The SIS pistol’s rear sight is designed so it can be used to rack the slide in a one-handed scenario, and the grasping grooves are a stylized treatment of the unit’s initials.

I arranged to have some of them sent to me so I could properly test them on my home turf. Actually, Kimber sent me three of the four versions: a full-size government model with light rail, the SIS Custom/RL; the commander-size SIS Pro; and the compact size SIS Ultra. The SIS Custom is the government-size 1911 without a light rail. (Since Kimber was already kind enough to be sending me over $4,000 worth of 1911s, I didn't feel the need to try out the standard government-size pistol as well.)

I subjected them to my standard high-volume test routine: I slid them into different pockets of a Blackhawk gun bag along with magazines, targets and a notebook and placed the bag next to the shop door and a five-gallon bucket of ammo.

Every time I went to the range, I added the Kimbers and ammo to the load and made sure I put ammo through each of the guns. With regular trips to the range, it doesn't take very long to put a lot of ammo through a handgun or handguns. It also doesn't take long to learn the ins and outs of each.

The Custom/RL
The SIS Custom/RL is the easiest-shooting of the trio. No surprise there, as a full-size, all-steel pistol is going to offer you lots of mass for a solidly hanging sight alignment, recoil-absorbing capacity and accuracy. At 39 ounces empty, and with a five-inch barrel, the Custom is what we expect of a government model: big, tough, solid and reliable

In your hand the Custom sits a bit nose-heavy, solid and whispering to you "Come on, I can hit that target. Try me." Fast drills like the Bill Drill (six shots in two seconds) are a piece of cake: all A-zone hits without even trying hard.

SPECIFICATIONS: KIMBER SIS
	SIS Custom/RL	SIS Cutom	SIS Pro	SIS Ultra
Manufacturer	Kimber, www.kimberamerica.com, 800/880-2418
Caliber	.45 ACP	.45 ACP	.45 ACP	.45 ACP
Capacity	8 + 1	8 + 1	8 + 1	8 + 1
Overall Length	8.7	8.7	7.7	6.8
Barrel Length	5.0	5.0	4.0	3.0
Height	5.25	5.25	5.25	4.75
Weight	39	38	35	31
Slide Finish	Kim Pro II	Kim Pro II	Kim Pro II	Kim Pro II
Sights	Meprolight	Meprolight	Meprolight	Meprolight
Price	$1,421	$1,316	$1,316	$1,316

The one I shot in L.A. on the long-range targets was accurate enough to garner me a hit on a 300-yard plate, and this one was as good or better. I gave up trying my club's 100-yard gong slow fire, as I could hit the plate with every shot. I finally tried hitting it offhand against the clock and found that with a full magazine I could get all hits in about 10 seconds as long as I paid attention to the sights.

At no time did the Custom ever fail to feed, fire, extract, or eject. The excellent Kimber magazines dropped free, and were I restocking my supply of 1911 magazines from scratch I'd have no problem in buying all Kimber mags.

The Pro
The SIS Pro takes a few ounces off the big brother--35 versus 38--and the barrel and slide are an inch shorter. The result is a lot more than you'd expect from losing an inch and three ounces.

In wearing it, the Pro is a lot easier to live with. The rounded mainspring housing of all the SIS models makes them less likely to "print," but the shorter slide and barrel of the Pro gives a lot more comfort when you have it holstered.

My problem with full-size pistols is that the barrel levers against my thigh, and I end up with the tang or grip safety nearly surgically inserted into my kidney. The Pro-length slide and barrel mitigate that to an amazing degree.

Off the bench, the accuracy of the Pro was on par with that of the Custom. Offhand, the shorter sight radius had the obvious effect of making long-range shooting less fruitful, although I still held a high percentage of hits on the gongs. At closer distances, fast drills didn't suffer much at all. I was still able to hammer Bill Drills with the Pro.