Firearms News October 2023 — Issue #20: Kimber's KDS9c

This Month in Firearms News: 1911 Meets Glock 19

On the cover: Kimber's KDS9c

I first got my hands on Kimber’s new KDS9c at the 2023 NRA Show in Indianapolis, where it was debuted, and it should be shipping to distributors now. This is a purpose-built EDC (every day carry) pistol, meant to give you the best of America’s two most popular pistol types (1911s and striker-fired compact high-capacity 9mms). If the name seems a mouthful or tough to remember, it’s not—just realize this is the (K)imber (D)ouble(S)tack (9)mm (c)compact. Some of you may feel I’m committing blasphemy by bringing up the plastic atrocity, the Glock pistol, in a discussion of a 1911-style pistol, but the Glock 19 was the carry gun against which all others were judged for three decades or so, for a lot of good reasons, including size, weight, and capacity. The biggest drawback to the Glock design, and most striker-fired pistols, is the mediocre (at best) trigger pull. The 1911, on the other hand, has the trigger pull against which all other pistols are and should be judged, but is generally big, heavy, and suffers from a lack of capacity. If only there was a way to combine the two...Enter the KDS9c. Yes, I’m well aware that this “mashup” has been tried before, with varying results, and will talk about those later in this article, but for now let’s look at the KDS9c. 

[Continue reading "1911 Meets Glock 19" in October 2023 Issue #20]

Also inside:

• Riot Gun Head-To-Head: Beretta A300 Ultima Patrol vs. Mossberg 940 Pro Tactical.
• The Beretta AR-70/90 Assault Rifle: Italian Steel for the 1990s.
• The Yugoslavian M53 Machine Gun: From old war to ethnic war.
• EAA MC P35 Pistol: The custom High-Power we lusted for, now here for less cost!

Pick up a copy at your local magazine stand, Walmart, Barnes & Noble, or major book retailer. Firearms News prints two exciting issues per month, so be sure to get both copies or subscribe!