Santa came early

HNDLDR · December 04 2020 08:14:17 PM MST

My wife and I were at the gun counter at Cabelas. I was looking at a Kimber Rapide Black Ice in 45 acp. I have never owned a 1911 and I've been wanting one in 10mm. The guy at the counter said he had a Kimber in 10mm in the back that was a two tone model or something but he couldn't remember. I asked him if he would go back and see which one it was. He came back and said he lied, it was the Rapide Black Ice in 10mm. My wife didn't skip a beat and said we'll take it. I was just sort of standing there stunned. Apparently her and my son have been trying to find one for me for Christmas for quite some time now. So now I finally have my first 1911 and I'm stoked that it's in 10mm. I can't wait to try it out!

Alabusa · December 04 2020 09:41:21 PM MST

Sweet and sounds like you have a great wife and son!

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HNDLDR · December 04 2020 09:55:57 PM MST

Quote from: Alabusa on December 04 2020 09:41:21 PM MST
Sweet and sounds like you have a great wife and son!

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

I am truly blessed with an amazing wife and kids.

terdog · December 05 2020 12:00:59 AM MST

Congrats!!!

Some thoughts since you've never owned a 1911.

Field strip it, clean the heck out of it, and lube the snot out of it. Shoot 50 - 100 rnds, then clean and lube it all over again. Run her wet.

Dry fire it to get used to the trigger.

Don't slam the slide forward on an empty chamber.

Enjoy! Let us know how your new Best Friend does.

Graybeard · December 05 2020 05:22:49 AM MST

That's a really nice Christmas present!! As terdog mentioned, clean and lube it up. Kimber lists a break in period, IIRC, of 500 rounds. I've never had one take that many. You may have some jams initially, you may not. I use Tetra gun grease on the rails of all my 1911s. A very small amount will do. Also, stick with quality mags. I'm often amazed with the number of people that have expensive 1911s and use the cheapest mags they can find.

Now how about a range report!? ${$default_smiley_smiley}$

HNDLDR · December 05 2020 08:13:27 AM MST

Don't slam the slide forward on an empty chamber.

Thanks for all of the advise. What happens if you slam the slide home on an empty chamber?

HNDLDR · December 05 2020 08:19:58 AM MST

Quote from: Graybeard on December 05 2020 05:22:49 AM MST
That's a really nice Christmas present!! As terdog mentioned, clean and lube it up. Kimber lists a break in period, IIRC, of 500 rounds. I've never had one take that many. You may have some jams initially, you may not. I use Tetra gun grease on the rails of all my 1911s. A very small amount will do. Also, stick with quality mags. I'm often amazed with the number of people that have expensive 1911s and use the cheapest mags they can find.

Now how about a range report!? ${$default_smiley_smiley}$

Will the Wilson Combat mags work ok in the Kimber then? I know everyone and their dog makes mags for 1911's in 45 acp but I didn't know if 10mm ones were as universal.

HNDLDR · December 05 2020 08:28:29 AM MST

Next question for all you 1911 experts. I got the heavier Wolff recoil spring for my XDM 10mm. Is this something I'm going to want to do soon in the Kimber? I believe I read it only comes with an 18.5 pound spring.

Jtigertic · December 05 2020 06:22:23 PM MST

Slamming the slide closed on an empty chamber is hard on the slide and gun.
I would shoot it with the 18.5 before changing anything, my springfield 10mm shot fine with box ammo and 18.5 spring it came with from the factory. I hand load some hot rounds that I fire so I did go heavier on my recoil spring due to this.
Merry Christmas!!
1911 are awesome guns and in 10mm it just makes them even better!

HNDLDR · December 05 2020 09:39:58 PM MST

So I cleaned it all up and lubed it with Lucas gun oil. The loads I shot were all my hand loads that I had loaded for my XDM. They were a 165gr Vcrown over a medium load of Accurate #5, a 200gr Hornady HAP over a medium load of Accurate #5, and a MBW 200gr NOE WFN with the Hitech coating over a stiff charge of Accurate #9. Sometimes the slide wouldn't make it all the way forward from the locked open position. I had 100% reliability with all three loads once the first round was chambered. My sons however had a few here and there, where the slide didn't close all the way. Part of that was probably their grip on the pistol, some was probably the new gun needing broken in, and some was probably hand loads that were once fired brass in a XDM chamber. It was cold and windy so I didn't do any serious accuracy work. I'm not the best pistol shot anyway and probably wouldn't do the gun justice. I was happy with the results. It was noticeably softer to shoot then my XDM. My 14 year old son absolutely loved it and can't wait to shoot it again. I think the reliability will improve with some more break in. I think it's going to get a stiffer spring. After about 100 rounds today I'm happy with it so far.

Graybeard · December 06 2020 06:27:26 AM MST

The Wilson 10mm mags run just fine in my Kimber 10mm, but they are surprisingly thinner metal than the 47D mags in 45acp. That's not a problem, just a little weird feeling. The standard Kimber mags work perfectly in mine, as well. Tripp mags are another good option.

Only one of my Kimbers had the exact same issue you described during break in. It went away before I hit 200 rounds. I bet yours will too. I wouldn't mess around with the recoil spring until you determine it has been broken in and reliability has been achieved, or not. It should run just fine, after break in, as it was shipped.

Mine shoots a lot softer than my XDM10 4.5 as well. I think it's a design issue with the XDM. All the stress is on the front frame rails, in front of your hand, and more muzzle flip is the result.

Congrats again on a wonderful Christmas present!

50BMG · December 06 2020 10:47:15 AM MST

WoW!
What a nice Christmas indeed...
Also, what a way to enter the 1911 world, with a 10mm specimen.

Like others have said, break her in and then figure out recoil springs, etc...
See how far the brass flies and adjust springs accordingly. If the reluctance to go 100% into battery continues after break in, a couple more pounds wouldn't hurt in this respect either.
Also, search the site for the "firing pin stop" mod. For the 1911s. That is one of the best, cheapest, and easier mods to do if you are going to regularly run "real" 10mm loads through her.

Congrats again and Merry Christmas

phydaux · December 06 2020 03:34:34 PM MST

I'll tell you what I tell all first time 1911 owners - Congratulations on your new favorite handgun.

HNDLDR · December 07 2020 05:11:31 AM MST

Thank you for all the advice. I'm up to about 200 rounds now. It's still having trouble feeding occasionally with good rounded, jacketed type ammo. I fed it some soft SWC bullets that tended to foul my other 10mm. They didn't foul this one like the other one but they did not feed well at all. I wasn't too upset over this because I don't plan on loading anymore of those bullets. Now I am at a point where I can work up new loads that will be a better fit length wise for this action. Any COAL recommendations for the Sig V crown and Hornady Hap would be appreciated. I shortened the 200gr hard cast NOE WFN from 1.25 to 1.24. They seem to cycle pretty good now.

Jtigertic · December 07 2020 09:35:59 AM MST

Never played with semi wadcutter but I load all my reloads at 1.250 except my gold dots I have to run at 1.200 for some reason they catch in the mag otherwise.
Also may want to check plunk test I know my springfield has a really tight chamber and I have to use a heavier crimp for the rounds to fit freely. It cause me some issues of not going fully into battery I had some box ammo I was running that I had laying around. I recrimped the box ammo and never had another issue since.