I should rephrase my statement and say that with TODAYs quality control and handgun builders, only a crazy person would stick one in the holster and trust it from day one
On this we fully agree...
The problem here is that some people are still around that remember when pistols did run like they should, out-of-the-box, and on this point revolvers weren't even considered an issue. Les' guns apparently do require an "x number of rounds shooting break-in," and he should included some sort of manual with each pistol explaining why and exactly what too do. Then buyers wouldn't (or shouldn't) have unreasonable expectations.
This might be a slightly unusual case in that the buyer bought the gun from an out-of-state dealer, rather then directly from L.B. More so, the receiving dealer had no way of knowing the gun would be so tight out of the box when he got it, and would require some attention (lapping, shooting in, whatever) before it would work right. He didn't expect this on a high-end gun, and I wouldn't have either without prior warning. Considering the circumstances the dealer is understandably upset, and his client - the buyer - may be too.
In years past, on those occasions when I assembled a pistol for someone else it was usually for a law enforcement officer. If the pistol required shooting-in or anything else to insure its reliability I did what had to be done while the gun was still in the white. The piece didn't get blued (or whatever finish was wanted) until it was functioning 100% and the sights were zeroed. I went to the trouble because I knew that the owner would stake his life on it, and acted with this in mind. When I delivered the pistol the owner would sometimes load it, holster it, and leave. None that I know of were ever disapointed, and none ever complained. But decades later I would sometimes run into one of these folks, who would tell me that "their old .45" still worked fine.
In all fairness to Les, given the number of pistols he turns out he probably couldn't do what I did, or if he did the cost would go up considerably. Maybe he is right, but I still think that when a firearm that is represented to be a weapon (as opposed to a big-boy toy) is delivered to someone who might stake their life, or the lives of others on it, it should be completely finished and ready too go. Any breaking in, shooting in, or whatever should have been done by the builder, not the customer. But maybe it's only some old-timers that feel that way. It won't be the first time I was out of step...
