Since I wrote my earlier posts in May, I purchased a second Les Baer gun (this one a 1.5-inch version) and have some additional comments myself, but I think I will wait to remark further until Bullseye 2620 puts his two-cents in.
In the meantime, before anyone rushes out to buy a 1.5-inch Les Baer, my advice would be to stand back a bit and do some more investigation. This was/is not just a simple matter of plopping down money and walking away happy. Wasn't in my case, anyway.
Of the two guns I have (my older, 3-inch version, and my new 1.5-inch version), I am far happier with the older gun. It's a story in the works. In the interest of fairness, I am not ready to make a final judgment just yet. Fire away, Bullseye 2620.
I'm still waiting to talk with a couple of very respected bullseye gunsmiths who know a lot more than I do to get the details, and hopefully, also get some illustrations. So, before I go on record definitively, I want to get that detailed information.
In the meantime, however. . .
There are a number of issues but, the short of it has to do with the way Baer achieves what they call "lock-up." A properly built 1911 will achieve lock-up at three contact points -- barrel to bushing, top barrel lugs to the recesses cut inside the top of the slide, and, at the barrel hood to slide and breech face contact points. The fit and geometry have to be just right or the gun won't cycle properly, even though you might not know it. (An early warning of this could be failures to eject caused by the slide cycling too rapidly and closing too soon, causing spent cases to get trapped in the ejection port.)
It is possible to achieve something resembling proper lock-up without proper three-point lock-up. For example, if the top barrel lugs to slide recesses fit is not quite right, you can "overcome" this by using a longer barrel link. This will jam the top barrel lugs into the recesses in the slide, and the so-called "lock-up" will feel right to the uninitiated. And, it will produce tight groups and appear to work well until the excessive stress and improper geometry peen and round off the sharp edges of the slide locking lug recesses and cause the bottom barrel lug to just shear off, leaving the gun
really "locked up," totally unusable, and requiring a new slide-barrel assembly.
This may be pretty esoteric stuff, and may never be an issue for most shooters. But for bullseye shooters, who can easily put 50,000 rounds downrange in a year, it is most serious indeed. And of course, if the pistol is a defense weapon, the results of such a failure could be tragic.
I'll be back to y'all on this issue soon after I complete my consultations and can provide all of the details this serious issue deserves.
Bullseye
