Kimber .40

American Handgunner, Annual, 2000 by Charles E. Petty

Here's accuracy and reliability right out of the box.

It was a bit of a surprise when Kimber announced it was offering a .40 S&W chambering. While the Kimber .45s have been top performers, other calibers built on the GM platform have not always worked as well. Many were temperamental feeders.

In addition, during the early life of the .40 S&W, if was difficult to get more than marginal accuracy. It turned out to be a combination of gun and ammo issues. They have been resolved to the point that most duty guns deliver 3 to 4" 25 yard accuracy. Despite the improvements, how would a Kimber .40 S&W perform?

As a test bed for .40 S&W ammo, the Kimber upheld the company's reputation for accurate pistols. After a couple of trips to the range, it was obvious that the Kimber .40 S&W was more than a humble test pistol.

Foremost, the pistol is both accurate and reliable. Shot extensively, it only had one magazine related malfunction. Kimber uses Mec-Gar magazines which have a spacer at the back to accommodate the shorter .40 S&W cartridge. Early in the range test, the last round failed to feed. It never happened again-- perhaps a passing gremlin.

The test pistol was a beautifully polished, stainless steel Kimber Gold Match. The flat surfaces are mirror-like while the rounded parts have a matte bead-blasted finish. It's a pleasing combination.

This stunning finish on Kimber's high-grade pistols is accomplished by meticulous hand polishing at the company's plant in Yonkers, N.Y. One downside to the finish is it's so nice it demands an extra measure of care to avoid marring. Not a bad trade-off, though.

Ignoring the chamber markings and bore size, the pistol looks like all other Kimber stainless target models. It wears Kimber's adjustable rear sight, a dovetailed front sight, full-length guide rod, target trigger, ambidextrous safety and humpbacked grip safety. One nice change Kimber made is the use of hex head screws for the grips and magazine catch.

Mechanically, the only difference is the .40 S&W carriers a ramped barrel. This provides full support for the cartridge case and assists in reliable feeding. As with other Kimber target-grade pistols, there is virtually no slide play when the barrel is locked-up. A faint rub mark can be seen on the bottom lugs where the slide-stop pin makes contact While it isn't as firm as truly custom pistols, it's far more secure than most issue guns.

The proof is in the pistol's accuracy. The Kimber was tested with five different loads, both defense and recreational ammo. Interestingly, it delivered the smallest groups with the least expensive ammo: Federal's American Eagle 165 gr. FMJ. This line of bargain ammo, always a good deal, doesn't give away any accuracy for its reasonable price.

The Kimber .40 S&W averaged 2.19" with all loads tested. During test shoots, the focus is often on the smallest group to the exclusion of the bigger picture. Yes, the little groups the Federal load delivered were notable, but the average of 150 rounds (three 10-shot groups with five different loads) is probably a much more reliable measure of how the pistol is going to shoot over time in the real world. None of the ammo tested performed badly and that's the good news. The .40 S&W is close to the performance offered by the Kimber Gold Match .45.

The addition of the .40 S&W was a logical growth direction for Kimber. The .40 S&W is becoming more and more popular in Limited Class competition and Kimber's offering is ready to go from the box. It has Kimber's good trigger, accuracy and reliability. All it needs is a checkered front strap.

                           ACCURACY TEST RESULTS
LOAD                               VEL.        1     2     3    AVG.
Federal Hydra-Shok 165 gr.         992 fps   2.52" 2.42" 2.63" 2.52"
Federal American Eagle 165 gr. FMJ 1,051 fps 1.48" 1.63" 1.25" 1.45"
Speer Gold Dot 180 gr. JHP         1,019 fps 2.41" 2.04" 1.77" 2.08"
Pro Load 155 gr. JHP               1,112 fps 2.66" 2.34" 2.17" 2.39"
Remington Golden Saber 165 gr.     1,106 fps 2.85" 2.00" 2.64" 2.49"
AVERAGE AT 25 YARDS:                                           2.19"