Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns S&W 1911 vs Kimber 1911

Why do you want a Series 70 Colt ? They are good guns. Heck, I've owned one since 1971. But I don't see them as as refined a gun as the modern Kimbers. E

E, I would give you a modern Kimber any day in trade for a Series 70 Colt, let's trade first then I will tell you why....

I have owned a few Kimbers and currently own an Ultra Raptor that I really like. The only reason I don't care for the S&W or SIG is the external extractor - it's a purist thing.

Purist?

Nothing wrong with the Ultra Raptor, but it would be tough to find a '1911' farther off the reservation.

People act like the 1911 sprang from JMB's loins fully formed, or it was handed to him on a mountaintop like the ten commandments. For chrissakes, it took him like 10+ years to develop iterations of the basic design, and various features like the grip safety and grip angle were foisted on him by the Army. Of course, if its primary importance to you is as a religious totem rather than a tool, I guess things like the extractor could make you foam at the mouth.

You might as well tell us. My Mk.IV, Series 70 has a history with me so it's never going to be sold or traded. E

I bought a kimber from a member here who worked for kimber so her kind off polished it up a little but it has been nothing but a joy to own and shoot. It sits ne xt to my bed ready to rock and roll if need be.

One thing I don't like about my Kimber pro caryy is that I need some stupid little device to dissassemble the barrel/spring assembly from the slide.

The reason I want a Series 70 is because during the course of a couple years, I worked at a recreational pistol range at Camp Pendleton and had the opportunity to shoot a lot of differnet hand guns. As a fan of the 1911, one of my coworkers considered selling me his series 70 for a good price, but he ended up backing out of the deal. He let me shoot it, and I'll be damned if that pistol didn't shoot like a million bucks. I have not shot any handgun as accurately as I did that one, and I have wanted one ever since.

Just a WAG since I am real far from being a 1911 expert, but the Colt Series 70 had a spring finger collet � four �fingers� grasping the barrel instead of a solid round one - which supposedly held the barrel more firmly and repositioned it to the slide more exactly.

My Series 70 was extremely accurate, it would cut raggedy one hole groups at 25 yards even with the issue tiny military style sghts.

One caveat is that those spring fingers could and did break. One of mine did and it tied up the gun solidly with the slide half way back, two people had to grab it and give mighty heaves to finally pull the slide back to unjam that finger. . It would have been a real downer had I really needed the pistol in operation, no way to easily clear that jam.

Since I was more interested in reliability than target grade accuracy we replaced it with a solid collet and it ran perfectly from then on.

So true. Funny how people forget that the current love for 1911's didn't even start until Kimber started manufacturing them in the late 90's. Now everybody makes a good 1911.

I think I speak for many people here when I say........huh????

I'm sorry but I fell in love with the 1911 when I got to own a Colt Gold Cup Back in the 70's. I'm still kick myself for selling that one.
When I got interested in combat shooting a few years later, I spent a day shooting up some extra target wadcutter ammo in my grandad's old 1911. That long triggered, and flat main spring framed 1911 really impressed me with it's handling and "shootability" on that day. I've conveted them ever since. E

Where in the H did that come from?..................Hb

You need a history lesson or help reading?

I really don't have a horse in this race, but I will offer this observation about one gun: my Kimber Eclipse Target II is easily the best-shooting pistol I've ever owned (and thus far, 100% reliable). It's not going anywhere I don't go.

...I can't speak for VaHillbilly, but I'd settle for an explanation of Kimber's impact on the "current love for 1911's"---maybe you were just being sarcastic (I hope).

The Kimbers are great unless their a II version.

Kimber was the first mass-produced 1911 that was worth a crap. Better than Colt and good enough to give the custom made lines a scare.

Suddenly, anybody could buy an off-the-rack 1911 with all the features of custom guns - at a little over $500. Colt was pure excrement, and Springfield Armory hadn't figured out how to build a good gun yet. Para was Canadian and only shined in the high-cap frames - which Mr.Bill killed with his 1994 "crime bill". And Kimber is extremely popular today, even in the face of a lot of competition.

Why don't you know this? Can't stop playing video games long enough to google it yourself?

I think he's just delusional and a smart azz to boot, he may just be some kid on daddy's computer passing out insults..............Hb

...where the heck did that come from? What's wrong with you? Not really interested in getting into a pissing contest, just trying to figure out why you think that Kimber is the catalyst for 1911 popularity. Based upon what you've said, I still don't know the answer, but I do wonder what color the sky is in your world.