Posted: 6/19/2005 8:48:41 PM EDT
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I just got back from a week in the San Diego area, and was lucky enough to tour the DET-1 armory. Though words cannot describe the drool factor, I thought I would share some interesting thoughts after speaking with the armorer. First, the armorer (MSGT Kitishima, I think) was a most interesting guy. He definitely knows his way around a 1911, and M4s, various .308, .338, and .50 cal sniper systems, and on and on. These guys have some bad ass weaponry. I won't go into all of the really high tech stuff, as I don't know how sensitive the more exotic stuff is. A lot of it I know is not secretive. The coolest thing to me was the .223 PARA-SAW that was very short and light. Also, they were very excited about some new scopes they got from HORUS Vision. The glass was awesome, and though it has a very busy reticle, it makes shot adjustment very quick. Anyway, back to Kimbers. Kitishima, or Kit for short, had some very interesting observations regarding their particular pistols. He feels there is nothing wrong with MIM per se, and feels that all parts, whether cast, MIM, or forged, can break. Some may be a little stronger than others (he favors S-7 fire control parts from Nowlin), but MIM is not inherently weak. Also, he likes the idea of external extractors, and feels that Kimber almost has it right. He feels their's is a little too short, and that the easiest fix is a slightly stronger spring, making it superior to internal extractors. Now, this guy's opinions seem pretty important to me, since he has seen a lot of real world use and failure of guns, and knows what works and does not. He is very highly trained, and very skilled from the work I saw on his bench. Guys like him and Larry Vickers build guns for some of the most demanding end users our miitary has. I was surprised to hear his opinions on MIM and external extractors. Also, he favors stainless for Marine guns, feeling it holds up better in harsh environments and can easily be painted. Another interesting thing was a small amount of Kimbers that they recently acquired. I saw these towards the end of my visit, and really did not pay attention to the details, so I'm just going from a cursory inspection. They appeared to be the Compact Stainless II, with night sights. They were definitely all stainless, but I cannot remember for sure if they were Series II or if they were Pros, instead of Compacts. At any rate, they had about a dozen of these for select team members. Anyway, they have top notch gear, and the people I met were of the highest caliber. Their Kimbers were all rode hard, which was nice to see. It was a very exciting experience for me. |
Funny, but I did not ask. I figured that any real world ops they went on were classified. Later, when I left, I learned that I was wrong. I forgot to ask if they shot anyone in Iraq with a handgun. However, he did say that the guns were pretty good from the factory. He spoke pretty highly of them. Also, since I know nothing of military stuff, I figured I would let them do the talking about that stuff, and I would reserve my questions. I was really hoping those guys would brag a little, but they were all very low key and humble. |
definitly how you tell the real deal compared to armchair commandos. |