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Thread: New to Baers? Read this.

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  1. #1
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    New to Baers? Read this.

    There are a LOT of new Baers appearing on the forum recently, many to first time owners. I thought a reminder might be in order.

    Baers come with very soft, urethane (Ed Brown?) shock buffs in them. Baer recommends 500rds before stripping and cleaning the gun, but these flimsy little grommets do not last that long. They become utterly shredded in <200rds and generally find their way into places you'd rather they not.

    Now the reason Les recommends the 500, is that shooting the gun dirty for just those few rounds, helps perform a final "lapping" of the slide rails and smooths the gun out in just the right places. What the buff does/does not, is another story and has been beaten to death on there.

    You have two options. Personally, I break all the rules and strip the gun out of the box for inspection and buffer removal. Otherwise, run about 150rds through it and then remove it. Either way, that thing needs to come out loooong before the recommended 500, or recoil spring interval.

    If you don't want to interrupt the lapping process, leave your precious, self made carbon compound on the gun and complete the half case process.

    Also, do not over lube your Baer. This really goes for all 1911s, but especially the uber-tight Baer. When lubing the gun, "wax on, wax off". You do not need to see the lube to insure that you have enough to work. Wipe it off. It's still there, doing it's work. As a rule of thumb, rack the slide several times after lubing. If you see lube collecting at the rear of the rails, you've over lubed.
    The reason not to do this comes down to understanding that oil's job is to collect debris. It does it's job brilliantly. However, since there is no pump and filter in a 1911, the debris will sit right where you don't want it. The more oil, the more debris. Hence, the admonission to wipe it off.

    I just thought this needed to be said for the sake of all the new Baer-o-philes.

    Shoot lots and often.
    Guns kill people the same way spoons make you fat.

  2. #2
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    Very Good Ping ..As said the Buffer is a hot debate i use them in range pistols only and have never had one come apart not even in my Baer

    The Min breakin is listed as 500 but on some of them it really doesn't start till 1500

    Also remember that bushing is never going to get real loose get either a long plastic bushing wrench or a steel on i prefer the plastic..

    To much oil is bad but use a good oil Mobile one works great avoid stuff like rem oil..

    If your from the grease crowd Brian Enos Slide glide works great especially for carry yes it works just fine in baer's I use it on my Concept VIII and it is my EDC

    Wax on Wax off approach here too

  3. #3
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    Great post Ping. Another item that seems to get new buyers overwhelmed is the variety of models. I'd say that Baer basically makes 3 guns, standard size 5", 4.25" Commanche, Stinger-4.25" slide/barrel, short frame. The only real differences are the features-sights, safeties, triggers, finishes. The 1.5" option is beyond my shooting abilities but for the folks out there with the skill what could be more fun. I have a friend with a PII w/1.5" option and he shoots just as tight groups with it as he does my TRS out to 30 yards. The target sights help ring out a bit tighter groups at 50.

    Of course the really cool thing is the ability to have a Baer gun built with one's specific selected features for a great price.

    I think sometimes folks have a hard time deciding what exactly they are honestly going to use the pistol for. Once that's decided the rest is easier. I knew I wanted a 5" self defense, carry pistol so that made getting the TRS easy..for me.
    Last edited by doc45; 12th August 2007 at 11:02.


  4. #4
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    Good post, Ping.


    I'm waiting to hear back from, John.
    "The pistol, learn it well, carry it always ..." - Jeff Cooper

  5. #5
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    When wanting to turn the bushing, pull the slide back just a bit, maybe 3/4" or just a bit more. By doing this the bushing will turn easier. Pull the barrel forward to tap the bushing out of the slide.
    Lynnie, "Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal. "
    - Albert Camus
    Likes (1) :
    MuyModesto (25th April 2020)


  6. #6
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    Thanks for the post, Ping. This not only applies to Baers and 1911s, but most modern firearms.

    Good job.
    Regards,

    Tom

  7. #7
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    New To Baer

    Ping,
    Great timing for this post! I am one of the new "LOT" of Baer owners - SRP. This is the first time I have heard about the shock buffer replacement - have 275 rounds through it. A bit confused though - should it be removed or replaced? Seems there are two schools of thought here. Also with my less than custom 13 page "Les Baer Custom 1911 Disassembly Manual" - there is no reference to the shock buffer. I am a newbie, so where is it? Since I have not taken it down, I assume its at the end of the recoil spring/recoil spring plug. I plan on stripping it down later this week. By the way did I say that its one heck of a shooter! Appreciate all the coaching.......

  8. #8
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    Wait you got a disassembly manual? all i got was a half of page with my 2 baers..

    The shock Buff will be on the guide rod deep in the gun when you break it down for cleaning you will see it .

  9. #9
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    Ditto to everything jrhawk said. I'll be picking up my new PII this week.

    I guess this is where the debate comes in:

    Ping - "Baers come with very soft, urethane (Ed Brown?) shock buffs in them. Baer recommends 500rds before stripping and cleaning the gun, but these flimsy little grommets do not last that long. They become utterly shredded in <200rds and generally find their way into places you'd rather they not."

    Bud White - "..As said the Buffer is a hot debate i use them in range pistols only and have never had one come apart not even in my Baer."

    Is this a try it and find out for yourself issue? Meaning take a look at the shock buffer after 200 rounds or so to see what condition it's in? Isn't this the part I've heard Les Baer himself recommends not even replacing?

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by manderson
    Ditto to everything jrhawk said. I'll be picking up my new PII this week.

    I guess this is where the debate comes in:

    Ping - "Baers come with very soft, urethane (Ed Brown?) shock buffs in them. Baer recommends 500rds before stripping and cleaning the gun, but these flimsy little grommets do not last that long. They become utterly shredded in <200rds and generally find their way into places you'd rather they not."

    Bud White - "..As said the Buffer is a hot debate i use them in range pistols only and have never had one come apart not even in my Baer."

    Is this a try it and find out for yourself issue? Meaning take a look at the shock buffer after 200 rounds or so to see what condition it's in? Isn't this the part I've heard Les Baer himself recommends not even replacing?

    There is a lot of confusion, even from long time Baer-o-philes, as to why we are seeing buffs in Baer guns when at one point that company was quite vocal in their cirticism of them. As a matter of fact, even Ed Brown, who used to love to say his guns were built strong enough; they didn't need any stinking shock buffs, is selling buffs on his website now.

    The plus side of a shock buff is that they cushion and "spread" point loads and theoretically could prolong the fatigue life of your gun's internals.
    The bad part is they affect the timing of the gun by effectively shortening the slide travel - not such a huge deal in a 5" model but beware in a commander sized gun or less..........In my opinion you don't want a shock buff for any reason in a gun that has less than a five inch barrel.

    The downside is that shock buffs pretty much get destroyed doing their job, and sometimes can cast off shards of polypropylene ( known in some circles as "probablypopalene" )into your gun's innards - not exactly what you want to happen on a dark, rainy night on the bad side of town......

    I use the buffs in some of my range guns but NEVER for carry. In my personal experience, and I use the Wilson Shock-buffs, they will last anywhere from 700 to 1200 rounds, but you need to be using the correct recoil spring for your gun to get maximum life out of them. Also, keep in mind that, just like everything else, there are chinese knock-offs that are cheaper ( I guess for those who can't afford the Wilsons at a $1 a piece ) and if you use them, all bets are off.

    To sum up, when you use a buff you MAY be affording an extra level of protection to your pistol in terms of fatigue life, but in doing so, you create other concerns.
    By NOT using a buff, you are simply using the pistol as it is designed and as it has served the military through two world wars and countless conflicts.

    So.....there ya go.
    Tim

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