Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Kimberly master carry

Thoughts?

Is this the same model as the Kimber Master Carry?

Fuggin auto correct...yes

Any experience with it

I have the Ultra Carry II. Love it.

I have the covert 2 aluminum framed gun, it has been fired a good bit, I would say over 1000 rounds for this gun. It is still pretty tight and shoots well. My thoughts would be if you want a nice gun to admire and one that shoots well get the Kimber. To me a .45ACP is just heavy for the 7-8 round payload and while I will carry it, I find carrying a G19 more practical, almost as accurate and allows me to focus on one action type instead of trying to be a jack of all trades. I won't sell my Kimber as I use it hunting but don't carry the gun regularly anymore.

I've had a Kimber Master Carry Pro (the aluminum frame, round butt, 4" 2-tone pistol) for several years. I've carried it on and off over that time, sometimes daily for stretches of weeks at a time. It's a good pistol and has been reliable. I've changed out the grips because of personal choice, not need, to some I liked better. This is my last remaining Kimber as I've gotten rid of my Ultras due to problems with reliability.

The only functional problem I've had with this pistol is failure to hold the slide open on an empty mag, recently. I just changed out the slide stop yesterday and solved the problem altogether, so it was probably wear of the factory part as it happenned consistently even with proven mags. I use both Kimber 8 round and Wilson 47D mags with equal success, though I prefer the Kimber's flush fit 8 rounder for the in-pistol carry mag and the Wilsons for back ups.

I don't carry it much anymore as I've replaced it in the EDC rotation with a couple of Colt Wiley Clapps, a Commander and a CCO. Wouldn't have a problem carrying the Kimber still but have now found other 1911s I prefer and that I trust as absolutely reliable. I have gotten somewhat soured on Kimber pistols as a whole.

What soured you on Kimbers.

Things I'm looking at are the budget of around 1500

I really like the laser grips, night sights are a necessity

I'm torn between commander length or full size and am leaning full size

The Kimber Master Carry is a decent gun........but Kimber quality in all respects from finish & fit to functional reliability is not at the top of the 1911 heap right now. I still have one & it's a TLE II 5" with CT grips. I've tuned it's trigger & everything else on the gun including blocking the FPS & it's a good reliable piece now, but Kimber is far down my current list of top shelf 1911's.

If you're in that $1,500 price range, look at the Dan Wesson Guardian; it's a lightweight framed 4.25".

Or for a fair amount less, the S&W Scandium framed E-Series Bobtail 4.25" Available with a stainless or black slide.

Thank me later..............

MM

DW Guardian

S&W Commander Bobtail

Here's a little better pic of both guns; and if you want to step up a little further, the last pic is a Christensen titanium framed gun. These all come standard with tritium sights.

I still have a Kimber 10mm, which I keep for fun, and a couple of their rifles. Otherwise no interest in Kimbers. I've seen too many instances of jams & parts breakages, even in their so called "Custom Shop" guns.

A few years ago there was a survey at 1911forum.com, and Kimber had the worst reliability record of any of the major 1911 manufacturers.

MM the Smith scandic is also on my short list, especially after I just found out crimson trace makes laser grips for the rounded 1911 frame

I'd never again buy anything made by Kimber. I've owned two, and a friend had one. All problematic.

I think most people would be happy with an E-Series S&W..........they are pure 70 series firing group parts, meaning no firing pin safety.

Most of the triggers on any of them I have tried are more or less OK, depending on how fussy you are.........I am very fussy about 1911 triggers & won't tolerate creep or grittiness. I also like pull weight of around 3.5-3.75 lb.

So I almost always do a little cleaning up on most 1911 triggers as I have jigs for doing that task.......the S&W that I have did require a little work to make it suit me.

FWIW, the Dan Wesson Guardian in the pic, had a perfect trigger, right out of the box as did the Christensen in the pic........as I would expect for guns costing that much.

MM

The Kimber Ultras I've owned have had problems that undermined my confidence for SD. So I've gotten rid of them and found better pistols that are reliable.

Just over the price range you're considering you can get a new Les Baer. I have the UTC II - an all steel GM 45 ACP that is accurate and dependable. A used one can probably be found, in good condition, at around the $1500 mark, maybe less if you take your time.

For a commander, the Colt Wiley Clapp models both traditional Comander - 4.25" bbl Commander-length slide & aluminum GM frame - and the CCO -4.25" bbl, Commander slide and aluminum Officer Model frame- are available. Both are lightweight, easy to carry all day, reliable with SD Ammo, at least the type I carry. You can order them through the Gun Genie and fit tritiums and still come in under $1.5K. IME they don't need any other mods and the 7 shot OM mags and 8-shot GM mags make these 1911 single stacks all I need if I were to need to use them in a social situation. I replaced the issue FS in both - excellent brass beads in daylight - with HD FS tritiums and left the wide notch Novak RS in place. Great combo day or night.

I've heard good things about the DWs and the S&W scandiums but don't have personal experience with either, so can't give an opinion on either.