Kimber conversion unit

American Handgunner, July-August, 2004 by Charles E. Petty

A few issues ago we told you about the Kimber Rimfire Target .22 caliber pistol. Now the top half--with a few changes--is available as a conversion unit that will fit most Government Model pistols. Mechanically it's the same with the exception of a cut to allow the existing ejector to clear the slide.

One of the perils of getting new stuff early is sometimes you find an oops. That's what happened here for when I tried to put the unit on a Series 80 Colt frame it fit perfectly but you couldn't pull the trigger. Investigation discovered the Kimber slide did not provide quite enough clearance for the Series 80 parts. A call to Kimber revealed they knew about it and had already made a correction. My slide went home and came back a few days later with a small clearance cut added. No more problem.

The conversion unit was tried on several frames but ended up living on a steel frame from Chip McCormick. It was checkered and had an ambi-safety for my southpaw-ness. As with the other guns there was a little break in period before it would function well with standard velocity amino but alter about 200 rounds no further difficulties were noted.

The conversion was tested with the same eight types of ammo as the complete pistols, and 24 ten-shot groups at 25 yd. averaged 1. 10" from the Ransom Rest. It liked match ammo best, but the worst average was 1.5", which really ain't bad. On the steel frame the until is virtually recoilless and you can zip through a ten shot magazine in seconds and really ruin a pop can's day.

Kimber Manufacturing, 1 Lawton St., Yonkers, NY 10705: (888) 243-4522: www.kimbermfg.com