Bomar tuner

I'm still a relatively new Bullseye shooter I was trying to get the most pistol for my money.  I read that a Bomar tuner will make the slide lockup in the same place each time.  I was wondering if people are using them to upgrade a good stock pistol.  How much custom work is done to make the slide lockup in the same place each time?

How would a Kimber Custom II or S/A Range Officer with a trigger job and Bomar tuner compare to a "Mass-Produced Custom Model Pistol"?

Thanks

Mark

We have had reports of Kimber Custom IIs on this forum with poor lockup, and Kimber wouldn't fix it because they said it wasn't "defective" for the gun to not hold the black at 25yards--but that likely could have been fixed with a barrel and a bushing without the bomar tuner.
Most of the S/A Range Officers that we see have good lockup without any work.
I think most gun builders of today would say Bomar tuners are obsolete technology.  Their machining and fitting options are just as good as any factory these days.

If by mass produced you mean something like a les baer bullseye model, the baers are very good fit and finish and all guaranteed to shoot 2'' or less, you cant go wrong with one, price is more 1850.00 from champions choice but all you need to do with one is add talent and some good ammo and you can win the nationals with one. range officers or other target models serve good as starter guns but in the end you will likely spend the price difference you initially saved in upgrades and gunsmith work to get them to the same level. Les Baers come optics ready too. That saves a couple of hundred right off the top in a rail or frame mount and cost to have the gun drilled and taped. As to a bomar tuner, i dont believe they ever worked very good, plus bomar is out of business so a used one is the only option there are other type devices that came along like a group gripper and a briley bushing but all these were just cheap fixes for poor gun fitment, none beat a good fitted bushing and proper fitted barrel. If your serious about bullseye then the old advise by many top shooters is by the absolute best equipment you can afford from the beginning then its all up to you after that.

Thanks for the input.  i would love to buy a Les Baer but I don't have the $1850 this year.  I was thinking of a 2 step process buying a stock gun with a trigger job, tuner and slide scope mount.  Then next year I could send the gun to Clark custom for a $400 accuracy/reliability job.  Then I would have a 2 1/2" gun for $1500 or so.  I thought that the tuner was a $50 part that could increase accuracy.  

Thanks

Mark

OK. I just finished working on a newer Les Baer 1911 .45. In last year an a half I've worked on 5 of them. All of them had poor barrel fit. Last one is locking up on the barrel link and not even touching barrel lugs. Another one I had the owner send back to Baer to have barrel replaced under warranty because of crappy fit; lugs were thin and were going to shear off.

RO slide to frame fit is pretty good and the machining isn't too bad, required some cleaning up here and there. If your on a a budget get a RO and for starters get a scope mount put on it, barrel bushing and trigger job (might need larger diameter slide stop pin to help lockup a little with stock barrel). That's all it really needs for making master.

Just my 2 cents.

Jon

Mark_Trulock wrote:Thanks for the input.  i would love to buy a Les Baer but I don't have the $1850 this year.  I was thinking of a 2 step process buying a stock gun with a trigger job, tuner and slide scope mount.  Then next year I could send the gun to Clark custom for a $400 accuracy/reliability job.  Then I would have a 2 1/2" gun for $1500 or so.  I thought that the tuner was a $50 part that could increase accuracy.  

Thanks

Mark

A couple of thoughts-

1.  Most of the Kimber's I have seen shot well, needing only a trigger adjustment/trigger job and good sights.  YMMV.
2.  Bo-Mar is out of business, and the accuracy tuner was way more than $50 new.
3.  Clark no longer works on customer guns.  Dave Salyer does work on customer guns and has a good reputation.
4.  Older shooters retiring from Bullseye often sell very good pistols at reasonable prices.  Keep your eyes open!

Advise still applies buy the best you can afford, ive sold a dozen or so les baers and never had a badly built one, but i guess quality could be getting worse,or maybe they just send the POS ones to calle  (jk)  like range officers, the first ones were very tight fit, ive seen two in the last 6 months that were pretty loose. best if you can pick up the gun you want in person and check them out before buying

I'm disappointed that Clark isn't doing the bullseye conversions on customer guns anymore.  My advice is to go ahead and buy go with your plan.  We can help you find a gunsmith to do the bullseye conversion for you when you are ready.

Rob Kovach wrote:I'm disappointed that Clark isn't doing the bullseye conversions on customer guns anymore.  My advice is to go ahead and buy go with your plan.  We can help you find a gunsmith to do the bullseye conversion for you when you are ready.

Dont be disappointed, ive seen some of the last work that came back from them, terrible shoddy work not at all like when Jim senior was in charge. They hired apprentice gunsmiths and turned the work over to them.

I know we can recommend good smiths near the shooters on this forum.  I guess the sign that Bullseye smithing is in demand is a good sign for our sport!

Folks, Clark Custom is working on 1911's again.  They do accuracy, reliability work etc.  They don't do conversions on customer guns yet.  I spoke to Clay at Clark Custom a while back and he said that they had a huge backlog to catch up on when they stopped taking new 1911 orders.  They got back on track and are taking new orders.
Here is the 1911 services link:http://www.clarkcustomguns.com/1911serv.htm

P.S. thanks for all the help