echoside190 127 Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 Went to the gun show yesterday and I finally got a 1911, after promising myself all year I'd get one by the end of 2011. Went in looking for a Springfield loaded model but the few I could find weren't what I wanted and horribly overpriced. Finally started looking over a selection of Kimbers and came upon the Custom II model, with the parkerized finish and Meprolight tritium sights. Besides the ambi safety (lefty here) it had all the options I was looking for. Fit and finish is excellent on it, everything locks up tight as can be and the slide to frame fit is perfect with no side to side movement at all. Took it out to the range and ran about 200 rounds through it, had a mix of 230gr ball ammo, JHP both winchester and federal and had a few semi wadcutters that were laying around to try. For what some people say about Kimber's being picky about ammo and having problems mine only had one FTF on one of the first mags through it and I think it was due to the crappy mag it came with. Switched to a few Chip McCormick mags a friend let me borrow and it ran flawlessly the rest of the session. Didn't have my camera handy for any pics there but it'll outshoot me any day. At 25 yards I was able to get about a 5" group, being one of the best groups I've managed to get shooting a handgun at 25 yds and the 3rd time shooting a 1911 I'm very happy with it thus far. If I get a chance this weekend I'll finish the break in period on it and try to do a bit of a range report with pics. I can already tell at least a Springfield GI could be pretty high on my list of needs.. Here are a few pics of it. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MCASgt New River 10,036 Posted December 14, 2011 Report Share Posted December 14, 2011 Very nice!! I have the same pistol in Stainless Steel and absolutely love it! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DrThunder88 912 Posted December 14, 2011 Report Share Posted December 14, 2011 Very nice! A Kimber Classic Custom II was my first handgun and I still love it! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
22_Shooter 1,560 Posted December 14, 2011 Report Share Posted December 14, 2011 Congrats! The 1911 bug has bitten me pretty hard. I want one so bad. It's funny, I have AR's worth over $1K that I bought in pieces. But the thought of spending $800 on a 1911 I want still makes me hesitant. Go figure. I need to just bite the bullet and buy it already. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
magsite20 1,664 Posted December 14, 2011 Report Share Posted December 14, 2011 I’ve had 2 Kimbers and they were the best right out of the box 1911s I ever got. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
echoside190 127 Posted December 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2011 Congrats! The 1911 bug has bitten me pretty hard. I want one so bad. It's funny, I have AR's worth over $1K that I bought in pieces. But the thought of spending $800 on a 1911 I want still makes me hesitant. Go figure. I need to just bite the bullet and buy it already. That's what my set back was since spring at least.. The one thing i was set on was since I turned 21 this year and its the 100th anniversary of the 1911 I had to add one to the collection. Time went by and I ended up buying this or that instead, bills took up money or vehicle problems yadda yadda.. I was hesitant on getting it at first since I heard about "Kimbers are too picky on ammo" or how they had QC issues but I just played with it a little and the slide felt like it rides on glass it's so smooth and everything locked up tight as could be I figured hell why not. They outsell every other mfr. combined in volume of sales basically so naturally they have to be doing something right. So far it's impressed me and I'm glad I spent the money on getting it, just took jumping that hurdle to spend a bit more for a handgun. Now I just have to figure it out enough to upgrade it to an ambi safety since it's not as lefty friendly as I like and eventually upgrade a few other parts as funds come in. Then I'll just need a pile of good mags and a few bulk packs of ammo to ensure I'm proficient enough with the platform and once I hit the 1k+ round count it may become my home defense pistol if it keeps up the reliability I've seen thus far. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Buford T Justice 17 Posted December 16, 2011 Report Share Posted December 16, 2011 That's nice I like it. I am thinking about making a 1911 my next gun Quote Link to post Share on other sites
echoside190 127 Posted December 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2011 Got off work early yesterday and decided to finally go to the range and finish the break in on it. Ran 200 rounds of Federal 230gr FMJ through it with no issues at all still, I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 550 rounds through it with the only problem being magazine related when I first tried it out. For the money I think I couldn't be happier with it so far. Towards the end of the session I was shooting at about 15-20 yards at a silhouette, still need to work on proper trigger pull and practice more with her but I fired 75 rounds at this target both at a slow pace letting me focus in on the target between shots and semi fast shots just giving myself enough time to line up the sights and take the shot. Here's how it looks now, added a set of gunner grips, a Wilson extended slide stop, and I replaced the plastic MSH with a nice steel one from Ed Brown. Helps a lot with the overall grip and recoil is a bit easier to manage with the more aggressive grips installed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ShadowFire 220 Posted December 24, 2011 Report Share Posted December 24, 2011 Nice. Be careful, these pistols will multiply on you. I have a Kimber Custom Eclipse Pro II and the mag has the same follower that my Springfield issued mags have for my Loaded model (Metalform mags), Both my Loaded model and Eclipse Pro II eat fmj and JHPs just fine. Both run flawless. I own three 1911s and they all run well. First pistol I ever owned was a 1911 and I still have it. Congrats on the 1911, she's a beauty. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scott Kenny 144 Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 Friend of mine swears by his Para .40, and he's only made a few mods to it as his race gun. Different extractor (machined spring steel, IIRC), a 'Series 70' conversion kit to remove the series 80 firing pin safety, and a match trigger. Well, sights are different, too. I have dry-fired it a couple times, and I'm in love with it. I just need to save enough money to get one. I'm blessed/cursed with the 1911 grip angle in my wrist. Nothing else points right for me, so I have a CZ75 and an FN 5.7. gotta get a full-size competition pistol one of theses days, and I'm actually leaning towards an SVI Infinity 6". Yeah, I know they're $3000. I figure it's about the last autopistol I will buy (unless I get a matched set!). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ShadowFire 220 Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 (edited) For a series 70 conversion for future reference (I assume your friend did this too), you'll need a lighter firing pin (Titanium will do, I see those a lot.). Reason being should you ever drop it or it gets bumped off the table or something (It's life, stuff happens), it's less likely to accidently set the primer off. The same thing has been done to factory AR rifles for the same reason as well as the fact that since the AR has a free floating firing pin (unlike the 1911s pin spring, thank you Mr. Browning), the old steel firing pin with commercial ammo would sometimes slamfire on a person. Now, all AR and even M16/M4s have titanium firing pins. Reciprocal mass can sometimes be a bitch. The 1911 Series 70 is a fine pistol, but when converting to series 70, gotta do it right. Edited December 27, 2011 by ShadowFire Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scott Kenny 144 Posted December 28, 2011 Report Share Posted December 28, 2011 Coolness. I am (vaguely) remembering him saying a titanium firing pin (which may have been part of the series 70 conversion), but I was much more impressed with the trigger job he had done and may have missed a detail or two. His pistol had a better trigger than my Remington 770, or Russel's Savage Accutrigger. Just heavy enough that you did have to think about it, but no creep and no overtravel. I was just really surprised how little work he actually did to the Para to get it up to race specs. Most of the time you hear about more money in the race-spec parts than you have in the pistol out of the box. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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