ltwguns.com

A guy who's been on my list a long time let me off kinda easy with some light work on a Kimber Solo 9mm. I'm sure most of you have seen these in the magazines lately.... I shot one earlier this year when Patrick Sweeney brought one of his test guns to a class. It shot well, felt and looked good. Made me think they were worth another look.

This customer sent his, with his only complaint being the bare front and backstraps, and he wanted me to look at putting Conamyds on it. The frame is aluminum, but front and back, it was plenty thick enough for any kind of pattern, so Conamyds it was. The frame had a bake-on finish with no anodizing under it, so I put the same back on it after doing the work, which also included a little further dehorning (although it was pretty nicely done from the factory), and some minor improvements to the magwell. He had also sent some nice walnut grips that I think add a lot.

The gun was originally "reverse" two-tone as seen here, but after doing a little edge-removal on the slide (again, it was not bad from the factory), I reblasted and did a quick polishing of the flats. Between this and the walnut, the gun has a whole new look. Pretty nice in fact for a gun that's going to get tucked into SWAT hard armor as a backup.

Now, do these guns work? Between Sweeney's sample and this one I've fired maybe 50-75 rounds through them.... sofar so good, and I'd like to have one, but gonna wait for some higher round-count reports. This customer though, who is a genuine shooter, seems to have shot this one enough with good results to think it is qualified for serious use.

I will say this, after having had it apart: With Kimber being so well known for using MIM parts, I didn't see any on this gun, although I was not really looking. At one point I removed every trace of lube on the gun and everything still worked very, very smoothly-- I'd say that's good design. The trigger is a light, non-resetting DA, and I like the thumb safety being there, plus it's very unobtrusive. Efforts on it are appropriate for its small size. The mag catch is ambi which I don't really care about one way or the other..... mags look very high quality. The basic layout is great, ergos-wise. Bore axis is low, grip angle is right, sights are sized right for concealability but are effective in sight picture. Night sights are not yet available and I'm wondering if some miniature Shield Drivers might be in this gun's future

Pics:

This would have gone well with this older thread:
http://www.louderthanwords.us/forum/vie ... amp#p49126
Didn't want to bring it back but it's somewhat related.

Having lost my old camera, which worked great and with which I was very familiar, I'm using a new one. It is no doubt better in every way except harder to use, fewer features, and less versatile. Looking at the previous pics I see that it seems to distort things a little on the close ups, so here's a last pic from maybe 30" that shows the true shape of this pistol. One little flaw I found in the design today, it is possible to put the slide stop in over, instead of under, the spring that retains it "down" until the mag is empty. This results in lockback every shot.

Wow Mr. Christiansen, is there anything out there you can't turn into an awesome piece of art.....

Nice work.

Ned,
you don't happen to have a pic of the gun in hand or next to a standard 1911 do you?
just trying to figure the relative size.

Keith

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www.universal-outfitters.com

Sorry to report Keith, nope. Might find that in one of the magazine articles. It is raaather small though.

Appearance of THIS one is probably nearing "as good as it gets."

The ones on the shelf haven't tempted me to even pick one up to see how it feels, but I wouldn't be as put-off by one like this.

Now I'm curious how this would compare to a similarly sized Kahr (except that Ned's work always looks better than any factory's).

Ned..

Your timing is unreal, I was just eyeballing one of these the other day. AHHH if only I weren't building a shop right now. I should have picked it up, thankfully guy next to me removed the temptation by taking it home.

Beautiful work as usual...your conamyds look perfect on there, did you shrink them to be proportionally smaller as compared to the 1911??? Just wondering.

Looks like a good choice for a backup gun/ small carry gun

Mark

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https://www.graffcustom.com/

Thanks, Mark. Those 'myds are regular size......

The owner of this Solo sent me a pic of it next to an Operator I did for him a good 8 years ago. This pic somehow is not really showing how small the Solo is.

Thanks for showing the comparison. Still partial to the full size but the work on the "Solo" is great.

_________________
Be safe and keep the brass flying

Terry Peters

Do your research but you get what you pay for front end or back end
http://www.pt-partners.com
@ptpartners_tx

Its size compares very well to a Kahr MK9, but the Solo's ergos are much better and the overall shape is more conducive to good handling and carry. Where the Kahr is blocky, the Solo is roundy.

And then there's the thumb safety, a big plus.

I am still partial to the MK9, which has been ridiculously reliable. And-- poppers at 70 yards are not safe from it. But-- once I get reliable feedback as to Solos in general being reliable and durable, I'll have one.

And, one more, to show size comparison with a Kahr PM and a Rorbaugh.....

So...Solo or R9???

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I will never forget you Lou......February 21, 2009

John Ralston
5 SHOT LEATHER, LLC - Finely Crafted Custom Handgun Leather

http://www.5ShotLeather.com

Mr. Christiansen, would yup ever be interested in doing the same to a Raughbaugh? If so, I have one waiting for you!!! Please let me know.

Did one, Chris! right here:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7017&p=49126&hilit=Seecamp#p49126