The only thing more American than the 1911 might be our insatiable desire for “more.” If you ask a purist, they’ll say that the only way to improve the design is to add capacity. Now, it might have taken another 100 years to get there, but it’s safe to say we satisfied that crowd with the 2011, and thanks to the influx of recent introductions, it’s here to stay. While dealers’ shelves have been flooded by dozens of both domestically built and imported renditions, one iconic entity has yet to put its hat in the ring—until now. Known for its 1911s, Kimber has finally introduced a full-size 2011-style pistol, and it is nothing short of breathtaking. Dubbed the 2K11, let’s just say I’m going to need to re-stock my ammunition supply.
The 2K11 is an all-metal, semi-automatic pistol that mates an aluminum grip module to a stainless-steel frame, which coincides with the stainless-steel barrel and slide. This gives it the heft it needs to shoot flat, without the need for a compensator. At present, it is available in both 9 mm and .45 ACP, with the former chosen for this test. In this chambering, Kimber includes a pair of 20-round magazines, plus a 17-rounder for the times you might want a flush fit.
The solid-black rear assembly is paired with a bright-green fiber-optic post that quickly draws the eye • Beneath the slide’s cover plate is an optics cut to which mounting plates can be attached • A flush-fit bull barrel adds welcome mass where it’s needed most • The 2K11 ships with one 17-round magazine and two 20-rounders, providing nearly 60 rounds at the ready • The GT match-grade trigger serves as a key component to the pistol’s shootability • A Stan Chen mag well fosters fumble-free reloads • A high-swept beavertail grip safety allows the pistol to sit low in the hand for maximum control.
Deep slide serrations are cut both fore and aft to assist with racking. However, as internal work has been done to relax this operation, you almost don’t need them. Fine checkering encompasses the grip, increasing firing-hand purchase and contrasting the sheen of the rest of the components. Kimber adorned the trigger and barrel with a golden hue to set them apart from the rest of the grey tones used throughout.
You’ll find your typical control set on the 2K11, which includes an oversize, ambidextrous thumb safety. This southpaw always appreciates that, as I cannot look at a 1911 (or 2011) seriously without one. There is indeed a grip safety, but I’m happy to report that it only needs to be depressed minimally to disengage. Therefore, if you’re a little short-handed, you ought not have any trouble working with this pistol. The pushbutton magazine release was surprisingly standard, and if anything, a little stiff. This leaves us with the trigger, which I found to be the polar opposite. Breaking nicely at 3.5 pounds on the dot, I found it to be quite crisp with a snappy reset—perfect for multiple-round engagements. There’s also a setscrew to adjust for overtravel, but I found it arrived perfectly tuned from the factory.
The gun ships with a great pair of iron sights, which includes a front fiber-optic post. Oddly, these aren’t adjustable, save drifting the front-sight housing, as the pistol is built to be run with an optic, as most guns are these days. Kimber includes a plate to mount an RMR-pattern red dot with the gun and offers plates for other optic footprints on its website. Part of me wishes there was a native footprint cut into the slide, as I like to eliminate plates whenever possible, but c’est la vie.
Let’s address the two-toned elephant in the room: 2011s can be finicky eaters. Therefore, I made sure to pick a wide variety of bullet weights to see how well Kimber did tackling this facet. On the heavy side was Winchester’s Target & Practice 147-grain load. This load features a truncated-cone projectile, which also makes for a good test of the feed ramp. For lighter fare, I selected Federal’s new lead-free training round. Seventy grains of copper matrix doesn’t exactly produce a heck of a lot of recoil impulse, so for a 2011 to run them, it needs to be built right. Last was a regular 115-grain Remington load, also built for indoor ranges.
In testing, the trigger was an absolute dream for slow-fire stuff, and even off the bag, recoil was minimal. Groups were about what I’d expect for standard ammo through a pistol built to be run fast, so I also ran several magazines through a course of fire that required rapid follow-up shots, transitions and reloads. I had to force the reload, because having 20 rounds on deck felt endless. Squeezing off splits in the teens was no trouble at all, and putting multiple rounds in the A-zone took little input from me, as the muzzle nearly returned to the original point-of-aim by itself. Most importantly, it ate all three types of ammo without a hiccup.
Before I knew it, the Kimber had digested 450 rounds of ammunition all before noon. The smooth-shooting nature of the pistol is the largest contributing factor to this, and the gentle recoil left me in a position to easily shoot more.
Accurate enough for precision target work, I found the pistol really shone in a run-and-gun arena, making the real expense the amount of ammo you can expect to go through on a given range day. On a bright note, it’s getting cheap again, so there’s no better time to invest in a race gun, as a design this good only comes around once every 100 years.
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