Time for a high end 1911... Help

[chronixskm]

Ive borrowed Brown and Bear. I have always owned Springfield because I don't have $2k plus to be throwing around on a handgun. Never shot a Wilson Combat and probably should have listed them in the mix, but I have shot a couple Les Baer (rented), and a few Browns, and a few Kimbers, Sigs, and Colts. I had a Springfield Trophy Match that was stolen and I'm hoping the Range Officer will fill its gap. Springfield is definitely the way to go nowadays (on a budget) but only with their USA assembled guns like the TRP, Trophy Match, Operator, and Range Officer. I read high end in the original post and when your talking high end 1911 your talking at least $2k. Springfield doesn't really apply to him in my honest opinion, it is not a full custom gun as a high end 1911 should be.

Springfield TGO-1, Springfield Professional, Springfield Custom Carry, the list goes on, these are all custom shop models. Type "Springfield Custom Shop" in Gunbroker search you would be surprised on how many pop up. These are all $2500-3000 or more and are extremely nice shooters. Not saying springfield is the only way to go at all but they are extremely underrated especially when talking about Semi-Custom manufacturers.

I honestly put Les Baer in the "entry level semi-custom" along with Dan Wesson. That's not a bad thing. Wilson, Crafter, Hawk, and Brown are all a step above in terms of quality and fitment of the firearm.

You figure a brand new Baer is let's say, $2250, I'd gladly spend $400-600 dollars more for higher quality. $2900 will get you a CQB, a GRP, heck even a No Name.

This is all just personal opinion, I like high quality firearms but I'll be the first to say more money doesn't equal better accuracy. My TRP will shoot just as good as my Hawks, Wilsons, etc.

It's a free country (for the time being) buy what you want.

[chronixskm]

Baer's aren't finished as well as the others you've mentioned, that's true. However, the entry price is considerably lower and the shoot just as well as the others that you've mentioned. I got my PII locally for $1700 new, before tax and DROS. If I wanted a Nighthawk or Wilson, I'd have to pay around 2x that. I'm not saying that the Nighthawks or Wilsons aren't worth the price as I have no experience with them, but for the entry price into the semi-custom world, I think Baer's are a good value. My PII is very accurate, I let my RO shoot it and he was pretty impressed.

Nice post, I agree with you. My post was directed toward the "Baers or Brown are the only way to go". I read so many posts like this all over the internet and 99% the poster has never shot anything else. Someone shoots a $900 Colt XSE at 7 yards with bullseye accuracy and then they go on the internet and say "Colt is all you really need" without having shot anything else.

OP is in the market for a high quality semi, or now even full custom 1911. Les Baer don't fit that bill.

[nahpungnome]

Nice post, I agree with you. My post was directed toward the "Baers or Brown are the only way to go". I read so many posts like this all over the internet and 99% the poster has never shot anything else. Someone shoots a $900 Colt XSE at 7 yards with bullseye accuracy and then they go on the internet and say "Colt is all you really need" without having shot anything else.

OP is in the market for a high quality semi, or now even full custom 1911. Les Baer don't fit that bill.

Agreed, there's never only one way to go. I hate when the whole fanaticism thing comes into play. I enjoy my Baer, but would never say it's better than anything else (except maybe stuff in my own stable).

I also agree that a Baer isn't what the OP is looking for since you can't really customize the whole pistol to your liking. You can get any sight you want, but it has to be from Baer, etc. I emailed about getting 10-8 sights supplied by me and having them install it so as to not void my warranty, but they said no, they only do their sights lol, oh well.

[tacticalcity]

Big fan of Ed Brown 1911s. Got to meet the Brown family at Shot Show this year and handle several of their 1911s. Very nice guns. Very nice people.