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Kimber updates the 1911 for 2025 (and keeps it just under $1K)

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Alabama-based Kimber on Friday debuted the Next Generation 1911 series in both 9mm and .45 ACP, and we have one on hand for a closer look.

While in the 1911 biz for generations– my first “nice” 1911 was a Grand Raptor more than 25 years ago– Kimber has made a serious effort to update the design in the past couple of years. We’ve already covered the excellent Kimber 2K11 double stack from the company, and many of the features from that design are appearing in the more traditional Next Gen series. We’ll get into that below.

At launch, the company plans to offer these pistols in four models, all with full-length (Government) sized slides and 5-inch flush-fit deep-crowned stainless steel barrels. They also sport a nice GT match-grade trigger, black walnut grips with a G10 inlay for added texture and a rounded fastback-style heel. External extractors are the norm, as are front and rear slide serrations, ambi safeties, a round commander-style hammer spur, and an optics cut.

Where the differences between the four models lie is in caliber (9mm or 45ACP, shipping with two stainless 9+1 or 7+1 round mags each) and in the finish, with an option for either a two-tone with a Matte KimPro II black slide over a stainless frame, or all-stainless.

Best yet, the MSRP is $999 across the board, allowing for a classic American-made (in a pro-2A state) 1911-series pistol with a much more modern feature set.

Kimber Next Generation 1911 stainless model in .45 ACP.
The Kimber Next Generation 1911 stainless model in .45 ACP. (All photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
Kimber Next Generation 1911 stainless model in .45 ACP.
The overall length of our review pistol is a very 1911 standard 8.6 inches from the flush-fit muzzle crown to the extended beavertail sweep. 
Kimber Next Generation 1911 stainless model in .45 ACP.
Kimber uses forged slides, frames, and barrels with these guns, which give a standard weight of 36.2 ounces, unloaded. 
Kimber Next Generation 1911 stainless model in .45 ACP.
Taking a look at the inside, the Kimber Next Generation 1911 field strips like standard models, using a GI-style recoil assembly. It was very tight, and Kimber includes a bushing wrench, but we didn’t have to use it. Splitting the difference between the 17-pound recoil spring weight (for more reliability) and the 15-pound weight for smooth shooting/easy recoil, Kimber went with a 16 on the .45ACP. Of note, the 9mm variant uses a 12-pound spring. 
Kimber Next Generation 1911 stainless model in .45 ACP.
Check out the polishing on the feed ramp and the barrel fitment. We found the barrel to have a rock-hard lock-up when in battery with no wiggle or rattle. 

 

External extractors significantly up the reliability of a pistol without the same iffy tensioning problem that internal extractors have. Staccato’s revised C and HD series have external extractors, as does Kimber’s 2K11. Also, note the greatly lowered and flared ejection port in the image below.

 

Kimber Next Generation 1911 stainless model in .45 ACP.
Kimber’s GT match trigger is advertised as having a break between 4 and 5 pounds. We found our test gun to break right at 4 pounds. 

More in my column at Guns.com. 

So Kimber just went Full Staccato

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Kimber originally started as a rifle brand and pivoted to making M1911-style pistols in 1994, debuting at SHOT ’95. Basic math shows that to be at least a 30-year run in the field. Along the way, they learned a thing or two.

With a new state-of-the-art facility in Troy, Alabama at their fingertips, and a couple of generations of hard-earned tribal knowledge in how to make a 1911, the company is now ready to run in the double-stack/wide-body 1911 game – after a warm-up with the slightly downsized KDS9c – and this week introduced the new 2K11.

Using an aluminum alloy grip module over an SST steel sub-frame, the slide is made of stainless steel, featuring an external extractor, front and rear slide serrations, and a factory optics cut in the RMR footprint. Running TAG Precision FiberLok 2 front sights with a suppressor-height serrated rear sight, under the hood is a beast of a deep crowned, fluted bull barrel.

You’ve also got a great GT aluminum trigger, ambi safety levers, an innovative tool-less guide rod/spring assembly, and common (2011 pattern) magazine compatibility.

I went to Kimber’s facility in Alabama over the summer to try out some early production guns and they ran, and ran, and ran.

My target at the sneak peek event this summer. That’s about 400 rounds just dumped methodically from 15 yards, standing, firing offhand, alternating left and right, often in rapid-fire mag dumps. I promise that Delta isn’t mine.

I’ve also been working on a test gun for evaluation for the past two months and it has done much the same.

My T&E gun, even with fixed sights, continued the trend, delivering boring hits on 3/4 reduced USPSA steel at 15 offhand. Full-sized targets were no problem at 25. Pushing to the 50 and working from a sitting barricade and bag position while applying some concentration in slow fire brought the above. Adding a red dot on this gun is something of a cheat code.

Full review in my column at Guns.com.

Meet Kimber’s New CDS9

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Alabama-based Kimber has doubled the capacity of its well-liked Micro 1911 platform with a new CDS9 line – and I got a sneak peek.

The 9mm Micro 1911 began to appear in 2016, taking a page from the company’s earlier Micro Covert in .380 ACP. Well-liked, hammer-fired, slim, and with a profile that made easy friends with those looking to EDC without printing, these Micro 9s have been well-reviewed.

However, as single-stacks, they were limited in capacity to six or seven rounds.

That’s where the new CDS9 series enters the game, and changes it.

Rebuilt from the frame up with a more modern design that retains what people liked about the old Micro 9s – slim and compact profile, all-metal, hammer-fired – but with more capacity and better ergonomics, the CDS9 looks very familiar.

Stacking a legacy single-stack Micro 9 against a new CDS9. Still slim and trim but with a seriously upgraded capacity. (All photos: Chris Ege)

Kimber’s new CDS9 will initially be offered in two optics-ready models with fully ambidextrous controls, differing from each other by way of a TFS package – an extended threaded barrel. Both have an aluminum alloy frame, stainless-steel slide with a direct-mount RMSc optic footprint, an accessory rail for lights or lasers, and options for double-stack magazines with 10, 13, or 15-round capacities.

Now that’s a handful

More in my column at Guns.com.

Kimber Sending Makos to Ukraine

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Alabama-based Kimber is donating 9mm pistols and .308 Winchester-caliber rifles to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

The company announced on Wednesday it is inspired by the courage of the Ukrainian people in their struggle against an ongoing military invasion from neighboring Russia and is ready to help.

“The people of Ukraine are enduring tremendous hardships and are in need of support from around the world,” said Leslie Edelman, Kimber owner and CEO.

In terms of support, Edelman says Kimber is sending 200 R7 Mako 9mm subcompact pistols (my current EDC for the past several months), 10 Advanced Tactical rifles in .308 Win., and 10 bolt-action rifles in .308 Win. Each rifle will include two magazines and a replacement firing pin assembly while the Makos will ship with 800 extra 13-round magazines.

While shipping such pistols to a modern European combat zone seems curious at first, handguns are in common use as sidearms for officers, specialists, pilots, and heavy weapons operators.

Of note, the Mako is roughly comparable in size to the PM Makarov, long a standard pistol in Eastern European service, while offering a higher magazine capacity and a more effective cartridge.

More in my column at Guns.com. 

Swimming with the Mako

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With a 13+1 capacity and the option of an optics-ready slide, the very concealable Kimber R7 Mako is competitive in the micro-compact field.

Introduced in August, the R7 Mako is a striker-fired 9mm with a polymer frame. When it comes to specs, it runs just 6.2 inches long overall, 4.3 inches high, and one inch wide. Weight, in its most basic form, is 19.5 ounces. This puts the new double-stack ultra-compact Kimber in the same category as guns like the Sig Sauer P365 and Springfield Armory Hellcat series.

The weight of the R7 Mako O.I., with the CTS-1500 red dot nstalled, the extended magazine inserted, and 14 rounds of Browning 147-grain X-Point loaded, is 28.6 ounces on our scale. My first CCW gun back in the early 1990s was a much heavier and larger Browning Hi-Power with the same capacity and the only hollow points it could feed reliably were 115-grain Hydra-Shoks. Times change.

Over the course of the past several weeks, I’ve run 500~ rounds through one and carried it for about 200 hours. I have a list of likes and dislikes about it after the jump over to my column at Guns.com. 

Kimber’s Shark in the Micro 9 Pool

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Since the Sig Sauer P365 came out in 2017, which gave the booming concealed carry market a 10+1 capacity 9mm that wasn’t much bigger than a 6+1 .380 blowback, seemingly everyone else is trying to catch up. You’ve seen the Taurus GX4, Ruger MAX, S&W Shield Plus, and Springfield Armory Hellcat all hit the shelves, which were basically the same thing only with different branding.

Now there is the Kimber R7 Mako, which allows a 13+1 capacity, has an optics cut and TruGlo Tritium night sights standard, and excellent– for a striker-fired gun– trigger and ergos.

Plus, rather than a brutal utilitarian look familiar to the rest of the competition, the smooth lines and laser-cut texturing of the Mako just seems, well, kinda pretty.

My thoughts after spending the past few weeks with the R7 Mako after the jump over to Guns.com. 

Kimber’s First Polymer Handgun

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Kimber, at least for the past 25 years, has been seen as a steel-framed M1911 maker, and for good reason– until just a few years ago that was all they made. Then, in 2016, they jumped into wheel guns as well as their very compact Micro 9 series of aluminum-framed pocket autos.

Now, they have delivered their first polymer-framed, striker-fired gun, the R7 Mako.

I know, I know, yawn, right? These have been around since the early 1980s when Glock blazed that trail.

But the R7 is just 6.2-inches long overall, 4.3-inches high, and 1-inch wide. By comparison, this is a near match for the recently introduced Taurus GX4, Ruger MAX, Sig P365, S&W Shield Plus, and Springfield Armory Hellcat.

Unlike some of these micro-compact contemporaries, however, the Mako is optics-ready and has fully ambidextrous controls with a full wrap-around stippled texturing along with TruGlo Tritium Pro u-notch sights. Plus, its top half is stainless rather than some low-key carbon steel, with a matte FNC finish.

Looking forward to shooting this one…

More in my column at Guns.com. 

Black Ice, with a few chips

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For the past several months, one of the handguns I have been testing and evaluating is the Rapide (Black Ice) M1911A1 model from Kimber in 10mm Auto.

Don’t get me wrong, it is a beautiful gun– it should be at $1,500 smackers– and it is loaded with standard features that John Browning would have never imagined.

I mean just look at it.

But I did have some issues.

While reliable (I ran over 600 rounds of Sig ammo through it with zero hiccups) Kimber says the gun needs a break-in period of about that much, which I think is a big ask for a pistol that costs this much and is in such a pricy caliber. Also, the super busy G10 grips and finish show a lot more wear after what I consider basic use than a bargain bin polymer-framed striker-fired 9mm that costs 1/5th as much.

Still, it’s pretty, even after some wear and tear.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Traction on Black Ice

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I’ve been tackling Kimber’s latest take on the modern M1911A1, their Rapide (Black Ice) series, in 10mm Auto. Early signs show that it delivers as advertised, at least across the first 500 rounds anyway.

More in my column at Guns.com. 

Getting a feel from some Black Ice

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Since about mid-March, I have been working on a T&E on Kimber’s newest take on the M1911A1 platform– the Rapide (Black Ice). With a name familiar in Europe commonly used for a fast express train– and a popular Aston Martin model– the Rapide is billed by Kimber as a 1911 platform built for speed and is both competition and range ready.

The pistol is feature-rich including stepped cocking serrations, slide lightening cuts, a DLC coated barrel for extreme durability, extended magwell, and new V-Cut match-grade trigger. It also comes with Tru-Glo TFX Pro Day/Night sights and G10 grips. A 70-series gun with a 4.9-pound trigger pull on average, the variant I have been working with is a 10mm Auto, and I have to say, it is fetching.

The folder, btw, is a Case Gunstock in Curly Maple, which I think pairs well with the big Kimber. A blend of old and new.

More in my column at Guns.com. 

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