In my case, I bought a Gold Match to shoot bullseye with, but in retrospect, I should have bought a dedicated bullseye gun instead. It's a great gun, but I could have done much better by spending a few hundred more.
Exactly right. The GM is a good gun out of the box, but for those of us with demanding (ie competition) criteria in a 1911, it still requires some improvement. I am getting to where I now rate production 1911s as "Loose, Looser, Loosest, etc. *smiles* I still think, generally speaking, pound for pound, that Kimbers are tighter than Springfields, and way tighter than the new Colts. I just don't understand what is up with Colt. They have some pretty stiff competition out there, but they don't seem able to get their acts together on quality control. I have to guess they're having serious morale issues in that factory or something. It's really a pity.
In my case, I opted to gut out most of the internals and replace them with higher quality, and better fitted, components. I am referring to the hammer, sear, firing pin stop, safety, barrel bushing, barrel link, springs, main spring housing, etc. I hung on to the stock disconnector (why I am not sure) and the premium trigger truly is one. I think I've probably spent about $350 or so getting it up to my standards for a "shooter." Now that I think about it even harder, the only stock parts on my GM are the barrel, frame, slide, grip bushings, disconnector (soon to go)....laughing. I am also somebody who wishes the "MIM" process would just die a slow death in pistol manufacturing -- period.
As I attempt to recall things about my Gold Match for this post. I remember finding that my slide stop pin was ".199 (not bad) but there was still ".005 free play going through the barrel link. I measured out the link and also found it to be ".276 --which is ".002 below spec. No wonder there was zero wear on my barrel lugs and slide recesses! Changing to a Wilson ".278 was a big improvement in lock up. Oh, the barrel and slide were matched up perfectly -- it was just too bad they barely made any contact on lock up! *smiles*
Speaking of the barrel. I couldn't be more pleased. It is chambered well, and I'd rate it "excellent." Machining on the slide -- also top notch although the breech face needed polishing.
My barrel bushing OD was also out of spec (too loose) so I swapped it out for an EGM bushing. I could have banged the crap out of it and tightened it up, but I thought I'd do better with better quality. BIG improvement in accuracy there.
Slide to frame had ".001 free play - perfect for me. I just stuff in some Brian Enos' "Slide-Glide" and it's smooth as glass and tighter than Rosie in an inner tube.
The extractor was about 3lbs too loose. I adjusted and polished that, and bought a spare Wilson just in case.
Firing pin stop was "MIM." A "very" bad place for "MIM," so that got replaced and polished.
Ambi-Safety was a cheapo (MIM again) McCormick and not properly fitted either. I've seen and heard of those breaking, so that was swapped out for a wide, ambi Ed Brown.
Guide rod and bushing were excellent, however, as a rapid fire shooter, I am a big fan of Tungsten Carbide on both of those, and they got swapped. Just makes it easier for me to follow my front sight during recoil.
Adjustable sights were fantastic -- and very tough, but I had to have tritium, so I swapped for a bar-bot Meprolight. Same exact sights, except they glows at night.
Mag well was beveled just great, but I needed a bigger one -- so on went the S&A magwell. Of course that also meant a change in grips.
MIM hammer & sear - YUCK! Cylinder and Slide's "Tactical II" for me please! I'm at about a 2 1/2 - 2 3/4lb pull - clean and breaks like glass after I got "Jiggy wit it."
Did I mention the stock trigger is great? Yup! Problem there was too much "take up" though. Took quite a few hours, but I adjusted those flipper things until it finally felt good to me -- about 1/16" take up now. Too little for panic shooters I'd imagine, but I can handle it.
Now this is sure to shock you. Last year, I was shooting the standard H&G #68 over 4.7g of Bullseye (yes, I'm old fashioned) and doing it reliably with a 20lb, variable rate Wolff recoil spring. I've never used a lighter spring yet, and ALL my loads feed and eject perfectly. I am now a believer in variable rate springs -- this makes me a Judas among my peers, but what works for me, works for me.
The plastic MSH is pure crap if ya asks me. Plastic on a 1911? This is supposed to be a workhorse - I just don't get it?
Oh yeah, I also changed out the mag release for a Nowlin. The reason was simple - not a place for MIM, and definitely not a place for a torx screw either.
Nevertheless, I've still done alright with the GM. I paid about $700 for it (used) from a Texas police officer who only put about 200 rounds through it. For about $1100-$1200, I've got a pistol that can shoot 3/4" at 25 yards from a Ransom Rest using 200g SWCs.
Now for those of you who don't understand any of this, I want to say one thing. BEFORE I changed anything, this pistol would shoot 1.5" groups at 25 yards -- which is EXCELLENT for a production pistol. My changes were made primarily to beef up the pistol, make it more reliable and longer lasting, and suit it to MY preferences and needs. If you see the quality of what else is out there in "production" 1911s under $1300, the Kimber is a great deal - right outta da box.
