actical holsters - 1911 Holster + Platform

John M. Browning had it right: “Finally the idea came. A good idea starts a celebration in the mind, and every nerve in the body seems to crowd up to see the fireworks.”

Those words describe what we all admire in the truly industrious minds of great American inventors: ingenuity. Few possess it, and fewer still have the will and the means to apply it. And if we are so fortunate, one of those few brilliant ideas becomes reality—and the M1911 undoubtedly fits that mold. With the 100th anniversary of the adoption of Browning’s M1911 pistol at our doorstep, Kimber decided it was time to celebrate Browning’s ingenuity with the release of the limited Centennial Edition M1911, an example of which will be auctioned off on Friday, May 14, at the Fourth annual NRA-ILA Dinner and Auction in Charlotte, N.C.

It may seem like Kimber is jumping the gun, so to speak, given that this is the 2010 NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits, but Browning actually filed the application for his patent on Feb. 17, 1910, and the gun subsequently adopted by the U.S. military the following year was essentially the same design—so the company isn’t too far off-target. Often hailed as the pinnacle of semi-automatic pistol models, the M1911 is a truly American sidearm that is certainly worthy of such an honor.

Kimber made only 250 Centennial Editions, with one additional M1911 made especially for the NRA-ILA Auction. Kimber assigned a special serial number, KCNRA1 (Kimber Centennial NRA), to the donated piece.

The pistols were made in the Kimber Custom Shop, then forwarded to Turnbull Restoration for finishing. Frames were color casehardened and bothslides and barrels were given a deep charcoal blue.True solid ivory grips were added from Dan Chesiak, and the gun comes displayed in a custom Pocumtuck Wood Specialties presentation box. Elegantly engraved scrolling embellishes the high-polish blued slide, and niter-blue metal accents can be seen on a number of parts. The lack of front slide serrations is in tune with the original M1911 design, and both the front and rear sights are dovetailed into the slide. The rear sights are adjustable for windage and elevation, although the winning bidder may be hesitant to fire the gun as much as its renowned reliability allows.