ayoob files: dueling rifles - Jeffersonian's Home Page

suffered, casting a cloud over the Super.
And that was a shame since it’s actually
a very nifty round. Once Barstow
made barrels allowing the case to headspace
on the case mouth, and pistolsmiths
began to understand the cartridge
better, accuracy and reliability jumped
into the modern age. When the competition
gamesmen adopted the Super in the
early 1980s, interest really took off, and
the rest has been history.
Today, a modern .38 Super is every
bit as reliable and accurate as any .45
ACP, and offers higher capacity, higher
velocity, less recoil and more controllability.
It’s also a true straight-walled
case, so is a breeze to reload. Les realized
all this, and took his existing “Stinger”
package (an all-steel .45 ACP based
on that same Commanche and smaller
frame) and chambered it for the .38
Super. He also made sure it was chambered
correctly in order to wring out the
potential accuracy of the .38 Super.
So while I had him on the phone, I
asked Les if I could borrow a .38 Super
Stinger. He said, “Well, why the hell do
you think I called you!” Vintage Les.
Mechanics
Les did me a favor and sent my test
gun with a hard chrome finish. The Baer
hard chrome is the best I’ve seen, and
I’ll confess I have no idea who does
it for him — but it’s always simply
beautiful. I also like the old-school,
Continued on page 102
Once the bushing is
matched to the gun,
the last three digits
of the gun’s serial
number (155 in this
case) are engraved
onto the bushing.
Set on top of Roy’s 5" thunder Ranch Special, also from
Les Baer custom, you can see the shorter slide and grip
frame of the Stinger allows the 5" to peek out (red arrows).
les bAer Custom
cALIBer: .38 sUPer
HeIGHt: 5"
FrAMe/sLIDe: cArBoN steeL oAL: 7.9"
FINIsH: test GUN: HArD WeIGHt: 35 oZs.
cHroMe ( ALso BLUe or
DUPoNt s)
stocKs: cocoBoLo
BArreL: 4.25"
trIGGer: s/A, 4-PoUND PULL
MAG cAP: 8-roUND WItH
BAse PAD
AccessorIes: coMes WItH
tHree stAINLess MAGs
sIGHts: 3-Dot BAer DeLUXe
coMBAt W/trItIUM
MsrP: $2,495
An ambi-safety is standard, along with a host
of custom touches like tritium sights, and
carefully fitted components.
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