Informative Look at Kimber's 9mm KDS9C with Light Rail

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Way back in the 1980s, the gunsmith I was learning the trade from and I schemed ways to win matches. One idea was to fit a hi-cap magazine into a 1911 frame. (I am sure we were not alone in this.) Our plans foundered on the Scylla and Charybdis of: no suitable magazines plus “How will we fit the trigger around any magazine we do find?” Well, some of those problems were solved back then, not entirely to everyone’s satisfaction, and some later, to somewhat better results. 

As Jim Tarr reported on earlier, Kimber now has found a sweet spot in the variables of “hi-cap 1911” solutions. Their new KDS9c has the good points of the 1911, and the good points of the various hi-cap 9mm pistols, and none of the downsides. And now, it has an ambidextrous thumb safety and a light rail. First, the good points Kimber has kept. The KDS9c (can we just call it the “C,” for compact?) has the 1911 trigger system, with an external hammer. As Jim pointed out, a close to, or just under four-pound trigger pull on a 1911 is such a normal, accepted, customary thing that you can’t gush about it.

It is high praise for any other pistol to sport “a nice, 1911-like trigger pull.” You’ve got to do better than that to get a 1911 aficionado to go “oooh” over a 1911 trigger pull, and even getting into the normal 1911 range isn’t possible for your basic polymer striker pistol. We’ve been so trained to accept a spongy, gritty, mushy almost-six-pounds trigger pull as normal, that the 1911 is a gift. The C frame shape lets you get high on the pistol like a 1911, to handle recoil and muzzle rise, and it does so without biting you, nor drawing blood from sharp edges.

The efficient lockup of the 1911-style barrel (it has an integral feed ramp, which even pre-dates the 1911) and external hammer means that working the slide is not hard work, and the C slide has cocking serrations fore and aft. Takedown is normal if you’ve got any familiarity with 1911 style pistols, and if you’ve worked with a no-bushing 1911, you’ll be right at home.

The capacity? A compact pistol that holds 15 rounds of 9mm is the accepted standard these days, and Kimber did just that. Kimber won’t say which one, but they did not design a new magazine (which involves a herculean effort in testing to make sure it works 100%) and used an existing tube, cut the locking notch in the appropriate location for the 1911-like frame, and called it good. And it is good.

The bad things that Kimber left off of the C? Basically, the crunchy-to-crappy trigger pull that polymer pistols have for the most part gotten us all accustomed to. (We’re all looking at you, Glock.) And they left off the pebble-texture that passes for a “non-slip” grip on some of those polymer frames. Kimber here has machined a crosshatch pattern into the aluminum frame and does much the same on the extremely slim G10 grips. They also left off the grip safety of the 1911, partly in order to fit the rest of the parts into a frame shape that was going to be comfortable to all shooters.

As a double stack 9mm, in an aluminum frame, you might expect it to be a bit…blocky…bloated…. chunky. It isn’t. And, since it is a 9mm with proper 9mm magazines, the reach to the trigger is less than a hi-cap frame that started out to hold .45 ACP cartridges. The magazine release is in the expected place, and it is a low profile one, not sticking up past the grip panels, but elongated so you can get to it when needed.

So, in all, the C is what we were trying for back in the mid-1980s. Well, one exception: back then, we’d have tried to do as everyone else was working on and made ours in .45. Or at least, .38 Super, which is just as long a cartridge, and thus just as bulky a magazine. Judging by the carpet of 9mm brass I walk on at the gun club ranges every time I go out to work, hardly anyone shoots .45 or .38 Super any more. (There’s one guy still shooting 40, and we all hate him, as his brass is a pain to sort out.) Kimber knows this as much as anyone does, and they set out to make the best everyday carry pistol they could. That’s how we got the KDS9c. And the latest is a step or two better.

The frame was designed from the beginning to accept an ambidextrous thumb safety, and Kimber offers it in the catalog as an option. Me, I spent quite a few years back in the IPSC Neolithic era practicing weak-hand draws (The methods we all tried ranged from ugly to hazardous) and I am reasonably proficient in swiping the single-side safety off with my left-hand trigger finger, if or when that heroic effort is ever called for. So, for me an ambi safety is pretty superfluous. But a lot of people insist, and a lot actually use them, so Kimber, being smart, offers one. My main problem with ambi thumb safeties is that most of the rightside levers interfere with my right hand, but the KDS9c one does not. So, in this instance, I ignore it, it ignores me, and we’re both happy. Those of you who need one will also be happy.

And the rail? At last, I get to a point of disagreement with Tarr. I see it as a good thing. Yes, a light on an EDC pistol, for most people, is not a good thing at least some of the time. It adds bulk, it encourages using the light to see things, and it adds weight. By “see things” I mean using it in a situation where you are not already engaged. That is, using it to see where you are going, or searching when you might not lawfully be permitted to point a firearm at someone. Lost your keys? Use your extra light, not your weapon light. In most jurisdictions, pointing a loaded firearm at someone when the law does not permit it is an assault. Most likely assault with a deadly weapon. So, don’t go searching for your car in the parking structure with your weapon light. (You think I jest, but we all know “that guy.”)

But, “everyday” in EDC means “all day” and the night as well. Once at home, you get ready for bed, and you then, viola, clip your tac light onto your KDS9c and put it on the nightstand. In the morning take the light off, holster, and you’re ready for the day. This way, you are not switching from one pistol to another, day and night, because one of them has a light and one of them does not. And the KDS9c rail, with four slots, is large enough to accommodate pretty much all accessories, large or small.

The KDS9c is, of course, machined to accept a red-dot optic, and for this one needs an adapter plate. So, I did the initial part of my testing with the iron sights, and they are eminently useable and work just like iron sights should. I was able to get all the work done except for accuracy with a red dot installed, but I did spend some time working over the plate rack. (Hey, even gun writers need practice, and fun.) No malfunctions, of course, and the magazines all locked the slide open after the last shot and dropped free of their own weight when required to.

The adapter plates are in short supply at the moment, and even I had to nag and plead with Kimber to get me one. (It is my understanding that rubber hoses are being liberally applied to the miscreants, and the problem will be solved soon.) Unlike some designs that use a molded polymer plate as the adapter, the Kimber plate is aluminum. That bodes well for long-term durability. All my other red-dots were in use, so I went with a new one, from Hi-Lux, the TD-3C. It worked fine as a red-dot, but it did block the Kimber-height sights, should I have wanted to use the irons. In an earlier era that would be a deal-killer, but not so much anymore.

The grip on the KDS9c is wide enough to provide a large surface for recoil, making it feel softer than it would be with a single-stack of the same weight. The tang kept the muzzle from rising as much as it might have on a tang-less or tang-minimal polymer pistol. The trigger was 1911 good, and for as much of the testing as I could I used a light mounted, which took the work in stride.

Okay, if you have already jumped on the KDS9c bandwagon, and yours does not have the rail and ambi safety, your options are limited. Oh, you can have your local pistolsmith install an ambi safety, but he can’t go and attach a rail. If you simply have to have the rail and ambi, and love the KDS9c, you can trade yours in and upgrade, or just buy another one, the newer one. (Stick at this long enough and you too will have gone this route. Trust me.)

A holster for the railed C soon won’t be difficult to find. Given the adoption of rails and optics, every holster maker out there now looks at every product with the questions “Rail? Red dot? Both? “Of course” going through their heads. You can even get a Kimber brand holster for your KDS9c, because they are available through Kimber, made by Blackpoint. If you are worried about magazines, a quick check shows that the 15-round version is in stock (not to be shipped to the usual non-free states, order the 10-shot ones) and word is there will be an 18-round magazine available soon. I’m with Jim on this one (I hate to say that), but the prospect of an 18-shot magazine indicates a future, non-compact, non-C, KDS9 in our future. So, those of you who were holding back a bit, just in case the C was not going to be the hottest thing you now are rewarded for your patience.

It will be with some reluctance that I ship this one back to Kimber, but I’ve already got a metric boxload of 9mms, hi-cap 9mms, 9mms with rails, and 9mms with red-dots in the safe. You, however, likely do not, and you should look first in your local gun shop at the Kimber section, for the KDS9c, black or silver. You won’t be disappointed.

KIMBER KDS9c RAILED PISTOL SPECS

• Type: Hammer-fired semi-automatic
• Caliber: 9mm Parabellum
• Capacity: 15+1 rounds
• Barrel: 4.1 in.
• Overall Length: 7.75 in.
• Weight: 25.4 oz.
• Finish: Black or Silver KimPro
• Grips: G10
• Sights: Adjustable rear, fiber optic front
• Trigger: 4 lbs. 2 oz.
• MSRP: $1,499
• Contact: KimberAmerica.com, (888) 243-4522

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