Wilson CQB or Kimber Gold Combat
- Thread starter S.S.45
- Start date
AC's & 45's
New member
If you want and or prefer a full size 1911 for carry, good for you. I hate it when I ask for advice and immediately get expert opinions on how I'd be better served by something else. I'd say go with the CQB. It is still a series 70 style pistol and I feel it may be be better built. I am no expert but I have yet to handle any Kimber that exudes quality like the Wilson's. I really like the CQB, too bad I really can't afford my very own at this time.
automainea
New member
if i had the money i would try the wilson i own three kimbers and all are super fine in quaility and performance my only problem is when i get all but 3 to 400.oo close to the cost of a wilson i start getting the gun jitters and just about the same time kimber comes out with a new style and i cave in
but i am going to try and hold out next time for the wilson good luck on yours
but i am going to try and hold out next time for the wilson good luck on yoursTake a look at the Kimber Custom CDP. I prefer full size 1911's, and the aluminum frame shaves half a pound off the weight, with no decrease in performance with heavier (and hotter) loads. I carry it all day, and it is NOTHING like other 1911's in the weight or custom accessories departments. Good luck and good shooting.
My vote goes for the Ed Brown Kobra, or the Kobra Carry( The Kobra Carry is a Commander size gun.) A top notch gun right out of the box. Take a look at www.edbrown.com Can't hurt to just take a look. Right?
kalibear45
New member
I would go with the Wilson. However, Les Baers are also now on the certified list for Kalifornia approved handguns...
I have a full size CQB in the black/green color scheme and a CQB Compact in the black/grey color scheme. I absolutely love both of these guns. What has surprised me is how good the compact model shoots. IMHO, it fits the bill for an ideal carry gun and beats out the full size CQB in this regard. It certainly beats out any Kimber.
BloodyThumb
New member
I have two Kimbers. I have had both for quite a while, to the point that they are not recent manufacture. Both are great.
One is an early custom shop compact called "Elite Carry". Other than the night sights only lasting about 5 years before they died, it has been a great little piece. I would estimate 5 or 6 thousand rounds fired.
The other is a full size custom. This one is still box stock, has been carried backpacking, camping, etc, and shot MANY MANY rounds with the Kimber 45 upper, and with a 22 Conversion kit. I have not tracked the number of rounds on either of these, but I am quite sure the full size is over 10k in 45, and who knows how many in .22. No problems at all... period...
Both have been 100%, as long as I stick to Wilson mags.
For the sake of sake of qualification, I also have three Wilson's, an Ed Brown, a recent Springfield, and couple of old 70 series Colts, and a very old Clark Pin gun. They are not part of a collection. They are all fired, most regularly. I have been competing with 1911 for about 20 years and shoot at least twice a week.
Now... I have a friend that is in the market for his first 1911, and we have been looking for a particular Kimber model that was recently discontinued, called the Stainless Covert. So, every time I go into a shop, I look for one of these for him. I was recently in a large sporting good store in a nearby city, and went by the gun counter to look for Kimbers. He had several, but none of the model I was looking for. Business was slow, and the sales guy, who had recently started working at this shop, happened to be someone I had seen around at some of the regional matches. He too said that he had a couple of older Kimbers and was very happy with them. In the course of our conversation, I asked to look at one of the Gold Match Kimbers he had in the case.
The first one, had a decent trigger, I would guess just a little less than 4 pounds, with just a little creep. Not too bad. The Blue was VERY nice, and overall the slide / barrel / frame fit was very good as well.
On the other hand, the safety was horrid. It was heavy, seemed to have a spot in the middle of its travel where it let up, and then got heavy again. There was no "positive" feeling at either end of the travel. It was honestly one of the worst feeling safeties I have ever felt on a new gun.
When I pointed it out to the sale guy, he agreed, and went back and pulled two others that he had in stock. To make a long story short, we looked over all three pretty well. While the other two safeties were better than the first, none were acceptable. One of them had an extremely heavy trigger pull, and the third was great. Again, about 4 pounds, and very crisp. One of the other two also had a very sticky grip safety that showed blue wear on the side from contacting the frame…. And this one was right out of the box.
We put these away and pulled one of the new Eclipse models out of the case. It had the same, but not quite as pronounced, problem with the safety. At that point, I ran out of time, and my sales friend seemed to be running out of patience with the Kimbers.
To make a long story short, we looked at 4 brand new pistols, 3 of which were over $1K, and the other just under. Each of them displayed some very good workmanship in some areas, but each also had at least one problem that should not be seen in a brand new gun in this price range… I would not have considered buying any of the ones I looked at.
In fairness, I have to say that I recently bought a Springfield TRP Operator, and went through 3 of those to find one I would buy. The one I got has proven itself, after about 2500 rounds, but the other two had some significant problems. I posted the detail here at TFL on those as well.
Which, I guess, is a long was to go about saying… If I were you, I would resign myself to closely inspecting many Kimbers (or any brand for that matter) to find one without any problems, or I would just buy the Wilson… I know two people who have had some difficulties with the KZ45, which were remedied by the Wilson shop very quickly, but mine have been flawless from day one… One is a CQB Compact, one a DCP that I had build on a Stainless 80 series Colt, and the other is a 130 Master Grade that I bought in the mid 80's. The CQB and the DCP each are well over 20K rounds. Routine maintenance and spring changes only. The old Master Grade has been back for a tune up as well, but then it has a LOT more use.
Just my opinion, but based on MY experience with MY guns, and my recent inspection of only four Kimbers….
One is an early custom shop compact called "Elite Carry". Other than the night sights only lasting about 5 years before they died, it has been a great little piece. I would estimate 5 or 6 thousand rounds fired.
The other is a full size custom. This one is still box stock, has been carried backpacking, camping, etc, and shot MANY MANY rounds with the Kimber 45 upper, and with a 22 Conversion kit. I have not tracked the number of rounds on either of these, but I am quite sure the full size is over 10k in 45, and who knows how many in .22. No problems at all... period...
Both have been 100%, as long as I stick to Wilson mags.
For the sake of sake of qualification, I also have three Wilson's, an Ed Brown, a recent Springfield, and couple of old 70 series Colts, and a very old Clark Pin gun. They are not part of a collection. They are all fired, most regularly. I have been competing with 1911 for about 20 years and shoot at least twice a week.
Now... I have a friend that is in the market for his first 1911, and we have been looking for a particular Kimber model that was recently discontinued, called the Stainless Covert. So, every time I go into a shop, I look for one of these for him. I was recently in a large sporting good store in a nearby city, and went by the gun counter to look for Kimbers. He had several, but none of the model I was looking for. Business was slow, and the sales guy, who had recently started working at this shop, happened to be someone I had seen around at some of the regional matches. He too said that he had a couple of older Kimbers and was very happy with them. In the course of our conversation, I asked to look at one of the Gold Match Kimbers he had in the case.
The first one, had a decent trigger, I would guess just a little less than 4 pounds, with just a little creep. Not too bad. The Blue was VERY nice, and overall the slide / barrel / frame fit was very good as well.
On the other hand, the safety was horrid. It was heavy, seemed to have a spot in the middle of its travel where it let up, and then got heavy again. There was no "positive" feeling at either end of the travel. It was honestly one of the worst feeling safeties I have ever felt on a new gun.
When I pointed it out to the sale guy, he agreed, and went back and pulled two others that he had in stock. To make a long story short, we looked over all three pretty well. While the other two safeties were better than the first, none were acceptable. One of them had an extremely heavy trigger pull, and the third was great. Again, about 4 pounds, and very crisp. One of the other two also had a very sticky grip safety that showed blue wear on the side from contacting the frame…. And this one was right out of the box.
We put these away and pulled one of the new Eclipse models out of the case. It had the same, but not quite as pronounced, problem with the safety. At that point, I ran out of time, and my sales friend seemed to be running out of patience with the Kimbers.
To make a long story short, we looked at 4 brand new pistols, 3 of which were over $1K, and the other just under. Each of them displayed some very good workmanship in some areas, but each also had at least one problem that should not be seen in a brand new gun in this price range… I would not have considered buying any of the ones I looked at.
In fairness, I have to say that I recently bought a Springfield TRP Operator, and went through 3 of those to find one I would buy. The one I got has proven itself, after about 2500 rounds, but the other two had some significant problems. I posted the detail here at TFL on those as well.
Which, I guess, is a long was to go about saying… If I were you, I would resign myself to closely inspecting many Kimbers (or any brand for that matter) to find one without any problems, or I would just buy the Wilson… I know two people who have had some difficulties with the KZ45, which were remedied by the Wilson shop very quickly, but mine have been flawless from day one… One is a CQB Compact, one a DCP that I had build on a Stainless 80 series Colt, and the other is a 130 Master Grade that I bought in the mid 80's. The CQB and the DCP each are well over 20K rounds. Routine maintenance and spring changes only. The old Master Grade has been back for a tune up as well, but then it has a LOT more use.
Just my opinion, but based on MY experience with MY guns, and my recent inspection of only four Kimbers….