Kimber's BP Ten II wideboy 1911

Guns Magazine, Sept, 2004 by Dick Williams

Over the years, the 1911 has carved a permanent niche in the hearts of Americans. However, we were rather under-whelmed with the initial high capacity polymer 1911, and I was one of those who shunned the ugly new child. But "Doctor" Kimber performed a face-lift, presented us with the new BP Ten II and I'm learning to love another kind of 1911.

The BP Ten is a high capacity, wide polymer frame 1911 with an insert machined from aluminum instead of steel to save weight. The test gun has a 5" barrel, a barrel bushing and slide serrations front and rear. The BP Ten wears Kimber's standard fixed rear sight, I think is the best fixed sight on the market. It's smooth and rounded on the front and top but has crisp edges where needed. The backside is undercut and serrated to prevent glare and is dovetailed into the slide with a set-screw for windage adjustments. The front blade is Kimber-standard and fits in a dovetail slot. The pistol has the standard Kimber trigger, a matte-black finish, 30 LPI checkering on the front strap, serrations under the trigger guard, and a strong side thumb safety. The BP Ten comes with a ten round, double stack magazine and has the company's external extractor.

Before starting the test, I made the classic "expert's" mistake; I failed to read the Kimber manual. It states proper break in requires 400 to 500 rounds of quality factory ball ammunition with a thorough cleaning and lubrication every 100 to 150 rounds. Given my slothful disposition and great experience with other Kimber pistols, I probably would have ignored the advice even if I had read the manual first. In fact, using jacketed ammunition, the gun had one failure to feed in the second magazine, but worked smoothly after that. Interestingly, the slide occasionally locked open before the magazine was empty, until I changed my grip, then all went well. I have short fingers and not much working time with double stack .45s, and with a two-handed grip, my thumbs crowded the slide stop.

Double stack magazines sometimes require their own break-in period. The first eight rounds went into the BP 10 more easily than any double stack magazines I've tried. But the ninth round was considerably more difficult, and I couldn't load the tenth round period. A suggestion from the factory is to leave the magazine loaded with eight rounds tot a couple of days and then insert another round. Kimber's web site claims the BP Ten's grip profile is essentially the same as a standard 1911, but that's a stretch. One look at the magazine well of the BP Ten next to a conventional single stack 1911 instantly shows differences. Kimber has done an excellent job of keeping the grip as thin as possible, and I was getting quite comfortable with it by the end of the shooting sessions. However, my hands felt a distinct difference between the single and double stack guns that necessitated some retraining.

Shooting tests employed Black Hills 185 grain JHP and 230 grain JHP ammunition while, and 200 grain semi-wadcutters were fired to check the pistol's reliability with this difficult bullet configuration. The 185 grain JHPs clocked around 1,030 fps while the 230 grain JHPs gave about 850 fps. Off-hand groups at 25 yards ranged from 2" to 3" or so, with the heavier JHPs having a slight edge. Groups were located slightly low and In the right, but Kimber bas sight blades of different heights for changing elevation.

The BP Ten's suggested retail price of $623 makes it a "must-see" pistol. By rounding the front of the trigger guard and slimming down the grip frame, Kimber has created an attractive and practical polymer double stack that should fit most adult hands. Equipped with pre-ban magazines having a capacity greater than 10 rounds, the BP Ten may be hard to beat as a defensive pistol. Even with 10 rounds, I suspect it will be the choice of many.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Model: BP Ten II

Manufacturer: Kimber

Caliber: 45ACP

Capacity: 10 rounds

Barrel Length: 5"

Sights: Kimber Fixed

Weight Unloaded: 30 ounces

Construction: Polymer frame with aluminum insert, steel slide and barrel

MSRP: $623