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Sent my P2 1.5'' to John Harrison

58K views 175 replies 34 participants last post by  oak1971 
#1 · (Edited)
Keep reading for the whole story. More pics on page 6.


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#4 · (Edited)
Hey man... get in line! :biglaugh:


My TRS is currently at John's as well... but my modification list is significantly much longer than yours (and pricier as well :(). Can't wait to get it back :D


To the OP: If you want a refinish, go with Ionbond. But it will take a lot longer for you to get your gun back if you do. I think John said the Ionbond finish has about a six week delay from the refinisher.
 
#5 · (Edited)
I really like a blued gun, but Baers blueing is a bit on the thin side. I had a local guy strip and reblue an old Ruger Security Six. $90 and it made my Baer look kind of sad.:( I want something robust that can take a beating, maybe Ion Bond is it. I don't see a need to have John do much inside the gun. It has always worked great. I know he likes to do a bit more work on Baer feed ramps and I can justify that. Hey DP what are you having done?
 
#8 · (Edited)
Hey DP what are you having done?
This is all off memory:

-Replace front sight with new blank & fit gold bead.
-Replace rear sight with slantpro sight
-Serrate top of round slide
-Serrate rear of slide to match rear sight
-Recrown barrel flush to bushing
-Countersunk slide stop hole and recess slide stop pin
-Add S&A smooth magwell, fitted & beveled to frame, checker smooth to 30 lpi to match front strap
-Replace ejector (original one is mushroomed)
-Replace slide stop (the checkering on the stock one is crap)
-Fit oversize EGW firing pin stop
-Fit new extractorr and serrate to match rear of slide (serrate old extractor as spare)
-still debating on ball cuts and/or french bordering
-Ionbond finish, including old magwell so I can switch between both.
-there are other stuff in my estimate but I cant remember them
-and whatever else John finds that needs to be replaced and/or updated.


As you can see, I'm switching from night sights on my TRS to just a gold bead front sight. My TRS is from 2001 and the tritiums are extremely dim. I have a new carry gun so I dont need the TRS to have night sights anymore.

And as for finish, my TRS went from Blue to Hard Chrome, and now Ionbond.
 
#10 ·
I sent the 1.5" PII .45, the 9mm PII and an Ed Brown Executive Target slide in for IonBond. I needed the EGW front fiber optic on the .45 PII replaced with a slim Dawson f/o, and a Baer f/o front sight put on the Brown slide. Needed the peening ridge on the Brown worked out and the slide stop notch looked at. Sent them to Springer Precision for the prep and other work. They left the first week of January and should be home this next week. I'll post pics and report when they are back.
 
#16 ·
Ok. So as I thought would happen, I added some items and subtracted others. This is the final list. No really...Stop that laughing.

Harrison rear bomar cut fixed Hard Use sight with tritium lamps.
Novak or Trijicon etc front with trituim.
#908 master polish blue 2000 grit.
#202 flat and serrate top of slide. 40 lpi
#212 french borders

It's going to be good looking, practical, and is already dead nuts accurate.

And now the waiting begins.
 
#18 · (Edited)
You're not gonna be able to go with #202 without welding up the front dovetail. John recommended #203 to me.

As for the recrown, my TRS doesn't have the 1.5 guarantee so it's all good. Besides, a recrown done by a 1911 guru shouldn't mess with the accuracy... Nighthawk Custom does it all the time with their guns and they guarantee their accuracy. And doesn't Baer use the same barrel on their regular guns and the 1.5 guns? I thought the difference was on how the slide, barrel bushing and barrel fit together. oh well...
 
#27 · (Edited)
It arrived at Harrison today. We finalized all the mods and now all I need to do is wait.
:rock:

Fit and install H-D rear sight to correctly machined Bo-Mar sight
cut

H-D Hard Use rear sight with bar style tritium lamp, for BoMar
BMCS sight cut

Remove existing front sight, fit & install sight blank to existing
dovetail, machine blank for profile & height. Serrate face to 50 lpi.

MGW Dovetail front sight blank

Install tritium lamp in dot configuration in front sight

Serrate top of round top slide 30 lpi

Machine french border at top of slide flats, -w- deluxe interrupted
cuts

Refinish pistol in Master Blue (2000 grit)

Supply and fit Ed Brown Extended Mag Release

Blend Mag Well to frame

Federal .45 ACP 230 grain JRN test fire ammo, box of 50
 
#29 ·
WOW customized custom guns. I WANT THE PHOTOS!!! Please?????
Why not have both? I will post pics as soon as it comes back. I did some fancy things but I could have done a lot more. It will still be a shooter after all.
 
#32 ·
hahaha....that sounds familiar!!! Trust me, you will keep adding stuff till the last second :biglaugh:
 
#33 ·
Funny thing is I will still come in cheaper than a Wilson Tactical Elite with twice the accuracy. Rock On!
 
#35 ·
Man, Brian.... I must have looked at your gun and G34Shooter's TRS about a hundred times!!! I like the total Ionbond, including the barrel. I'm also doing the same sights as you, in addition to a couple of more things.
 
#37 · (Edited)
Nah I think he thinks its me again using another name.:biglaugh:

Thanks for the comments I love this gun. It still has a low round count but if I kick this fever by tomorrow I have a 2 day training course that I plan to shoot both that Baer and my HK at. You know that barrel hood still looks the same after even a 1k rounds and there is not a mark on it. This IB stuff is truly amazing in terms of durability.

After having to Red Loctite the ejector down I havent shot it to test it out but Harrison assured me it will be good to go for a life time. Apparently my TRP and many other guns have glued ejectors and never have issues. I guess what happened was that the notch in the front leg of the ejector was cut a bit to high and allowed it to rise up a couple hairs before the pin holding it in stopped it but it never did malfunction. If done properly the notch is cut a bit low so when they pin it there is an actual down force pulling it tightly into the frame. I love my Baer's but there always seems to be this or that little thing that make them 99% perfect.

PS dont forget the feed ramp treatment John offers for $50. It really looks like it can make a difference in reliability for JHP's. I never did try them before I had it done but of what he explained to me Baer's feed ramps are too shallow.

If you have a few bucks left over I highly suggest his Ed Brown extra wide thumb safety that he trims down to his liking. I love the safety more then the stock one by a long shot but mainly did it to ditch the ambi safety which the Custom Carry came with.


Left side is Johns ramp and right is stock SuperTac:
 
#38 ·
I think I told him to check the feed ramp. I was thinking of ditching the ambi safety just to clean up that side of the gun. Thanks for the pics of that feed ramp. Huge difference.
 
#39 ·
I think the safety swap will run you about $85 but it was worth it to me. Its almost like you want to just leave the gun there and throw money at it every few weeks. If not when you get it back and a month or so passes you will be thinking that $85 didnt sound so bad and you wish you had done more. :)

I did only practical upgrades and no real cosmetic stuff like you are. I left the barrel alone and didnt do any fancy cuts on the gun but looking back some arrow patterns on top of the slide would have been extra sexy.

In order to IB the barrel and bushing John did have to "relax" the fit so now I can actually break it down by hand with a small rag against the bushing and some force but no more bushing wrench. The gun is still incredibly tight and the slide to frame fit is even tighter with the finish applied. Some knock Baer's for being tight but for me its why I chose them.
 
#41 ·
Sounds like a winner.

My list as far as I can recal.


Fit and install H-D rear sight to correctly machined Bo-Mar sight
cut

H-D Hard Use rear sight with bar style tritium lamp, for BoMar
BMCS sight cut

Remove existing front sight, fit & install sight blank to existing
dovetail, machine blank for profile & height. Serrate face to 50 lpi.

MGW Dovetail front sight blank

Install tritium lamp in dot configuration in front sight

Adjust sights to point of aim.

Federal .45 ACP 230 grain JRN test fire ammo, box of 50

Serrate top of round top slide 30 lpi

Machine french border at top of slide flats, -w- deluxe interrupted
cuts

Refinish pistol in Master Blue (2000 grit)

Supply and fit Ed Brown Extended Mag Release

Blend Mag Well to frame

Check feed ramp modify if needed

Tune ejector extractor function. (sometimes the cases hit the slide on the way out, sometimes they hit me)

Checkering on the underside and front of the trigger guard.
 
#42 ·
man... in addition to Brian1979... we're gonna have a pair of awesome looking Harrison/Baers! Yours will definitely stand out with that super polish 2000grit!!!
 
#43 ·
Dperzo:

What is it with the recoil bushing, mine was lop sided as well and I had John replace it. Mine had a nice flat spot in it right at the rear edge and my guide rod had a big gash as well. I asked John to look over the function of the pistol because I have no idea if it came this way or was a result of me shooting it and parts not in proper timing. He determined it must have been like this from the start as he has never seen anything like it so the parts were cheap enough to replace so I did.

I left my slide stop, barrel, and bushing alone for the most part. All that was done was my bushing was relaxed to accommodate the thickness of the finish but per John's suggestion if I paid for the 1.5 leaving it stock was the best option.

I agree about the polish job Oak is having done. Mine is rough in and out of the holster due to the matte finish so I wish I had gone for the polish job after the fact. Does he polish just the slide or the whole gun?
 
#46 ·
Dperezo:

What is it with the recoil bushing, mine was lop sided as well and I had John replace it.
I dont know if mine was lopsided to begin with or not. But after seeing your thread when you got your gun back from John, I decided to check mine by rolling the plug on the table and it was definitely lopsided. John is gonna go over the rest of the gun to see what else needs to be replaced.

I agree about the polish job Oak is having done. Mine is rough in and out of the holster due to the matte finish so I wish I had gone for the polish job after the fact. Does he polish just the slide or the whole gun?
Oak is getting a Master Blue Polish done to his TRS. But Ionbond does offer a high polished finish for the flat sides. I dont think it will work on my gun because it currently has a hard chrome applied to it. I'm not sure if the Ionbond will be applied over the hardchrome or not for my gun... but I do know that it can be done. Either way, for my own purpose, I want the gun to be tactical/"stealthy".

Maybe I should buy another Baer and send it in to John for that high polish so I can have a display gun :biglaugh:
 
#44 · (Edited)
I tossed out my recoil spring plug and replaced it with a stainless EB. The checkering on the stock one was uneven and the blue was coming off.
 
#49 ·
I keep telling my wife that I'm just trying to help out the economy!!! She doesn't buy it though :biglaugh:
 
#55 ·
Mine got a fatty necklace with a $600 chain and a $2k pendent that has 2 diamonds all in probably .5lb white gold, lol. It was her Xmas present so I had to take advantage of the wow factor and I did.

Dont think for a minute that wasnt accompanied with a new gun purchase.:rock:

Today she got her new Blackberry Storm so she aint saying much about my 2 day pistol course I signed up for.

I tried to tell her that spending money on my self seems to cost me at least the same as or greater value in mind altering gifts necessary to make her happy. So really when I buy a expensive gun I have to double the cost and find something to keep her happy.:(

She really aint that bad and I buy what I want when I want but it sure eases the discussion that typically follows a new gun related purchase, lol.
 
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