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Terry Tiell · 10-16-2012, 12:16 PM

I've never fired a custom Kimber so I couldn't tell you, however I can tell you what the gunsmith told me. His name is John Caudner and all he does is 1911's and full custom build 1911's and he's been doing them since before I knew what a 1911 was. Anyway he said that all the internals on my RIA are MIM (metal injection molded) and are the same quality as can be found on every sub $2000 1911 made, however the RIA uses a steel trigger and steel shoe's for the springs and thats why it has a 7 lb spring because if you had a 3.5 lb spring with those steel parts you'd wind up with a full auto 1911. So it needed a few extra parts and that brought the bill up to $390 for all the custom work, add that to a base price of $500 and we have a $890 gun that John says he'd put up against any Colt or Kimber that was $2000. All in all I'm VERY happy with how it turned out but John said he could install a match grade barrel and tighten up the slide a little and he'd put up against any Colt or Kimber out there. His words not mine but I hope it helps.

If anyone wants his contact info just PM me and I'll be happy to pass it along.

And thank you everyone.

10-16-2012, 12:16 PM	#7
Terry Tiell User Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: The Fascist State of Maryland Posts: 224 Thanks: 55 Thanked 26 Times in 14 Posts	I've never fired a custom Kimber so I couldn't tell you, however I can tell you what the gunsmith told me. His name is John Caudner and all he does is 1911's and full custom build 1911's and he's been doing them since before I knew what a 1911 was. Anyway he said that all the internals on my RIA are MIM (metal injection molded) and are the same quality as can be found on every sub $2000 1911 made, however the RIA uses a steel trigger and steel shoe's for the springs and thats why it has a 7 lb spring because if you had a 3.5 lb spring with those steel parts you'd wind up with a full auto 1911. So it needed a few extra parts and that brought the bill up to $390 for all the custom work, add that to a base price of $500 and we have a $890 gun that John says he'd put up against any Colt or Kimber that was $2000. All in all I'm VERY happy with how it turned out but John said he could install a match grade barrel and tighten up the slide a little and he'd put up against any Colt or Kimber out there. His words not mine but I hope it helps. If anyone wants his contact info just PM me and I'll be happy to pass it along. And thank you everyone. __________________ Trying to redo grand dads Luger the best I can.