Posted: 1/7/2010 10:14:32 AM EDT
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Well, my daily carry piece is getting a little long in the tooth. It was an Astra A70 I bought over 10 years ago and it loved me long time. However, it wasn't a premium quality firearm to begin with, and after countless rounds downrange and years of banging around on my belt, it's developed some bad habits. Time to retire her to some respectable place in the lineup, but she has to be removed from primary protection duty, if you know what I mean.
Enter the new Kimber Ultra Carry II CDP. This is one sexy little piece of machinery. Fits perfectly in the same leather I've used for the Astra 9MM for years, and it's actually LIGHTER that the 9MM (which has a steel frame). Holds the same number of rounds, but, ahem, they're a little bigger. The two pistols are pretty much identical in size, which I like. Only one day at the range so far, and 100 rounds at a time out of a 3" .45 is about enough for me. She ran absolutely perfectly though, eating up one box of blazer steel, and one box of Montana cheapo stuff. .45 Ammo is still a bit hard to find in my neck of the woods! Here's the beauty... http://jeremyw.smugmug.com/photos/759540703_EGxAv-XL.jpg And here's her first 15 rounds (1-8 on the right, 9-15 on the left). This was my first trip to the range in a couple of months, and my first 15 rounds of the day. http://jeremyw.smugmug.com/photos/759540305_eD4tK-XL.jpg Needless to say, I'm pretty enamored with my new girlfriend. I think we'll be together for a long, long time. Well, that's all for now, I'm off to take her out for a little more exercise! |
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Another 100 through her today without a hiccup. So far, I'm more than impressed. The trigger is a little heavy for my tastes at the range, but really is perfect for a carry gun.
Now it's time to break her down for another bath, and make another run to the ammo dump. |
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Quoted:
The CDPs are nice pistols, and for some reason folks always seem to underestimate the accuracy of a 3" 1911. I recommend the 230 Grain Gold Dot Short barrel loads. They are what I carry in my Ultra. 
I'll have to check those out too, my daily carry is an UC ll stainless in .45. I love it, about 1K or better down the pipe with no hiccups. |
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Update to original post...
Ok, now sitting at 400 rounds. 350 rounds of assorted cheap factory loads, mostly Blazer (not brass) have run flawlessly. I did visit a friend out of town and bought a box of the only .45 we could find at his local gun shop. It was RAM reloaded junk (from Kansas), and the gun didn't like it one bit. The ammo ran VERY dirty, and I had about 6 FTE's out of the box of 50. It left the spent case either all the way in the chamber, or pulled out maybe 1/8". A quick complaint to the "gentleman" at the shop that sold it to me netted me a box of 20 .223 rounds, and his opinion that I must have been limp wristing... Yeah, won't be shopping there anymore. After blasting through that box of junk, the gun was absolutely filthy, black soot and powder chunks everywhere. I had 15 rounds of blazer still in my pocket, and ran them through the dirty gun with no problems. Another 100 rounds of blazer after I cleaned her, all went perfectly. So, the ONLY malfunctions so far were FTE's, and those were all out of the same box of crappy ammo. I'm not concerned with that at all. My wife enjoys shooting, but isn't a gun nut. She really loves the .22 buckmark, but doesn't like shooting the XDM 9MM due to recoil. She absolutely loves shooting this baby Kimber. I can tell she develops a little flinch after a mag or two (not surprising with a 3" aluminum framed .45), but she still loves the gun. I'm now looking for a nice, full size, steel 1911 for her in 9MM or maybe .40, I bet she'd enjoy that even more. |
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Quoted:
The CDPs are nice pistols, and for some reason folks always seem to underestimate the accuracy of a 3" 1911. This. +1. I have a full size SA 1911, which shoots pretty good, but my buddies Kimber Ultra Carry II CDP shoots better than my full size. This WILL be my next carry gun. It's awesome. |
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Quoted:
The CDPs are nice pistols, and for some reason folks always seem to underestimate the accuracy of a 3" 1911. I recommend the 230 Grain Gold Dot Short barrel loads. They are what I carry in my Ultra.
When I had my Kimber Ultra Carry II it was as accurate as my Government 1911s with the same 230gr. ammo and 100% reliable. I regret selling it to this day. Needed the money though. 
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Well, another 250 rounds or so, and the gun is running great.
During practice yesterday, I did have one FTE on my second round. The case was a little wet with lube and the gun wasn't cleaned after 100 rounds a couple days ago. Another 50 rounds of practice with no repeat. After that, I decided to enter the "tuesday night races" (side by side plate rack races). Actually, my wife goaded me into it, and since I hadn't brought along anything more suitable, the Kimber got to play. Now, I wouldn't recommend entering any speed/accuracy based competition events with a 3" .45 running factory loads, you would have to be a hell of a lot better than me to do very well against much more suitable machinery. But, it's still fun and usefull take the carry gun out to play. I won two prizes. Loudest gun and biggest fireball. Missed last place by a hair!!! |
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I hear these are really good
http://www.comp-tac.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=95 |