So finally got my brand new LB Prowler Thursday and today was breakin time!
Gear:
- Les Baer Prowler III 2005 vintage with zero rounds fired (beside the test rounds fired @ the LB shop)
- 800 rounds of factory Norinco 230gr FMJ's
- Two pancake holsters (Canadian manuf. black one, Bianchi "Shadow" # 7 tan), I didn't use either of them. Snap woudn't close with that big rear Bo-Mar style adjustable night sight. Will hunt down a new holster for the beast.
- A total of 11 magazines: two LB factory 8 rounders, five Chip McCormick Power Mags 8 rounders and four Wilson Combat EMT #500.
Drills:
- Slow fire from both weaver stance and isosceles triangle stance @ 7, 10, 12, 15, 20 & 50 yards.
- Rapid fire & double taps from both weaver stance and isosceles triangle stance @ 7, 10, 12, 15, 20 & 50 yards.
Round Count:
- 550 Total.
- 550 Today.
Weather:
Partly sunny 0 degree, -2 with wind chill, wind NE @ 6 kph, 79% hum. 101.00 kpa
Now... Grab a seat, sit back and let the fun begin!
Getting ready... Gun, holsters (witch I didnt use), hears & eyes protection, targets, Boresnake, M Pro 7 oil, Range finder & mags. I brought my Champion bench bag but didn't use it at all today. Will use it when I'll try those 100 yards shots!
Load up those mags! 88 rounds ready to go!
First two mags (factory Les Baer 16 rounds) @ 12 yards on a B27 target. (first mag was slow fire 1 shot per second, second
mag was rapid fire, approx. 2 shots per sec.). That was too easy! No failure, looks promising...
Let's push it back to 20 yards. 1st picture is the new target setup at 20 yards and the 2nd is after 88 rounds (11 mags) in both slow & rapid fire (some double taps in there too) went trough it. The stub weight really tame the .45 recoil. Quite easy to stay on target. Double taps made easy. Wanna see a closeup of the target @ 20 yards, look at the 3rd picture below. Note that I didn't touch the rear sight adjustment (POI is left of POA, or is it me?).
Lets take a couple of pics of the Prowler before oiling it real good after 176 rounds fired...
While were at it why not try some 50 yards shots.
The results at 50 yards, no rest, standing both slow & rapid fire. Would have taken my time, the result would have been much better but only wanted to try it out. It's been a while since I've shot at that distance, need more practice! Again, way off to the left. I tought it was time to drift the rear sight a little but wasen't convinced so decided to take a 10 minutes break and have a snack.
Let's bring the target back at 7 & 10 yards for rapid instinctive shooting and double taps.
440 rounds fired! Time for some pics!
That's the last 176 rounds slow fired at 15 yards. Should have done it earlier in the day, accuracy would have been better!
And were here... 550 rounds fired today.
Don't forget the spenties!!
So in details the breakin went like this. Oiled the rails and the end of the barrel behind the stub weight with the slide open, the barrel hood and top of breech face where the barrel sits with a close slide with M Pro 7 at round count 48, 88, 136, 176, 224, 272, 320, 368, 416, 464 and 512. Average every 48 rounds or 6 full mags. Racked the slide a few times before shooting again.
A simple boresnake went trough the pistol from the magwell to the muzzle at round count 120, 224, 352 and 488.
For those of you that are wondering if the gun is smoother after the 550 rounds breakin, I can honestly say that if felt smooth from the very begining but felt a tad smoother after about 250 rounds. I saw a good improvement on the trigger pull after about 200 rounds and it's just getting better. The gun came out of the shop with a 3.5# trigger job and it's now right at it, maybe a little under. It's very crisp with no creep at all, it breaks like glass and will probably get even better with more shooting.
While shooting the pistol, I've only had failures to load with two of the four Wilson ETM mags when loaded with 8 rounds. It happened while releasing the slide on a full mag & sometimes after ejecting the first fired round when feeding the second round only. I've tried them with seven rounds and they were feeding perfectly. I noticed that the base pad was pretty tight on the bottom of the well and the mag barely "wiggled" in the gun compared to the CMC & LB mags witch were smooth & had very little play when in the pistol. Both LB & CMC Power mags performed flawlessly without a hiccup for the whole day. The ETM's sporadically had problems throughout the day when fully loaded but again none when loaded with less than 8 rounds.
All in all I had a wonderful day at the range. The Prowler performed like a champ without a single hiccup (beside the WC ETM mags issue) and I wasen't expecting anything less from it. I coudn't ask for more, it simply delivers. Out of the higher end 1911's I've owned (Sprigner Pro Operator, Ed Brown SS Exc. Target, Valtro 1998A1 and both 2010 DW duty treated Valor & VBOB), it's for me the one to beat in every way!
Thats it for now fellows! Hope you've enjoyed the range report & pictures!
Good Shootin'
H.C.
Gear:
- Les Baer Prowler III 2005 vintage with zero rounds fired (beside the test rounds fired @ the LB shop)
- 800 rounds of factory Norinco 230gr FMJ's
- Two pancake holsters (Canadian manuf. black one, Bianchi "Shadow" # 7 tan), I didn't use either of them. Snap woudn't close with that big rear Bo-Mar style adjustable night sight. Will hunt down a new holster for the beast.
- A total of 11 magazines: two LB factory 8 rounders, five Chip McCormick Power Mags 8 rounders and four Wilson Combat EMT #500.
Drills:
- Slow fire from both weaver stance and isosceles triangle stance @ 7, 10, 12, 15, 20 & 50 yards.
- Rapid fire & double taps from both weaver stance and isosceles triangle stance @ 7, 10, 12, 15, 20 & 50 yards.
Round Count:
- 550 Total.
- 550 Today.
Weather:
Partly sunny 0 degree, -2 with wind chill, wind NE @ 6 kph, 79% hum. 101.00 kpa
Now... Grab a seat, sit back and let the fun begin!
Getting ready... Gun, holsters (witch I didnt use), hears & eyes protection, targets, Boresnake, M Pro 7 oil, Range finder & mags. I brought my Champion bench bag but didn't use it at all today. Will use it when I'll try those 100 yards shots!
Load up those mags! 88 rounds ready to go!
First two mags (factory Les Baer 16 rounds) @ 12 yards on a B27 target. (first mag was slow fire 1 shot per second, second
mag was rapid fire, approx. 2 shots per sec.). That was too easy! No failure, looks promising...
Let's push it back to 20 yards. 1st picture is the new target setup at 20 yards and the 2nd is after 88 rounds (11 mags) in both slow & rapid fire (some double taps in there too) went trough it. The stub weight really tame the .45 recoil. Quite easy to stay on target. Double taps made easy. Wanna see a closeup of the target @ 20 yards, look at the 3rd picture below. Note that I didn't touch the rear sight adjustment (POI is left of POA, or is it me?).
Lets take a couple of pics of the Prowler before oiling it real good after 176 rounds fired...
While were at it why not try some 50 yards shots.
The results at 50 yards, no rest, standing both slow & rapid fire. Would have taken my time, the result would have been much better but only wanted to try it out. It's been a while since I've shot at that distance, need more practice! Again, way off to the left. I tought it was time to drift the rear sight a little but wasen't convinced so decided to take a 10 minutes break and have a snack.
Let's bring the target back at 7 & 10 yards for rapid instinctive shooting and double taps.
440 rounds fired! Time for some pics!
That's the last 176 rounds slow fired at 15 yards. Should have done it earlier in the day, accuracy would have been better!
And were here... 550 rounds fired today.
Don't forget the spenties!!
So in details the breakin went like this. Oiled the rails and the end of the barrel behind the stub weight with the slide open, the barrel hood and top of breech face where the barrel sits with a close slide with M Pro 7 at round count 48, 88, 136, 176, 224, 272, 320, 368, 416, 464 and 512. Average every 48 rounds or 6 full mags. Racked the slide a few times before shooting again.
A simple boresnake went trough the pistol from the magwell to the muzzle at round count 120, 224, 352 and 488.
For those of you that are wondering if the gun is smoother after the 550 rounds breakin, I can honestly say that if felt smooth from the very begining but felt a tad smoother after about 250 rounds. I saw a good improvement on the trigger pull after about 200 rounds and it's just getting better. The gun came out of the shop with a 3.5# trigger job and it's now right at it, maybe a little under. It's very crisp with no creep at all, it breaks like glass and will probably get even better with more shooting.
While shooting the pistol, I've only had failures to load with two of the four Wilson ETM mags when loaded with 8 rounds. It happened while releasing the slide on a full mag & sometimes after ejecting the first fired round when feeding the second round only. I've tried them with seven rounds and they were feeding perfectly. I noticed that the base pad was pretty tight on the bottom of the well and the mag barely "wiggled" in the gun compared to the CMC & LB mags witch were smooth & had very little play when in the pistol. Both LB & CMC Power mags performed flawlessly without a hiccup for the whole day. The ETM's sporadically had problems throughout the day when fully loaded but again none when loaded with less than 8 rounds.
All in all I had a wonderful day at the range. The Prowler performed like a champ without a single hiccup (beside the WC ETM mags issue) and I wasen't expecting anything less from it. I coudn't ask for more, it simply delivers. Out of the higher end 1911's I've owned (Sprigner Pro Operator, Ed Brown SS Exc. Target, Valtro 1998A1 and both 2010 DW duty treated Valor & VBOB), it's for me the one to beat in every way!
Thats it for now fellows! Hope you've enjoyed the range report & pictures!
Good Shootin'
H.C.
