My SRP has been an excellent gun -- reliable and accurate.
Yes, Les Baer makes a tight gun, but I have several; and they've all been absolutely reliable. Personally, I think it's a myth that tight guns like a Les Baer are necessarily finicky or need special care or don’t work if they’re dirty. Some time ago, I decided to go out to the range with the second Les Baer I bought, a Concept IV.
I bought the gun about 8 or 9 years ago, a year or so after I bought my first, a Premier II. I used the gun on occasion for IPSC – to give the PII some rest. Then when I went to Gunsite about five years ago, I decided to use the CIV. (For IPSC, I had it set up with an S&A magazine well, an extended magazine release and a tungsten guide rod. Before going to Gunsite, I restored it to its original configuration, and trained with it that way for a while to prepare.) All in all, I’d estimate that it’s had about 12,000 to 15,000 rounds through it. (No, I don’t keep detailed records.)
And now back to our story.
So about six weeks previously, I decided to take the CIV to the range. Shot about 200 rounds and came home – put it in the safe. (And no, I’m not always diligent about cleaning my guns.) Then about ten days later, I had time to go to the range for some pistol shooting and took the CIV – since it was already dirty. I ran a bore snake down its gullet a few time, stripped it, wiped what I could reach easily, and put a few drops of Gun Butter here and there. Shot another 200 rounds – came home and put it in the safe. I took myself to the range again a few days later; and yup – took the CIV out again – and yes, it was still dirty. That trip I didn’t even do a once over – just shot another 200 rounds and back to the safe it went.
A little later, a last minute change in plans left me with some time on my hands – so off to the range. I grabbed the CIV – no time to clean it – packed up and off to the range again with a very dirty gun. Now I put another 250 rounds through it – quick 2 and three round strings heating the gun up nicely.
So I’ve fired some 850 rounds with this tight Les Baer that has only has a casual cleaning after the first 200. Guess how many malfunctions I had with this filthy Les Baer. The answer of course is zero, zip, nada, gar keine, rien, etc. The dirty Baer ran absolutely flawlessly, and displayed its customary, first rate accuracy as well.
So as far as I'm concerned, based on my experience, anyone who wants to tell me that Les Baers are too tight and can’t be relied upon unless they’re pampered, freshly cleaned and oiled, will be ignored. I suspect that it's true that some tight guns will be prone to hiccups. But it's not just a question of how tight the gun is. It's a question of how it's put together and fitted. If it's fitted properly it can be tight, extremely accurate, utterly reliable and not finicky.