Kimber or Colt for Carry

[texastranger]

I've narrowed my carry choices to a Kimber or Colt, and would welcome your opinions about which guns in each maker's line to consider or avoid.

[XavierBreath]

Keep the barrel length above 4 inches with the kimber, and you should be happy with either one. The Colt Defender seems to be doing fine with a 3 inch barrel. Personally, I'm a Colt man, but Kimber hakes a good gun.

["DoubleAction"]

If you never plan on doing any modifications to the pistol, the 4" Kimber might be a better first choice, for out of the box. For something more tailored to an individuals preference in a pistol, a modified Colt lightweight Commander would be my own choice if I were to pick.

[TBT]

I have a Kimber Ultra Carry and it has yet to fail to fire through 1200 rounds. Easy to conceal and never fails.

[vito]

TBT: Was it problem free right from the beginning? I recently bought an Ultra Carry II and so far I have only had the chance to fire about 200 rounds. I have had two failures to eject, and one failure to load. I've been using Winchester and Federal 230 grain FMJ ammo, no reloads. I hope to put about 300 more rounds through this little gun soon, and hope the problem will disappear after the 500 round break in. If not, I think I will not feel at all comfortable with this expensive gun which could fail me when needed most. I'm already thinking I should have been content with my S&W 640 as a carry gun.

["DoubleAction"]

vito
Charter Member


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Re: Colt Defender
« Reply #2 on: Apr 10th, 2004, 5:54pm » <br>
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Appreciate the advice. I'll look at the Commander before I buy either Colt. I also am looking at the compact Kimber; pricey, but feels like a nice gun and certainly has a good reputation with LEO's that I have spoken to.
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Vito; Have you consulted with the LEO's about your problem ? I can put about any .45acp cartridge through any of my Colts, without a single malfunction. The last time I had a failure to feed was due to bent feed lips on an old magazine. I shoot mostly reloaded ammunition on top of all that, and use the 3 1/2" Officer's ACP, The Series 70 Combat Commander, The Series 70 Combat Government, The Series 70 Government Model, The Gold Cup National Match, The Gold Cup Trophy, The Wilson Combat CQB, and The Wilson Combat CQB Compact 4".
I would not want you to get discouraged by this one pistol; The 1911 is a very reliable weapon in the .45 ACP, as is the Sig Sauer P-220.

[TBT]

vito said:

TBT: Was it problem free right from the beginning? I recently bought an Ultra Carry II and so far I have only had the chance to fire about 200 rounds. I have had two failures to eject, and one failure to load. I've been using Winchester and Federal 230 grain FMJ ammo, no reloads. I hope to put about 300 more rounds through this little gun soon, and hope the problem will disappear after the 500 round break in. If not, I think I will not feel at all comfortable with this expensive gun which could fail me when needed most. I'm already thinking I should have been content with my S&W 640 as a carry gun.

Mine was problem free from the get-go man. But I have heard plenty about these guns needing broken in. Maybe I just got extra lucky with mine ...

[Fobos]

Tough call, texastranger...

I love both my Colt and my Kimber. They are fantastic. If I were going with one straight from the box, I'd probably go with a Kimber.

[TBT]

XavierBreath said:

Keep the barrel length above 4 inches with the kimber, and you should be happy with either one. The Colt Defender seems to be doing fine with a 3 inch barrel. Personally, I'm a Colt man, but Kimber hakes a good gun.

I’ve heard this plenty of times and I trust you guys when you say it, but I have an Ultra Carry II and a friend of mine has a series 1 Ultra Carry. Neither have failed to feed (his hasn‘t that I know of, but I couldn‘t be sure). Is the problem the abuse the frame takes with the shorter slide or something else?

I just think that the Ultra Carry by Kimber is near infallible. I’ve just not known any problems with this gun nor have I heard of many. Maybe the basic rule doesn’t apply to this model?

Maybe I just don’t have the experience to qualify an opinion … believe me, I’m not so much as doubting this theory as I am asking for clarification.

["DoubleAction"]

TBT; I have 1911s in 4 different barrel lengths, 3 1/2", 4", 4 1/4", and 5", what I have found with the shorter barrel lengths is the use of heavier recoil springs with less room to compress within the recoil spring plug. Because of the shorter 3" barrels, some would be better to use one of the Sprinco or Recoil Master type systems, where the recoil spring guide rod contains a built in buffer spring near the guide rod head. On my 3 1/2 " Colt Officer's ACP, the area of slide impact to the frame has more steel ( just in front of the trigger guard on the frame), I found this out years ago when obtaining pressed laminate holsters for the smaller 1911 that were formed for the standard Government frames.
There was a time when I did not trust the durability and strength of alloy frames, I now shoot 357 sigs and potent .40 caliber Corbons from a stock out of box alloy frame 3 1/2 " Sig 239 ( flat recoil springs with more coils) without conscern.
For the .45 acp, and the 1911, some balance out the amount of money they expect to spend on a pistol, how much they expect to shoot it, and how well it conceals.
For some, the 4" barrel lengths fall within a safe posture of providing the same smooth handling characteristics that made the Commander a popular choice for carry, target shooting, and defensive use.The shorter Officer's ACP offered a shortened barrel and grip, providing for a smaller option to the Commander, and as the popularity of the 1911 picked up again, involving more manufacturers, the 3" version of the 1911 arrived.
I shot my 3 1/2" Officer's Model without a care in the world, until the front sight popped off, and the plunger tube popped from it's rivets. I would put 400 rds through that pistol in a single non stop session, it was that much fun to shoot. Recoil system?, Who cared, it was a steel frame Colt, and fed on every round I put in it's mouth. Back then Colt used two recoil springs ( an inner & outer) to accomodate the shorter slide cycle and recoil, but I really did not bother changing them out as I do now.
One thing I did with the Officer's ACP, that I do with all my pistols, I grip it as I would any full size pistol.
When a pistol performs flawlessly in the hands of a shooter, it's harmony. If you have found that critisism is unsurpassed by your own confidence in the 3", I recommend that you continue to enjoy the shooting pleasure it is providing, while honing your skills with the pistol at the same time.

[TBT]

Good deal Da. Thanks.