Kimber 2K11 COMP Complete Disassembly
Welcome back to Jim's Armory. In this one, Jim tears down a brand new Kimber 2K11 COMP all the way to its individual parts, showing what's inside a modern 2011 built on the classic 1911 pattern, and pointing out along the way where Kimber got the little details right.
Safety First Jim starts, as always, by confirming the gun is clear: no magazine, chamber physically checked and empty. Only then does the disassembly begin.
The Upper: Comp Porting and a Tool-less Guide Rod The slide comes off using Kimber's tool-less guide rod, a feature Jim calls excellent, and the barrel unseats from the lugs and slides out the front. Jim takes a moment to explain what actually makes this a "comp" model rather than just a barrel with a chunk port drilled in it. The barrel functionally ends well before the muzzle, with the area ahead of that point flared out wider than the barrel itself. As the projectile exits, gases expand into that wider chamber and, finding the smaller exit hole restrictive, vent up through the matching hole in the slide instead - taming muzzle flip. Jim notes there's always debate about exactly how much this helps, but in his view it's fairly effective.
From there, Jim removes the firing pin with a punch, tilting the pistol back to catch the firing pin retainer before it can launch across the room.
Pro-Tip: Never grab and pull a firing pin straight out - it stretches the spring and can cause light strikes down the road. Instead, note the direction the coils wind, pinch the pin, and twist it the opposite way to open the coils slightly so it slides free.
He leaves the extractor in place since this gun is set up with an optic and pin at the bottom.
The Lower: A Familiar 2011 Layout Moving to the frame, Jim removes the thumb safety - hammer needs to be back or it won't budge, and with the hammer forward the safety won't even engage. He points out the small bend Kimber puts in the safety detent spring, a trick that keeps the detent from flying off when the safety comes free. It's a touch Jim appreciates and calls out as a thoughtful design choice.
With the hammer eased forward and caught by hand, Jim drives out the mainspring housing pin, slides off the housing, and starts pulling the hammer, sear, and disconnector. He notes the hammer is MIM (Metal Injection Molding), and observes that MIM quality varies a lot depending on the manufacturer's process - done well it's fine, done poorly it can be brittle inside a hardened shell.
The grips come off next, an eighth-inch Allen job with no Loctite on the screws - something Jim is glad to see, since Loctited screws on these small fasteners tend to strip or snap rather than release cleanly. He recommends periodically checking that all the pins and screws on any 2011 haven't backed out over a few hundred rounds rather than locking everything down permanently.
The barrel bushing/tenon assembly at the front of the grip is likewise free of Loctite on at least one side, which Jim is thankful for, since a fully Loctited version would make disassembly a much rougher process.
The magazine release comes out with a slight push-and-turn to relieve spring tension on its internal wedge, and the trigger slides free out the back once the grip module is off - Jim notes this full teardown, including removing the grip, is necessary if you ever want to swap in an aftermarket trigger, since the frame covers the back of the trigger bow otherwise.
Looking over the fully disassembled pistol, Jim's overall impression is that this is a very classic, unremarkable 2011 layout - the same fundamental parts you'd find in a Staccato or another Kimber, which he attributes to the shared 1911 patent architecture now open to any manufacturer.
Reassembly and Quality Concerns Going back together, Jim reinstalls the trigger, magazine release, and grip screws, working carefully to keep the barrel bushing/tenon pin from crossing over a ledge before it's tightened. He flags that the fit here can vary - on another Kimber he'd worked on previously, this same joint was so tight he had to sand and polish it down to get it together. On this gun, the fit was better, though he still checks for a snug, non-sloppy fit with no play.
Pro-Tip: When seating the sear spring, make sure it rests on top of the sear and disconnector, not underneath - people have reached out to Jim confused about this, and getting it wrong means the gun won't fire at all.
He also notes the hammer must be all the way forward, not cocked or on the half-cock notch, when pushing the grip safety back into place, or the mainspring strut will fight you the whole way.
Crucial Safety Checks With everything reassembled, Jim runs through function checks before calling it done. He confirms the trigger doesn't move with the safety on, confirms it works with the safety off, and confirms the grip safety must be depressed for the trigger to function. He also checks for the half-cock notch, verifying the hammer catches at that first click - a safeguard in case the sear ever fails without the trigger being pulled.
Final Thoughts The Kimber 2K11 COMP tears down to a thoroughly conventional 2011 build, and Jim didn't find anything unusual inside compared to other guns in this category. What stood out to him were the small quality-of-life details - the tool-less guide rod, the bent detent spring, the lack of Loctite on key screws - that make the gun pleasant to work on. Stay tuned for more from Jim's Armory, and subscribe so you don't miss what's next.
