My Baer Custom Carry has exactly 260rds through it.  After my last range trip, I noticed some light peening at the slide stop notch.  Doesn't look bad, but I'm concerned about it getting worse.  Upon closer inspection, it doesn't look like I'm getting a lot of slide stop engagement in the SS notch.  I took pictures of my Nighthawk for comparison.  It not a huge difference, but the NH slide stop definately fits in the SS notch better, and with more engagement. So is this an issue that I need to be worried about?  

Peening displaces metal and I just don't see that. I have had the notch peened on a Colt, that didn't affect function, because the forged slide stop (aftermarket) was harder than the frame.

Can you feel the metal raised up in an area?

Looks fine to me ... more like breaking in, those are fitted tight from the factory so it is just probably starting to get worn in.

Has it failed to catch the slide, like Verde said can you feel any abnormal out of place metal showing up, and if it is a problem Les Baer will take care of you and your pistol.

Check that the slide stop isn't dragging on the inside of the slide keeping it from going up all the way.

That is as high as it goes, the SS just seems like it's a bit short compared to my NH.  I can't feel any raised metal yet, but I can definately see an area where it's starting to get displaced.  I think if the SS fit in the notch better, it would help distribute the force over a greater area of the notch.  I'm leaning toward just fitting a new SS myself.  I fired off an email to LB, will wait and see what they say.

Go for it, there usually isn't any fitting necessary, and you can always drop the factory one back in if you ever need to send it back to Baer.  My experience is that the slide will peen up to a point, then stop.

I was wondering if maybe it would stop after some initial wearing in.  I think I might go ahead and try another slide stop, just to be on the safe side.  What would be a good one to go with?  I thought about getting another Baer SS, but I'm worried it will have the same issue.  The lug that engages the SS notch just seems to be a bit short IMO.

I'd look at Wilson's Bulletproof part.  Nighthawk also sells one.

Took a picture of my TRP for comparison as well.  Obviously the SS on the TRP fully engages the notch.  Pics speak for themselves.  The more I think about it, the more this issue with my Baer is starting to bug me.  It just doesn't seem right.  Any Baer owners that can take a pic of their slide stop for comparison?  

can the notch in the slide be deeper on the lb?

Good point.  They look about the same, but I'll try and measure them

Here are photos of my two TRSs.

There is a tiny bit of peening but it's so minor as to be unnoticeable.

Thanks!  That actually makes me feel a little better about it.  Maybe the LB SS notch is cut a little higher than most.  My other 1911's have almost no gap between the SS and slide (see my TRP pic) when the SS is engaged, but maybe the gap is normal on Baers.

Is that a casting line on the mag catch button?  

Most makers including Colt, Kimber and SA are using MIM parts for those IIRC.

But I've never seen one with a mold line like that.  Especially not on a $1000+ 1911.

Reason I ask it appears that you have the same ammount of material left below the plunger on the SS on all 3 pistols.

FWIW, my Baer, Nighthawk, Colt, TRP Operator all have the same casting line

I've seen the line before on the body of the catch, but the Colt's, Kimbers, and Springfields I own or have owned didn't have it across the face of the button like that.

Got an email back from LB, here is what they said:

Mike:
      Les said to put 5000 to 10000 rounds through the pistol and if it develops a burr we will take it off.  There is nothing wrong with the pistol.
                   Sue

Guess I have a lot of shooting to do  At any rate, I guess I'm not going to worry about it any more

How far up the stop engages the slide depends upon the mag follower and mag spring tension.

Aren't Les Baer frames and slides cast pieces? A tool steel stop will win the impact challenge. Still not a real concern but ...

My 90+ y/o Colts exhibit no signs of peening but my S70 stainless reissue does, softer steel but I'm not concerned.

One of the reasons I'm not a fan of aluminum framed 1911s, I figure the energy put upon the slide stop is going to have a negative impact on an aluminum frame. I'd rather have slight peening on the slide stop notch than the wallowing of the hole in the frame.

No.

The slide stop on my custom carry does the same as yours.  I have some minor peening that has been there since it was new.  I can definitely feel and see a small lip.  It functions perfectly but it does bother me that it's there.


http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f107/kaneman23/IMG_1803.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f107/kaneman23/IMG_1804.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f107/kaneman23/IMG_1815.jpg

Another Pic

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f107/kaneman23/IMG_1856.jpg

Kaneman, how many rounds do you have through your Custom Carry?   I'm wondering if mine will just get some initial peening and then stop, or if it will keep getting worse.  LB doesn't seem to think it's an issue, but it is disappointing none the less.

I got 650rds on it.  How about you?  Mine has had a small burr since the first few mags.  I thought it was normal at first but I've seen a few Baer's that have similar slide stop engagement as ours w\huge burrs.  I don't want mine any worse, so I'm sending it in today.  I also have a weird blotch in the finish on the 45ACP roll mark that I want them to correct.

You havent seen many if any 1911's then. It only disappears if the face is checkered.

Mine only has 260rds through it, which is why I'm concerned.  Shouldn't happen that fast IMO.  Let us know how things go with LB and if they take care of it.  Any chance they will cover your shipping costs?  I'm still thinking about fitting another slide stop on mine.  Hard to tell by the pic, but I think mine might have even less engagement than some of the others shown in the pics.  Here is a closer shot, SS fully engaged:

That's about where my catches as well and the peening is going to get worse.  I can shave the tip of my finger nail on mine it's so sharp.  I think the SS just needs to be notched some more to allow it to travel further up for better engagement.

I didn't ask if they would cover the shipping but from what I understand they normally don't.  Mine will go out on Monday.  If they can make it right, I don't mind.

The concensus is that slide stops are a drop in part. Like just about everything else on a 1911, they're not. There needs to be .020" - 025" clearance between the top of the slide stop & bottom of the slide when in battery. More often than not, the notch needs to be made deeper to get full engagement on the slide and while you have your files out, it doesn't hurt to make the engagement face of the stop match the angle of the notch in the slide. A light detent with your spotting drill won't hurt either.

I think this is the main issue.  If you look at the pic below, you can see there is a pretty large gap between the top of the SS and the bottom of the slide.  It's almost like the top of the SS is just too short.  That's why I'm thinking a new SS might be the answer.  I'm going to try putting my Nighthawk SS in the Baer to see how it looks, any maybe try and measure the Slide stops and the depths of the notches while I'm at it.  Just haven't gotten around to it yet.

tag for outcome

Another update for those that are interested.   I had some time to troubleshoot a couple things today.  I field stripped my Nighthawk GRP and my Baer.  I measured the SS notches on both slides.  They are basically the same depth, within .005 anyway, so the Baer SS is definately not getting as much engagement.
Next step was to put the NH SS into the Baer.  To my suprise, the NH SS had the same limited engagement issue.  So the issue seems to be something specific to the Baer frame and / or slide.  
Next progression was to try and get the Baer SS to have more upward travel.  I did this by lightly trimming the top inside nub of the SS that contacts the inner frame rail and stops the SS.  I was able to get a little more engagement this way, but I can't take to much off or the bottom of the slide will contact the SS.  The NH SS has more downward slope in this area and therefore more clearance, so I could probably trim a NH SS and get more engagement this way.  It's a little better now, but still not great.  I think I'll buy a NH SS and fit it to the Baer and see how that goes.  Here are some pics to show what the heck I'm talking about.

NH SS in the Baer.  Notice the clearance between the top of the SS and the bottom of the slide, just in front of the SS notch.  If I close this gap I think I will have almost 100% engagement


Baer SS installed, note small gap between top of SS and bottom of slide, can't go too much higher or SS will contact the slide


Another shot of Baer SS installed, you can see the inner portion that needs to be trimmed to give the SS more upward travel


I noticed my NH SS has a slick little dimple in it to keep the SS lined up on the detent during reassembly.  This helps prevent idiot marks.  I added a dimple to my Baer SS with a small file, works great.  Just line up the dimple on the detent and push straight it.  Kinda hard to see, sorry

My gun arrived at LB today & I spoke with Karen.  In the conversation she told me that it wasn't uncommon for the slide to develop a burr on the cutout of the slide. She said the tombstone is intentially cut small on Baer's in comparison to other makers and as a result the SS doesn't engage as high.  I didn't ask why but wish I would have.  Anyone know?

She said they would likely remove the small burr with a diamond file and would reblue the slide if there are any defects.  So far, nothing but good service other then having to ship the gun at my expense.  I really don't mind if they can fix the finish and burr.  I will update when I get the gun back from LB.

Thanks for the update, glad that LB is going to take care of it for you.  The more I think about it, the more I think I should just take their advice and shoot it.  I just hate to do damage that could otherwise be prevented.

It would make sense that the tombstone (I'm thinking this is the notch in the frame for the SS?) is smaller.  That would keep the SS from moving upward as far.  However, if one was to try and enlarge the tombstone, you would be faced with a new issue.  If you look at my pic above, you can see that raising my SS up any futher would cause the flat part of the SS just forward of the notch to contact the bottom edge of the slide.  You can see that my SS is almost level with the frame rail as is.  Must be more to it than just the tombstone dimension.

If you trim too much off the slide stop in this area, it will not be retained by the slide and can be removed from the gun even when in battery.



I like the way Kimber cuts the entire frame out in this area, rather than just a hole under the frame rail. It allows for complete engagement of the slide stop. Also, this thin section of frame rail can crack in high round count guns. I had the same slide stop engagement problem with a Taurus.




I just cut the section of rail out like a Kimber and now have full engagement.





 

UPDATE - I spoke with Les directly this afternoon and they're going to remove the burr and reblue the slide.  I should have it back in 2 weeks.  I was suprised that he took the time to talk with a customer directly.  He assured me that nothing was wrong with my gun that the burr wouldn't come back after he removed it.

Good to hear, thanks for the update.  I'm just going to keep shooting mine and monitor it closely.  Engagement is slightly better now since I worked on the SS.

UPDATE -

Got my CC back from LB today and notice that they adjusted the slide stop.  It travels & engages higher up into the cut out for a more positive 'lock'.  Here are the after photos.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f107/kaneman23/IMG_2220.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f107/kaneman23/IMG_2225.jpg

Thanks for the update.  Your CC looks great, and that is definately a big improvement on the slide stop engagement.  Mine gets about half that.  I wonder if they enlarged the "tombstone" portion of the frame?   At any rate, I don't suspect you will have any more issues.  How long did it end up taking to get it back?

Thanks Mike.  I sent it to them just before Thanksgiving so it was about 8 weeks or so.  I was expecting it to come back with the same fitment minus the burr and new bluing.  I was suprised to see that the engagement had been fixed as well.  The tombstone looks the same size to me so I'm not sure what they did.