Is a kimber 1911 long slide engravable?

Lee

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I could not find the thread listing the unengravables. I also do not know whether this is blued or stainless or whether kimber even has those options. In fact I know nothing about Kimbers. So please let me in on your experiences and what questions I need to ask the customer.
 

rmgreen

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Lee,

I suggest that you call Kimber (888) 243-4522 after you once know for sure what specifically you are getting (Blued, SS, or coated). I have found them to be very forthcoming and may offer additional help in planning a project using their fine 1911's
 

Lee

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Potential customer says slide is SS. Has anyone cut one of these?
 

KenB

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Lee, I’ve cut 4 or 5 of the stainless Kimbers with no problems at all. They cut very much like a stainless Colt.
Ken
 

Lee

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Thanks to everyone for their input. Great community.
 

FANCYGUN

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Lee if you remember i had a heck of a time engraving the last stainless colt 1911 i would call kimber to eliminate any potential regrets
 

LahtiM39

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Lee,
I have done a stainless Kimber and it cut well. Chances are the long slide will do fine in stainless.
You might call Kimber if there are other options.
 

John B.

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Like Marty I've cut many many Colt 1911 stainless with no problem.
But the very recent production stainless guns have given me fits.
I may have been unlucky in the ones sent to me and complacent because of having no previous problems
Lee, just protect yourself by test cutting the inside of the slide on this Kimber .
That is my normal procedure and I failed follow it on a couple of new production Colts and paid dearly for it.
 
Last edited:

dlilazteca

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Doing a Kimber now, using carbide graver, cuttable, i would say its a little harder than a stainless Colt, basing myself on how many times I need to resharpen.


Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 

dclevinger

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Lee,

I am chiming in late but the stainless Kimbers that I have worked on are hard but can be cut with carbide.
 

Roger Bleile

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Several here have recommended test cutting on the inside of the slide. I have always done this when in doubt but found out (the hard way) that it doesn't always work. I was once asked to cut a simple heart and some initials on the top of a Springfield Armory XD slide. I made my test cuts inside...no problem. I found the outside unengraveable. After fighting my way through the outline of the small heart, I used a diamond tipped pantograph for the initials.
 

JJ Roberts

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When engraved an Mannlicher-Schoenauer I ran into a problem when engraving the receiver the rear end gut fine but as I got to the front it was to hard to cut,had to send it out to be annealed,you never know what problems you'll run in to.I did make a test cut but not in the right place.:no: J.J.
 

Ed Westerly

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Many semi auto slides are hardened only at the high wear points. You will be going along just fine and then BOOM, harder than can be believed! The slides on two Colts i engraved (one Gold Cup, one Combat Commander) were hard, hard, hard, all over. They got engraved, but I now charge more to do one than I would a blued one.
 

Toad

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A friend of mine was cutting a blued one last week. It was hard as stone. He was resharping every few minutes.
 

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