[razorbacker]

I was mildly interested in this gun when it was announced back in November but not a high priority. Well you know the situation, you've recently overbought on your gun budget then along comes a smoking deal you can't pass up. This smoking deal came home with me today, have not had time to shoot it. Like all Browns, great fit and finish. Slide so smooth feels like it's on ball bearing. Sights nice, Trijcon orange on the front. Not sure who dreamed up these grips, probably will replace soon. Reverse barrel crown is a nice feature. Not sure how I feel about these slide serrations, kind of looks like shallow slashes. Brown has touted this as a lighter all steel version of the KC. They've shaved some metal off the slide edges and put in a 4" barrel. Honestly a blindfolded person would be hard pressed to tell any difference in weight compared to the original KC steel commander. I've always had a mild aversion to 1911's with external extractors but I'm sure Brown got this one perfected before release. One thing you have to give kudos for, Brown certainly knows how to make stainless steel pretty. It is a nice commander, look forward to giving it a workout soon. We now have a Brown model down in the price range of several production guns. I placed a DW VBob in a couple photos for comparison.
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[gps man]

Very nice! Congratulations!

 

[cgff]

Congrats, Sweet.

 

[TheCollector]

Great looking combo.... looking forward to your workout comparison.

 

[Old Sea Dragon]

Me too, the comparison photos are really helpful. Congratulations

 

[Harley B Rider]

Razorbacker, we need a detailed range report.

 

[razorbacker]

Razorbacker, we need a detailed range report.

Well, this gun story had a very quick ending, not what I had planned. I was very excited to get my hands on this KC9 but only owned it less than two weeks. I buy guns to keep, rarely sell one, but was made an offer I could not refuse on this one. I never made it to the range for a full workout. I did run a couple mags through it in my back yard mostly to check for function. It ran fine, very nice gun. Honestly after shooting and fondly it for a few days I was wondering what was better about the KC9 than my DW Vbob 9. Also I like the more traditional appearance of the Vbob than the trimmed slide, slide cuts, 4" barrel, etc on the KC9. I would have certainly kept the KC9 I didn't already have Vbob 9. It makes you proud to have a 1911 with "Brown" on the slide but I decided it wasn't worth an extra $600 to have the name.
By the way the new owner is a lady, a very happy lady with a wide smile when I last saw her.

 

[Harley B Rider]

Well, this gun story had a very quick ending, not what I had planned. I was very excited to get my hands on this KC9 but only owned it less than two weeks. I buy guns to keep, rarely sell one, but was made an offer I could not refuse on this one. I never made it to the range for a full workout. I did run a couple mags through it in my back yard mostly to check for function. It ran fine, very nice gun. Honestly after shooting and fondly it for a few days I was wondering what was better about the KC9 than my DW Vbob 9. Also I like the more traditional appearance of the Vbob than the trimmed slide, slide cuts, 4" barrel, etc on the KC9. I would have certainly kept the KC9 I didn't already have Vbob 9. It makes you proud to have a 1911 with "Brown" on the slide but I decided it wasn't worth an extra $600 to have the name.
By the way the new owner is a lady, a very happy lady with a wide smile when I last saw her.

Thanks for the update. The more I look at the specs, the more I question whether the saving of a little more than 2 ounces over the DW is worth it. And I wonder how it would fit in a regular 1911 holster, considering the slightly slimmer slide.

 

[razorbacker]

Thanks for the update. The more I look at the specs, the more I question whether the saving of a little more than 2 ounces over the DW is worth it. And I wonder how it would fit in a regular 1911 holster, considering the slightly slimmer slide.

It fit nice and tight in my 1911 holsters. Only the top of the slide was trimmed so the frame and lower edge of the slide is still the same width as a regular 1911. Yeah, the weight savings of the KC9 is really kind of a mute issue. As I mentioned in the first post, if you have the KC9 in one hand and a traditional steel commander in the other, you cannot tell the difference. I did not purchase this gun at retail price but if I were buying, for $1800-1900 I would buy a nice used traditional model KC over a new KC9. Just my personal preference based on liking the traditional style 1911's. I do not mean to cast a negative cloud in anyway on the KC9, it is a very nice Brown that folks will be proud to own. Just a personal choice issue.

 

[azguy1911]

It's a lot of gun for the money, there's a ton on GB for sale and I'd be lying of I said I hadn't thought about it but I think I'll pick up a VBOB I saw and put that away for a Steve Owens treatment in the future