Seeking Remington 51 parts source

G

gonzogeezer

New member
Hello All,

I just acquired a very nice looking Remington Model 51 in .32 ACP at a great price. Part of the reason was that a piece is missing. Remington calls it the 'action spring bushing'. It apparently helps retain and cover the base of the recoil spring. This photo shows it missing, you can see the recoil spring through the ejection port.

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I'm thinking it serves more than a cosmetic function so I want to find one. I've tried all the usual suspects: First, Poppert, Numrich, Sarco. No bushings to be found. I have saved searches on eBay and gunbroker as well.

If anyone here has a suggestion for a source I'd appreciate hearing about it.

Thanks for reading.
 
It's a bit more than a straight tube. There is a shoulder inside that mates to the barrel. I physically examined the pistol today and the bushing is more than cosmetic, it is intended to hold the recoil spring in place.
 
Even with that part missing, you made a nice score. .32s (as you probably already know) are far less common than the .380s.

Do a diligent search on eBay and that part may turn up. You need a little patience, though. I have gotten many odd and uncommon parts on eBay in the past that I never thought I would find. I think that is your best bet and you have a saved search already.
 
If you come up empty, and want to have one made, let me know and I will provide dimensions and photos. They will be for a .380, but that part AFAIK is the same.

Jim
 
"If you could borrow one and show it to a machinist, it would be a simple lathe job to make a copy."

No kidding. I assume it's very similar to the one in my R51, and yes, it's a very simple part for anyone with a lathe (even a small one). Heck, I'd make one for you gratis as a learning project if you could find me the needed dimensions, and if I have a piece of scrap large enough for the job (and you don't complain about a non-polished exterior finish or the job taking a little while if life gets in the way)

"it is intended to hold the recoil spring in place."
Yeah, both on the R51 and the model 51, I was left wondering why they didn't just narrow the spring at the last coil so it 'gripped' the barrel concentrically. I think it is largely cosmetic (since an exposed spring really looks bad), but when made properly with a radiused edge at the entrance to the cup --mine was sharp/burred-- it greatly improves the feel during racking. Otherwise the coils are dragging over the inside of the slide, and you get a very notchy feel when cycling. I think the gun would still work fine, since the barrel is the 'real' spring guide, and there's not enough room for the spring to buckle into anything that would snag it, and because IIRC the barrel does fully support the entire base of the spring just as the cup does.

It may or may not function as the actual stop the nose of the slide impacts at full travel (would have to measure mine to verify this)

TCB
 
Mr Browning said Mr Pedersen was the best gun designer in the business.
High praise.

I figure if Mr Pedersen put it in, it was needed either for function or to some way sidestep one of Mr Browning's many patented features.
 
One could just about make that without a lathe, if you marked and punched the center of a piece of round, the correct size, and drilled it from both ends, to leave the internal ring towards the one end. I'd say it doesn't have to be real exact.
 
I am very appreciative of all the time and effort put into discussing this bushing. I'm certain it will prove useful in the future. For my part, I returned the pistol to the seller. An eBay seller I contacted has a bushing available for sale; I passed his contact information onto the seller for future action.

What pushed me over the edge to return the gun was my discovery of additional parts requirements just from an external evaluation, so I decided it was best to cut my losses. I remain on the lookout for a model 51 in 32 ACP; I hope someday I'll find another one requiring less work to make it serviceable. Thank you again for everyone's input, it's been very informative.
 
Hi, Gonzogeezer,

I don't know if it will make you feel any better, but that pistol has been heavily buffed and reblued, so its value has been considerably reduced.

Jim
 
Pedersen was a good designer (he was Remington's chief designer for years, though mostly as a free lancer, but he was not much for the KISS principle. In fairness, all too often he had to somehow work around Browning's patents. That Model 51 is often praised for its delayed blowback design, supposedly a big advance. BS. Browning's patents (licensed to Colt) included the idea of a breechblock made as part of, or as a permanent assembly in, the slide. So Pedersen and Savage's Searle had to come up with some great new feature other than the obvious.

Jim
 
James K said:
Hi, Gonzogeezer,



I don't know if it will make you feel any better, but that pistol has been heavily buffed and reblued, so its value has been considerably reduced.



Jim
Click to expand...


After handling the gun I'm convinced the frame is original, not refinished. The slide, however, is a slightly different color and could have been reworked. I would have been happy to live with that possibility because of its rarity and the price I paid. But having found three items requiring attention just from external examination and given the parts situation for this model, I decided to move on.
 
Sorry, but the frame has also been reblued. The slide was apparently made of a different alloy or was blued separately so it has a different color than the frame.

Jim
 
That manual appears to have originated with Brownells. I don't have my Brownells catalog handy but does anyone know if they still put it out.

Jim
 
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