I was tempted to title this post something like “1911gasm” but I resisted. Needless to say there was a lot of lead-up to my purchase and now I could not have been happier.

Sorry in advance if this post is a little Portland OR/Vancouver WA centric.

Ahh… The look of the barrel and guide rod is on of my favorite aspects of the 1911.

Background:

I started shooting 1911s more by accident than anything else. I have a membership at the Public Safety Training Center. A shooting range (run by the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office) that I love due to its clean, safe and friendly atmosphere.

They have a large selection of rental guns that my friends and I were slowly working our way through. I had shot the HK USP.45 and thought that it was a piece of junk so I moved on. It might have been the subtle guidance of the staff but I ended up trying the Kimber Custom II 1911. It was love at first shot. Not only was it point and shoot simple but it had a recoil that did not feel that much more than my XD9.

In the following weeks, my wife got a chance to shoot the 1911. Prior to that experience she was thinking a Glock might be the right gun for her. She instantly changed her mind. My wife tends to pass immediate and final judgment. When she shot the USP, she fired one magazine, put it down and walked away. After firing one mag from the 1911, she turned around and told me to go buy another box of .45.

The Hunt Begins:

Having received my wife’s blessing to add yet another gun to my collection (yes I run it by her first because of all the people you piss off, your wife should not be one), I started looking around. The local big box retailer has one or two 1911s and maybe one Kimber. Other local gun shops were either saying six month wait or forget it, we can’t get them. Dealer friends were telling me to look a Gunbroker.com because I was not going to find them anywhere in Portland.

So not expecting much I attended the Portland Gun Show. A co-worker had told me to check out Keith’s Sporting Goods (a shop that generally occupies two full rows at the show). They had a large selection of Kimbers but did not have one with an all steel frame.

This is important. I was looking for the most basic Kimber 1911 I could find, with the requirement that the frame be steel. The reason for this is mostly about recoil but also about wear and tear. This requirement came from the range officers and trusted friends who know their guns.

So I left the show with no gun. I called Keith’s Sporting Goods the following Monday to see if they had what I was looking for in the store. The lady who answered the phone said they did! She also told me that these guns were at the show, which the staff at the show contradicted. Anyway I drove myself out to their store which took almost an hour with traffic. Low and behold they had my gun. They had lots of Kimbers, a huge inventory. Impressed with Keith’s selection (but not their service) I bought the gun.

Field Stripping My New Kimber Stainless II For The First Time

The gun was transferred from Oregon to Washington the next day. I picked it up and Clark County Gunsmiths (a really nice guy, by the way). Then I waited until the next day to go shooting.

In the mean time I figured I would field strip it and start getting familiar with the guts of this gun. I loaded up some youtubes on the subject and began. As soon as I rotated the barrel bushing, the recoil string plug blasted out the front of the gun and hit the ceiling. Luckily, I was practicing good gun safety and did not have the thing pointed at my face. Otherwise this post would have been titled “Love/Hate: How My Kimber Stainless II 1911 Took Out My Eye”.

Shooting My New Kimber Stainless II For The First Time

My buddie did not know I had a new gun. When we walked into the range he asked if I though we should rent the Kimber. I said maybe. When we got to the counter I asked for a box of .45. My buddie, knowing that I have a 9mm, knew something was up. I produced the case from my range bag and proudly showed off my new purchase. The range officers were all excited as well. They started handing out all the information I would need to know as a new 1911 owner. Wear goggles when you field strip (which I found out by myself), break in periods, spring change periods, cleaning and stripping advice, magazine advice, and modification advice. And in to the range we went.

My friend recorded the following:

As soon as he turned off the camera he said, “its like its someone else shooting”, referring to my usual lack of skills compared to his natural talent and military training.

As soon as we were done at the range, he insisted that we drive directly to Keith’s so he could buy one too. Even thought he has been planning on buying one as well, shooting mine lit the fire under him. He ended up buying the Kimber Stainless TLE II.

Oh the trigger on a 1911… This should he high on the list of things to remember doing for the first time.

Final Note on Keith’s Sporting Goods

There are some good places for gun n00bs and there are some not so good. Keith’s sells like 800 guns a month so they are very transactional, you have to know what you want when you go in there. The staff is not friendly and not chatty. They do however have more guns than anyone else in Portland and maybe the Northwest. This is not a rebuke of Keith’s, its a family run shop that hits what they aim for. You just need to know that going in.

New to Guns?

Gun Nuts just like any other group are a mixed bag. Some will talk to n00bs for hours others are arrogant. If you are new to guns check out shops like C&C guns in Vancouver where the volume is lower, the prices are the same, they lack the inventory but the are very nice and will tell you anything you want to know. Also there is no shame is saying you are a n00b up front. That’s how you get the best advice.