My first 1911! Colt XSE Government

[Tactical Jackalope]

A slight adjustment to the grip safety spring angle will fix that.

Something I can do? What does this consist of?

[Fishbed77]

Something I can do? What does this consist of?

The 3rd leaf of the three-leaved sear/grip safety spring will need to be bent slightly backward to increase pressure on the grip safety. You have to be careful not to alter the bend of the other leaves, as this will affect the trigger pull and possibly cause the trigger not to reset. There should be a better explanation and videos out there on the internet.

[solitude127]

I like the Pachmayr pads. They come with a jig for drilling the baseplate for mounting screws, or you can use contact cement. I've done it both ways, and never had a problem. http://www.brownells.com/magazines/h...-prod9768.aspx

Thank you.

[Fishbed77]

I like the Pachmayr pads. They come with a jig for drilling the baseplate for mounting screws, or you can use contact cement. I've done it both ways, and never had a problem. http://www.brownells.com/magazines/h...-prod9768.aspx

Cool. I didn't know such a thing existed.

[Mystro]

That's why our cities SWAT team bought Kimbers a few years back and absolutely loves them. So much so now our patrol officers are starting to carry them on their own dime. My neighbor (Senior Detective) wanted to sell me his never fired Colt Gunsite edition he purchased a few years back on a whim. Being that I have been to Gunsite two times back in the late 90's before it was well known, I was interested. He brought the gun over for me to try out on my range. It was sloppy and average build quality at best even being a carry 1911. We put a box through the gun with 4 FTE and accuracy was GI grade. He was crushed by the performance and this guy carries a Kimber 1911 every day. I passed so he is trading it in on another deer rifle. To my dismay Gunsite is putting their lable on everything these days including Yamaha ATV's.
As much as I love my Colt Python, their 1911's leave a lot to be desired. Its crap shoot on if you get a "good one" or not. I do understand the reputation of Colt being a powerful advertising tool. I have a very "been there done that" with the Colt 1911. You just loose all your money gun smithing a Colt 1911 to perform. Buy what you like and what works for you. If you are in to 1911's, you should own at least one Colt just to say you did.

Kimber fills their $1500 guns with $5 parts, and stamps "Custom" on them. If they spent as much money on their guns as they do on full-page color ads

[solitude127]

I've fired 500+ rounds through my Colt and yet to experience a FTF. (thankfully). Maybe the newer Colts go through better gun builders and better quality control? Even though I paid over 1k for this gun, I'm very happy and feel I have a great shooter.

[Fishbed77]

That's why our cities SWAT team bought Kimbers a few years back and absolutely loves them. So much so now our patrol officers are starting to carry them on their own dime

Interesting. The first story I found when researching Kimber use by law enforcement was this:

http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/02/...nreliable.html

Also, it's worth noting that the USMC decided to procure the Colt M45 CQBP (Colt XSE Rail Gun) rather than procure any more of the Kimber ICQB pistols.

http://militarytimes.com/blogs/gears...-is-done-deal/

[Fishbed77]

On a side note, I fired another 150 rounds through my XSE this afternoon.

Reliability was still 100%.

[Shane Tuttle]

Sad thing is, Fishbed, I'm guessing Kimber knew where the guns were going to go. If I were a manufacturer of mass produced 1911s, I would have spent extra time with each of those guns to make absolutely sure they functioned 100% out of the box. Not that the average citizen is less important per se, but a high profile customer serving the public would make or break your reputation in a heartbeat.

Glad you like your Colt.