A review of the Kimber Pro Carry II in 9mm

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Combat Controller
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A review of the Kimber Pro Carry II in 9mm

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I have decided to retroactively review guns that I own or have owned to see how they stack up to use and carry.

I do this because for too long we have been subjected to reviews of guns right out of the box. Well that's all well and fine for a first impression, but how well is it holding up after 6000 rounds? I have had just about everything happen to my guns, especially my 1911's as I shoot them a tremendous amount. So I want to review those guns that I have thoroughly wrung out.

Pics are behind the title links.

This is a review of the Kimber Pro Carry II

Caliber: 9mm Para Bellum
Time owned prior to review: 1 year
Round count: approx 1150 rounds
Condition at purchase: New
Carry Gun: Yes
Custom work: No

After her encounter with the RIA .38 Super/9mm throwing brass down her shirt or sticking to her face my gorgeous and talented girlfriend almost swore off shooting 1911's! But she still wanted to shoot IDPA. To quickly correct this I promptly went out and bought her a Kimber Pro Carry II in 9mm. It has a aluminum frame so it would be a bit whippier but I figured it would make up for it on her ability to carry. She fell in love with the gun immediately and we swapped out the grips and put on Pierce finger grooves for her.

She and I have put about an equal amount of rounds through this gun, plus several other women have shot it and fell in love. For a woman this Bull Barreled Beauty shoots right and sits in the hand beautifully. She can reach all the controls and rack the slide. It is one hole accurate if you do your job. The only down side is like many Kimbers it is zeroed for 25 yards. That is just too far for a little defensive gun like this, especially in 9mm. I suspect all the zeroing is the same at Kimber and if the caliber changes you are off that much more. You have to shoot 6 o'clock high or at noon to hit when closer than 75 feet. We have compensated but are going to shorten the front sight a bit to see if that will help.

I decided to run it through IDPA one Saturday to prime it for her, make sure all the bugs were worked out. Good thing too, as I always discover that IDPA will break your gun even if it works fine on a range. I run all my carry guns through it to qualify them. So she was going to carry it when she gets her CHL and she wants to do IDPA with her friend and myself. Her one time before using a .22 she had a blast. So to make it a smooth journey I ran it.

The gun ran fine, zero malfunctions in feeding or extracting. Never had a problem with this gun actually. I found out .38 super mags work fine with 9mm, even under stress. I only had the one and three .38 supers so I went with them after a function test.

The two problems that arose were minor. One was the stock 9mm mag caught the rim of a round on the spacer and jammed the mag up good. Took a screw drove to free. .38 super mags never had that problem. The second was I was starting to shoot a bit left and thought it was my technique. Turns out my sight was tracking right and it became noticeable to the SO who pointed it out. I must have been point shooting as I didn't see it until it really started to go! I pulled it off and ran the rest of the course of fire and the rest of the day with no front sight. Did fine too. At least not worse than usual!

I was not happy about the new guns sights popping right off after 900 rounds but I was going to replace the sights anyway so I added a pair of night sights and she was very happy. Still shoots a bit low though.

I would highly recommend this gun, it has the standard internal extractor, needed no break in although I gave it one, and looks and shoots really nice. Women in particular are very taken with it and it is cheaper to shoot than .45 if you don't reload, and in some cases even if you do!

She will get her permit soon and will start to carry it, but for now she just loves to go to the range and shoot it.

I have found with women and guns they have to have a certain wabi sabi, or way to them, a look as well as a feel. I am glad that this gun appealed to my lady, who now shares my love of the 1911. A big win all around.
Winner of the prestigious Автомат Калашникова образца 1947 года award for excellence in rural travel.
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