Kimber Cdp

American Handgunner, Sept, 2000 by Cameron Hopkins

A Limited Edition Of Three Custom Defense Pistols From The Leading 1911 Manufacturer In America

Kimber Of America emerged as an upstart in the handgun business five years ago with an audacious plan to market a 1911 pistol with a panoply of features normally found only on expensive custom pistols-- and to do it for $575. The idea was ludicrous: way more gun for way less money. Pistolsmiths like Ed Brown jeered, saying it was "impossible" to make such a gun.

The pundits and pistolsmiths were wrong. Not only did Kimber succeed in bringing forth a 1911 with better quality and more features, but also they totally redefined the market for Government Model pistols. Kimber drove Colt out of the 1911 business, literally, by the sheer force of their quality.

"We just can't compete with Kimber," bemoaned Joe Cartabona, a former Colt executive, when Colt made the earthshattering announcement that they were discontinuing virtually all 1911 production in late 1999.

Kimber now owns about 40 percent of the 1911 market, bitten in large chunks from Colt's share. That is a staggering accomplishment. Colt, despite all its miscalculations, mismanagement and miserable marketing, is still an icon of American firearms manufacturing. Colt was producing an average of 60,000 Government Models a year prior to Kimber's emergence; they will be lucky to make 5,000 this year.

On the other hand, Kimber is on pace to make 70,000 guns in Y2k. Unbelievable.

Take a classic gun like the 1911 and put state-of-the-art CNC machine centers to work in making it perfect and you have synergy. Synergy is what happened when Mark McGuire went to St. Louis. Amazing things can happen when just the right combination of ingredients come together.

Amazing things are exactly what's happening at Kimber right now. While their line of 1911 pistols now encompasses everything from ultra compact carry guns all the way through National Match target pistols, there was still a gap at the upper end for a truly superior defensive pistol. Calling on the best of the assemblers and craftsmen at Kimber's Yonkers, N.Y., factory, Kimber designers spec'd out a trio of guns called the Custom Defensive Pistol series, or CDP for short.

The guns are what we used to categorize as "lightweights" until aluminum became more or less standard. The CDPs feature frames made of 7075-T7 aluminum, the finest and strongest available, that have been tested to 20,000 rounds with no signs of cracks- common on Colt Lightweight Commanders- at the junction of the slide stop cutout and the frame rail.

One frame is standard length, accepting a normal 1911 magazine, and two are abbreviated frames (.400' shorter) taking Officer's-length magazines. The models are called the Ultra CDP, Compact CDP and Pro CDP. The Ultra has a short slide with a 3" barrel while the Compact and Pro both have 4" bushingless bull barrels in Commander-length slides.

Multi-Gun Test

This trio of Kimbers seemed to beg a multiplicity of testers. I wanted to get more than one expert opinion on the merits and demerits of this triumverate of .45s, so I tested the guns with four cohorts: two are Border Patrol agents, one is the owner of a local gunshop and the fourth is my neighbor, a former member of the U.S. Marines Marksmanship Team and firearms instructor.

Before getting to our overall impressions of the Kimbers, let's go over the basic features they share. All three guns sport low profile tritium sights-- a dot in the front sight and a pair in the rear. All three are two-tone finished with satin stainless steel slides set off by matte black anodized frames. This was a pleasing variation of the usual silver-on-black theme in which the frame, not the slide, is silver. All five evaluators rated "cosmetics and appearance" as top notch.

All three pistols feature bushingless bull barrels with double captive recoil springs on the Ultra 3" version. The 4" versions have a standard recoil spring. It is interesting to note that Kimber employs special Wolff springs in the 3" system, giving the little .45s the longest cycle time of any miniature 1911. One of the problems with shrinking the 1911 envelope down to a 3" barrel is that the slide, now of very little mass, moves so fast during cycling that the magazine spring may not have time to move the next round into proper feeding position. Kimber's system is the best for remedying this, along with a specially relieved breech face, tuned ejector and special slide stop dimensions to insure total feeding reliability.

There were no jams or misfeeds with well over 1,000 rounds fired. The Kimber system definitely works!

The CDP series features radically rounded edges and corners as popularized by pistolsmith Jim Clark in his "meltdown" conversion. The ultimate dehorn! All of the evaluators were notably impressed by the smoothness of the three pistols.

Needless to say, the CDP guns are adorned with the sort of features normally found only on custom guns-- and Kimbers. High ride beavertail grip safeties are mated precisely to the frames, accented with ambidextrous extended thumb safeties. The frames are undercut beneath the trigger guard to allow the highest possible grip for better recoil control.