Kimber Pro Carry II

[ellis4538]

I have a LW Colt Officers ACP that I carry a lot and shoot in IDPA quite often with full power loads and it has held up well. 

FWIW

Richard

[tombogan03884]

Just saw FQ's post and needed to point out to him that they have been making Semi autos wqith aluminum frames since at least the mid 1940's when Walther changed the steel P-38 frame to the aluminum one of the P-1

[bafsu92]

I have one of the real early Pro-Carry's that I've probably put 3500 rds. through and its as tight as the day I bought it. I had to send it back to Kimber very early in it's life to correct some jamming issues, seems the barrel ink was drilled crooked but once they sent it back it's been a lights out shooter. I have put mostly white box or equivalent 230gr ball through it. I've heard lots of talk about not putting too much +p or +p+ stuff through aluminum frame 45's but really who can afford to shoot that at the range anyway. I've put at least a few boxes of hotter stuff through, enough to know it will function with it. I would not hesitate to buy another aluminum frame 1911 and actually would like to get a full sized at some point.

[tombogan03884]

Just ran across this quote that seemed to fit here:

"I have a 3 digit Commander that I have used fairly extensively since the firearm was first released. During one competition year I used it exclusively, and this involved the firing in practice of about 500 rounds a month. It shows no signs of excessive wear. It is my belief that the aluminum Commander will stand up very well to any responsible amount of use. Naturally, any firearm will wear out in time."
Jeff Cooper, August 1976
Quoted from Guns and Ammo Nov. 2010 pg 30

[cookie62]

Thanks for the advice. I decided on a Kimber compact stainless with alluminum frame. Had to buy off gunbroker, no one around here had one in stock. One dealer told me he could order it, but it would be 3 to 4 months. Should be here by the end of the week. I'll post pics soon. A range report will follow depending on the weather. Winter sucks!

[Sponsor]

[RICHAR]

I have a Kimber Compact Aluminum Stainless with close to 2000 rounds through it. At about a 1000 rds , The trigger got gritty and would not return smoothly. A gunsmith cleaned the internals and it is great now . No problems with the feed ramp. These guns make the best carry guns , especially in a Galco N3 holster.

[JoeG]

On one hand Aluminum can not possibly hold up like steel, the metallurgy just doesn't work.
On the other hand, I have never heard of a fire arm failing purely because the frame was Aluminum alloy.

Actually I am not sure this is true. The key issue for wear is surface hardness and the surface treatments for both Al and St had become very high tech. Not my area of engineering anymore, but I would not be afraid of an Al gun if it fit my needs. WRT flexing, I would expect that to be a function of the quality of the gun design, so "Its a Kimber" is a fair point. I love my (steel) Kimber and am trying to come up with an excuse to buy another...

Joe

[tombogan03884]

Actually I am not sure this is true. The key issue for wear is surface hardness and the surface treatments for both Al and St had become very high tech. Not my area of engineering anymore, but I would not be afraid of an Al gun if it fit my needs. WRT flexing, I would expect that to be a function of the quality of the gun design, so "Its a Kimber" is a fair point. I love my (steel) Kimber and am trying to come up with an excuse to buy another...

Joe

I know what you mean, they are developing new treatments and alloys every day it seems like . I will stick by what I posted for this reason though, one the surface treatment has been penetrated, whether it's through wear on the finish or from getting dinged some how, you have plain old relatively soft aluminum, up till that point though I will concede that you have a good point.
Timothy can probably set us both straight as I think he is still working in that area.
I'm working strictly with stainless tubing at the moment, but that may be changing soon  

As for an excuse for a new Kimber, an Al. pistol is easier for carry if you are able  (I see you are in Ca.  ) and your side by side comparison would be a great intellectual benefit to the shooting community at large.  

[Timothy]

Sorry Tom, surface treatments are not my area either.

As a side note, the 7010-T6 alloys used are very high tensile strength and undergo an extensive heat treatment and quenching prior to machining the frame to remove any stresses, yada, yada, yada....  S&W patented the addition of a small amount of scandium into their alloys which helps somewhat, I'm sure but again, I'm no expert.  Scandium is not a readily available element, it's pretty rare as it's only mined in Russia and China in limited quantities.

I would guess that the older Colt Commander frames were machined and lapped by highly skilled gun smiths and would definitely extend their usable life.  Who knows how long my Para will last or any number of other frames out there but I would guess you would have to shoot the shit out of one before it let loose as a result of fatigue. 

Drop the frame when you're cleaning it and it might break.  I'm always careful with mine as the dust cover just looks too thin...

[PegLeg45]

Just for giggles, here is some good info for the metallurgically curious, as it pertains to aluminum.

http://www.esabna.com/us/en/education/knowledge/qa/-Understanding-the-Aluminum-Alloy-Designation-System.cfm

The division I worked for extruded the 6000 series (magnesium & silicon alloy). We heat treated our primary alloy of 6063-T6 at 350 degrees for 6-8 hours. A lot of folks don't know it, but aluminum will age on its own to the same rough hardness over time...but due to time constraints in the industry, it is aged artificially.