Best looking pocket pistol? Got to be at least in the top few! A John Pederson design for Remington, and like all Pederson designs, it's definitely not simple... But it is a great feeling pistol in the hand, and point shoots very well, at least for me.



Mine is not in the best condition, but it is in the far less common .32 ACP chambering, most were in .380 ACP. They made about 65,000 between 1918 and 1927.

Bill R

Definitely sleek, but my preference is the Savage auto. Just as sleek and simple inside and out.

quote:

Originally posted by Udo:
Definitely sleek, but my preference is the Savage auto. Just as sleek and simple inside and out.

I am currently searching for a nice early Savage that won't break the bank!

I find the Savage cool thanks to the double stack magazine, but it's also another one with an "interesting" mechanism where it "locks" the breech due to the bullet engaging the rifling working against a lug on the barrel rotating in the slide if I remember right.

Plus, it might not be as sleek as the 51, but it has a definite Art Deco vibe to it. It's one of the few pistols I think I'd like to have with mother of pearl grips for some reason. I just think they look cool on the Savage.

Bill R

Remington "could" make some pretty good coin resurrecting the old designs IF they did it correctly. However, historically, they have proven NOT to have such a capability. Even a limited production run contracted out to a smaller shop like Colt did with the 1903 if I'm not mistaken. Simplicity is a work of art.

Mr Pedersen's designs were driven by having to make a gun work without infringing on the Browning/Colt/Winchester patents. Savage, too.

Consider the Winchester 1911 "widow maker" automatic shotgun, cocked by hauling back on the knurled barrel because Mr Browning had patented the BOLT HANDLE for the A5.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Watson:
Mr Pedersen's designs were driven by having to make a gun work without infringing on the Browning/Colt/Winchester patents.

I like the fact that it’s reported that JMB once described Pederson as “the greatest gun designer in the world”… If you can put that on your resume, you’re doing pretty good!

Bill R

I am pretty sure I posted about mine sometime in the past couple of years.

Anyway, as a young police officer, I was always looking for the perfect off-duty handgun. A gunshop in North Fort Myers had one and I had never seen one before. I bought it and it was great-fed without a malfunction, descent trigger, and, though I could not find a holster for it, it worked well enough when just shoved into my belt under my shirt.

Problem was, back in the early 70s, there just wasn't a lot of 380 hollow point ammo and I could not find any.

So, reluctantly, I traded it back for a Commander 45.

Bob

quote:

Problem was, back in the early 70s, there just wasn't a lot of 380 hollow point ammo and I could not find any.

MY problem was that my 51 would not feed JHP, so I traded it away. Now I figure 380 ball is probably better anyhow.