Pick Your Carry – Kimber vs Springfield

Being requested by my young cousin, an aspiring shooter, I agreed to accompany him in his pursuit to find a 1911 pistol. Kimber and Springfield were the two names that immediately struck me. I remember my father possessing a Kimber which has always been very dear to his heart. My cousin, son of an ex-army man, was particularly interested in buying something that was very familiar with the war veterans. We had initially zeroed in on the plain-Jane version of Old Slabsides from Springfield 1911 pistols. But while doing our online research on the subject, we found Kimber proclaiming: On the strength of quality, Kimber has become the world’s largest producer of 1911 pistols.

Compare a Kimber with any other brand of 1911—or any other type of semi-automatic pistol—and see for yourself why Kimber is the choice of America’s best. This initiated our comparative assessment on Kimber vs Springfield. While Springfield claimed that its 1911 pistols besides having outstanding features, quality, and proven performance have certain standard characteristics like frames and slides, lightweight titanium firing pins, and lowered and flared ejection ports. The other elements which prompted us to opt for Springfield were the match grade barrels, target tuned triggers, ambidextrous extended thumb safeties, beavertail grip safeties. But just as we had decided to opt for a Springfield model, perhaps a Springfield Armour Champion perhaps, a friend of ours reported that he had purchased a Kimber Classic and found it worth its price. This prompted us to look into Kimber 1911 options. Kimber’s Custom family claims to be the first line of 1911 models. Housed in stainless and carbon steel, Kimber 1911 options speak of style, dependability, and precision. Along with rounded and blended edges which have been designed carefully to be used for a comfortable carry, the Kimber 1911 options are also armed with barrels, barrel bushings, chambers and triggers machined to exact match grade dimensions. Ejection ports are lowered and flared, the sights are mounted in dovetails and fitted into the slide.

The Kimber pistols of the 1911 family claiming to be the most reliable in the industry have a wide range of chamberings that include .45 ACP, 9 mm, 10 mm, and 38 Super. Another factor that stemmed into our minds while finally deciding on a Kimber pistol was the period of its warranty. Springfield claimed to provide a lifetime warranty which seemed to be a promising advantage to us. But in our research on the debate on Kimber vs Springfield, we came across a disclaimer by Kimber. Kimber pistols claimed ‘This limited warranty has been drafted to comply with the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Federal Trade Commission Improvement Act, which is effective for goods manufactured on or after December 31, 1995. Kimber Mfg., Inc. firearms are warranted to be free from defects in material and workmanship for one year after the date of the original new gun retail purchase.

The manufacturer agrees to correct by repair or replacement (with the same or comparable quality model) your firearm, without charge, if returned prepaid with a copy of the bill of sale.’ Kimber does not offer any warranty in cases of damage caused by manhandling or normal wear and tear. We were well convinced that the choice between Kimber and Springfield entirely depends on individual preferences as both are equally competitive.