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Thread: New life for old Baer...

  1. #1
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    New life for old Baer...

    With a large portion of our work centering on full-house guns this isn’t something you see from us allot. Never the less, it something we’re quite familiar with, having done similar conversions on other Baers, Wilsons, etc, and this particular case seemed photo worthy.



    This gun started life for the customer as a plane-Jane Les Baer Stinger with standard blue finish. The gun was bought new and shot for break in and to prove reliable for carry but even though the owner was diligent in his ammo and magazine selection he was never satisfied with the performance of the gun. The gun had continual feeding and ejection problems and for the time being was put aside in favor of a different daily carry piece. Eventually the gun landed in our hands with the request to make the gun run and fit for a carry piece as well as a few additional functional and cosmetic changes.

    The owner had us go through the entire gun to remedy any issues and insure it would be up to the task at hand. Fine tuning the barrel fit as well as lapping the frame a slide were two good starting points. As we’ve seen before in Baers fit with Commander length slides, the frame rails and recoil seat location were Government length and not dimensionally correct for the shorter Commander length slide. This was a major factor to the guns previous feeding and ejection issues. A relatively easy fix, with a bit of cutting and trimming to the frame and in addition to some modifications to the barrel throat, feed-ramp, ejector, and extractor we had the gun feeding and ejecting as it should. And while in the shop the owner also requested a few other functional and detail modifications such as a new and more useable thumb safety, flattened and serrated slide top, Professional Grade rear sight with Gold Line front, re-crowned barrel, machined slide stop with serrated bottom, re-dressed beavertail, new trigger, French borders, and a final finish in hard chrome. Finishing the gun out with a set of durable VZ micarta stocks makes the gun complete and ready for carry and the owner is now looking forward to finally putting this gun into his daily carry line up. Enjoy!
















  2. #2
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    Oddball question here, but in re-working old Baers, Wilsons, etc., how realistic is it to grind down the flats to get rid of proprietary model inscriptions? I realize this depends upon depth and such, but there is just something about a slick-sided high-end 1911 that speaks to me.

    AC
    Stand your ground; don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here. -- Captain John Parker, Lexington, 1775.

  3. #3
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    fine looking work Jason

  4. #4
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    Very good looking gun.
    Chief Armorer for Elite Shooting Sports in Manassas VA
    Chief Armorer for Corp Arms (FFL 07-08/SOT 02)

  5. #5
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    Looks great as always Jason.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jason Burton View Post
    the frame rails and recoil seat location were Government length and not dimensionally correct for the shorter Commander length slide. This was a major factor to the guns previous feeding and ejection issues. A relatively easy fix, with a bit of cutting and trimming to the frame
    Any before:after of these, or comparison photos of the two perhaps in two different guns?

  7. #7
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    Looks great!
    GLOCK PREFECTION

  8. #8
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    Now there's a pricey way to go about a 1911 build. Work looks fantastic as usual!

  9. #9
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    holy smokes

    that's one smokin' daily carry..but if I got road rash on that thing I think I'd go to Thailand and hang myself off a door handle though j/k ..sorry David Carradine and Michel Hutchins

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Army Chief View Post
    Oddball question here, but in re-working old Baers, Wilsons, etc., how realistic is it to grind down the flats to get rid of proprietary model inscriptions? I realize this depends upon depth and such, but there is just something about a slick-sided high-end 1911 that speaks to me.
    It can be done... and a gun like this would certainly be easier than something with deeper/heavy roll-marks. There are a few considerations however and the potential has to be assessed for each gun individually. On this gun, for example, the depth of the cocking serrations and the relation to the slide flats would have created some other challenges... it’s all about how many hurdles you want to jump. But there have also been instances where we’ve done them on other slides with ease.

    Quote Originally Posted by rob_s View Post
    Any before:after of these, or comparison photos of the two perhaps in two different guns?
    In fact I do...



    As best it can, this picture shows the difference relative to the slide stop pin hole between Government length rails/recoil seat position and Commander length rails/recoil seat position. The gun on the left is an un-modified Colt Government Model and the gun on the right is the pistol pictured above post cutting back the rails/recoil seat.


    Quote Originally Posted by civilian View Post
    Now there's a pricey way to go about a 1911 build. Work looks fantastic as usual!
    Yes and no... compared to a full-house build on a Colt itcan be more economical. But the downside is you don’t have nearly all of the options available that the “blank canvas” Colt base guns afford you. The nice thing about a gun like this is that, while not a full-house gun, it can be still be re-worked and tweaked to give the owner a more personalized and user-friendly pistol.

    Thanks for the kind words gents!
    Last edited by Jason Burton; 09-01-09 at 23:29.

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