• Kimber Classic Carry Elite: elegance, 1911 style

Kimber Classic Carry Elite: elegance, 1911 style

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Kimber Classic Carry Elite: elegance, 1911 style

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Almost casually, we have had the chance to lay our hands on a beautifully refined creation of the Kimber Custom Shop: the Classic Carry Elite .45 ACP pistol, one of the most elegant 1911 pistol variants ever!

Kimber Manufacturing is a Yonkers (NY)-based gunmaker, well known for its fine line of 1911 pistol derivatives sold and appreciated by shooters, collectors and professional operators worldwide. The model you see portrayed on these pages – photographed by our Editor in Chief, Mr. Bruno Circi – is the Kimber Classic Carry Elite.

The Kimber 1911 Classic Carry Elite is a most elegant creation of the Company's own Custom Shop: definitely something made to astonish, with a perfect blend of technical features, aesthetics, and top-class performance.

The Classic Carry Elite model is a Kimber Custom Shop creation

The Classic Carry Elite model is a Kimber Custom Shop creation

We stumbled upon this sample at the Armeria Red Point gun shop in Ostia Lido, at the outskirts of the Italian capital city of Rome. Red Point is one of Italy's best known points of interest for collectors and shooters, particularly when it comes to one-of-a-kind guns.

We just could not miss the chance!

The Kimber Classic Carry Elite is a beautiful 1911-type, single-action semi-automatic pistol, chambered for the quintessentially American .45 ACP round and feeding through any 1911-A1 type single-stack 7-shots or 8-shots detachable steel magazine. But the caliber and the magazine are basically all that's left "standard" in this gun.

The Kimber Classic Carry Elite comes with a full-length guide rod

The Kimber Classic Carry Elite comes with a full-length guide rod

The Classic Carry Elite features both a dovetailed grip safety and an ambidextrous manual safety

The Classic Carry Elite features both a dovetailed grip safety and an ambidextrous manual safety

The Kimber Classic Carry Elite is built around a 3,25 cm (1.2") thick precision-machined stainless steel frame that features highly polished flats and a most unique blueing, shimmering towards grey-brown shades. The round heel grip comes standard with 24-lines-per-inch front and rear serrations, a classic grip safety, a high cut under the trigger guard and a rounded mainspring housing and frame.

Grip panels are manufactured out of French walnut and feature elegant, dark black checkered Micarta inlays for a solid gripping in all conditions. An ambidextrous frame-mounted 1911-type safety is also there to be found, much to the joy of left-handed shooters.

A close-up of the barrel bushing on the Kimber Classic Carry Elite

A close-up of the barrel bushing on the Kimber Classic Carry Elite

A close up of the Tactical Wedge rear sight, featuring tritium inserts

A close up of the Tactical Wedge rear sight, featuring tritium inserts

The slide of the Kimber Classic Carry Elite pistol is PVD-finished

The slide of the Kimber Classic Carry Elite pistol is PVD-finished

The Kimber Classic Carry Elite pistol is 22 cm (8.7") long overall and comes with a cold-hammer forged, Match Grade 5" stainless steel barrel offering six left-handed grooves and a 1:16" twist rate.

The barrel bushing is a matching, machined stainless steel Match Grade model, while the return spring rod is a full-length military-grade model and mounts a 7,25 kilograms (15.9 oz) return spring.

The slide of the Kimber Classic Carry Elite is likewise precision-machined out of stainless steel and offers prime features such as Classic Carry serrations and a striking bi-tone gun metal and rose gold finish obtained through physical vapour deposition treatment (PVD), with fine line cut through engraving.

A set of Meprolight Tactical Wedge sights with tritium inserts are dovetailed on the slide; the sights are a special modification of the standard Tactical Wedge, purpose-modified for Kimber, and offer a 17,27 centimeters (6.8") sight radius.

Other small parts – such as the slide stop, the magazine release and the skeletonized hammer and trigger – are manufactured out of high-strenght, airspace-grade aluminum.

The walnut grip panels feature checkered black Micarta inserts

The walnut grip panels feature checkered black Micarta inserts

Fabiano Visintini, owner of the Red Point gun shop in Ostia (Rome, Italy) where we had access to the pistol

Fabiano Visintini, owner of the Red Point gun shop in Ostia (Rome, Italy) where we had access to the pistol

The Kimber Classic Carry Elite: one of the finest 1911-based creations currently available on the market

The Kimber Classic Carry Elite: one of the finest 1911-based creations currently available on the market

The 1911 Classic Carry Elite is one of the top-level entries in Kimber's catalogue. This makes its price definitely steep – and the gun itself not something for the "average joe" – but taking a closer look at it and seriously considering its purchase should be a moral imperative for every self-respecting 1911 enthusiast and discerning collector.

Not an everyman's gun: the Kimber Classic Carry Elite is an object of desire for the discerning collector!

Not an everyman's gun: the Kimber Classic Carry Elite is an object of desire for the discerning collector!

Kimber Classic Carry Elite: a most elegant 1911 variant

Kimber Classic Carry Elite: a most elegant 1911 variant

Kimber Classic Carry Elite

Manufacturer
Distributor

For Europe: Paganini S.r.l.

Model

Classic Carry Elite

Typology

Semi-automatic pistol

Caliber

.45 ACP

Action

Single action

Safeties

Ambidextrous frame-mounted manual safety, grip safety

Capacity

Eight rounds in single-stack detachable magazine

Barrel

12,7 cm / 5"
6 grooves, LH, 1 turn in 16"

Sights

Meprolight Tactical Wedge tritium sights

Overall length

22 cm / 8.7"

Weight (empty)

1.077 g / 33.2 oz

Price

See your dealer for local availability and pricing