Remington Model 51

Remington Model 51
The Remington 51, left side
Type	Semi-automatic pistol
Place of origin	United States
Production history
Designer	John Pedersen
Designed	1917
Manufacturer	Remington Arms Company
Produced	1918-1927
Number built	Approx. 65,000
Variants	Remington 53
Specifications
Weight	21 oz (600 g)
Length	6 5⁄8 in (168 mm)
Barrel length	3 1⁄4 in (83 mm)
Width	0.9 in (22.9 mm)
Cartridge	.32 ACP .380 ACP
Action	Hesitation locked
Feed system	Detachable single-stack box magazine
Sights	Post and rear notch

The Remington Model 51 is a small pocket pistol designed by John Pedersen and manufactured by Remington Arms in the early 20th century for the American civilian market. Remington manufactured approximately 65,000 Model 51 pistols in .32 ACP and .380 ACP calibers from 1918 to 1927, though small numbers were assembled into the mid-1930s.

John Pedersen designed or was instrumental in the design of many firearms for the Remington Arms Company. He had worked in concert with John Browning to design the Remington Model 17 which served as the basis for the Remington Model 31, Ithaca 37, Browning BPS, and Mossberg 500. He designed the Pedersen device that converted the M1903 Springfield into an autoloading intermediate-caliber longarm. Pedersen later worked for the US Army and provided competition to John Garand building an autoloading rifle to fire a full-power rifle cartridge. His design used innovative wax lubricated cases and a toggle-bolt system much like that of the Luger pistol but eventually lost out to the M1 Garand.

Made in .380 ACP and later in .32 ACP caliber, it was marketed as a pocket pistol. While the European market embraced small-caliber pocket pistols, the American market favored revolvers at the time. The complex trigger and safety mechanisms made the handgun more expensive than the Browning-designed competition, and the Model 51 was not much smaller. Furthermore, Remington was a company known for their long arms; their handguns had previously been limited to revolvers forced to play second fiddle to Colt in terms of sales. The Remington Model 51 also had only limited commercial success as it was priced around US$15.75 (in 1920, California minimum wage US$0.33 per hour ). This was in spite of the marketing claims of it be "self aiming" due to the advanced approach to ergonomics used by Pedersen. 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 PPK 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.