2021 Kimber Stainless II 9mm review..

If you love to assemble guns, this is the gun for you! I just picked the gun up today from my local FFL. You guys/gals know the magical moment when the FFL puts your new gun on the counter… Yeah, the one that you waited a whole 5 days for, thanks to SMGA’s fast shipping. So, my magical moment went something like this:

The case was opened, and the Kimber was lovingly wrapped in an oversized Zip-lock bag that might as well could have been an evidence bag. At that moment I was greeted with an awesome machine oil smell, if you ever worked in a machine shop you know the smell, and I instantly knew the magic was over.

I racked the slide a couple of times and noticed that it didn’t lock up occasionally. It stopped about a 1/4″ short of full lockup. Having built several 1911/2011’s myself, I instantly went into diagnosis mode. At first, I thought it was the hood, which is generally an easy fix, so I decided to take it home vs. just rejecting it and letting my FFL deal with it.

At home, my first objective was to get the cosmoline/machine oil off and replace it with some nice smelling Weapon’s Shield. While I had the gun apart, I removed several burrs from the barrel and the breach as well as some peened over corners. I reassembled the firearm only to discover that the gun still had the same issue. This time, I eliminated the barrel as culprit. After taking the slide back off, I found a nice burr on the firing pin disconnect. The sharp edge from the plunger had dug into it, so if impacted just right, it would stop the slide dead in its tracks.

Time to rip the slide back apart, pound out the rear sight and get the disconnect plunger out. Reshape the plunger by beveling the edges. For good measure, polish the face. Rip the lower apart and get that little plunger pusher out and remove the burr and polish that as well.

Time for reassembly! After getting the gun back together, I was finally able to test fire it for the first time. It ran great. What an exciting evening, working on a brand-new gun!

The good news is that the trigger is quite nice. Generally, that is the one thing I expect to work on in a 1911, but I may not actually do that on this gun.

Once I get out to the range, I’ll update the review on accuracy.

See you at the range,

TriggerMeister