. Heavier, yes. But better.

  8. No Thanks. Don’t trust Remington for a carry gun or home defense gun. Unless its a shotgun, in which case I’ll make an exception.

    I always wanted to daily carry a shotty.

    • Maybe in a year or two if the NFA stuff goes away (not holding my breath but the odds are better than they have been in many years). I’d love a 12″ barrel 870 or Mossie 500 with a pistol grip that I could carry in a holster. The ultimate fight stopper.

  9. I’m gonna run out and get one ASAP. That way I’ll have it before the recall starts in a few months.

  10. Another Remington handgun? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HA!

    Can they actually come out with any working production models and not just one working prototype? I won’t bother and neither should anybody else.

    You see this? This is what happens when so much of your recently made firearms have come out with such issues and you spent years to fix the R51, which the jury is still out on whether it was truly fixed. You have millions of Remington 700 which are unsafe thanks to former company executives not wanting to spend 7 cents more to make them safer, you have the 870’s whose actions are no longer smooth… Remington, you are a celebrity who’s fallen into a downward spiral of drug addiction and STD’s.

    • Ever heard of the RM380? So far as I can tell it had no issues to speak of at all right out the gate yet Remington gets no credit for doing that one right.

      • That’s because anyone can make a .380, even Cobra.

        I’ll give them credit with the .380, but the .380 market is oversaturated and it doesn’t stand out at all.

      • Um actually… I met a woman at a gun store that bought a rm380 and actually threatened me when I mentioned I might get one. Apparently hers was that bad.

  11. I heard that it borrowed a safety feature from the R51, where it prevents unauthorized use by shooting flames onto the hand of anyone who doesn’t know to wear gloves while firing it.

  13. I boycott Remington nowadays. Any company that’s irresponsible enough to release the R51 shouldn’t be around anymore. I don’t care how old or revered they (once) were.

  14. Remington, I hardly know ye……my how the mighty have fallen. Winchester did it to themselves in 1964, Remington took another 50 years but all the debacles recently have left Rem feeling the same pains. The constant recalls, the whole Marlin issue and the consolidation have even left the faithful worried. Just make what you already build right again, THEN worry about new product releases, ok? Man, when you can’t trust an 870 to work right anymore, something is quite wrong.

    • *cough* AAC *cough*

      Eff Remington and the cheap junk they produce. If the goal was to fall in line with todays use for a while and throw away style of manufacturing, they have succeeded. Truth be told, I’d rather buy a HiPoint. At least I know what I’m getting and not paying for a name.

    • Word.

      The simple fact they knowingly shipped the R51 when they *knew* it could be incorrectly assembled in such a way leaving it incapable of firing is beyond reprehensible.

      The ‘New! Improved!’ Remington is dead to me…

  18. Remington has been busy recently striking out into some interesting new areas for the company

    Softball.

    Anyway, everything Greedom Froop can suck it from here to eternity for what they’ve done.

    Especially to Marlin.

    • Nice that they can develop new products and hopefully make a little $, but why oh why can they not restart production of the Marlin 1894c/css? Maybe not a huge seller, but there is certainly demand for this gun.

  19. I’d have to concur with most of the other posters here. I have fond memories of R and what they used to produce. My uncle gave me a 20 ga. 1100 that he bought in the ’70s and that thing is flawless in aesthetics and operation.

    However, nowadays my shotguns are Mossy and hunting rifles are Savage.

  21. Now that Andre the Giant is dead, does anyone need a grip that long?

    Seems that companies are building their guns around the idea of magazine capacity. The CZ P09 and XDM come to mind. The vaporgun Beretta APX looks to be another.

  22. I am no fan of modern Remington products, and I despise Freedom Group. My wife saw the RM 380 at a local gun shop and liked the size and weight of it, so I bought it for her. I told her we would have to put some serious rounds through it before she could carry it. 500 rounds, a pretty decent amount for a little .380 pocket pistol, with 0 problems. I was impressed with the gun, although I have no interest in purchasing a Remington anything for myself.

  25. I think CZ may have stolen Remington’s new product thunder with the announcement of the CZ P-10c.

    I’d be more inclined to wait and give the CZ a try if I wanted a new full size striker-fired 9.

  28. If a pistol isn’t double action with an exposed cockable hammer, then it’s not for me. That also includes revolvers.

  30. Remington still makes the filthiest ammo on the planet (in their UMC line) so why would I trust anything they make that shoots ammo?

Comments are closed.