EVO, Micro, 1911: Dumbbell Doubles Down

RustyIron · 07-21-2019, 08:45 PM

I subscribe to a few gun magazines, one of which is "Handguns."

My firearms preference is for handguns and modern sporting rifles (the scary black ones). A magazine devoted to handguns with no articles on four wheel drives, beef jerky, hunting, and wooden-stock rifles is refreshing. "Handguns" gives me what I'm looking for.

Some of the writers at "Handguns" have opinions that differ vastly from my own. That's ok. If I wanted my own opinion, I'd just stare into the mirror and talk. But if a writer insists on spewing nonsense time and time again, it soon becomes impossible to ever believe another word he writes. James Tarr is one such writer. The guy is a pretty good wordsmith, but possesses little knowledge of guns. To compensate, he just makes stuff up.

You be the judge:

In April, James Tarr wrote an article on the Kimber EVO, describing it as a "striker-fired 1911." An alert reader wrote in, noting that the EVO bears little resemblance to a 1911. Instead of retracting his statement and admitting that he had played fast and loose with the truth, Tarr doubled down, claiming that the EVO is in fact a striker-fired version of the Micro 9, which is a compact 1911.

I nearly fell out of my chair when I read that craziness. The EVO is nothing like a Micro 9, and a Micro 9 is nothing like a 1911.

I don't think I'll cancel my subscription to "Handguns," but I take it for what it is. If you want facts, read "The Wall Street Journal" or "Firearms News." If you want mindless fluff, read "People" or Handguns."

If I'm mistaken, please correct me.

Teufelhunde · 07-22-2019, 07:41 PM

Originally Posted by RustyIron

I subscribe to a few gun magazines, one of which is "Handguns."

My firearms preference is for handguns and modern sporting rifles (the scary black ones). A magazine devoted to handguns with no articles on four wheel drives, beef jerky, hunting, and wooden-stock rifles is refreshing. "Handguns" gives me what I'm looking for.

Some of the writers at "Handguns" have opinions that differ vastly from my own. That's ok. If I wanted my own opinion, I'd just stare into the mirror and talk. But if a writer insists on spewing nonsense time and time again, it soon becomes impossible to ever believe another word he writes. James Tarr is one such writer. The guy is a pretty good wordsmith, but possesses little knowledge of guns. To compensate, he just makes stuff up.

You be the judge:

In April, James Tarr wrote an article on the Kimber EVO, describing it as a "striker-fired 1911." An alert reader wrote in, noting that the EVO bears little resemblance to a 1911. Instead of retracting his statement and admitting that he had played fast and loose with the truth, Tarr doubled down, claiming that the EVO is in fact a striker-fired version of the Micro 9, which is a compact 1911.

I nearly fell out of my chair when I read that craziness. The EVO is nothing like a Micro 9, and a Micro 9 is nothing like a 1911.

I don't think I'll cancel my subscription to "Handguns," but I take it for what it is. If you want facts, read "The Wall Street Journal" or "Firearms News." If you want mindless fluff, read "People" or Handguns."

If I'm mistaken, please correct me.

Both of them are, at best, "1911'ish" in that they do share some features and/or geometry with a 1911, but you are correct in that they are NOT 1911's.

KCJeep · 07-22-2019, 08:04 PM

Don't believe I have ever read the guy but yes that is nonsense.

Micro 9s, P938's and the like are "1911 style" guns. They are absolutely not 1911's, but they certainly pay homage to it and operate much the same way. Looks and operation definitely appeal to a 1911 guy.

But the EVO and the like? Have nothing to do with a 1911. If anything Kimber is building a high quality, alloy frame carry gun aimed squarely at the masses of rather boring polymer striker fired CCW guns. Which nobody ever compares to a 1911 by the way.

Don't think I'd read much more that guy had to write.

Cucamonga kid · 07-22-2019, 08:09 PM

I think the only thing the Evo might share with a 1911 is the 18° grip angle and that's about it.

HB Rider · 07-25-2019, 04:25 AM

The EVO and the Micro 9 do have one thing in common - the magazines. I run Micro 9 mags in my EVO, and even modified Sig P938 mags, which BTW, I prefer over the Kimber mags.

I’m a die-hard 1911 guy, but I do really like my EVO. I have a video in the works tentatively titled “The Kimber EVO is NOT a Solo”. It should be out in a week or so. Meanwhile, the EVO works great out to 50 yards:

YouTube (Short URL)