Looking for my 1st 1911...

[swinokur]

Unless a Baer is what he wants. Very subjective IMO.

 

[swinokur]

O.P. Unless you are planing to be a pro/competition shooter, you do not need to spend too much money. If you have plenty of dough, go for bob-tailed Ed Brown's guns. Otherwise for your first 1911 gun buy stainless Colt Commander XSE. You get the "original" brand, 4.25 barrel that you want, all the options pre-installed and you stay within $1.2k.

I believe he said he was looking at a Baer. Maybe that's what he wants. (And can afford)

Very subjective decision.

 

[clandestine]

To compare the colt xse to a baer is like comparing apples to potatoes .

Agreed. Not even in the same league.

 

[TAliyev]

To compare the colt xse to a baer is like comparing apples to potatoes .

I did not compare anything to anything. I just stated that XSE will satisfy real world requirements of O.P. without breaking his bank..... There are way too many desirable 1911s out there. It is really easy to get lost in all available options or get driven to something that is not really required or needed. There is always something better...... One must learn where to stop to avoid uncontrollable spin....

 

[Mt Airy]

I did not compare anything to anything. I just stated that XSE will satisfy real world requirements of O.P. without breaking his bank..... There are way too many desirable 1911s out there It is really easy to get lost in all available options or get driven to something that is not really required or needed. There is always something better...... One must learn where to stop to avoid uncontrollable spin....

He said that he was interested in a Baer. As far as braking the bank a Baer is a GOOD deal for the money you spend all the other good ones are more money and no better performance . Some are better finished .
So a Baer is a bargain when comparing apples to apples .

 

[Mt Airy]

I did not compare anything to anything. I just stated that XSE will satisfy real world requirements of O.P. without breaking his bank..... There are way too many desirable 1911s out there It is really easy to get lost in all available options or get driven to something that is not really required or needed. There is always something better...... One must learn where to stop to avoid uncontrollable spin....

Have you ever held or shot a Baer pistol ? Or is this biased on price alone.

 

[TAliyev]

Have you ever held or shot a Baer pistol ? Or is this biased on price alone.

I have nothing but respect toward Baer. I held but did not shoot them. I have also held Ed's guns and feel that between those two brands I personally would pick Ed. I can also say that I would take Ed over Wilson in a complete gun as well , although for individual parts I prefer Wilson over Ed.

Original poster did not mention Baer until it was brought into conversation by other members, so he did not really "want" it until he was "pulled" toward it by others....

 

[booker]

If you're willing to wait months for the pistol, you should add the Springfield Professional to your list of options.

I don't know if they still have it, but I think last year Bart's Sports World in Glen Burnie/Ellicott City area had one, virtually new, at a great price. Niche market, it might still be in their display case. Comes with six matched mags. Hard to beat for approx $2K.

 

[iobidder]

Sig 1911 TACOPS

 

[Kinbote]

Baers are good pistols, but a new Colt XSE is only 950-1000 dollars, and they are also fine weapons. If you have the money, and especially if you plan to do a fair bit of shooting and become extremely proficient with the 1911, the Baer would be worth it. A Baer comes with the front strap checkered, which would cost around 300 dollars to have done to the Colt, and it has the 10-shot group of under 3" at 50 yds guarantee. A Premier II or UTC should cost around 1750-1800 new, and for another 250 dollars, you can get the accuracy guarantee down to 1.5".

There are very few people who can shoot 10 rds into 3" at 50 yds, let alone into 1.5". It's fairly difficult to shoot 5 rds into 4" at 25yds from an unsupported standing position. A Colt XSE most likely can do it though, and probably even less than 4", so from a practical accuracy standpoint, a Colt XSE would be about as good as a Baer until you reach a certain extremely high level of competence with a handgun. The Baer frame is actually closer to a Gold Cup than the standard GM or XSE, so you might want to try it out for comparison.

Blued steel is slightly more likely to rust than stainless; I have managed to get rust on a stainless 1911 from sweat, but only once; it is much harder than with a blued weapon. If you are very good about wiping down your handgun each day, you should have no problem with blued steel, other than holster wear. Baer blueing is generally not as durable as Colt blueing, if appearance is a major concern. There are many different kinds of stainless and blued steels, and they are all not the same. There used to be difficulties with SS galling years ago, but the problems have long since been worked out for the most part. Baer will not offer the 1.5" option on stainless weapons. but his stainless do have the 3" guarantee.

One benefit of SS is that if you don't disassemble the weapon as often, the interior is less likely to rust. Some people don't like to take apart close-tolerance weapons every time they shoot. Many small parts in SS guns are not SS, however, and usually the barrels of 1911's are not made of SS; I don't think any current Baer models have SS bbls. Rust can easily start under the grips if you sweat a lot while shooting, so that's another small advantage of ss over blued. I doubt many people will shoot loose an SS gun, and pretty much any who do would shoot loose a blued, if you are talking about Colts or Baers. I've had a Delta 10mm Colt that went through a great many full power loads over the course of 25 years or so, and I just had to replace the bbl this year. The rails are a little peened up, but that would happen as easily with blued.

 

[booker]

Baers are good pistols..and it has the 10-shot group of under 3" at 50 yds guarantee.

I wish somebody with the pistols, the range, a chronograph, the time, and the money would do a comprehensive test of 1911s to see how they really perform.

Use high quality ammunition and the chrono to adjust for variation, or to throw out strings that don't meet Vo tolerances. Lock the guns into a vice and shoot benchrest style, or even with a pneumatic triggering device, to completely remove the human element from the accuracy equation. Indoor range with temperature conditioned rounds would be ideal, plus warmers to get the barrel to temperature, and a cadence that doesn't heat it up too much. All of them broken in, and shot sufficiently to have some copper deposit, but not dirty. Basically the ideal accuracy equation.

I wonder if the $2500 guns would live up to the claims, and how far off the imports and sub-$1000 guns would compare. Anything less than 1" at 50 yards, or even 2", and that's beyond nearly anybody's capability, and entirely not worth paying for.

Like having a chronograph watch with a movement claimed to be accurate down to 1/1000th of a second, but it takes 1/250th of a second to press and actuate the button. Pointless!