Kimber KDS9c - what the DW DWX Compact should have been

My LGS has a pair in, one blued, one stainless. Showed them to me as I was on the run, heading back to the class I was teaching after my lunch break, but I snapped a quick pic for this thread. I only handled them for a second, and I’m pretty 1911-ignorant anyway, so nothing really jumped out except that the one I handled (the stainless one) looked like it had been test-fired pretty heavily based on the carbon in the chamber and on the feed ramp especially.

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Originally Posted by Navin Johnson

I have 1911s with triggers that are in the same weight range as P365s and P320s and VP nines and GPT’s. So I am not sure in today’s world why a grip safety let alone a thumb safety on a 1911 is necessary?

Yes, that is sarcastic. My 365 has a TS. For some reason it’s OK for a polymer gun with a 4 pound trigger to not have a safety but by God a 1911 without two safeties is blasphemy.

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Had me there in the first half.

I agree with everything you say tho...

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Originally Posted by Lon

I also noticed the bottom of the barrel isn’t akin to a 1911 or 2011 barrel. Wonder if that could also be part of the lockup?

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Doesn't look like it, well away from the locking surface and the link's movement.
There is probably some shape in the frame where the integral feed ramp sets down when unlocked.

I want to get a look at one and see if it has the same handling as the EDC X9 or a Bobtail; the heavily rounded butt makes them come up to a low point in my 1911A1 hand.

They started showing up at the store here and I got to handle them.
Pro:
The round butt does not make it NPA low in my 1911 hands like Bobtail or EDCX9.

Con:
The coarse grip frame checkering does not give a lot of traction.
It somehow FEELS heavier than its catalog weight or similar size guns.
The trigger was typical production line 1911 and would benefit from a refit.

Observed:
It seemed strange to punch the magazine catch and this tiny little 9mm clip slide out.
Sorry, guys, this is a dedicated 9mm design, so you ain't getting a 10mm.

My application for a 4" gun is way less than it was last year, the series of matches where that was the definition of "concealable" has been discontinued, leaving only the Honolulu Hideable Handgun Hoedown where a 4" barrel is maximum and an Aloha shirt is the designated concealment garment. (I shot a revolver last time to the great edification of the crowd, some of whom had apparently not seen a speedloader in use.)

I also got a second look at an Echelon. Its trigger was markedly better than the one SA provided for the grand opening demonstration shoot. That is good but it means you should look at the individual gun you are contemplating buying.

I had been shooting my trusty Plastic M&P before looking at those. I showed it to the staffer and asked him and myself "Now just why am I looking at new guns?"

Well, Kimber smartened up. Hopefully DW does the same thing with the DWX Compact.

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But for the trigger I could almost squint and tell myself that is a Sig Legion P229SAO.