1911 9mm

[Euphoria526]

[Calif Hunter]

The STI at $1100 in the marketplace is not a bad option at all.

[Ant45]

I've held the Kimber Target in 9mm and liked it too, but couldn't justify buying it. I like the Springfield and they are very good. The major 3 things I hate about them are. Hammer, Sear and Disconnector - They are MIM parts.

]

MIM parts means nothing, it's just a different manufacturing method. Bottom line is quality control and bad QC can happen (and has) with non MIM parts. Your car engine and jetliners are full of MIM parts for example, they're in so many mechanical things we own and use daily.

Shame that so many people pass on what could be a great gun(s) in general because of all this MIM misinformation on the internet.

[Robert1234]

MIM parts are in almost every gun. Can't get away from them. And quite franky, there's probably no reason to fear them. Same with the Trojan's cast frame.

STI owners seem to love their Trojans, and they seem like nice guns, though their finish is crap. My issue is that they want a premium when they sell them and I have an issue with paying more for a used gun than I would for a new one.

The ramped barrel on the other hand can make feeding 9mm much easier than the traditional 1911 two piece ramp, though I've seen more than a few Kimbers at matches that seem to run fine without the ramp.

I have a .45 Kimber from 2001 and a 9mm Springfield from 2014. Of the two, the Kimber was tighter and still wears all of the internal lower parts (with the exception of the ambi-safeties I installed) while the Springfield needed a new sear and thumb safeties (sear was so short that slight polishing made it not catch the hammer and the thumb safeties kept walking apart, so I used Kimber's version, they're retained much better).

I also replaced a bunch of other parts, but they didn't stop it from working, just personal preference. I went with the Springfield for the ramped barrel and no firing pin safety mechanism. Wanted something that could be upgraded without special parts.

[JTROKS]

MIM parts won't hold a stoned surface like A6 tool steel or bar stock. I just did a trigger job on a Colt Commander with non MIM sear/hammer and it's all good. If you want a nice range gun trigger pull then a new sear and hammer is warranted. I got the stock MIM parts down to a reliable 2.5 lbs, but not as clean compared to my 1911s with non MIM hammer and sear.

All Kimber Target in 9mm I looked at had ramped barrels like the Springfield 1911 LT and RO. A colt 1911 5" in 9mm I looked at has a standard non ramped barrel like RIA. The lower priced STI 1911 single stack in 9mm is also non ramped, but the higher priced is ramped.

One thing I liked about the Springfield is the lack of firing pin block system. The frame and slide are basically series 70. They passed the dropped test by using Ti firing pin and a very heavy spring. Most people replace the ILS anyway.

[Ant45]

MIM parts won't hold a stoned surface like A6 tool steel or bar stock. I just did a trigger job on a Colt Commander with non MIM sear/hammer and it's all good. If you want a nice range gun trigger pull then a new sear and hammer is warranted. I got the stock MIM parts down to a reliable 2.5 lbs, but not as clean compared to my 1911s with non MIM hammer and sear.

All Kimber Target in 9mm I looked at had ramped barrels like the Springfield 1911 LT and RO. A colt 1911 5" in 9mm I looked at has a standard non ramped barrel like RIA. The lower priced STI 1911 single stack in 9mm is also non ramped, but the higher priced is ramped.

One thing I liked about the Springfield is the lack of firing pin block system. The frame and slide are basically series 70. They passed the dropped test by using Ti firing pin and a very heavy spring. Most people replace the ILS anyway.

If done right yes they can, plenty of people do it all the time. Maybe you prefer non MIM and like working with non MIM which is fine but it keeps getting tossed around like an absolute that if it's MIM it's crap which is not true at all.

You could even do the same trigger job with a different set of non MIM parts and it won't feel as clean as the job you just did.

Again, it's an opinion or preference and not an absolute.

[Mot Mi]

My SA 9mm Loaded isn't rattle it is about as tight as my old colt railed. It isn't any Les Baer or brown but it sure will drive bullets where I want them up to 25 yds. I'd personally go with the SA. Never been a fan of Kimberly so call me biased.

[JTROKS]

If done right yes they can, plenty of people do it all the time. Maybe you prefer non MIM and like working with non MIM which is fine but it keeps getting tossed around like an absolute that if it's MIM it's crap which is not true at all.

You could even do the same trigger job with a different set of non MIM parts and it won't feel as clean as the job you just did.

Again, it's an opinion or preference and not an absolute.

It's a waste of money to pay someone to do a trigger job on a 1911 with MIM hammer and sear, unless you throw in some A6 tool steel parts. I have no problem with MIM mag catch, ambi/safety or grip safety. I'm not a die hard MIM hater, I just hate it when the hammer, sear and disconnector need replacing due to my experience. Some folks are happy with the best results I can get with MIM for it's 300% better than the out of the box trigger pull, but once I let them try my 1911 with STI A6 hammer and sear they just go, WOW!

[Euphoria526]

My SA 9mm Loaded isn't rattle it is about as tight as my old colt railed. It isn't any Les Baer or brown but it sure will drive bullets where I want them up to 25 yds. I'd personally go with the SA. Never been a fan of Kimberly so call me biased.

Yeah? My Sti Spartan doesn't either....

[Ant45]

It's a waste of money to pay someone to do a trigger job on a 1911 with MIM hammer and sear, unless you throw in some A6 tool steel parts. I have no problem with MIM mag catch, ambi/safety or grip safety. I'm not a die hard MIM hater, I just hate it when the hammer, sear and disconnector need replacing due to my experience. Some folks are happy with the best results I can get with MIM for it's 300% better than the out of the box trigger pull, but once I let them try my 1911 with STI A6 hammer and sear they just go, WOW!

Understood, I see where you are coming from now. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[Robert1234]

I was under the impression that .40 S&W and 9mm Kimbers use non-ramped barrels. I stand corrected.

Not gonna get into the MIM vs. Non-MIM debate. I't as unwinnable an argument as the cast vs. forged frame debate. I'll just say that I've done trigger jobs on three of my guns. The Kimber is at a crisp, 2.3lbs, with zero creep and a sick short reset. It has all original Kimber MIM parts (I assume they're MIM) and is 100% reliable. I made the gun a .40 S&W gun last year, using a ramped Kart barrel, after a bit of tweaking, it's back to 100% reliable.

The second is in the Springfield with a Cylinder and Slide trigger kit. Real steel parts, with certification of their hardness included. When installed it had some creep and was about 4 lbs. A bit of judicious stoning and polishing of the sear angles got it to a crisp 2.1 lbs, zero creep and the same reset as the Kimber. It should be noted that the only reason I changed the stock parts in this gun was that when I tried to lightly polish the sear, it stopped being a sear. The nose was short to start, and I know I didn't even start on the secondary angle. The C&S kit was on sale for $75.00, so it was an easy choice. I've since swapped out the sear spring to bring the trigger to a more user-friendly (for me) 3.25 lbs.

The third is a Caspian High Cap with the same C&S kit as I put in the Springfield. Every bit as good as the other two guns.

My fourth 1911 is a Les Baer Hardballer. I didn't have to do anything to that trigger, though swapping the mainspring to a 17 lb unit brought the trigger pull weight to about 3.5 lbs.

To close, my Kimber experience (though it's only a single gun) has been good. My Springfield experience not-so-good, but not horrible. If I was in the market for another 1911, I wouldn't hesitate to buy either (especially now that I know that Kimber uses ramped barrels). I also wouldn't hesitate to buy a Trojan if one were available at a competitive price. Or a Dan Wesson. Not sure why I favor ramped barrels, other than that they're what most of the shooters I see at USPSA matches favor.

[Tere_Hanges]

Just picked up the SA 9mm last month. Havent taken it out yet. Will do soon, hopefully no problems.
I noticed the fit between the slide and frame seems perfect, no "rattle" at all. Now my colt government .45 is super loose fitting, but still accurate.

[toddh]

Click the link.

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/search.php?searchid=51226544

Tons of info if you just dig around through the threads that say "9mm 1911"


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[ferrisbueller]

Three of my friends and I just bought the Springfield. Two of us have a "Failure to Lock on the Last Round". I've sent an email to Springfield and waiting for a response. As for accuracy and feel... it's definitely not like my Ed Brown that I compete with. I'm considering sending it back to Ed Brown to see what they could do about it. Their smiths are very good about turn-around time and have a very good customer service. They tend to undercharge me most of the time. When do you hear that nowadays.

[mag88]

Love my RIA 38 Super with a 9mm barrel. Cheapest option and it gives you two calibers to work with.