Kimber's 22 conversions and back to 45

[Bacchus]

I understand that there are several 22 conversion units for the 1911 and noticed that Kimber makes a dedicated 22 semi auto on the 1911 frame. My question is whether you could buy the dedicated 22 by Kimber and then put on the slide from a 45...

In other words, would a 22 1911 (Kimber uses an aluminum frame) be convertible to a 45?

 

[Highland Ranger]

You can certainly do it the other way around if that helps. I have a Gold Match II and bought the new Kimber 22 conversion slide and barrel (less than $300 with shipping). Their old kit was made by someone else, they make this new one themselves.

Shoots great . . . . .

That 22 target 1911 model they sell is not particularly cheap (I think it lists for around $700) and buying that and a 45 slide might not be much different than buying a 45 and getting the 22 kit.

Not sure if either caliber enjoys better accuracy if you go one way or the other. Might be a good question to ask them - I ordered the conversion direct from their custom shop and the guy on the phone was helpful . . . .

 

[BluesBear]

Years agoâ„¢, Colt sold the Ace as a complete pistol. They also sold a .45 conversion unit for it.
Those .45 Conversion units are now worth a small fortune.

 

[Chupacabra]

There was a spread on the new Kimber .22 this month in American Rifleman. IIRC, it is made entirely of aluminum and is quite a bit lighter than a standard 1911. Putting a standard .45 frame on it might work, but the frame would take a beating.

If you're looking to swap slides, you are probably better off getting a standard 1911 and a conversion kit from Ceiner, Marvel, or like HR said, the one that Kimber makes. I have the Ceiner model and it works great!

 

[Alfadog]

Another reason for converting a Kimber .22 to .45--the rimfire models don't have the Series II junk in them (or so I was told by the Kimber reps at the NRA show last year).

 

[Jim Watson]

The Kimber .22 complete pistol's receiver does not have a centerfire ejector nor the holes to mount one in. You could not just drop a .45 upper on it.

Get the .45 and a .22 conversion.

 

[heherrera]

yeah you can

I understand that there are several 22 conversion units for the 1911 and noticed that Kimber makes a dedicated 22 semi auto on the 1911 frame. My question is whether you could buy the dedicated 22 by Kimber and then put on the slide from a 45...

In other words, would a 22 1911 (Kimber uses an aluminum frame) be convertible to a 45?

Yeah it will be convertible, if you already have a 1911 colt pistol, any conversion will fit, as long as it is for 1911.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

The Kimber .22 pistol cannot be converted to .45. The frame is not designed for it -- no place for a .45 ejector, for example.

The Kimber 45 (those with full size frames) can be converted to .22 and back to .45.

 

[BluesBear]

Since there seems to be some confusion...

As Jim and Vern have already stated you can NOT convert the Kimber .22 pistol into a .45. The frame is different.

It has nothing to do with the frame being aluminium. There have been aluminium frame .45s since 1948.

The Kimber .22 frame is different. It was designed to be a dedicated .22 Long Rifle caliber pistol.

 

[Zen21Tao]

I felt it worth mentioning that you also cannot use the .22 upper half of a dedicated Kimber on a 1911 frame. I have a Kimber Rimfire Target and a Norinco 1911 (which is supposed to be designed identical to the Colt 1911 specs). Look at the pics below that I uploaded. (sorry for quality, they were taken on my cell phone camera)

The Norinco is the black pistol. The Kimber is the Stainless

The Norinco upper half won’t go on the Kimber frame because the Kimber rail is thicker than the Norinco.

The Kimber upper won’t go the Norinco frame due to a difference in design at the rear. The Norinco has a higher stepped up rail but the Kimber doesn’t.

 

[BluesBear]

Thanks for the photos Zen21Tao.

As y'all can see there is no ejector cut in the slide on the Kimber .22 slide.
WHat that means is that there would be no way to eject the fired cases even if you could manage to find a .45 slide that would fit.