A pre-Series II Kimber Compact Aluminum Stainless up against a Dan Wesson CCO, both in .45acp. Is the old as good as the new? Website: www.riders-range.com
granddad1911, thanks for watching and for commenting. The Great Affordable 1911 Series is a 22-part look at 44 different 1911s. I'll be uploading part 19 later this week.
Your assessment of Kimber is 100% accurate. They had the market cornered & the world at their fingertips in the late 90’s & early 2000’s. They let QC issues be their Achilles heel sadly & have been slowly recovering. Thanks for another great comparison vid!
Steven, Kimber may or may not be recovering. I don't think ANY New York company is really recovering right now, but with Kimber's catalog of "a gun for every taste", who knows?. Thanks for watching and for commenting.
The rounded off mainspring housing makes a big difference for me when shooting a lot at the range. The squared off grip digs into my hand on some guns. Great review. Thanks.
Really glad you featured the Kimber Compact; there isn't enough acknowledgement of how great this gun is. I just saw one on GunBroker for less than $600. Throw on a Wilson flat wire kit and there's no need for a take down tool or paperclip.
Ryan, thanks for your comment on the Kimber Compact. A year or two ago Kimber had the Compact CDP II in the catalog with the rounded grip frame like the DW CCO, but that’s gone now. The only new Compact CDP II pistols I see on Gunbroker all appear to be the older style, but at a premium price.
@@RidersRange Those CDPs are nice, but I love the original steel frame versions. I dont mind the weight, and have more refinishing options when i (inevitably) start modifying it.
Ryan, that’s where the steel frame Dan Wesson PM-C, Fusion Freedom CCO, or STI Guardian (1911, not 2011) come in. The Fusion Freedom is also under $900.
As always, great shooting! I have nothing to add, except to say I sold my Colt DS yesterday...lol! Between the zillion people who have told me that older Colts are expensive to repair, and your single post in your revolver video, I unloaded it for what I paid. I’m NOW resting peacefully. 🤣🤣👍👍👍👍👍 EDITED: “Now” not “Not”
Ive noticed 99.9% of magazines not locking back the slide after the last round is user error...especially with the tacticool shooting grip...you sometimes ride or bump the slide stop just enough...its happened to me using the tacticool grip...now i shoot with my left thumb over the right( right handed shooter) so nothing is near the slide or slide stop...
This was a great comparative video! It reminds me of the rivalry that I have with my younger brother. We're Both: Marines, Love 1911's, BUT he prefers Kimber and I Dan Wesson! I'm sharing this with him And checking out the rest of your channel content, GREAT JOB!
Wayne, I got an email notification of your recent comment on this video, but that comment doesn't show up here. RU-vid does strange things. Anyway, thanks for subscribing and commenting. (Edit: Same thing for your comment on Part 13 of the series and a couple others. Strange. Feel free to email me info@riders-range.com)
Michael, CNC machining has done wonders for the firearms industry, as it has for almost all manufacturing. However, the best 1911s still need some hand fitting.
Thanks, treesablowin. Once-upon-a-time (and disregarding the "I hate all Kimbers" camp), Kimbers were considered the top-of-the-line "production" 1911 by many, myself included. This pre-Series II is a good example of the Kimber craft of old. However, I believe Dan Wesson now makes the best fitting "production" 1911 and can hold their own against most semi-custom pistols. I may have to do a comparison between Kimber, Dan Wesson and Wilson at some point. Having all three, I would stake my life on any of them, but so far, my Wilsons seem to have slightly better fit than DWs, and DWs seem to have slightly better fit than Kimbers.
John, there's a lot of "theory" here. The bull barrel has an advantage over a bushing on shorter barrels due to the way the barrel cants down at the rear when cycling. Also, "in theory", the tolerances can be better with a bull barrel, eliminating one of the two tolerance points of a bushing: barrel to bushing and bushing to slide, thus "theoretically" making for better accuracy. And a bushing-less barrel system is probably less expensive to manufacture. However, the more the gun cycles, the more wear there will be between the bull barrel and the slide, or between the barrel and the bushing, with the bushing often being the part to wear first. So, replacing and properly fitting a bushing is easier and less expensive than replacing and fitting a barrel or new slide, or welding up and re-fitting the slide to bull barrel. For all practical purposes, however, I don't see any actual accuracy advantage over the life of a gun between the two systems, unless one is looking at bullseye-type accuracy. But for general purposes, IDPA/IPSC, or defense, I don't personally think there is any significant difference at 25,000 rounds. Let's see how much discussion this can generate. In searching the Internet, there are many discussions on both. Thanks for a great question.
Rider's-Range @ John Jones the only issue with the bushing less design is takedown & reassembly. At least in my case with my Kimber Gold Combat. Everything else is the same as the old tried & trued 1911. Idk if you’ll ever fire enough rounds to see if either is more durable than the other.
Cal, if you want to watch gun people take sides, just mention Kimber. Some folks love them and swear by them, others hate them and swear at them. I own, or have owned, 15 Kimbers and have put several thousand rounds through many of them, but I haven't had a bad one yet.
flaco5581, I've had good experience with Kimbers (8 1911s, 2 Solos, 2 Micro 380s, 2 Micro 9s, a K6 and an EVO), but I believe Dan Wesson makes the top-of-the-line production 1911s. Thanks for commenting.
@@RidersRange interesting...I considered the solo years ago but then I read that if you used cheap range ammo instead of self defense ammo it could void your warranty and throw the weapon out of sync?
flaco5581, I don’t know about any “out of sync” issues, and as I understand the Kimber warranty, they only void it if reloads are used. I’ve run Herters, Fiocci, and even Blazer aluminum case through mine. They only have occasional issues when I run 115gr ammo through them, as they prefer 124gr or heavier. Nice thing about the Solo is the striker isn’t cocked like so many other pocket guns. AND, it still has the manual safety.
Just sent my Dan Wesson back to the company for the 3rd time. Couldn't fix it so they sent my money back.. Don't think I'll ever buy a Dan Western again.
