Remington Defense is the military focused branch of Remington firearms which produces products that may never be seen on the civilian market. They make firearms like the Remington ACR, the XM2010 sniper rifle, and now the R5 RGP (Remington Gas Piston).
All we have to go on is a page on Remington’s website which appeared a few days ago and what’s in their 2012 catalog, but it seems to be a monolithic upper (or full carbine) in 5.56 NATO with a gas piston operation based at least in part on the ACR. Also included is an ambidextrous charging handle and AAC blackout flash hider for attaching AAC silencers. The website only lists NFA length barrels (10.5 and 14.5 inches), but of all the products on Remington Defense’s website this seems the most likely to be available to civilians.
Built to address perceived shortfalls of currently fielded NATO systems, the R5™ is an upgrade solution to extend the lifecycle of the M-16 family for decades to come. Currently chambered in 5.56mm NATO with a hammer-forged, Melonite-converted barrel for extended life, the R5™ is a monolithic upper receiver capable of dropping in on M-4/M-16 series lower receivers without modification. Built around a supremely reliable gas piston operating system, the user can fire suppressed and unsuppressed without a regulator and realize significant durability, reliability and maintainability advantages over gas impingement offerings. The handguard offers patent-pending features common to the Remington Defense family of firearms, including cable routing guides, removable rail pieces and 45-degree offsets. The entire package is topped off by an AAC Blackout™ flash hider to virtually eliminate visual signature, day or night.
They also claim the barrel can be swapped out in less than 5 minutes.
I’ve never been a big fan of gas piston AR-15 rifles, but that’s only because I haven’t seen anyone do a really good job on the concept yet. Reports of broken locking lugs and stuck springs make me a little nervous about the models currently available to civilians but considering the design team available at Remington I’m quietly optimistic that they can bring a better product to market.
Will it be available to the average Joe? Will it be officially unveiled at SHOT? Stay tuned.
| Caliber | 5.56mm NATO |
| Barrel | Cold Hammer Forged, 1:7 Twist, 6 Groove, Ferritic Nitrocarburized (FNC) |
| Barrel Length | 10.5″ & 14.5″ |
| Weight | 10,5″:6.56lbs (No Magazine), 14.5″:6.95lbs (No Magazine) |
| Length w/10.5″ Barrel | 27.10″ collapsed, 30.25″ extended |
| Length w/14.5″ Barrel | 30.6″ collapsed, 34.0″ extended |
| Trigger | Drop in upper receiver |
| Controls | Ambidextrous charging handle |
Credit where credit is due, Gunmart tipped me off.