People either like them, or they hate them...

[Joelski]

But not enough to put them out of binnet.

Got this as a project gun. Been wanting a 1911 and now I have one that didn't cost me anything. Over the next little bit, it'll get exorcised of the evil MIM parts and re-worked with WC parts. At the end, maybe a nice, glossy 'kote, or some fancy bluing. I do like the tuxedo look. Yes Jim; those are DU grip medallions!

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[UWone77]

I don't mind some Kimbers. RL/TLE II comes to mind.

[FortTom]

No weapon more beautiful than a finely built, perfectly tuned 1911. Obviously, that's just my opinion, but I "grew up" on the things and still love them. I carry HK USP's almost all the time now, but I still love my 1911's.

FT

[Joelski]

No weapon more beautiful than a finely built, perfectly tuned 1911. Obviously, that's just my opinion, but I "grew up" on the things and still love them. I carry HK USP's almost all the time now, but I still love my 1911's.
FT

I agree and carry the same thing, but there has always been something about them that appeals to my appreciation for artistic, functional design. For a base, this firearms has really great bones. It is tight as a Baer, at least as accurate as I am and hasn't malfed yet. I kind of question the need to exorcise the hated parts that seem to function just fine, but this is a learning project, and I hope to complete it with as few do-overs as possible.

The learning part has run true-to-form for me. Although an average student, I have always excelled at things I take an interest in. So far, I'm in 4 books, a zillion videos and have several accomplished pistol smiths on speed dial. Gaining different perspectives, soaking up the wisdom and information takes me back to my early days in public safety when I lived and breathed my way through Fire, EMS and POTA!

First project done. I like mag wells on 1911's. I brought the patience and discretion and learned hand-fitting one file stroke at a time. Easily the most important part is knowing where to remove metal in the stack from the top of the MSH to the top of the firing pin block pushrod. I don't know why, it just completes the look, IMO.

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[tact]

90s Kimbers good….after….ehh

[Joelski]

I got lucky. I wanted a project and now I have one and it didn't cost me a thing. Excising the MIM parts and learning the ins and outs of hand fitting parts as I go will correct the alleged sins of the company. Truthfully, it shoots fine, but I won't deny my compulsion to fck with stuff and make it better, if only for knowing it doesn't have cast parts anymore. It's accurate, takes what it's given, and its tight as a block of steel. It just happens to have a less than desirable roll stamp or two. I can live with that. This is also what I needed to influence my decision to purchase something pricier and more widely accepted as I now know I won't have buyer's remorse when I do make that move. A shitty gun might not have given me complete pause, but I don't buy on impulse (much) anymore.

[Joelski]

And so, my education 1911 pistolsmithing begins! Got the de-facto bibles, got all the parts necessary to relieve the Kimber of it's mim albatross, and I have a willing, established smith to help me with advice, established standards, etc.. I am going into this knowing I'm not going to increase the value of my project gun, other than to make it something I'll keep as my "first". For me, this is a far better use of discretionary funds than reloading as it's held my interest, transfers to basically any 1911 made, and provides an almost endless source of tools to acquire!

For software, I have a lot more kindle books that I've picked up and gobbled the past month, giving me a range of builders and advisory content to pull from. To say it's not a cheap endeavor would be an understatement! Next step as far as ownership will be a DW of some sort. Still diggin' the SA Prodigy for a 2011, but it can still benefit from more time maturing and working out bugs although it seems the gun was magically fixed by swapping in a Checkmate mag; that simple swap cured much of the failures it experienced from failure to chamber to failure to eject and lockback issues. The BUL isn't a bad gun either, although its had teething problems, likely more related to being a relatively young company to the US market. It is nice though, having more budget-friendly options (relatively) to STI and WC.

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[FortTom]

Had the manual on the left for many editions.