Help for my first 1911!

[wicked liquid]

Hello all!
Bought my first 1911(Kimber TLE/RL) and get to pick it up today! Of course I am itching to get some aftermarket parts for it like a mag well and a couple more magazines for it. My question is, what brands to buy and what to stay away from? I have been all over the internet looking at everything from Kimber's site to Wilson Combat but there is so much out there its a little overwhelming. Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

[-hanko]

check the 1911 forums.

-hanko

[wicked liquid]

Probably should have looked for that before posting this, sorry and thank you!

[MA2]

Magwell, check out Smith & Alexander, it's a one piece checkered all the way down.

Magazine, Wilson Combat 47d are what they known for in the magazine side.
Tripp Research, but those never go on sale.

Grips, VZ Grips, there is a cyber Monday sale today 20% off, code is cyber20.
Want truly custom G10 grips, head over to Larry Davidson.

[wicked liquid]

Magwell, check out Smith & Alexander, it's a one piece checkered all the way down.

Magazine, Wilson Combat 47d are what they known for in the magazine side.
Tripp Research, but those never go on sale.

Grips, VZ Grips, there is a cyber Monday sale today 20% off, code is cyber20.
Want truly custom G10 grips, head over to Larry Davidson.

Thank you so much! A friend at a local gun shop had recommended Smith and Alexander last week, but I couldn't for the life of me remember the name. I am going to check out the sale on the VZ grips, and get some wilson 47d's today! Thank you very much for the guidance!

[redcliff]

If you insist on Wilson, go with ETM's. However the Tripp Research Cobra mags and Chp McCormick Power Mag+ are probably the best out there.

Wilson 47d's suffer from too weak of a spring and too short of a magazine tube imho.

[big blaze]

Smith & Alexander is the way to go for a magwell and Kimber KIM Pro tac mags are good they have all steel construction & steel follower's.

[DArBad]

Smith & Alexander is the way to go for a magwell and Kimber KIM Pro tac mags are good they have all steel construction & steel follower's.

+1 to this.

[wicked liquid]

If you insist on Wilson, go with ETM's. However the Tripp Research Cobra mags and Chp McCormick Power Mag+ are probably the best out there.

Wilson 47d's suffer from too weak of a spring and too short of a magazine tube imho.

Tripp research I haven't heard of. Do they only make stuff for the 1911's?

[wicked liquid]

Smith & Alexander is the way to go for a magwell and Kimber KIM Pro tac mags are good they have all steel construction & steel follower's.

I'm thinking I'm gonna have to buy one from everyone just to try them all. Or is it bad form to have mags from different manufacturers?

[XDJYo]

The 1911 platform has MANY, MANY, and I mean DOZENS of choices in just about everything on the gun. You can literally spend the same amount you just spent to buy the gun in replacing bits and pieces.

My suggestion is to shoot it, practice with it and find out what you like about it first before you start going hog wild with different mags, grips, sights, magwells, trigger, sear, hammers, match barrels, holsters, ammo, safeties and well...you get the idea. Personally, I was going to get the Wilson 47D's, but they're more expensive than the mags I could get with my coupon (Springfield Armory Loaded Coupon)-$12 per mag! Nice!!! Anyways, I figured that the factory mags are working just fine for me now, I can get 3 mags for the price of 1 Wilson and what's the use for one measly extra round? Besides, I can only shoot 1 mag at a time. There will be PLENTY of time for you to experiment further on down the road. And besides, when you're at the range I KNOW you will run into others who have 1911's and you might be able to ask them how their mags run in their guns (Wilsons, Chip McCormicks, Tripp etc) and I'm sure they wouldn't mind letting you put some of your ammo thru their mags. Besides, some of the magazine problems with 1911's can easily be rectified with new springs and/or followers. Parts kits are abundant for these guns. Spend some time on the 1911forums.com and you'll find out that the choices are dizzying. Like walking into Imelda Marcos' shoe closet!!!

Find out what works for you. Personally, I thought the grip was perfect for me when I first bought it. But, the grips on mine were just a hair too big and didn't have enough grip due to my sweaty palms. So, my first upgrade was a set of VZ slim grips. But, then there were TONS of different choices, materials, etc etc etc just within the VZ line. So, go slow and enjoy the pistol for what it is right now.

Oh, and CONGRATZ on the new pistol! I've had mine for 3 months and am totally in love. But, beware, 1911's will multiply!!!

[polo.45]

I suggest too get Wilson combat mags 47d and don't put a magwell..

[skosh69]

Congrats on your Kimber.

A piece of unsolicited advice....SLOW DOWN. Take your TLE/II, field strip it, clean, lube it well, buy as much ammo as you can afford and then shoot the hay'll out of it!!!!

Leave the "west coast customs" alterations and mods to it until after you learn to shoot it and shoot it well.

Then, go to MidwayUSA or Brownells and browse the ads for whats available for the 1911 platform. Ebay is also a good place to find small frame parts on the cheap.

Like someone else mentoned, come on over to 1911forum.com and introduce yourself not only in the new member section, but the Kimber sub-forum also.

My buddy DArBad and myself are over there with the same screennames as here.

Oh yeah, PICS or it didn't happen.....

[redcliff]

Tripp research I haven't heard of. Do they only make stuff for the 1911's?

Pretty much, although they make some AR magazines also (42 and 52 rounds). Really high quality magazines, and Virgil Tripp was the American Pistolsmiths Guild pistolsmith of the year in 2010. They know their stuff.

Hilton Yam has a very good article on 1911 magazines: http://www.10-8performance.com/pages...Magazines.html

[wicked liquid]

The 1911 platform has MANY, MANY, and I mean DOZENS of choices in just about everything on the gun. You can literally spend the same amount you just spent to buy the gun in replacing bits and pieces.

My suggestion is to shoot it, practice with it and find out what you like about it first before you start going hog wild with different mags, grips, sights, magwells, trigger, sear, hammers, match barrels, holsters, ammo, safeties and well...you get the idea. Personally, I was going to get the Wilson 47D's, but they're more expensive than the mags I could get with my coupon (Springfield Armory Loaded Coupon)-$12 per mag! Nice!!! Anyways, I figured that the factory mags are working just fine for me now, I can get 3 mags for the price of 1 Wilson and what's the use for one measly extra round? Besides, I can only shoot 1 mag at a time. There will be PLENTY of time for you to experiment further on down the road. And besides, when you're at the range I KNOW you will run into others who have 1911's and you might be able to ask them how their mags run in their guns (Wilsons, Chip McCormicks, Tripp etc) and I'm sure they wouldn't mind letting you put some of your ammo thru their mags. Besides, some of the magazine problems with 1911's can easily be rectified with new springs and/or followers. Parts kits are abundant for these guns. Spend some time on the 1911forums.com and you'll find out that the choices are dizzying. Like walking into Imelda Marcos' shoe closet!!!

Find out what works for you. Personally, I thought the grip was perfect for me when I first bought it. But, the grips on mine were just a hair too big and didn't have enough grip due to my sweaty palms. So, my first upgrade was a set of VZ slim grips. But, then there were TONS of different choices, materials, etc etc etc just within the VZ line. So, go slow and enjoy the pistol for what it is right now.

Oh, and CONGRATZ on the new pistol! I've had mine for 3 months and am totally in love. But, beware, 1911's will multiply!!!

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your knowledge! I suppose we all know how it is when we get a knew gun, we want to start throwing all sorts of parts at it in all the excitement. You are right on in terms of the money aspect. I started looking at all the things I was thinking of buying over the last couple of days and I was at half the cost of the gun already! lol. I am going to check out the Springfield mags you were talking about as well as the springs and followers. I have waited so long to get the 1911 I have wanted and here I am trying to change everything about it before I even put a singe round through it. I will be heading to the Concord range at latest by this weekend and will be taking your advice on just getting to know the gun. Thank you again!