Pulled the Trigger on a Kimber

[asphaltcowboychip]

Nice pick up congrats!

[Dumas1012]

I'm liking t seller!

[Hoser!!]

Nice!! I too have a Kimber Custom II. My favorite to shoot. I Cerakoted the frame burnt bronze.

[SonofWWIIDI]

Nice!

It's a good gun that will last a long time. If it doesn't already have night sights, get them.

IBTKH. (In before the Kimber haters)

[tacticalcity]

That's what I paid for the same gun in used condition 2-3 years ago. So given the cost of things have gone up, great price. Yours looks much cleaner than mine.

A tip from somebody who learned the hardway...don't try and change the safety, slide catch, etc. on your own. Unlike Glocks and a lot of other guns, 1911s are not drop-in ready for parts...not even when the parts says it is drop-in. Most things have to be fitted. And that can be a major pain the rear to do and get running right. Even adding night sights required fitting. The only parts that I swapped out that did not require extensive fitting were the Grips, and the Magwell Mainspring Housing. In short, it is not a gun you will do a lot of work on yourself. Not without jacking it up.

Wilson Combat Mags and Chip McCormick Power Mags are your best bet.

My old Kimber Custom II...no where near as clean as yours...that I picked up for the same price a few years back:


With some changes...VZ ETC-Frag Grips, VZ Grip Tape, Ameriglo Night Sights and a Magwell Mainspring Housing:

[73 RB-Z]

While I agree with the above recommendations, I bought a couple cheap Springfield mags, and a Chip McCormick Shooting Star mag to get me started. They function great along with the factory mag. I'll eventually invest in some better mags, but I haven't really felt the need yet.

It takes a couple hundred rounds or more to break in. When I first got it I had to cock the hammer to rack the slide easier. It's easier when it's warm from shooting. Mine has a steady diet of 230gr RN

I've been very happy with mine. Because of the reviews I read about the barrels rusting, I give it a couple shots of ballistol to keep it coated and protected. Haven't seen any rust yet

[johnny_boy02]

Looks like a good price. My kimbers ran fun but rust was an issue, keep a close eye on it.

[tacticalcity]

When was the last time you shot in the dark?

That is not what "night" sights are for. They are for low light, not really no light. Such as dusk and dawn, the time when human eyesight is at it's least effective because there is too much light and not enough light for eyes to adjust.

But to answer you question, my last night shoot was a couple years ago during a training course. Then a couple years before that at the same school taking the same course. Should do it much, much more often but not really an option at most ranges. Bad guys tend to prefer the dark.

[tacticalcity]

While I agree with the above recommendations, I bought a couple cheap Springfield mags, and a Chip McCormick Shooting Star mag to get me started. They function great along with the factory mag. I'll eventually invest in some better mags, but I haven't really felt the need yet.

It takes a couple hundred rounds or more to break in. When I first got it I had to cock the hammer to rack the slide easier. It's easier when it's warm from shooting. Mine has a steady diet of 230gr RN

I've been very happy with mine. Because of the reviews I read about the barrels rusting, I give it a couple shots of ballistol to keep it coated and protected. Haven't seen any rust yet

I have had some trouble with the cheaper Shooting Star mags from Chip McCormick compared to their more expensive Powermags. Specifically when it comes to hollow points. Won't load right. Gets caught up and the follower tilts and the rounds fallout...or it just gets jammed up at the halfway point. Two out of the four mags I bought at the same time have this issue. Did not experience it with the Powermags. Chip Powermags and Wilson Combat Mags have a removable floor plate that comes in very handy when you have an issue and need to take them apart from the bottom. They are just a better design. When my Shooting Star mags locked up while loading them, it was bear to get the rounds out safely.

[johnny_boy02]

So night sights aren't for shooting at night? I know you've been to Front Sight, so you know everything, but I didn't ask you, I asked the Son of a WWI Drill Instructor.

I don't know why people are so obsessed over sights built for conditions they never shoot their gun in.

Buy day sights for your gun. Like fiber optic or gold bead.

You are so internet awesome. You should write a book so we can all be just like you.

[AreWeFree]

When was the last time you shot in the dark?

I like night sights, I can quickly find my gun in the dark. It's just regular sights in the day, you don't lose anything by having them.

[tacticalcity]

So night sights aren't for shooting at night? I know you've been to Front Sight, so you know everything, but I didn't ask you, I asked the Son of a WWI Drill Instructor.

I don't know why people are so obsessed over sights built for conditions they never shoot their gun in.

Buy day sights for your gun. Like fiber optic or gold bead.

Seriously? If you're calling me a know it all after that post we have serious pot calling the kettle black situation going on here.

Lets try following the golden rule shall we? Thanks.

I have 15+ years selling gun parts and accessories and have spent a lot of time learning about the products I sell through conversations with the creators, designers and leading manufacturers. There are a lot of subjects I know nothing about...this one I've spent some time on and have some first hand experience with.

Night sights sounds a lot cooler than Low Light Sights. They are very easy to pickup in any light condition. However in complete pitch black darkness you can only make out the dots. You cannot make out the profile of your sights so you don't know front from rear. You can solve this by using a different colored front from rear, but you still can't see you target, it's foreground, or it's background well enough to ensure you are not sending round "to whom it may concern". The solution for "night" is a flashlight. Which often, but not always, drowns out the tritium. But if there is a decent amount of ambient light from say the moon or street lights, they become considerably more useful. Especially when combined with a flash light. You can line up the sights using the glow from the sights them selves combined with the ambient light that lets you make out their shape and tell front from back and flash the light at the last minute to confirm your target, it's foreground and it's background. The one time I had to use my gun to save someones life, I did just that.

As for "never" using them in the conditions they were designed for? You maybe, not me. Some of us who own guns conceal carry. Some of us who own guns carry a gun for a living. Dusk and Dawn happen every day. Those are lighting conditions we might find ourselves in. Those are conditions we might need to use our gun in. Night sights will be more than worth their cost should we find ourselves in that situation. Maybe your gun is just a range toy for you. Someday that might change. Ya never know. Never say never.

As for fiberoptic...why? Night sights are as easy or easier to pickup during the day, much easier to pickup under low light, and stronger and more durable than the traditional fiber optic sights which break pretty easily (yes I am aware there are some heavy duty models out there but most are pretty fragile).

It's fine if you personally don't prefer them. But the reasons you are posting for why they are useless don't apply to how I use my gun or how most people I know use their guns. So you do what works for you and we'll do what works for us.

Have a good 'un.

[fn9]

one benefit for night sights even in complete dark is that if you hold the light parallel to you gun or if your light is attached to a rail, you will not see you sights and will miss a human size target at 5 yards even though you see the target infront of you, you cant accurately aim ( been there done that during a dark action pistol shoot

On the next one when I used a different gun with night sights, guess what, all boolits hit the intended target as if it was full light due to night sights combined with small flash light.
so like someone said above, it doesn't hurt having the night sights.

[Hoser!!]

I just put a red paint on the front sight and I'm good to go! Lol

[tacticalcity]

Being a Ferrari salesman for 15+ years doesn't make someone an expert on racing cars.



I don't live in a tactical city, but to say night sights are "as easy or easier to pickup during the day" as fiber optics is only said by someone who doesn't know what they are talking about. I have to question whether you've actually seen a set of Dawson fiber optic sights. And if they break, so what? They can be replaced in 1 minute, or worst case scenerio, you have black sights, which many people use just fine.

If that were the case, why don't competitors use these awesome night sights that are "easier to pickup during the day"?

Well I can't replace them when I am drawing it and using and the front sight catches on something and snaps and breaks while shooting it (happened to me many years ago while using fiber optics and why I no longer use them). I have to stop what I am doing, and work on the gun. Fine for range day. Not so great in the middle of a firefight (heaven forbid). I want my gear as rugged as possible. But if it works for you, great...use it. Not everybody is going to like the same stuff.

All I can tell you is the one time I needed a gun to save someone's life...they came in very, very handy and I was very glad I had them. So you buy and use what you like and I'll buy and use and know what works for me.

Right now my favorite flavor are SPARTANs from Ameriglo. The have a neon orange ring around the front sight. Extremely easy to pickup during the day, with tritium for the night. That said I think TruGlo makes a hybrid sight that offers both fiber optic and tritium.

Now, seriously. Stop intentionally insulting me just because you can. I know the internet gives people a big e-penis at times. But this is community. As adult members of this community we can have a discussion without the personal attacks. Even when we disagree. Can't we?