Kimber Solo Review

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Kimber Solo

Stylish, ergonomic, monotonous in consistency and with an attitude for premium power cartridges only- the Kimber Solo is the full metal solution for conceal carry. Designed to be a fighting gun that can easily be concealed, the Solo will shoot fairly powerful rounds when called to your side for self defense.

The Kimber Solo is a small gun with a big performance envelope. Though compact, this Kimber offers solid ammo capacity, a decent and dependable caliber size, and an official call for premium ammo. All of these when combined gives shooters a sidearm they can trust their lives to.

Ergonomically, if it were anymore slender the Solo would slide under any door and get delivered to your home like delivery pizza. Despite weighing only 17.2 ounces, the Solo feels hefty, like it was carved from a single block of silver, even though the frame is aluminum. The Solo is lightweight and perfectly capable of hitching a ride in almost any pocket or purse. Externally, the metallic frame and slide have melted edges. All corners have been rounded and blended and hence do not snag on clothing or holsters. The slide serrations are deep, allowing for a firm and secure grip. Furthermore, atop the slide are the Solo sights. Made of steel, the 3 dot sight system is securely mounted with machined dovetails seamlessly diving towards the slide surface. Internally, the magazine well is beveled for quick and positive loading. With Solo snag free design there's just no reason to leave home without concealing it by your side.

Mechanically, the Kimber Solo reminds one of the 1911, but the Solo is not a scaled down, 9mm 1911. It's a double action only, striker-fired, traditional recoil operated baby. One that has a very different trigger feel and an odd, spittoon-shaped stainless steel machined barrel. The Kimber Solo relies on a single action striker-fired trigger design with an even and smooth pull that breaks clean at 7 pounds.

Furthermore, the standard Solo features a stainless steel slide and barrel. The frame is machined from aluminum, seamlessly joins with the slide and offers hefty recoil management. The frame offers an ambidextrous thumb safety, removable grips and ambidextrous magazine release button.

Internally, the first thing you'll notice about the Kimber Solo is the lack of a hammer and the beauty is in its unintuitive results. Instead of a striker-fired pistol with a crunchy trigger the Solo hosts a DAO look alike but one that feels and behaves like a long smooth DA revolver's trigger. Pull it and the trigger will reset without stacking, ready for the second pull.

Furthermore, the Kimber Solo has reached the 'just right' positioning for feed and eject mechanism for a compact. The slide assembly has a machined bump that pushes the top round in the magazine well down. The extraction path hence remains clear during ejection. This is coupled with the exceptionally large extractor and a barrel design that features a carefully sculpted ramp instead of the traditional trough. The result is greater self defense reliability for a compact that harbors a meager 2.7" of barrel length.

The trigger mechanism though new, offers an easy transition. If you are used to stacking trigger pulls than using the Solo will be a breeze. If you're used to clean and crisp SA pulls, then a bit of dry firing is all you need to getting started.

Model: Solo Carry
Action: DAO
Caliber: 9mm
Overall Length: 5.50"
Overall Height: 3.90"
Overall Width: 0.99"
Barrel Length: 2.70"
Sight Radius: 4.40"
Sights: Fixed 3-Dot
Capacity: 6 + 1
Weight: 17.00 oz.