C'mon, Bin, it's been almost 3 months.
Don't leave us in suspense, what'd ya' buy?
Haha. Nice call.
Keep in mind, we have to deal with our infamous 10-day wait here, otherwise known as “Cali jail” ... meaning that it takes a while for the 1911 gods to deliver here ...
So, I am happy to report that I FINALLY I took possession of a Les Baer Premier II (1.5 inch guarantee) the day before yesterday, and promptly took it to the range and put 325 rounds of factory 230 FMJ RN.
Insert pic here shortly.
REPORT:
As delivered:
Gun is tight, as is to be expected. Zero, and I mean zero rattle. Trigger is very good, but not great - I’d rate it an 8.5/10 (a bit of creep), safety is stiff, checkering on grips and front strap feels aggressive, ambi safety actually pretty well done ... very unobnoxious on the starboard side (I was expecting to change it out, but I am going to keep it as is).
First firing:
Started with the included Tripp mags, and it cycled fine. Moved on to Wilson Combat ETM’s, and for 10 mags in a row, the gun would fire 6 rounds and hiccup on the 7th: failure to go completely into battery. I was a little miffed/concerned, but then did a few factory Colt 7-rounders and it cycled them fine.
Impressions: Gun is very, very accurate. Once I got the hold figured out, I was banging steel at 35 yards keeping multiple targets moving so much I sometimes had to wait for one to stop swinging.
I don’t shoot pistols that well !
OK, so that was 100. I CLP’ed the rails and the bushing/barrel, loaded up my mags, and went for round two.
Round two:
It cycled everything, worked 100%. No hiccups. Steel kept swinging. Grinning.
CLP applied.
Round three:
100% function.
At this point I changed ammo and shot another 1911 I had brought ... a Colt LW Commander to which I had recently added a Wilson beaver tail grip safety. The new ammo was Blazer 230 grain with aluminum casings, and one thing became apparent very quickly ... the LW kicks a WHOLE lot more.
I decided 25 was enough to test function on the Colt, and went back and put the last 25 through the Baer again with Wilson mags. MUCH nicer to shoot.
100% function.
INTERIM REPORT:
I am very happy with the gun so far.
As stated, it is very, very accurate.
As expected/promised, the gun was (and still is) very tight, but functioned 100% with provided Tripp mags, and also with various Colt/Dan Wesson 7-round mags.
Shooting it in quickly ironed out the hiccup with the Wilson mags. To repeat, the first time through, ALL 10 Wilson ET mags hiccuped at the 7 round in exactly the same way. The second and third time through (and the fourth for a few of them), ALL Wilson mags cycled 100%.
The safety wore in some as well, and now operates very satisfactorily, which is to say, it feels excellent.
I’d have to say as of this moment, Les Baer delivered the goods.
Interim Post Script:
Was working the safety and dry firing later, and noticed the port side grip panels was loose. Tightened up the screws carefully and firmly. Starboard side panel was still tight.
The safety has worn in well after hundreds of cycles while bingeing on Better Call Saul.
Blisters on bottom of trigger finger and second knuckle of middle finger (trigger guard) and right side of thumb (safety). There are some edges.
