Les Baer trigger problem

JNG

JNG

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I have a new Les Bear 1911. It is a Premier II in 38 Super. It is a fantastic gun... when the trigger works. It only has about 250 rds through it but about once every 20 rounds the trigger freezes. It ejects and feeds but the trigger won't release. OR won't reset.
Les is a hard man to get a hold of, I am going to try again tomorrow but in the mean time... Does any one have any idea what the problem may be? I don't know much about 1911s. The gun is pretty tight to begin with. I was told that it would take about 500rds before it loosened up. Is the trigger problem something to be concerned about? Does this sound like something that will correct itself with more shooting???
 
JNG said:
I have a new Les Bear 1911. It is a Premier II in 38 Super. It is a fantastic gun... when the trigger works. It only has about 250 rds through it but about once every 20 rounds the trigger freezes. It ejects and feeds but the trigger won't release. OR won't reset.
Les is a hard man to get a hold of, I am going to try again tomorrow but in the mean time... Does any one have any idea what the problem may be? I don't know much about 1911s. The gun is pretty tight to begin with. I was told that it would take about 500rds before it loosened up. Is the trigger problem something to be concerned about? Does this sound like something that will correct itself with more shooting???
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To make sure I understand you correctly, the trigger gets stuck in the fully depressed position, right? What do you do to get it "unstuck"?
 
"To make sure I understand you correctly, the trigger gets stuck in the fully depressed position, right? What do you do to get it "unstuck"?"

No, the trigger goes back to the normal position and freezes. When this happens I make the gun safe then reload it and then the gun functions properly again until the trigger eventually freezes again.
 
Still don't understand 'freezes'. Meaning, you can't pull the trigger back at all? Or you can pull the trigger, but it doesn't fire?

Is there any pre-travel you can feel in this 'frozen' state? Does it feel just like it does when the hammer is dropped and you pull the trigger?
 
Ideas:

This is not something that would be cured by "shooting in".

Is there any chance that when it does not fire, your grip is not engaging the grip safety fully?

Check the disconnector with the slide off, it should go up and down very freely (maybe the disconnector is getting stuck down) If not, detail strip and check the disconnector / sear / sear spring engagement - clean, oil, etc.
 
I finally got a hold of Les today. I explained to him that the trigger does not move, it just locks in place, when I empty it/make it safe and reload and rack the slide it will work again.

He said that he has seen this problem only 2 or 3 times and he is pretty sure that it is a burr. He told me to strip the gun and look for a sharp edge on some part of the trigger. Top or bottom? I've never taken a 1911 apart so I am going to have to refer to my books to see what he is talking about. He said I need to gently file the the burr/sharp edge off, reoil and reassemble and the problem will go away.
 
JNG said:
I finally got a hold of Les today. I explained to him that the trigger does not move, it just locks in place, when I empty it/make it safe and reload and rack the slide it will work again.

He said that he has seen this problem only 2 or 3 times and he is pretty sure that it is a burr. He told me to strip the gun and look for a sharp edge on some part of the trigger. Top or bottom? I've never taken a 1911 apart so I am going to have to refer to my books to see what he is talking about. He said I need to gently file the the burr/sharp edge off, reoil and reassemble and the problem will go away.
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For an expensive pistol like yours I would send it to a smith & have Les pay the bill
 
can you take it back to where you bought it from??? i take my HKs back to where i bought them from and they usually fix issues for me free of charge...
 
If I can't fix the problem as easily as Les says I can I will definitely be contacting the company I purchased it from. Anything more labor intensive then this and I'll suggest that Les should pay to have a Canadian gunsmith work on it.
 
As long as you leave the files and dremel tool alone, there is nothing terribly scary about stripping a 1911.

Have at it.

While you've got the trigger out, have a look at the front (Round) part of the trigger bow. It may have one or two surfaces bent forward to limit pre-travel. It's possible that they are too far out, and not allowing enough play to reset.
 
Upon further investigation it appears that the trigger problem with my 1911 involves the safety.

Does anyone know what is going on? What appears to be happening is that as I shoot the gun the safety partially engages. When the trigger freezes on me I noticed that the ambi-safety has moved slightly and if I push it back to the off position the gun will shoot. The safety moves just enough to cause the trigger to not function but not so much that you could easily see that it is not completely in the off position this is why I just caught the problem now. Why is the safety moving???
 
Are you shooting the gun with your thumb of your right hand resting on top of the safety? If you place your thumb below the safety, it can easily push the safety up and engage it during recoil. In part for this reason, it's best to rest the thumb on top of the safety so that it positively disengages it during shooting.
 
EdGCNM said:
Are you shooting the gun with your thumb of your right hand resting on top of the safety? If you place your thumb below the safety, it can easily push the safety up and engage it during recoil. In part for this reason, it's best to rest the thumb on top of the safety so that it positively disengages it during shooting.
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Also, some people can do the same thing with a high thumb if they have an ambi.

I have accidently moved the safety up a bit with the meat of my trigger finger.
 
JNG said:
The safety moves just enough to cause the trigger to not function but not so much that you could easily see that it is not completely in the off position this is why I just caught the problem now.
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It is definitely not normal for the thumb safety to be partially engaged. It should have only two positions - on and off.
 
I met with Gabriel from Ronin Sports today so he could look at the 1911. (He's the guy I bought it from.) He let me shoot his 45ACP Premier II and his partners in 9mm. (mine is 38 super) As usual the gun would stop everytime for me at least once per mag. But when his buddy shot it their was no problem. They agreed that the safety seemed to move too easily with the recoil of the gun but they both shoot with their thumbs on the safety so they didn't experience any problem with my gun. I called Les Baer when I got home and he told me that it was a problem with the safety detent. He said that he could easily remedy the problem with a little dremel work. He said that it is a very delicate adjustment and wouldn't recommend having someone else do it. We agreed that trying to send it back to him for such a minor issue would be a very big pain in the arse.

Does anyone here know of a really good 1911 gunsmith? Would you bother messing with it? I am used to shooting a Glock so it seemed awkward to shoot with my thumbs in the new position but after 150rds it's comfortable now so I don't know if it is worth the trouble of getting someone to work on it or to send it back for warrantee work.

Other then that it is a fantastic gun. I am giving my Glock to my wife and any future handgun purchases will all be Les Baer 1911's. I want a 45 and a 9mm 1911.
 
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