Forget what you’ve heard about Remington’s other handgun offerings. The RM380 is a snappy little pistol in its own right — with an attractive price point to boot.
» LET’S ADDRESS THAT ELEPHANT in the room right away. This pistol and, more specifically, this review of the RM380 will stand on its own, as it should, regardless of the mess created the last time Remington put a pistol on the market. Do not judge all Remington products by the R51. You will remember the Remington R1 as a solid 1911 that works well and does the job it is called on to do at a fair price point. I say these things because there are lots of people who can’t let things go. I am one of those people who tries to start fresh. And that’s what I’m doing here. We have a new gun here with an important mission, so let’s take a look based on the merits. First up, this is a pocket gun, pure and simple. As a pocket gun, the RM380 fits the bill according to size, capacity and style: At just more than 5.25 inches long and 3.75 inches tall, it will easily fit in a front or back pocket of most men’s trousers. Of course, I would suggest some sort of pocket holster and doublechecking that the opening of any pocket you might use allows for an easy draw. All the normal safety rules for pocket carry will apply; we won’t discuss them now. Let’s just focus on the gun.
The first thing you might notice about the RM380 is the fully functional slide lock. This is a nice touch on a tiny gun. Some smaller pistols forgo the slide lock, but it’s a nice feature, especially when you are forced to clear a failure to extract. You can lock the slide to the rear, strip out the magazine, rack the slide a couple times and insert a new magazine, just like you have trained to do with a duty pistol. Make no mistake, this is a slide lock, not a slide release.
The tiny tab Remington has placed on the left side of the RM380 is not there to allow you to release the slide. (You can do it, but I would not try it under any sort of stress.) The locking lever is recessed into the side of the pistol, which makes for a snag-free draw but also ensures you will have trouble finding that tab in all but the best circumstances. Train to release the slide by racking it. You’ll be glad you did.
There is a fixed groove rear sight leading to a low-profile ramp the same color as the slide. The sights can best be described as rudimentary, but they work well for a gun of this size and type.
The ambidextrous magazine release is also another great feature on such a small gun. It works perfectly from either side, is in the right location and has the right balance between being easy to use and low-profile. The release does not stick out so far as to possibly snag or release the magazine accidentally, but at the same time, it is very easy to use and positive in its function. You know you are hitting the release, and the magazine, which holds six rounds, falls free quickly and cleanly.
The slide is steel, with aggressive cocking serrations and a solid, deep and even satin black oxide finish. Nothing flashy or pretty here. There is a fixed groove rear sight leading to a low-profile ramp the same color as the slide. The sights can best be described as rudimentary, but they work well for a gun of this size and type. Remember, this is not a target pistol. This is a get-off-me gun. From contact to 5 yards, the sights should be fine.
Still, I do have a complaint about the sights on the RM380. The rear sight offers a gentle curve from the top of the sight sloping down and forward. I can’t for the life of me figure out what on Earth prompts gunmakers to design and implement sights like this. With no right angle on the front of the rear sight, it is impossible to use the sight to rack the slide of the pistol should you need to do so with just one hand. We train for the possibility of operating the slide with one hand during a gunfight, yet this sight makes that impossible.
In short, it’s a design flaw. I can’t even imagine what such a curve adds to a sight. It does not make the sight snag free on the draw because there is a hard right angle on the back of the rear sight; the only part that could hang up during the draw. Having a smooth rounded curve on the front of the rear sight only serves to allow you to reholster more smoothly. That curve certainly won’t hang up as you try to get the gun back into the holster.
The frame of the pistol is aluminum, nicely blackened with 18 lines of checkering on the front strap below the trigger guard. There is a nice cutout just behind the trigger guard and below the magazine release that allows for a bit of a higher grip on the gun, but with my big hands, my little finger would not even rest on the extended magazine base plate. I actually found the gun more comfortable to hold with the flush-fit magazine in place. The magazine extender did not help me at all, but I could see a benefit for someone with smaller hands.
With a little practice, I’m betting I could run the RM380 trigger like a two-stage rifle trigger — take up all the slack, hold it right at the break and let it drop on command.
The RM380 is equipped with polymer side panels. The right side panel is mounted with three hex-head screws and just two screws hold the left side panel in place. This means that somewhere down the line someone will create aftermarket grips for this little gun. Out of the box, the grip panels provide adequate purchase, but some shooters might want something more aggressive. The trade off is, of course, that rougher grips might make drawing from a pocket a little bit more difficult.
Trigger pull is listed at 8 to 9 pounds. Since I seem to have misplaced my trigger pull gauge, I will have to take Remington’s word for it. But what I can tell you is this: The pull is long … very long. It is mostly smooth with some stacking near the break point. But that break point is indeed ALL the way back to the rear of the trigger guard. With a little practice, I’m betting I could run the RM380 trigger like a two-stage rifle trigger — take up all the slack, hold it right at the break and let it drop on command. The trigger operates a shrouded hammer that sits flush with the back of the slide. There is no option for running this gun as a single action.
Disassembly to basic field stripping was not difficult, but read the instruction booklet. You will notice the words, “Push the unlock pin with a punch.” Well, I found no such punch in the box, so I just used the tip of a ball-point pen I had lying on my desk. With the unlock pin out, the pistol came apart much like any other modern autoloader. It is interesting to note there is a double-spring system surrounding the guide rod. These springs are not captured and the smaller of the two is quite tiny. The unlock pin is also pretty small. Be aware of these two elements as you tear this gun down.
The little gun with the bad, little sights was accurate! Despite the incredibly long trigger pull, I found I could hit the target just about anywhere I wanted.
The instructions for detail stripping the gun are complete and very easy to follow. If you want to pull every piece out of the RM380, the booklet shows you exactly how. Of course, you reassemble in reverse order. There is one tender spot. Step 13, which corresponds to Figure 39, instructs you to line up the disassembly hole with the barrel’s pivot hole. That’s a bit of a chore. You must push the unlock pin into that aligned hole.
The pin is small, the tolerances acceptable, but still, this is not something really easy. You must ensure that the unlock pin is fully seated if you want the slide to operate properly. During the disassembly and assembly process, I was thinking to myself, “Many companies have cracked the code of the tool-free field stripping process. I wish Remington had made it a priority.”
With the little pistol back together, I hit the range. My test and evaluation system might be different than most people are used to. First up, I don’t clean the pistol, lubricate it or do anything other than pull it out of the box, load it up and shoot it. I want to see how a defensive pistol functions with no babying.
I ran the target out to 10 feet, pushed six rounds into the magazine and proceeded to put all six into the X-ring of a B-27 silhouette target. The little gun with the bad, little sights was accurate! I did the same thing two more times to ensure it was not a fluke. Despite the incredibly long trigger pull, I found I could hit the target just about anywhere I wanted.
The first ammo I tried was the Winchester Train & Defend 95-grain jacketed hollow-points. The first round of the third magazine did not fire. But, thanks to the second-strike capability of the shrouded hammer, it went off without a hitch on the next pull of the trigger. The RM380 showed impeccable combat accuracy and functioned flawlessly.
Best Groups
Then I loaded up a magazine with Black Hills Ammo’s Factory New 90-grain JHP. The first round of the magazine didn’t feed. Tapping the back of the slide did not help, so I removed the magazine, cleared the malfunction and returned the round to the magazine. I racked the slide and everything was great. The same thing happened a few minutes later with the same ammo, but this time, I was paying attention. I had ridden the slide. That is, I did not let the recoil spring do all the work pushing the round forward.
This was a classic SIM (Shooter Induced Malfunction) and I should be smarter than to do that. Following the realization that I was riding the slide, I was able to recreate the exact same malfunction at will by simply guiding the slide forward with my off hand. If I did things correctly and released the slide cleanly with my off hand to allow the recoil spring to work as it should, I had no more trouble. That problem was my fault.
Now I started hammering rounds downrange. I was trying to make the gun malfunction, shooting entire magazine strings as fast as I could until the range master came to tell me there was a rule against rapid fire. Then, I switched to double taps. I turned the gun sideways and upside down. After my shooter-induced failure to feed, the gun fired 225 rounds from five different manufacturers without a malfunction of any kind.
Just after round 225, I noticed that the slide did not lock back after the last shot. I switched magazines. Everything was fine. I went back to the first magazine and the slide did not lock back. So I looked more closely: The slide only failed to lock back when I used the magazine with the extended finger rest. It was not the fault of the magazine. It was another SIM.
Remember when I said my big, fat fingers hung over that pinky rest? Well, it seems that I was pressing down and back on the finger extension. If I paid close attention, the magazine functioned perfectly. But I might not be able to pay close attention in a gunfight, so I switched to the flat base plate and never had another problem.
Remington RM380
In all, I fired 300 rounds and experienced one real malfunction: that light primer strike during the first 18 rounds. That might have been the result of shipping lubricant still left in the pistol when I started shooting. The other malfunctions were the result of things I was doing wrong. This appears to be a durable little gun.
The one real issue with this pistol is the trigger. It is a painfully long trigger stroke but not insurmountable. I just had to get used to it. After about four magazines, I had the thing figured out and impressed myself with my combat accuracy. Other shooters at the range took four or five shots and declared the trigger “too long!” I think that evaluation is shortsighted. With some practice and training, anyone can learn to operate this trigger effectively.
The RM380, while not perfect, is a fine little pocket pistol. The sample I had for testing and evaluation proved to be reliable, accurate and comfortable to shoot. The design makes it very easy to conceal. The trigger: Well, practice with it. This is not a target pistol. Don’t expect that of it. This is a short-range fighting pistol, and it will work well in that capacity.
Related: Learn what to look for when choosing your best gun…
