Kimber LW Night Patrol

[George Dickel]

I'm looking at 9mm 1911 pistols and have been fondling the Kimber LW Night Patrol. My question is about the aluminum frame. I am concerned about the steel slide causing excessive wear on the frame. Is this a concern or something I should worry about in 40,000 rounds? I know this isn't one of the top tier models but is it reasonably accurate and reliable or should I pony up more money for a higher grade?

The reason I'm looking at the LW is it's lower weight, 32 oz vs an all steel 1911 at 40" oz.

 

[Sergei Mosin]

I’m not worried about anything over 40,000 rounds. That’s $20,000 in ammo. If that wears it out, it’s served you well.

 

[Victor252]

I’m not worried about anything over 40,000 rounds. That’s $20,000 in ammo. If that wears it out, it’s served you well.

A good point. I recall that aluminum framed Beretta 92 and Sig 226 models shoot 9mm had frames rated for something like 50,000-60,000 rounds. I think the military wanted at least 45k rounds for the lifespan of the new M9.

1911s are built pretty stout. There are others on here who can give more information and have more experience than myself.

 

[trackskippy]

I’m not worried about anything over 40,000 rounds. That’s $20,000 in ammo. If that wears it out, it’s served you well.

It has, but 40K seems a bit light, as does 50 or 60K, and by at least half.

Ammo cost will always quickly outpace the cost of the gun, and by a considerable amount. No point in worrying about that, just part of shooting. Buy two, shoot the snot out of one, carry the other.

I had an early aluminum-framed Ultra Carry back in the 90's. The whole frame was aluminum, including the feed ramp. The followers on the mags were steel. They were tearing it up pretty good until I swapped the factory followers for Wilson plastic followers. I seem to remember that Kimber addressed it later with adding a ramp to the barrel, or something similar. Im assuming that they would have upgraded all of them after that, but I would check that for sure.

 

[railroader]

The lightweight Kimber 9mm 1911s have barrels with a feed ramp. No problem with mag followers chewing up the frame. I have a lightweight kimber 9mm with a factory installed Vortex Venom red dot. It is a very nice gun. It also is a series 1 model with no firing pin block.

 

[bannockburn]

George Dickel

I have heard that an aluminum frame can develop minor stress cracks, that is after many thousands of rounds have gone down range! One way to help preserve your frame is to change out the recoil spring fairly often if you're using it on a regular basis and you start to notice the gun's performance is starting to slip (failures to feed and/or eject, weak extraction, or if slide movement seems sluggish). Also try to avoid non-captive steel followers on magazines as they have a way of hitting the feed ramp under recoil, causing wear to it; replace them with polymer ones or else ones that have a captive follower. Same goes for some JHP ammo that has sharp or rough edges to the bullet as it runs into the feed ramp and can chew it up as well. Try to minimize a steady diet of +P ammo as this can also help prolong the life of the frame. And keep the frame and slide rails well lubed and running smoothly.

My two aluminum frame 1911s: a Colt Lightweight Government .45 and a Colt Commander .38 Super/9mm.