The Unofficial P64 Resource Forum

Finally after haggling for quite some time over what guns I would sell so I could obtain either a NIB Colt or Kimber, but recently the door was opened up for me that I had never expected and I didn't have to sell any of my accumulation but rather traded something I found quite by accident. I found a 1973 Springfield Trapdoor at a price I could not turn down, and two days later traded it for a Kimber Custom Stainless II. For me this is a dream come true for one who has been handling and shooting 1911's since I was 14 which is almost 53 years ago when my dad was the company commander of a National Guard unit in our home town and I got to go to the range every 6 months when the Guard qualified on their range with M1 Garands, M1 Carbines and 1911A1's and since then I have been infatuated with all three but my all time favorite including both the M1's is the 1911 45acp in nearly all forms. Yulp, I'm now a happy camper, range report will follow as soon as I can get to the range.

Congratulations.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

Absolutely beautiful.

wyo-man

I'm liking it papa. When should I expect its arrival for the road test?

manicmechanic, my Polish friend, as soon as this darn weather lightens up, tomorrow we are expecting 2-3" of rain but ASAP cause I itching to bust some paper with it.

papabear

you should of brought it over here , I would of tested it out for you

NORM

Norm,

I would if I could have, time restraints and milage caused me to miss Lakeland this time, but I sure wanted to make it down.

It's a beauty Papa! You did good!

Robert

I concur. Never cared much for stainless pistols but she's a winner for sure. I'm gonna guess those nicely made grip panels are walnut(?) and they really give her that extra special look.

Thanks to all, actually Dom they are rosewood girps from Kimber. The original grips are black, the person I traded with put them on, they are a $45 option from Kimber.

Nice Papa! I knew you'd score sooner or later.
Mind the swartz lever on that series II when putting the slide back on.

Thanks DF, as you well know, good things come to those who wait. As for the Swartz [integral firing pin block/safety], it was explained to me by the guy I traded with. He told me to not turn the gun upside-down when taking the slide off/on and never while depress the grip safety when taking the slide off or putting it back on. It is clearly stated in the operational manuel for the Custom Stainless II. I'm not thrilled about it but getting a Kimber overrode that obstacle, I have also read that it can cause a FTF [failure to fire] in certain situations due to not having the grip safety fully depressed as in SD situation where your hand may not fully depress the grip safety causing the FTF.

I got this Kimber as a range pistol and not for personal carry or home defense, I already have those pistols well established. I have reasons for this, in the past I had to use a handgun in a home defense situation years ago and even though I was exonerated from any wrong doing at a pretty high cost to me, they tried to keep the gun, as a matter of fact the judge ordered it destroyed, however, after my lawyer found a little known Illinois law that required any gun ordered destroyed was to have the serial number cut from the gun and returned to the legal owner, long story short the police department did not destroy the gun [S&W 13-1 .357] but rather a LEO had obtained it through a lottery in that department, we only asked for the gun back not who obtained it and 18 months after the home invasion the S&W was returned and in the primo condition it was taken. So for me its a personal decision not to use my new Kimber for PD/HD, not because of the Swartz firing pin block, but I have waited to darn long to get a Kimber and then possibly have it taken from me as before.

I already own a Colt 70 series and it too is not a PD/HP pistol because of the above reason, I have also been told by my local gunsmith that I can replace the Kimber firing pin with a Colt 70/80 series and leave the Swartz firing pin block in place and it eliminates the issue of not firing if grip safety is not fully depressed and I have a spare Colt 70 series firing pin so I may have it replaced if in fact that will eliminate the failure to fire situation, but before I do that I check out if that is fact or fiction, my gunsmith is a good one, but he said he was told that, so I want to make sure before I have anything done. Heck I haven't even had a chance to shoot it yet but I will very soon I hope, range report to follow.


Colt 70 series I've owned since 91

As a purely aesthetic thing on my part, I normally don’t care for shiny pistols. Consequently, I generally avoid stainless steel. But that finish looks like more of a matte stainless steel, and if the picture is any guide, probably isn’t all that reflective. A very attractive gun overall, and the grips really dress it up. Very nice!

DoubleTap,

Yes its all stainless steel and Kimber calls the finish "Satin Silver", all my semi's are all steel but I do have a shinny Bauer 25 SS and Star PD in a Starvel SS finish. I only have one plastic gun, a Taurus PT145 and even it has the curved MSH in the grip. Say what anyone will, for me the PT145 is a keeper, its one of my home defense guns, I had a chance to shoot it before I bought it LNIB and I was impressed with its accuracy and handling and with its 12+1 capacity its a keeper.

Here are the rest of my 45acp's.


Remington Rand '43


llama IXA


Taurus PT145


Star PD


Springfield Champon


Ballester Molina


RIA Tactical