Kimber’s New Micro 9 Rapide Black Ice 9mm Pistol

1. Where do they get these names from?

   • From the same place that Japanese car makers get the names of their vehicles.

     • You mean they pick any English word that sounds cool when pronounced as though it were Japanese, because their domestic market doesn’t usually know what the word means anyway? Somehow I don’t think that’s it, no.

     • The same folks who come up with names for interior house paint.

     • Kia Sofia!

   • Marketing Directors (Dumb Asses)

   • Reminds of the joke: Little Indian boy asks his father where he got his name. The proud and great warrior father tells his young son that when his older brother was born, he stepped outside the teepee and saw a great Grizzly Bear so he named him Great Bear. When your sister was born, I stepped outside and saw a deer standing in the pond, so I named her Standing Pond. Why do you ask me these questions Two Dogs Fucking?

   • -Micro 9 Rapide (Black Ice)
     -Micro 9 Rapide (Black Ice)
     -Micro 9 Rapide (Black Ice)
     -Micro 9 Rapide (Black Ice)
     -Micro 9 Rapide (Black Ice)
     -Micro 9 Rapide (Black Ice)
     -Micro 9 Rapide (Black Ice)
     -Micro 9 Rapide (Black Ice)
     -Micro 9 Rapide (Black Ice)

     With the way they wrote this article it almost looks like they haven’t actually decided which name they want to use yet.

2. A lot of money when a Glock 26 can do the same job for half the price.

   • Kimber makes a fine firearms and they are priced accordingly. If money is no object or you are a wreckless spender that likes saying you have a Kimber, go for it. In the long run you may come out ahead.

     • Kimber Solo has entered the conversation

3. Neat – I wonder if the round capacity will be 7 + 1…

   I’ve really enjoyed my Rapide in .45 so far. Great shooter and current carry gun.

   Had Kimber offered the original model in 4” original, that would have been primo. 4” is best inch, on a 1911 (;

4. “Black Ice”.

   But the gun is gray.

   Marketing.

   • You can’t see the black ice, just like on roads.

     • “You can’t see the black ice, just like on roads.”

       Aaahhhh. Now I see. Very smart these Americans; selling what cannot be seen, for premium prices.

5. Always happy to see a thinly disguised advertisement (Black Ice). Is “Staff Writer” a pseudonym for “Corporate PR” (Black Ice)?

   • It’s not thinly disguised or disguised in any way. The first words appearing on this post are “From Kimber America”

   • Staff Writer is just posting a press release. Sponsored Post, like Everest Caliber today, is whatever the company wants to say with links, and without comments so they’re not paying for us to say how terrible their goods or services are.

6. I guess small pistols are better at concealment. I carried a Kahr CM9 for a couple of years. Sticky holster in front pocket of jeans. Draw was smooth and no hang-ups. However, even if the small 3.15 inch barrel of this Kimber is “Match Grade” I bet some ammo brands will key hole. The barrel is just too short for anything than bad breath distance IMO.

   I switched to a Glock 19 and 147gr HSTs and usually don’t feel ‘under-gunned’ (not sure that’s a word) I recently began to question my choice once again due to recent articles in the news and here that we’ve discussed. The thug who was shot in the back a bunch of times by the cop…still breathing. Cops doing mag dumps just to get Mr. bad guy to drop. Several videos on interwebs.

   I’m seriously thinking going full 1911 and a spare mag to boot. I’ve never carried a spare mag in my life but there’s a first time for everything. Current events being what they are and all. Everyone stay safe and eyes up.

   “Hey TTAG STAFF Please check TTAG email. (not related to this post)

   • Manse,

     First, brave man for saying you never carry a spare mag. Might trigger a few c omments. 😉

     Along the same line, I keep thinking about moving up to 10mm for EDC. Then, I think, “I’m gonna have to retrain my self and purchase scads more ammo”. So, I am using the current high prices as my excuse for delay.

     When I am finally inaugurated, you can count on me using the same judicious discretion when shopping for new military hardware.

     • “When I am finally inaugurated, you can count on me using the same judicious discretion when shopping for new military hardware.”

       The bitter taste of an inferior product lingers long after the sweet aroma of low price is swiftly gone.

       • Sam I Am,

         Point well-taken. Once inaugurated, I will be sure we pay a fair price for high-quality military gear.

         This does remind me of a quote from, I think, Neil Armstrong:

         “As we circled the Earth, I could not help thinking that every component of our space craft had been supplied by the lowest bidder.

         • “This does remind me of a quote from, I think, Neil Armstrong:”

           Between college graduation day, and start of flight school, I worked for a defense contractor. It never left me that the airplanes I was training on were built by the same type of people who shocked me at the defense plant. The wonder of it all was that mechanical failure of aircraft (disasterous failure), was extremely rare.

     • Brave? Hold my beer….~snicker

       You don’t need a spare magazine with a Glock! Glocks are pure perfection!

       • “You don’t need a spare magazine with a Glock! Glocks are pure perfection!”

         Just to keep the logs rollin’…..

         Seems double stack handguns, with foot long magazines, have only one purpose…suppressive fire. If you need suppressive fire, aren’t you already in a situation you can’t shoot your way out of ?

   • Smith and Wesson CS-45 with two spare magazines.

   • Manse, can’t go wrong with a full size 1911. I bought a Wilson Combat Hackathorn edition today. 5″. I will shoot and carry it just like every other handgun I own. First range session tommorw. One more off the bucket list.

     • Very nice indeed.

       I have a Springfield mil-spec 1911 bought years ago but I’m looking for something a bit better I think.

       Not Kimber but something in the Goldilocks range. Cost not too high, cost not too low and it’s gotta run right.

       I saw this earlier…
       https://www.ammoland.com/2020/11/cmp-set-to-open-second-round-of-1911-pistol-orders-in-early-2021/

       I think the CMP are out of their bloody minds. I carried a 1911 as a young SPC4 in 1985. They were rattlecans then and probably worse now. I’m certainly not nostalgic for one, but I get others might be.

   • My Springfield EMP has a short barrel but is accurate out to Tueller distances. Weighs a bunch more than this Kimber, but the trade-off for a 27 oz gun is that it is very controllable with minimal (for a small gun) muzzle flip.

     In short barrelled guns like this, I prefer a 124 gr projectile. Slower than a 115, but faster than a 147 and more likely to expand. A happy compromise.

7. I really love the nostalgia and history and the pure Americaness of the 1911 platform. I appreciate it’s long service record in our military handled by heroes and patriots. However for me it’s a woods gun, hunting gun, or maybe at home defence gun but not a carry gun. I have no (conceiled carry) use for guns that require me to keep them on safe and take them off safe to use them in a high stress situation. That is why I will pass on a micro 1911. I will just stick with my Glock 42 and my Glock 43. Looks nice though. And if 1911s are you thing for carry, ROCK ON!!

   • Loughsun,

     Agree with you regarding a safety on an EDC. I will not rule-out a pistol because it has a safety, but to use it for EDC, I would want, somehow, to be sure that safety will not inadvertently become engaged.

     When I am finally inaugurated, I will push Congress to hold a public debate about the use of safeties on EDC.

     That should be a hoot.

     • I respect people’s preferences on firearms. However; if you are too stupid to learn how to use a manual safety, can you take be trusted to carry a gun?

       • Elmer,

         Really? Because that was not at all respectful.

       • “Because that was not at all respectful.”

         Hardly surprising, he proudly identifies as being the worst kind of ‘Fudd’ possible, an Elmer Fudd…

         *snicker* 😉

     • “When I am finally inaugurated, I will push Congress to hold a public debate about the use of safeties on EDC.”

       I would vote for you if you held a public debage about stiff safeties on the mouths of Congress.

       • Sam I Am,

         Cracked me up!!!
         Thanks for the good laugh!

         BTW, no need to vote for me, I have already won. Just waiting for the transition team. Maybe its those guys and gals in white clothing who just pulled up, out front.

         • “Cracked me up!!!
           Thanks for the good laugh!”

           Happy to be here, grateful for the oppertunity, proud to serve.

           We aim to please, so you aim to, please.

       • “We aim to please, so you aim to, please.”

         A GF years back said to me once “For crying out loud, will you please aim?”… 😉

         • “A GF years back said to me once “For crying out loud, will you please aim?”…”

           I found the phrase on a sign above a bank of urinals in some obscure little eatery in some village in southern Thailand. Laughed because everything else in the building was written in the local language.

   • Loughsun, it’s a matter of becoming familiar and training. I’ve carried a 1911 all of my adult life. Wiping the safety off and placing it back on never enters my conscious thought. It just happens after tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of rounds of repetition. I was part of a study once commissioned by the U.S. Navy and conducted by FSU. Too much to go into on this forum, but they were looking for a shortcut to prepare pilots for high stress situations. I told those Aussie egg head professors that there is no shortcut. You train under stress so you don’t have to think about it under stress.

   • So you’re saying you don’t want to bother training for a platform, we get it. Carry on.

     Those of us who compete with and carry 1911s will be ghosting the “safety” off of any striker gun we get our hands on.

8. One wonders if the vendor (Kimber) ever reads the comments on these articles. Probably not. I’d expect to see more defensive responses.

9. How does lightening the slide decrease lock time ?

   • Basic physics of a reciprocating, spring loaded mass.

     Here is an online calculator for a simple system.

     The same physics and math apply to a mass and compression spring combination.

     Calculating the cyclic rate for a firearm is more difficult because the springs are already partially compressed when the pistol slide is in battery. It is also common for manufacturers to use multiple springs in tandem that don’t have the same spring constant.

     The basic physics of frequency of oscillation explain why some pistols do not function as well with lighter or heavier bullets.

     • https://amesweb.info/Vibration/spring-frequency-calculator.aspx

       • Lock time is the time between the trigger pull and when the pin hits the primer. The slide isn’t moving.

   • the same way a chrome air filter gives your car more horsepower.

10. 7 pound trigger ???? Not me.

11. too bad it’s a Kimber

    and I’m thinking $550 not $879

12. Just returned home from another “Stop the Steal” rally on the steps of our Commonwealth Capitol in Harrisburg. Instead of my usual G43, I carried my G17. Because, Antifa. But they never showed.

    This was beautiful: the Chinese community formed a car caravan, about 40 vehicles and drove around the Capitol several times. They has large signs on almost every car, decrying the crimes of the CCP. We all cheered them loudly.

    There were, about 400 of us (my best effort at a grid count). Fully a quarter of those of us on the steps were Asian. They carried flags from Japan, South Korea, and with Chinese characters. About half of the speakers were Asian, talking about preventing CCP subterfuge, influence, and interference in this past election.

    So, think about that if you doubt Trump really did carry California.

    The day was overcast and a light rain dampened our clothing, but sunshine and a fighting spirit emanated from the crowd.

    It was a joyous day.

13. 7 pounds seems a touch on the high side for a 1911 trigger. Beautiful gun, though.

    • “7 pounds seems a touch on the high side”

      Allows for carrying a round in the chamber, hammer back, safety off, maybe ??

14. Like the previous commentor, I completely appreciate the history and pedigree behind the 1911 but, imho, nastlgia is hardly a legitimate consideration for a carry gun. What am I missing? With all the modern options available from Glock, Sig, Springfield (I know), etc, buying something like this for carry seems equivalent to shooting oneself in the foot and then attempting to run a marathon. Sure, you can do it but you’re certain to be out-performed.

15. Star BM

16. I’ll just stick with my Micro 9 Nightfall, it’s more discreet, since its black. It also has the TFX GLO PRO sight, and a Hogue Full rubber grip; oh yeah, and I bought the aftermarket finger rest mag base. Excellent conceal carry 9mm. And cost less than this.

17. Although it looks kind of cool, it would have been way cooler to see a micro 9 model offering that uses a magazine that’s similar to sig p365 or springfield hellcat . So perhaps a 10 rnd or so capacity but still maintain slim single stack profile.

    Maybe sig will beat them to it and design a p938 version that takes p365 magazines.

18. So , for $900, you get a Kimber with a fancy name but when boiled down, its still just a single action semi-auto in 9mm with a 7+1 capacity. Sorry kids, you’ll have to do better, a lot better. Make it a DA/SA with a hammer, double stack mag and a world class glassy trigger with a cool name with some caliber options like .40 and I’d consider it.

19. Some people are fine driving a base model Toyota Carolla.

    Others want some thing a little more flashy.

    To each their own.

    • @ EpsteinDidNOTKillHimself Yeah, spending a chunky wad for that Kimber is like buying an entry-level BMW or Mercedes. You’re paying for the name and perceived flashiness but getting very little actual value in return.

20. I notice a considerable amount of Kimber bashing on the interwebs. Possibly the quality slipped after I purchased mine in 1990. It has digested thousands flawlessly since then.

21. 7+1 with extended mag? passsssssssssssss

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