baehan Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 what do you guys recommend? currently, i'm looking at a kimber stainless target II. here in phoenix, it sells for $839. is there anything else that you guys recommend? what do i need to upgrade afterwards? mag well, trigger job...etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 baehan Welcom to the forum! To answer your question best, what are you planning on doing with this gun? We here shoot a lot of different forms of competitive shooting as well as just for fun. Is it going to be for IDPA, USPSA or ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baehan Posted March 20, 2004 Author Share Posted March 20, 2004 you know what...i don't even know what those IDPA, USPSA, ETC stand for. i just wanted a gun that could shoot less than 2" group at 25 yrds, and something that i can use for plate shooting until i learn the other games. i want to be able to at least use the gun to play. i'm sorry about the vague answer. it all looks so fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loves2Shoot Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 A Kimber should be fine. Great value for the price in my experience. Make sure you get one with adjustable sights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basman Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 baehan, I have used a Kimber Target in both USPSA and IDPA for the past year. It is a great Gun to break into the sport with. Accurate and dependable, limited 10 with a minium of mods. Basman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 What loves2shoot said. I have only handled the Kimber at the gun shop, never shot one, but they are a very well made gun. You might look at a STI Trojan in 45 as well. Dawson Precision sells them for $ 922. If I was in the market for a single stack 1911 45, I'd take a long look at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Hayden Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 If you like the Kimbers, you might look at the Kimber Team Match II, has a lot of the things you'd want on a Target II, and since you're looking at Stainless - it's pretty close. I liked the Blue, and have the Custom Target II (I think I paid 675 for it 6 months ago), then added the things I wanted (Mag Well, different sights) I think most of the 5" Kimbers can do this level of accuracy - some better, but the price goes up as the groups go down. Once they settle in (couple hundred rounds), never a problem again. My first one, ran right out of the box, 2nd needed some extractor tuning (easy to do) - to make it 100% Like wardspeed said - do check the STI's We can't get STI's here (easily) - or I would have looked at them too.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 what do you guys recommend? currently, i'm looking at a kimber stainless target II. here in phoenix, it sells for $839. is there anything else that you guys recommend? what do i need to upgrade afterwards? mag well, trigger job...etc? In that price range, I'd take a long look at an STI Trojan. It's a better gun, especially for the money in just about every way, in my opinion. In addition, you can order it exactly the way you want it and after you get it, it will require far less "tweaking" to get to where you want it in terms of trigger, etc. If the Kimber is EXACTLY the package you want, then it's a different story, but you may always want to make some changes. If I had it to do over, I'd skip the Springfield and Kimber and go straight to the STI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
short_round Posted March 21, 2004 Share Posted March 21, 2004 baehan, The answer to this question might be obvious but I should ask, do you have any handguns already? If so, take your gun and find a local club and shoot with them one practice day to see if you like the sport before spending money. The good news about this plan is that most people will let you shoot a few rounds through their gun so you can get a feel for it. The people there can also tell you what type of gun/equipment is typically used for their particular flavor of shooting sport. If not, I would further suggest that you go to your local range that rents guns out and try them out. Who knows, maybe you'll fall in love with a non-1911 gun ... gasp! ... like a glock ... double gasp! gasp! ... or something else. If none of the above is applicable to you, Kimber is not a bad gun and lots of people in our USPSA club use it for limited 10 division. I also have one ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted March 21, 2004 Share Posted March 21, 2004 Now Short Round, did you have to use the "G" word? He was already going down the path of enlightenment and you had to suggest a side trip to the plastic playground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gun Geek Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 Baehan: I started out with a Stainless Target, but the adjustable sites just didn't seem to be the right thing for these games or carry (sorry Loves2Shoot). They seemed to be fragile considering some of the rough handling (picking a gun up from a table during a match, etc). Though, to be honest, I never had to adjust the sights because I knoeked them out of alignment. They did snag a couple of times with my IDPA concealment. I'd get the adjustables only if Bullseye was of interest to you. Also, remember that you can't switch the adjustable sights out for fixed - there's an ugly cut in the back of the slide. The Target model got traded for a TLE. There is also a TLE RL that has a light rail and can be used in lots of the sports. The TLEs have fixed night sights which are good for carry, and low-light IDPA or Polite Society Stages. TLEs are about $100 - $150 cheaper than the Target models. Kimber also a new Tactical line - they are light (alloy) and the mid sized model would be an excellent carry and game gun. The TLE/RL and the Tacticals all have an external extractor. [Religious War Mode]: The external extractors seem to work fine, and they never need to be tuned. Some people love the externals, some hate them. My Kimbers get a magwell and ambi saftey. I also put lighter springs in them (14# recoil spring and 19# mainspring). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogmaDog Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 I think every person should own a single stack 1911 in .45. Mine happens to be a Kimber Gold Match I bought in 1998, which has run great since then, and which I currently shoot in Limited-10 division in USPSA (United States Practical Shooting Ass'n) matches (www.uspsa.org). A single stack 1911 will take you a long way if you are sure you want to get into shooting. That said, a .45 will be expensive to feed until you start reloading your own ammo. It might be better to get a less expensive 9mm pistol and feed it with cheap Winchester white box or CCI blazer ammunition. You'll be able to afford a lot more shooting initially, and have a chance to learn where you want to go with it before making a big investment. A Glock 17 or 34, or a CZ-75b would be decent choices for that route. If sub 2" groups are really what you're after (I might be able to shoot a pistol that well with a solid rest, but I've never shot a USPSA or IDPA match that required that kind of accuracy, and my Kimber will certainly outshoot me offhand), then maybe you do need to go for a Kimber Gold Match, or an STI Trojan, or take a Glock to a gunsmith and fit a match barrel or something. Welcome to the forums, DogmaDog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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