Remington R2Mi .50 caliber rifle: the Big Green goes full Extended Long Range!
Remington introduces the R2Mi, a .50 BMG / 12.7x99mm bolt-action long-range–anti-matériel rifle conceived for tactical applications and extreme long range shooting competitions: a tried and true design, coming at an affordable price!
Remington R2Mi .50 caliber rifle: the Big Green goes full Extended Long Range!
A rifle so new it's still not even featured on the official Company website: the Remington R2mi is a bolt-action rifle chambered for .50 BMG, a.k.a. 12.7x99mm, aimed to the civilian markets – particularly for Extreme Long Range shooting competitions – as well as to military and law enforcement sales given the huge number of professional operators that remain faithful to the Big Green's products when it comes to long-range, high-accuracy platforms.
The most die-hard firearms enthusiasts will be keen to recognize the traits of another, well known gun design in the new Remington R2mi – more specifically, the Bushmaster BA-50. As a matter of fact, the Bushmaster Firearms company has been part of the Remington Group for several years now, and in February 2020 the Bushmaster website was shuttered along with those of other Remington-owned companies, such as DPMS and TAPCO. This led many observers to speculate that a deep reorganization of the Remington Group may be undergoing.
Remington filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2018 and emerged from the procedure in May of the same year; a Restructuring Support Agreement was reached by which the Cerberus Capital Management L.P. group would surrender its control of the Remington Outdoor Company to creditors in 2020. The return of a Bushmaster product on the Remington's own products line would lead to speculate that the Company may be interested in centralizing some of the controlled brands' product lines under its own.
Remington R2mi .50 BMG bolt-action rifle, right side
The Remington R2mi is one of the simplest rifles in its category: it can be stripped in two for easy cleaning, maintenance, and transportation. When fully assembled, the Remington R2mi is 144,7 cm / 57" long overall.
The Remington R2mi bolt-action rifle feeds through sturdy metal magazines, each holding ten rounds of .50 BMG / 12.7x99mm ammunition; the machined steel bolt sports a left bolt / right port design: the ejection window is located on the right side of the upper receiver, while the cocking handle and its guide are on the left, so that a right-handed shooter may cycle it without having to adjust position or taking eyes off target.
Remington R2mi .50 BMG bolt-action rifle, left side
The Remington R2mi rifle features a 76,2 cm / 30" long, German-made Lother Walther barrel with eight grooves and a 1:15" rifling pitch. An AAC muzzle brake is threaded at the muzzle, dubbing as a quick-attachment point for an AAC Cyclops silencer manufactured by Advanced Armament Corp. – another Remington Group company. The barrel is free-floating within a fully ventilated handguard that's machined out of 6061-T6 lightweight aluminum alloy.
Both the upper and lower receivers of the R2mi rifle are manufactured out of the same 6061-T6 lightweight aluminum alloy, and hard-anodized in dark green for looks and protection. In order to make it easier to familiarize with by shooters who are already familiar with modern sporting rifles and service weapon systems, the Remington R2mi features an AR-15 style magazine release catch and safety switch, as well as an AR-15 style break-down / disassembly, with a front and rear retaining pin.
The Remington R2mi .50 BMG caliber bolt-action long-range rifle is sold in a custom Pelican Storm Case and comes issued from factory with a cable lock, two 10-rounds magazines, and a complimentary set of ear and eye protection
The barrel, bolt, and otherwise all steel components of the Remington R2mi are protected against corrosion and wear by a manganese phosphate finish on all outer surfaces.
Remington issues the R2mi rifle without any sort of sights from factory; a full-length MIL-STD 1913 Picatinny rail in two parts – the rear portion being machined directly on top of the upper receiver, the rear being integral to the top surface of the free-float handguard – provide plenty of room for the shooter to install any sort of optical sight, from mainstream scopes to higher-end electro-optical devices, including thermal or IR night vision devices.
The Remington R2mi comes issued from factory with some of the best polymer components currently available on the market – more specifically an ERGO Grip Deluxe Tactical pistol grip and a fully adjustable MagPul PRS buttstock; while Remington hasn't been explicit about it yet, if the Remington R2mi is anything like the Bushmaster BA-50, it is safe to assume that it remains compatible with all sorts of AR-15 buttstocks and pistol grips. The rifle also comes equipped from factory with a folding metal bipod.
The sell-sheet for the Remington R2mi rifle, with its technical specs
The manufacturer's suggested retail price for the Remington R2mi bolt-action rifle on the U.S. market is set at 4.599,99 $; not bad, considered that the Remington R2mi comes from factory in a Pelican Storm Case along with two 10-rounds magazines, a cable lock, and a complimentary eye and hearing protection set. This is definitely one of the highest price-to-quality ratios all-around on the .50 BMG and extreme long-range rifles market.
As of today, the Remington R2mi is available only in .50 BMG; this makes it impossible to obtain by shooters in several Countries where 12.7x99mm or all calibers from .50 BMG up are banned from civilian ownership. Acknowledging this issue, however, many manufacturers are increasingly converting their .50 BMG rifle systems to other alternative calibers – such as .460 Steyr or .416 Barrett – that remain legal in those jurisdictions where .50 BMG is forbidden.
Said alternative calibers have indeed been designed from the ground up as extreme long-range shooting calibers, and thus provide better performance in terms of on-target accuracy against .50 BMG, which was conceived as a heavy machine-gun round and as such needs specific high-accuracy loads to be a proper precision cartridge. As of today there is no indication that Remington may want to convert the R2mi to calibers other than .50 BMG, but with 12.7x99mm being banned in California and in other jurisdictions where Remington products are otherwise well received by shooters (such prohibition has recently been imposed in Canada as well), we wouldn't be surprised if the Remington R2mi would pop out sooner than later in calibers other than .50.