I had the opportunity to meet one of the Solo Carry engineers at SHOT Show this year and John was gracious enough to take some time to sit down with me and talk shop about the new subcompact 9mm from Kimber. Below is the video and review provided by John. We didn’t want to go too crazy with the nitty gritty details but I may have another opportunity to meet and get some more video in the future. If so, I’ll try to get more in-depth and offer a Q&A format with questions.
We have been in touch with a company in California that offers recoil reduction muzzle breaks for rifles and shotguns. They also offer a recoil reduction treatment for handguns. The process involves laser porting the top of the slide and barrel. The company says that on a 5″ 1911, the recoil will be reduced by 95% and roughly 50% on a 3″ model. We send in one of our personal Kimbers for the treatment so that we can put it to the test.
The model that we’ll be testing is a 3″ Ultra Covert II. We sent the Ultra Covert to the company last week and will have it back in our hands in a few weeks. We’ll do our best to accurately illustrate the effects of their service. We will be shooting some HD video of the modified Covert along side an unmodified one. We’ll also post some very detailed macro photos of the porting.
We’re very eager to see the results and share them. If all goes well with the 3″ model, we will send them a 5″ slide and barrel for testing. Once we can document the results, we hope to start offering some select models that are already ported.
Recently a few customers made inquiries about the differences between Kimber’s KimPro Tac Mag and regular magazines. There is quite a big difference between the two styles of magazines and the price difference is minimal. In the photos below, the Pro Tac magazine is on the left and the regular magazine is on the right. Both are the compact 7 round magazines.
You’ll notice on the regular magazine that the weld is visible. On some of Kimber’s magazines (not the pictured ones) there is a small elevated bump in the middle of the ramp that may cause feeding issues on the last round in some very limited conditions.
The main benefits of the KimPro Tac magazine are:
Teflon coated follower with an extended front bearing surface (to eliminate the follower from tilting)
The shoulders are widened and set back to optimize feeding
It Uses a heavy rocket wire spring
It has larger numbered round recognition holes
It includes removable floor plates system with 2 additional bumper pads
The last photo in the group above shows a blued magazine with a bumper. The Pro Tac magazines have the same bumper as well as a smaller one. This is the only magazine I had with the bumper installed.
Considering that the difference between the two magazines is generally $2 to 4, I’d go with the Kimber KimPro Tac magazine every time.
Do you have a Kimber pistol that you’ve been using for some time? We’d love to hear your input. Send us an email or comment on this post with your review and we’ll feature it in our blog. We’ll also make sure you receive credit. Send over a photo of you with your pistol and we’ll include it in the review.
Kimber1911Pistols.com is owned and operated by Osage County Guns. We are a Kimber Master Dealer but otherwise have no affiliation with Kimber America, the manufacturer of the 1911 line that we sell.
