By: Friedrich Seiltgen
Copyright © 2023
ABOUT KIMBER
Kimber Manufacturing is a Troy, Alabama company that designs, manufactures, and distributes small arms such as M1911 pistols, rifles, and revolvers. Kimber has customers with the USA Shooting Team, Marines assigned to Special Operations Command, and the LAPD SWAT team.
Kimber was founded as “Kimber of Oregon” in 1979 by Jack Warne, an Australian, and his son Greg Warne in the small town of Clackamas, Oregon.
In the late 1980s, the company began to struggle after a stock offering couldn’t cover the costs of developing their M89 BG (Big Game) Rifle. The company was sold, and the new owner went bankrupt.
In the mid-1990s, Greg Warne tried to revive Kimber, but much of Kimber of Oregon’s original tooling had ended up in a junkyard north of Portland. Warne soon found a financial backer in Les Edelman, who owned Nationwide Sports Distributors. The two purchased the original tooling and founded Kimber of America.
While Edelman was partnering with Warne, he had also invested in Yonkers-based Jerico Precision Manufacturing, which manufactured hand tools and mechanical components. Edelman decided to connect Jerico Precision’s manufacturing capabilities and Kimber’s reputation and dealer network to build a line of M1911-style handguns. He eventually moved Kimber’s production line to Jerico’s facilities in New York.
Faced with political issues in anti-gun New York and New Jersey, Kimber announced the intention to move its headquarters and manufacturing facility and operations to Troy, Alabama.
THE FRAME
Kimber took the classic 1911 and modernized it. Kimber made a few changes, starting with a 7075 aluminum alloy frame billet. They removed the grip safety, enlarged the trigger guard, and widened the frame to fit a double-stack magazine in 9mm. It features an extended beavertail grip, and the grip has a scalloped pattern front and rear, then finished off with G10 grips.
The skeletonized single-action-only trigger is smooth and set at approximately 3.5 pounds.
THE SLIDE & BARREL
The slide is machined from stainless steel with front and rear cocking serrations for positive purchase during slide manipulation. It has an adjustable rear sight and high visibility fiber optic front and is factory cut for an optics plate. The ejection port is enlarged to keep spent brass from gumming up the works.
The barrel is made from stainless steel and is 4.09 inches long. It’s been target-crowned and fluted and features a polished feed ramp.
SPECIFICATIONS
Type: Compact, Striker-Fired, Semi-Automatic
Caliber: 9mm
Magazine Capacity: 15 Rounds
Sights: Proprietary Serrated Adjustable Rear Sight, Green Fiber Optic Front Sight, Optics Ready
Barrel Length: 4.09 Inches
Overall Length: 7.75 Inches
Height: 5.35 Inches
Width: 1.33 Inches
Weight: 25.3 Ounces
MSRP: $1,499
THE VERDICT
The Kimber is about the same size as the Glock 19, and some folks prefer metal over polymer. It has a lot of features you can find on a custom pistol. The Kimber might be your next pistol, so check one out today. It’s shipped with two 15-round magazines to free states and ten rounds in others.
That’s all for now, folks! Please keep sending in your questions, tips, and article ideas. And as always – “Let’s Be Careful Out There.”
Friedrich Seiltgen is a retired Master Police Officer with 20 years of service with the Orlando Police Department. He conducts training in Lone Wolf Terrorism Counterstrategies, Firearms, and Active Shooter Response. His writing has appeared in RECOIL, Soldier of Fortune, The Counter Terrorist Magazine, Off Grid, American Thinker, Homeland Security Today, and The Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security International.
Contact him at [email protected].