Kimber Tactical Entry II

I've always wanted to build an airsoft Kimber 1911 but the kits are really pricey. That or they're always out of stock -- especially the most popular kits like the Warrior, Desert Warrior, LAPD SWAT Custom II (or Custom TLE/RL II) and the MARSOC model. 

Kimber Custom TLE/RL II

Kimber Custom II

Kimber Gold Combat RL II
(photos from Kimber's website)

When Hurricane released their Kimber Tactical Entry conversion kit, I told myself this is my chance to build a Kimber. At first sight, I instantly loved the look and color of the gun. I immediately searched through the internet for photos of the real steel pistol and fell in love with it even more.

My initial plan is to get this kit and build it with my M.E.U. as a base gun. But then, I found stocks of the Custom Covert II and they are both on sale so I grabbed them both! My plan now shifted and I decided to build the Covert first; not because I like it more than the Tactical Entry (it's actually the other way around), but because I'm willing to use the Covert as a starting platform of my know-how when it comes to building 1911s.

This paid off and the plan went well. I encountered problems and difficulties in building the Covert -- problems and difficulties I didn't have when I was building the Tactical Entry. The build of the Covert is just the opposite of the build for the Tactical Entry; the latter is just smooth and it took me a significantly shorter time working on it. I knew my way around the gun better than before, I had the right tools as compared to my first build, and I already knew the steps I needed to do. But aside from that, after building the Tactical Entry, it didn't take me much work on lapping the slide and the frame. I never had to file a single part to make them fit. Just a few slides and racks and it worked perfectly. When I lapped my Covert, I'd shaved a huge amount of the rail just to make them fit.

Now, here's an overview of the Tactical Entry project.

The real steel Kimber Tactical Entry II in some ways are similar to the more popular Warrior or Custom TLE models. It has an under rail for attaching lasers or flashlights and it has Meprolight front and rear sights. This is what I really liked about this kit. I wanted to build a Kimber in the form of a Warrior, but with a somehow different grit and attitude.

The real steel Kimber Tactical Entry II
(photos from Kimber's website)

As far as I know, among the Kimber kits in the airsoft market today, the Hurricane Tactical Entry II is the only kit that comes in a dark matte gray color aside from the Kimber SIS kit (which I'm not a fan of). And I like that. I like the color; and I like being unique.

I used the Hurricane Kimber Tactical Entry conversion kit for this custom work

Since I've used my M.E.U. as a base gun for the Covert, I used my Tokyo Marui Night Warrior pistol for this build.

The kit includes:

-Aluminum powder coated slide and frame

-Stainless steel chamber and outer barrel

-Steel front (in slide) and rear sights

-Kimber type slide stop lever

-Steel checkered magazine catch

-Solid aluminum match grade trigger

-Steel magwell

-Uprgaded recoil spring

-Slide spacer

-Outer barrel o-ring

-Magwell pins

-Plunger replacement spring

-Loading nozzle spring guide

-Front frame screw

-Dummy extraxtor plug

Just like the Custom Covert kit, I test-fitted the parts that I will be using in this custom build and I had to file almost the same parts of the Tactical Entry as those I filed in the Covert.

Very visible are the parts outside the frame that I accidentally filed. It was a "rookie" mistake. 

For my next post, I'll discuss the other external parts -- Nova parts -- that I used for this build to make it look exactly the same as the real Kimber Tactical Entry II. Until then!

Kimber Custom Covert II : Photo Gallery

Photography is another hobby of mine and I usually mix up my hobbies. In this particular post, I put airsoft and photography together. I hope you'll enjoy looking at the different "glamour" photos of my Kimber Custom Covert II as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Kimber Custom Covert II: The Frame

Almost a month ago, I posted the steps on building the Kimber Custom Covert II slide. I'm now posting the build process of the frame. I know I should've posted this sooner but, well...no excuses. Here it is.

Before I begin with the actual steps on building the frame, I'm going to show and tell you a bit of a backgrounder. When I got the parts and the kit needed for this project, I immediately test-fitted the different parts like grip safeties, thumb safeties, and the main spring housing, into the frame. I found out that Nova parts are not drop-in fit with the kit unlike the TM original parts. So I did a lot of filing on the frame (which was supposed to be just a little had I known where to file). In the photo below, the parts filed off the frame were clearly shown.

I've filed a significant amount of that bar between the tangs of the frame to fit the Nova KBR grip safety.  Also seen in the photo is the inner part of the frame where the thumb safety slot engages and because of the thick powder coating on the frame, it needed to be filed, as well.

This top view of the frame shows just how much of that bar was left after the filing.  I should've just sawed it off and saved lots of time!

Now, on to the build itself. Again, I followed LaZouche's video in his YouTube channel on the step-by-step process of disassembling a Tokyo Marui 1911 or MEU pistol.

First is to put the thumb safety of the MEU into the "safe" position and pull the left side part out of the frame and then do the same on the right part.

Then, by removing the pin at the bottom of the grip, the main spring housing was removed.

The hammer spring was then released from the housing by pushing the plunger down with a pin and nudging the retaining pin to the side.

And the plunger and the hammer spring was placed inside the Nova main spring housing. This housing is identical to the real steel main spring housing as the retaining pin is inserted from the rear and not from the side like the TM's.

The next step is to remove the grip safety from the frame.

And then the three-finger spring.

Using an allen wrench, the screw that holds the frame and the inner chassis on the side is removed.

And the screw inside the front frame is removed, as well.

The Hurricane conversion kit includes a screw for the front of the frame. The original screw from TM and the one from the kit have different thread pitches, thus the TM screw cannot be used for the Hurricane frame.

Comparison between the two frame screws (Hurricane on the left and TM on the right)

After the frame screws were removed, the pins behind the grip can be easily pushed out.

With the pins out, the inner chassis can be freely taken out of the frame itself.

By following the video linked above, the chances of losing the tiny spring on the side of the chassis is minimized. This spring is very important and one must make sure not to lose it.

The chassis was turned to the other side to keep the spring from flying out of its slot.

While in this position, the screw that holds the part that locks the hammer assembly can be removed.

In my desire to get the most realistic look of the Custom Covert, I replaced the hammer with a Nova Kimber type hammer.

Comparison between the original TM MEU hammer (left) and the Nova Kimber hammer (right).  Notice the difference, especially the protruding part, at the bottom of the hammer.  That part is there for the half-cock feature to work -  which is not really important in airsoft guns.

The hammer strut was removed from the hammer.

All of the parts not used for my projects were kept in plastic pouches and labeled before storage.

The next step is installing the hammer strut into the new hammer. This took me a very long time as the pin is a bit bigger than the hole. I really had a hard time punching that pin into the hole.

After about an hour of hammering the pin, the strut was installed.

The plastic cylinder that holds the hammer into position is placed.

The Nova hammer set comes with a steel sear so I replaced the original sear.

I put a small amount of silicon oil on the surfaces of the chassis for easy installation into the frame later. The slide spacer that comes with the kit was also placed in its slot on the left side of the chassis.

Going back to the MEU frame, the magazine catch was removed by turning the screw clockwise and slowly releasing it. It was then slowly pulled out of the frame and about half-way through, turned 180 degrees, then taken out of the frame completely.

With the magazine catch out of the way, the trigger assembly can be removed.

By taking out the top pin, the trigger and the trigger bow ca be separated. In the photo below, the two pins were removed out of the trigger. As I mentioned, only the top pin should be removed to separate the two parts. I have taken out the bottom pin by mistake. And I learned from it.

Here now, the magazine catch screw and spring were taken out.

And then installed on the magazine catch that comes with the conversion kit. The original TM mag catch is a very tight fit for the Hurricane frame.

Then inner chassis was then inserted into the frame and locked by the two pins.

The side frame screw was replaced.

As well as the front screw.

The  three-finger spring was also installed along with the main spring housing inserted just to keep the three-finger spring from becoming loose and coming out.

Again, back to the original frame, the grip screws and the grips were removed to gain access to the plunger assembly.

The plunger set was taken out once the grips are off.

The plunger was installed on the new frame.

The Lasergrips were screwed with a hex screw to hold the plunger set in position. I didn't use the original flat-head screws to achieve the realism I want.

The new magazine catch was installed.

The grip safety was then held into position.

Then the new main spring housing was installed along with the Nova Kimber type thumb safety (left side only).

And now, the slide and the frame are both ready. I had done lapping of the slide and the frame and they now fit perfectly.

Presenting now, is the finished product of my first airsoft custom work: The Kimber Custom Covert II.

Watch out for my next project! Thanks!