Tactical Advisor on the Kimber DS Warrior

Is the Kimber DS Warrior close enough to a 2011 to skip the higher price? Tactical Advisor says it still feels like a 1911, then walks through the cheaper parts that make that price possible.

What they cover: a 5 inch, high capacity 9mm with an aluminum frame. They say the 10mm and .45 versions use a steel frame instead. On the 9mm, they go through glass filled carbon fiber grips they find a little slick but easier to conceal, two 2011 style magazines (one extended, one flush, and they say the same magazines fit a Springfield Prodigy), an ambidextrous mag release that is not oversized, and a polymer trigger they call crisp, with little takeup and a good reset. They say Kimber rates that trigger around 4 to 5 pounds. They like how a flush X300 sits on the rail, and they wish the rear slide serrations came farther forward. The RMR optics plate comes in the box and has no backup iron. On their sample, one of the four mounting screws sheared while they were installing a Holosun 407C. They shot the iron sights for the first several hundred rounds, then switched to the dot, and they report no malfunctions in about 750 rounds. The cheaper pieces they name are the finish, which they call Cerakote and say will show wear sooner than a higher end 2011 coating, a bushing barrel rather than a bull barrel, a short GI style guide rod, and an internal extractor. They say a typical shooter will not notice those, and they have not yet compared this gun side by side with a true 2011. Kimber sent them the pistol. Specific claims and results in the video are theirs, not ours. It is a full review of about 13 minutes.

Here’s our take. Buy the 9mm if you want the gun in the video, a double stack 1911 pattern pistol, and you do not want to pay for a true 2011. Pick the 10mm or the .45 if you want that chambering, and know they say those are steel framed while the 9mm is aluminum. Skip it if a bull barrel, a tougher finish, or a plate with a backup iron sight matters to you, because those are the gaps they point out. If you plan to mount a dot, listen to what happened to that screw before you torque the plate. If you are choosing between this and a true 2011, their list of cheaper parts is the section worth watching.

We stock the Kimber DS Warrior they are covering. On the shelf: the 1911 DS Warrior 9mm in KimPro Black. Related: the 1911 DS Warrior 10mm Rhodesian and the 1911 DS Warrior in .45 ACP. Complete firearm. Indiana FFL transfer through Wulfy’s. Ask us for current fees.