Les Baer (thoughts)

Status
Not open for further replies.
tark said:
Indeed he did. The Shop was right next to Les' house, (that's handy) and the shooting range was about a half mile away, in the AR shop's building. A couple times a day, Les would load up a rack of newly assembled guns into the back of his truck and off he went. Upon his return we determined how things had panned out by the number of "F" bombs that were dropped. Les is very nit-picky and even a relatively minor screw up was called out. After chewing your butt, he forgot all about it. Just don't make the same mistake again. Les finally had to stop test firing every gun himself because of arthritis and some bad cervical vertebrae that couldn't take even the minor shock of shooting. Those came from his drag racing years. Yanking the parachute jerks your head forward at four or five Gs. It was a common injury before the introduction of the HANS device.
Click to expand...
NICE story!

wonder if we can get Les Baer himself to comment?!?!?! We could only wish
 
Paul7 said:
I believe it. My last two were a Gold Cup that wasn't reliable after going back to Colt twice, I gave up on the clowns at Colt and sent it to a Colt forum member who fixed it in 20 minutes, he pointed out defects that never should have left the factory. The other was a Competition that only recently came back from the second trip to Colt for empties to the head, it was basically there from August to March.

I like the Colt name as much as anyone but for a bit more you can get a used Baer that's a much better gun. Here's one in great shape that recently went for $1,732, about what a Gold Cup Trophy is going for these days:

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/896858385
Click to expand...
I wonder when did Colt stop making their own guns... I heard great things about their older guns
 
tark said:
Indeed he did. The Shop was right next to Les' house, (that's handy) and the shooting range was about a half mile away, in the AR shop's building. A couple times a day, Les would load up a rack of newly assembled guns into the back of his truck and off he went. Upon his return we determined how things had panned out by the number of "F" bombs that were dropped. Les is very nit-picky and even a relatively minor screw up was called out. After chewing your butt, he forgot all about it. Just don't make the same mistake again. Les finally had to stop test firing every gun himself because of arthritis and some bad cervical vertebrae that couldn't take even the minor shock of shooting. Those came from his drag racing years. Yanking the parachute jerks your head forward at four or five Gs. It was a common injury before the introduction of the HANS device.
Click to expand...

Very interesting, thanks for posting. A nit-picky gun maker is a good thing. I spoke to Les once on the phone, he was cordial but no-nonsense. I can believe the arthritis issue, Col. Jeff Cooper had the same thing after a lifetime of shooting. The older I get the more I like my .22 Korth revolver.

Why did Les leave IL, a bad business climate? I'm glad I left IL.
 
Mark_Mark said:
I wonder when did Colt stop making their own guns... I heard great things about their older guns
Click to expand...

They still make their own guns, just not always as well as the older ones. Although having had both and from what I've heard, the new Gold Cups are more accurate than the old ones, if more problematic.
 
Paul7 said:
Very interesting, thanks for posting. A nit-picky gun maker is a good thing. I spoke to Les once on the phone, he was cordial but no-nonsense. I can believe the arthritis issue, Col. Jeff Cooper had the same thing after a lifetime of shooting. The older I get the more I like my .22 Korth revolver.

Why did Les leave IL, a bad business climate? I'm glad I left IL.
Click to expand...
Some people buy race cars... you buy the most expensive guns known to man.. lol

I hope I hit the tech lotto one day and buy $5,000 guns just because
 
Mark_Mark said:
Some people buy race cars... you buy the most expensive guns known to man.. lol

I hope I hit the tech lotto one day and buy $5,000 guns just because
Click to expand...

Actually, you can buy a used .22 Korth for about $2K, less than a new Baer or Wilson. The downside is they will spoil you for any other revolver. ;) I don't like the looks or the price of the new Korths.
 

Attachments

  • Korth Sport .22LR SN 22538.jpg
    Korth Sport .22LR SN 22538.jpg
    102.3 KB · Views: 6
Paul7 said:
I never said they were the same thing, did I? They are comparable in price:

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/899643449
Click to expand...

Just because someone on GB pays X amount does not make the pistols equal in terms of value or construction. You are close on the DW but in your post you were also talking Colt. Today's used market is the wild wild west and if I am being honest most of the prices that are being paid are inflated by at least 20%.

My original point which you seem to have missed is that the Les Baer is a step up from the Dan Wesson in the way it is constructed but there is a difference. DW used CNC machining and more modern manufacturing to produce a cleaner looking pistol. Les Baer uses old school techniques but sacrifices over all finish to meet a similar price point. Two completely different philosophies which you are treating as if they are the same. All poodles are dogs not all dogs are poodles.

I get it you like your used Baer. I like my 2 as well but I do not use the one off deal I got on my TRS as the bar for it value. YMMV I will also point out that you are comparing the lowest priced option from Baer to the flagship model of it day in the DW line. Again not an apples to apples comparison. They are different animals in their intend and their price points. Nuance is everything when you get over a certain price point.

PS With no offense to @tark the first thing I did to my TRS after its first long range session was knock down the points on the checkering on the front strap. I have soft hands. :)
 
Last edited:
WVsig said:
Just because someone on GB pays X amount does not make the pistols equal in terms of value or construction.
Click to expand...

No, it makes them equal in price, which is sort of the same as the perceived value.

You are close on the DW but in your post you were also talking Colt. Today's used market is the wild wild west and if I am being honest most of the prices that are being paid are inflated by at least 20%.
Click to expand...

Not sure they're coming down, if people are paying that that's what they're worth. We've got 4 years of an anti-gun POTUS in front of us.

My original point which you seem to have missed is that the Les Baer is a step up from the Dan Wesson in the way it is constructed but there is a difference. DW used CNC machining and more modern manufacturing to produce a cleaner looking pistol. Les Baer uses old school techniques but sacrifices over all finish to meet a similar price point.
Click to expand...

I don't think there is a difference in the exterior, I do prefer carbon steel guns to stainless, and the finer Baer checkering.

Two completely different philosophies which you are treating as if they are the same. All poodles are dogs not all dogs are poodles.
Click to expand...

Go back and read the entire thread please, a number of 1911s were discussed in it, including DW, without implying they were all the same, before I ever mentioned DW, not sure what your point is.

I get it you like your used Baer. I like my 2 as well but I do not use the one off deal I got on my TRS as the bar for it value.
Click to expand...

No, I'm using recent Gunbroker completed sales as the bar for it's value.
 
Last edited:
Paul7 said:
Actually, you can buy a used .22 Korth for about $2K, less than a new Baer or Wilson. The downside is they will spoil you for any other revolver. ;) I don't like the looks or the price of the new Korths.
Click to expand...

A .22 Korth is on my list too. Ugh I need to stop with my list. Its....incredibly expensive.
 
Trashyshoots said:
A .22 Korth is on my list too. Ugh I need to stop with my list. Its....incredibly expensive.
Click to expand...

It's only money, ;). You can always sell it, but it exceeded my expectations more than any other high end gun I've had. $2K is less than many 1911s discussed on this thread.
 
SwampWolf said:
Same here! Now I know that people who are for nouns are pro-noun. I hear there are some anti-nouns out there dressed like verbs. And the tenses are stirring up grammatical tension. Oh the semanticy!
Click to expand...
my brain hurts from reading your post. So glade Les Baer has 1 pronoun.

Les Baer, my pronouns are .45 and .38 Super
 
i have 2 1911s both Les Baers. a premier 2 and a heavyweight monolith. the monolith has a 1.5 inch guarantee.

problems : bluing as everybody says. it wears easily. i lobe the bluing when new.

the premier 2 front sight blade vame off shooting the first year. Brenda said" i have never heard that happening" lucky me i guess. sent the slide back and was fixed.

the monolith had extraction issues every so often with my 200 gr swcs. called and got passed on to the man himself. it's the ammo, unique is a dirty powder etc... but go ahead and send it back. they replaced the barrel linkage and did some other things and it fixed that.while there, i had them hard chrome it as the bluing was wearing.

i love the guns. i don't notice any difference in accuracy between the guns but i like the square rear sight of my heavyweight. the premier 2 had a "melt/dehorned" treatment. the 1.5 inch gun is actually easier to rack.

i did replace the guide rod on the monolith with a FLGR as it is easier to reassemble. i ended up dinging the end of the dustcover doing the upside down slide thing with the usual guide rod. i had them fix it and hard chrome it when i sent the gun back for the extraction issue. 20160105_120501-1.jpg

i told my son that if i pass away to keep the 2 baers and he can do what he wants with the others.
20180921_124026-800x450.jpg 20180905_132302-1008x567.jpg
 
roval said:
btw here is an old video of me shooting golf balls at 25 yrds with the heavyweight monolith. i couldn't do the pic in pic thing with video then.

Click to expand...

Cool range! Out gun club looks like the forest in E.T. - has the smell too
 
WVsig said:
PS With no offense to @tark the first thing I did to my TRS after its first long range session was knock down the points on the checkering on the front strap. I have soft hands. :)
Click to expand...
You made me laugh, WVsig. :D You are not alone with those soft hands. Every now and then an RMA would come back with a request to knock down the checkering a bit. It was about the only type of customer complaints Les didn't grumble about!
 
Paul7 said:
It is very cool, they also have a trap range, and are currently building a 1,000 yard range. My idea of a city park. :)
Click to expand...
our E.T. forests gun club has 3 traps and 1 skeet/5 stand. America trap, Continental trap, and Olympic Bunker trap!
 
tark said:
You made me laugh, WVsig. :D You are not alone with those soft hands. Every now and then an RMA would come back with a request to knock down the checkering a bit. It was about the only type of customer complaints Les didn't grumble about!
Click to expand...
When I get my Les Baer, I’m going to call them and complain about something. It seems to be part of the experience of owing a Les Baer!!

“Les Baer, how can I help you”

- “My owners manual broke”
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

J
  • Locked
Les Baer Choices
Replies
4
Views
624
Black Majik
B
W
  • Locked
Les Baer PII Thoughts
Replies
10
Views
624
will919
W
K
  • Locked
Custom built
Replies
9
Views
413
Anchorite
Anchorite
G
  • Locked
To Les Baer or not to Les Baer
2
Replies
33
Views
3K
Rinspeed
Rinspeed
Rival
  • Locked
Which Les Baer to get?
Replies
13
Views
2K
Rich357
R
Back
Top