Les Baer Premier II 9mm: Les Baer 1911 .45s are well-known for their accuracy. Petty finds they also know how to build a mean-shootin' 9mm

Guns Magazine, Jan, 2003 by Charles E. Petty

For quite a few years, I've held the opinion that the 9mm Luger is not a particularly accurate cartridge. Further, I've found most 9mm pistols aren't capable of utilizing what little accuracy the 9x 19 seemed to possess.

To a degree, this is still true. but within the last couple of years a few guns have crossed my path that showed me that some Nines can indeed shoot. All of these were seriously customized, and with them I also found some factory ammo that was pretty good too. There are a couple of match loads that do shoot quite well and, surprisingly, some standard hollowpoint and ball loads aren't too shabby either.

There's another incentive to find accurate 9mm pistols. Competitive events such as IDPA, PPC and some speed matches do not look down on the 9mm. After all, the cartridge is widely used in both law enforcement and personal defense, so maybe it's worth a more serious look.

The Need For An Accurate Pistol

To learn what this cartridge is capable of, you need a pistol of proven accuracy. So when the idea of giving a more serious look at the capability of the 9mm cartridge began to take shape, the first thing I did was to order a Les Baer Premier II pistol in 9mm. Of course, good things take time, but eventually, the pistol arrived. It was well worth the wait.

I did not ask for anything beyond the basic Premier II package. Les Baer 191 is are famous for their precise tolerances, and my sample is accurized to the hilt, with not even a hint of play in the slide to frame fit. We know that the most critical element of an accuracy job is the way the bottom barrel lugs ride over the slide stop pin. This is the place to look for good -- or shoddy -- work.

You want to see even rub marks on both feet and the corresponding area of the slide stop pin. It seems to me this is one of the more difficult parts of the accuracy job, because there are so many custom "accurized" pistols around which show poor fitting in this area. Those 'smiths should go take some lessons from Baer, as I've yet to see one of his guns that didn't have a well-fitted barrel.

And the really neat part of this is the lugs are cut without the aid of precision milling machines and the like. In Les Baer's shop they use a store bought lug cutter and finish the job by hand -- with files and emery cloth. The outside of the Premier II is just as good. It has a brightly polished blue finish, flawless checkering, adjustable sights and a wonderfully crisp 4-pound, 3-ounce trigger pull.

Out Of The Box

Every new Baer-built pistol I examine appears to be fit so tightly it can't possibly function, but then it always does. This one was no exception. My normal routine is to shoot 50 to 100 rounds through a gun before it goes to the Ransom Rest, so the new Premier II got 100 rounds of assorted ammunition followed by a thorough cleaning and inspection.

First Shot Out Syndrome

Nothing out of the ordinary was seen. But in the Ransom Rest, the gun exhibited the common trait of putting the first shot from the magazine out of the group. This effect is well documented and happens because the gun does not go into battery the same way when you load manually as it does during the firing cycle. In this case, almost every first shot went high by half an inch to an inch.

This tells me the barrel is not going up into the slide as much for that first shot. Because of the initial tightness of the pistol I chose to - over a period of several weeks shoot it another 500 rounds prior to serious testing. I did this by handing a buddy a box of ammo and a couple of magazines. What I accomplished in addition to fully breaking-in the pistol was to have three guys who really want this gun in addition to myself.

Problem Solved

Returning to the Ransom Rest, the benefit of the additional shooting was immediately obvious. There were still a few first shot flyers, however, the incidence was dramatically reduced. While the "first shot out" effect may be a forever thing with guns that are not tightly fitted, this isn't the case here. All it required was more shooting. Yeah I know.., what a pity.

An unexpected consequence of all this shooting is a new respect for the 9mm Luger cartridge. While my initial reservations about the accuracy of service pistols is unchanged, the cartridge has the potential for serious accuracy when the right load is plugged into a proven-accurate pistol such as the Baer Premier II.

In addition, when not striving for ultimate accuracy, the 9mm Premier 11 is a pleasure to shoot. The moderate recoil of the 9x19 cartridge in a frame that fits my hand like a comfortable old glove makes it possible to shoot well and quickly. And with that potential comes another bonus.., it's a whole bunch of fun to shoot.

ACCURACY TEST RESULTS

Load                             Velocity    1       2       3

Black Hills 124 gr. JHP           1,218    1.48 *  1.31 *  1.87 *
Federal Gold Medal 124 gr. FMJ    1,121    1.87 *  1.78 *  2.08 *
Speer Gold Dot 147 gr JHP          974     1.74 *   .04 *  1.88 *
Remington Disintegrator 105 gr.   1,213    1.53 *  1.79 *  2.50 *
Remington Match 147 gr. FMJ        950     2.26 *  1.73 *  1.63 *
Winchester 147 gr. BEB             945     2.35 *  2.65 *  1.99 *

Load                              Avg.

Black Hills 124 gr. JHP          1.55 *
Federal Gold Medal 124 gr. FMJ   1.91 *
Speer Gold Dot 147 gr JHP        1.89 *
Remington Disintegrator 105 gr.  1.94 *
Remington Match 147 gr. FMJ      1.87 *
Winchester 147 gr. BEB           2.33 *

Average For All Loads: 1.92"

Accuracy results are 10 shot groups at 25 yards from Ransom rest.
Velocity is the instrumental average of 30 rounds as measured by a PACT
Professional chronograph