# Kimber- SupermatchII or S&W sw1911DK



## bh1974 (Aug 14, 2008)

Hey guys! new to the forum & the 1911 pistols, I have a few carry firearms and go to the range quit often, but recently became intrigued with the 1911's, I would like to do some longer range and more accurate type of shooting, all I have are small subcompacts. maybe down the road do some local sooting events not sure what type. I've been looking at a few and the two i've narrowed it down to are the Kimber supermatchII .45 & the S&W model sw1911DK they seem to have a lot of options allready on the guns that you would need for competition shooting at a decent price. Does anyone out there have any experience with these firearms or any other ready out of the box competition pistols. your knowledge & experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! (price range $1000-$2000)


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## Baldy (Jun 21, 2006)

Welcome to the forum. I don't have experience with the guns you mention but I do with the brands. I have two S&W's that have thousands of rounds through them and they have been flawless. I have one Kimber that we just got and it has a couple hundred through it and so far it's been flawless. I shoot on a league with fellows that have Kimbers and they have nothing but good things to say about them. I would say get the one you like and don't look back. Good luck. :smt023


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## submoa (Dec 16, 2007)

Kimber Series II uses a Swartz safety that relies on a thin MIM plunger pin that is easily snapped off if you depress the grip safety while removing the slide. Many reports about other Kimber MIM parts breaking, notably slide stops. Do a google on "kimber MIM broke" SW1911DK also has a Swartz safety, but uses a lever that is sturdier than Kimber's pin design. S&W also uses MIM parts but seems to have fewer complaints of breakages.

All Swartz safeties are sensitive to grip safety alignment. As tolerances loosen with age, how you grip the gun may determine whether it will shoot.

In the 1-2k price range, consider STI. STI is known for their out of the box competition guns at an affordable price, and they don't ruin a good design with firing pin blocks. See what $1,400 will get you:


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## bac1023 (Oct 26, 2007)

bh1974 said:


> Hey guys! new to the forum & the 1911 pistols, I have a few carry firearms and go to the range quit often, but recently became intrigued with the 1911's, I would like to do some longer range and more accurate type of shooting, all I have are small subcompacts. maybe down the road do some local sooting events not sure what type. I've been looking at a few and the two i've narrowed it down to are the Kimber supermatchII .45 & the S&W model sw1911DK they seem to have a lot of options allready on the guns that you would need for competition shooting at a decent price. Does anyone out there have any experience with these firearms or any other ready out of the box competition pistols. your knowledge & experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! (price range $1000-$2000)


The Super Match II is head and shoulders above any SW1911. Its not even close. You have to get a Performance Center 1911 from Smith to compete with the quality of the Super Match II.

Super Match II










Performance Center 1911










I own a standard SW1911 as well and its not nearly at the level of these two. The DK model has some different features, but the quality is the same as the SW1911.

The Performance Center makes a DK model in 38 Super that's outstanding, but that's not the model you're looking at.


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## wahsben (Dec 31, 2007)

In your price range you have many good choices. The performance S&W's are very good. Also you could look at Springfield Armory, The Kimbers,
STI etc.
I believe that there are also models from Les Baer, Wilson Combat, Ed Brown etc. that would fall into your price range but towards the $2000 end.
Many of the major firearms manufactures such as S&W, Springfield Armory etc. are available for substantially less than there MSRP.


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## Smokeless (Dec 23, 2006)

Les Baer, P11. Very good range, target and IDPA handgun. They are tight. You would not be disapointed. :smt1099, Smokeless


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## bh1974 (Aug 14, 2008)

Thanks for the great advice,leaning towards the kimber. I was checking out the sig p226 x-five competition (9mm-.40 only) any opinions. Thanks!


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## bac1023 (Oct 26, 2007)

bh1974 said:


> Thanks for the great advice,leaning towards the kimber. I was checking out the sig p226 x-five competition (9mm-.40 only) any opinions. Thanks!


The X-Five is outstanding. I have the full version, but the Competition is the same gun minus the wood Nill grips and the adjustable trigger. The Competition is also about $600 less expensive.


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## noproblem5671 (Dec 6, 2006)

*Kimber versus kimber etc...*

I have a Super Match II myself.

If you aren't too converned about the looks check out the Kimber Team Match II it's almost the same gun, but all stainless finish and cheaper. The Kimpro stuff isn't that hard to scratch. Try to ignore the obnoxious grips they are too easy to replace too be a deciding factor.

I liked the look of the black slide and the nice grips, but the grips ended up being to fat and rounded for me. I took them off and put on rubber hogue finger grips which have nice flat sides. They leave a gap at the magwell, but I just needed the gun to point instincively. I find if the grips are rounded I can't feel whether or not the muzzle is in good alignment.

I really hate the normal target sites. Being all black with very slim light gaps they work for slow precion shooting in good lighting, but I do better overall with other site setups. The adjustable target sites don't give you many replacement options either. The Heine Strait Eight's are nice. I decided I didn't want to spend to replace the sites so I just ended up painting the front blade bright orange. The sharp corners of the rear site scratch up my hand when I do a lot of holster work.

On mine moving to a heavier recoil spring did wonders for the cycle time and muzzle flip. 18lbs works well, heavier shoots better for me, but reassembly and slide manipulation get pretty tough.


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