Thank you guys I appreciate it!
Coyote3855 - I agree completely with your assumption of the majority of some of the nicer vest pocket pistols not being over used for most if not all of there owned lives. I've also (carefully gut instinct kinda) assumed that an over carried well used type gun may be typically found to be functional and reliable albeit rough to beat up aesthetically and lack basic or long term internal maintenance as seen in different areas of my two Bauers. So, I'm more comfortable taking a chance (and usually getting a slightly better deal) on a 'known(?) functional gun' that needs some TLC, than one with less use and no known shooting history. Not that it's too hard to replace parts, but the costs do add up if something more major were be found to be wrong.
That said, I'm nosy as heck when it comes to wanting to know history on a used gun, and especially a very used gun so I always ask folks to share any history. So I'll share with you what I was told, and usually I have to take it with a grain of salt of course. But, as long as I hear something they have of concern (history of the gun) that comes out honestly and forthright as I'm comfortable with, it gives me the info to make a yes/no decision in my head whether I want to tackle or accept and work on it.
First Bauer Pawn Shop- (Post #5) I somewhat know the local PS guy and he's been a real straight up guy imo and I trust him. He had just got into his FFL as he has a bunch of guys older than me wanting to buy and sell guns so his small used inventory stock is just that. So, I see this little beat up Bauer in the glass case and my first thought is, I can fix that cosmetically up, what's the story on it. He told me it's a old guy he's personally bought and sold from most his adult life (young guy however..lol). He (old guy) got it from a local LEO friend who carried it as a personal back up in the 80's- 90's who'd bought it new, and at some point no longer carried it and sold it . Old guy (second owner) then also carried it extensively until the last couple years when he tried to take it apart and clean it up inside (remember this Bauer was better inside than out) and after reassembly it didn't work correctly so he quit carrying it and year or so later here ended up in another friends pawn shop case.
- So I took the chance, and it turned out the magazine safety lever spring was re-bent/damaged and then assembled incorrectly (I assume by him?) causing some intermittent binding of the sear spring, so I got lucky and it was an easy fix. Then I just cleaned and refinished the snot out of it. Magazine was sadly not original but I've learned that (unknown number, but a lot of) original factory mags used/shot a lot would literally wear out quickly as they were very thin sheet metal that was not heat treated due to warping so the feed lips on the top wore down/out or were damaged easily and/or more quickly than a heat treated one. Thus a lot of Bauer pistols were blamed for feeding malfunctions labeled as "Jammo-matics" by some and more likely it may have been caused by a magazine/ammo issue. I ordered a nickel plated Mec-Gar .25 ACP magazine from Precision Small Arms, and it seems like it will work, but I'll have to shoot it to find out for sure.
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Second Bauer GB - (Main Post) I was mostly interested in this one do to the lower serial number starting 094xxx designating pre-1979 (which was 126xxx range) so it was definitely a 70's vintage which for whatever reason I wanted to add to my 80's vintage 194xxx one. Then there was the 094/194 numbering that interested me as well. Anyway, I messaged the owner asking about the gun's history and he said to call him to discuss it. I called him and what a nice guy to talk to as it turned out. He's just a private FFL on the side but running another main business on the east coast hit hard by the covid 19 pandemic, so aside from his typical just selling guns by appointment only locally, he put some of his own guns from inventory he didn't necessarily want to part with for sale on GB to get some money to cover the other business losses (he had some other cool older guns listed as well). He said he'd gotten it from a long term friend who had it since the 70's (turned out to be true ser no. wise anyway) who shot it from time to time, but never carried it, and admitted to him maintenance it with WD40 and grease once a year or so. That IMHO (believe me, sheeze that was a mess inside..lol) was also very true. The seller got it from him some years ago, wiped it down and stuck it in the safe, and contemplated each year to keep it or sell it. Now it was time to sell it. He freely admitted he'd never fired cleaned or lubed it, but was told and trusted the original owner had and it was known to be functional and reliable to that time. He said it needed a good cleaning and he had no idea how to take it apart to do so. As seen in the pics, it was bone dry and crusted internally with surface rust, grit and grime held by dried out grease an Lord knows what else. It had been fired enough to completely foul the barrel, (seemed to preserve it though as it come out pristinely shiny and crisp) so if this gun was functional in this condition I'm hopeful I won't have any obvious issue once I cleaned it up other than possibly just falling apart from loose tolerances! J/k
- I bought it, and I found the condition to be as stated, and the only other unknown was the grip condition. They were warped, slightly melted on several edges(?), and the Bakelite inner profile base plate on one was extensively cracked. After cleaning and polishing decades of scratches and staining off the Pearlite top part of the grips, I used a heat gun to remove the warpage, files and sandpaper to fix the melted edges, and super glue to mend the cracks. Then a 2 part epoxy to add a thin re-enforcing layer to the crack/glue fixed surface. It's not a perfect fix, but it's like all you can do without replacing or making new grips, which I am planning to do. I completely detail stripped and cleaned each and every part with whatever bore/oil/cleaner with brushes, picks, steel wool, grit paper pads etc. I had to to remove the grit, grime, fouling, rust, etc.. The frame and slide were the hardest with all the tight spaces and internal edges, but about three hours later I was final cleaning the major parts with Simple Green and hot water, ready to dry, lube and painstakingly reassemble it. It was a crap load of work, but it really turned out nice I think.
So there it is. Thanks Coyote3855 for being interested as I wouldn't have put this out there without it!
