I currently have a Les Baer Stinger that I often use for carry. It’s smaller than a full sized (it’s ~ commander size) so it’s relatively easy to conceal.
All the parts are hand fitted and are identified with a number associated with that particular weapon. This is one tight weapon…absolutely no slop anywhere. When you shake this pistol nothing rattles!
The accuracy is simply unbelievable with good ammunition.
The feel of the weapon is fantastic, and the trigger is the best I’ve ever pulled.
As for feeding it ammo, it’s proven itself to be ultra-reliable. I’ve feed it top of the line carry, middle of the road practice ammo (such as Win White Box), and home-grown reloads and it’s never skipped a beat.
I’ve taken it to several classes, all ~ 1,000 rounds, and not one failure during a class. One of those classes was a two day course and it rained non-stop the entire time. It went from drizzle to monsoon back to drizzle for two solid days. I fired both days, did not clean the weapon, and did not have one hiccup.
But his operation is still a business, and flaws do make it out of the factory…
When I received mine, the finish work on the hammer had not been completed, and the first time I cocked the hammer I came away with a nasty cut on my thumb. The machining process had left an edge that ran along the whole side of the hammer that was razor sharp. Evidently his technicians missed finishing the work.
It wasn’t a big thing, and I just got out my equipment and finished the hammer. It’s now baby smooth and functions fine.
I then took it out to my backyard range to get familiar with it. Well, it was a joy to shoot…at least it was for the first ~50-60 rounds. Then this remarkable trigger started requiring probably 20Lbs trigger pull to drop the hammer.
I broke it down to see what was wrong, and found a broken sear. It looked like the sear was poorly manufactured.
Pop in another sear, back to the range, and I’ve never had to look back since…and that was ~3 years ago.
I have no doubt that both those issues would have been repaired with no hassle by the manufacturer since they seem to have excellent customer service. It was just faster for me to take care of them on my own…patience has never been listed as one of my strong suits.
So the message is mistakes can make it out of his factory. Both the hammer and sear issues would have been easy to spot, so there are some holes in his inspection processes. But that’s going to be true for just about any operation.
Bottom-line is if I had the money I would have no problem with buying another weapon from him.
