Hi Harley Man. Welcome to TFL and please tell the wife I said hello
I finally leave for my trip this coming Tuesday so you won't see me up at the Trop for 6-7 weeks.
Back to your question, personally, I do not care for the Kimber "custom" guns. I had three of their highest end models and each had minor problems. A couple months ago, I was given a stainless Gold Match that still hasn't been fired. I might end up selling it to the Trop after my trip.
To the naked eye, the CDP's are very beautiful. They provide you with a lot of custom features that would normally cost a ton of money. However, upon closer inspection, the checkering isn't very good. It's basically straight cut lines. The next time we see each other, I'll show you the checkering on my Baers and Wilsons. You'll notice a drastic difference.
In addition, the CDP's are a crap shoot with the triggers. Sometimes you get a sweet, crisp trigger pull. Other times, there's either creep or it's a fairly heavy pull. The next time you go to the Trop, dry fire all the CDP's there and you'll notice a difference between all of them.
Lastly, I never had a problem with the MIM parts like some others. Many people feel that you should replace the MIM parts immediately. IMO, if you're going to shoot it occasionally, then leave the parts alone until they break.
If you want to stick to the CDP price range, buy a Kimber Pro Carry. Then have a smith install Novak night sights. Buy some nice wood grips and bingo, you have a very functional carry gun. If checkering is a must, then you can always have that done later down the road. It'll still come out to less then a CDP.
BTW, how's the Dillon XL650 coming along? Did you start reloading on it yet?
I just noticed this is post 1776. Good year