Les Baer or Kimber

[cerberus]

Over on the 1911 Forum

I got to looking over on the 1911 Forum and in the Les Baer thread I find some people who have had problems with their Baer 1911s
http://forums.1911forum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=34
Seems slides bind up and slide stops break. Just like people say happen to Kimbers. So I guess their like all machines they do fail sometimes.

 

[Tamara]

Greg45,

My Premier II was $1100. Not much more than most Kimbers, and cheaper than some others.

I paid $1390 for my NIB Concept III, including an installed Caspian fiber optic front sight and two Wilson 47D's. That's only about $200 'n' something more than the stainless Gold Match I just saw with one mag and a plastic MSH. An $1100ish pistol with a plastic MSH; wrap your head around that.

I've got a couple of thousand rounds through the gun, almost all of them GA Arms 200gr plated SWC's, and it hasn't bobbled since day one. How's it shoot? Ask Oleg, he seemed to think it was tolerable.

 

[Heraclitus]

That's only about $200 'n' something more than the stainless Gold Match I just saw with one mag and a plastic MSH.

I hear ya. Still, I only paid $64.95 for the Smith & Alexander MSH and mag guide, $34.95 for the SS thumb safety and slide catch, $7.89 for the Wolff recoil spring, and $34.95 for the contoured grips. About $150 when you include shipping, minus $150 credit for playtime. So the way I see it, I'm not in the red.

I don't apologize for owning a Kimber. Kimbers are great deals. But yeah: given a choice between a $1390 Baer and a Kimber of equal cost, I'd go for the Baer. Of course, a Kimber of equal value would probably be more in the $1790 range, or $600 'n' something over your basic Gold Match.

 

[YodaVader]

"You are also safe not to say that those few shooters who choose the best Kimber that money will buy and customize it with due diligence are not highly competitive, or that they are not serious about the sport, or that accuracy and reliability are not of the highest importance to them"
__________________________________________________________


That is basically my point - a Les Baer , Clark or Rock River is ALREADY CUSTOMIZED and is good enough AS IS - to win in pistol matches such as bullseye where extreme accuracy is essential.

To buy the best Kimber money will buy and still have to "customize it with due diligence" in order to be competitive is the expensive way to go about it. I would just buy a basic no frills 1911 like a base Springfield and have a custom conversion performed by some shop like Clark. In fact, this is the way I did go about it.

I like Kimbers , have shot a few , and would not mind at all owning one. It just would not be my choice when I was shooting in a pistol match where an extremely accurate 45 is a must to be competitive.

 

[Mylhouse]

Edited: Name-calling and "smacking" are not allowed. Repeats = banned.

Stephen A. Camp


P.S. For relevance to the thread purposes, the Kimber is a fine pistol that can be made even better with reliability check, and a match bushing. With those inexpensive things done, it will most likely shoot 90% as precisely as a Baer (this is a rough estimate, as things like these are hard to quantify). The Baer will still have a tighter/better fit and finish with higher quality parts. My Series 1 Custom Classic Kimber has been a great gun.

I will also add that two of the best Grandmaster USPSA (and IDPA) shooters in existence (notice where I live) both have advised me to stay away from Les Baer guns. I don't know if they have an axe to grind with the man, but they both told me that Les Baer himself was a crook and a guy that doesn't know how to PROPERLY build a 1911. One of them briefly explained to me that he basically makes his 1911s tighter than others by leaving the barrel hood a little long, not cutting the feet properly, and using a longer than needed link. He said the geometries involved in the lugs, etc, are not correct, but will work, and that basically he gives you a not-completely-finished gun that requires you to shoot hundreds of rounds through it to 'break it in'.
*NOTE*: The above is not my opinion, just what I was told. However, I would give some thought about what two of the deadliest guns alive had to say.

 

[Stephen A. Camp]

The thread has degenerated and is locked.