Kimber is a name synonymous with 1911 pistols of all sizes, like its Micro 9 Rapide. But unfortunately, that name hasn’t always been associated with quality or value. But as a lifelong fan of both 9mm pocket pistols and 1911s, I wanted to give the Kimber Micro 9 Rapide Black Ice pistol a fair shake. How did it hold up? Let’s take a closer look and find out.
Kimber Micro 9 Rapide Black Ice Pistol
The Kimber Micro 9 Rapide Black Ice pistol is a single-stack, swinging-link, locked-breech semi-automatic miniature 1911 chambered in 9mm parabellum. It feeds from single-stack, 7-round magazines and includes two in the box. The Micro 9 functions almost identically to a standard 1911, and as such, is single-action only and is designed to be carried in condition one: round in the chamber, hammer back, safety on.
This might make some shooters uneasy to carry, but to me, it’s perfect for concealed carry. The frame-mounted thumb safety is totally unobtrusive, and white some naysayers will tell you that having a safety on a pistol is a liability and that you won’t remember to toggle it off in a gunfight; their claims fail to take into account training.
As someone who grew up carrying a full-sized 1911, flipping the safety off with my thumb quickly becomes a natural part of your draw, to the point where you’ll miss it on guns lacking a thumb safety. As a father with young kids, I like the added peace of mind that if I have to quickly pick up my kids and run with one of them in my arms, their feet aren’t going to find their way inside the trigger guard and touch a round off into my thigh.
Micro 9 Rapide Features
Back to features for a minute. The Micro 9 features post-and-notch iron sights dovetailed into the slide that has both green-on-orange daylight inserts as well as tritium vials that make the irons visible at night. Both are low-drag and partially dehorned to ensure a positive draw from a holster or concealment without snagging. The slide itself is skeletonized (and thus lightened) for faster lock-up and greater slide velocity, which increases reliability as the gun gets dirty.
Below the slide, the rear of the frame has an excellent beavertail extension to give the shooter’s hand leverage against muzzle rise, decreasing felt recoil. Just forward of this, the Kimber Micro 9 incorporates an ambidextrous thumb safety allowing shooters to carry the gun cocked-and-locked. Below the safety, the compact Kimber ships with a pair of matte black micarta grips that are geometrically textured to give a shooter a positive grip even when the gun is wet or oily. These grips are especially nice because micarta doesn’t wear nearly as quickly as polymer or wood, so they’ll retain their ‘grippyness’ for years.
At the front and rear of the grip, both the backstrap and the front strap are textured to give you an even better purchase on the gun. And above these is the push-button magazine release that, in testing, was easy to find in low-lighting but not large enough that shooters will accidentally drop a magazine when firing the gun. Lastly, the trigger guard is a standard rounded one and lacks an undercut. Though given the small size of the pistol, this makes total sense – there isn’t enough gun to cut away to make one.
As for the trigger, it’s your standard straight-pull 1911 trigger, and the model tested featured a seven-pound pull according to my Lyman trigger scale. This might seem heavy, but the overtravel is non-existent, and there’s almost no slack on it whatsoever. Plus, the break is short and crisp. In my testing, I never missed a target because of the trigger – YMMV.
Kimber Performance
I ended up reviewing the Kimber Micro 9 Rapide for much longer than I usually test out review firearms due to a scheduling conflict, but the result is that I’ve fired nearly 1,000 rounds through the gun and carried it for more than six months. The takeaway after half a year and a case of ammo is that the Kimber Micro 9 Rapide carries well and shoots even better.
As someone who has owned and shot countless pocket pistols, the Kimber is among the softest-shooting subcompact 9mm handguns on the market today. Its use of a metal frame and locked-breech operation means the shooter feels like they’re running more of a mid-sized gun than a snappy pocket-pistol.
As far as more quantifiable metrics, the Kimber Micro 9 Rapide achieved four-to-five-MOA groups when fired unsupported at 50 yards. When firing off a sandbag, I was able to reduce these groups to around three MOA. This might not seem incredible, but given that the range shooters will have to employ this gun is around 10 yards, that means the gun is capable of producing a ragged hole on paper.
As for reliability, I never encountered a single mechanical malfunction during all my testing. I only cleaned the gun three times during the testing procedure, and those times when I did were because the amount of gunk on the outside of the gun was getting ridiculous because of pocket-carrying the gun.
Micro 9 Rapide Verdict
Is the compact Kiber worth its 1,059.00 MSRP? Probably not. But the same gun comes in much cheaper configurations that are mechanically identical but simply lack the ‘Black Ice’ aesthetics. (Kimber is famous for making several variants of any given pistol in a myriad of finishes and colors.) And some of those guns are closer to $700. At that price, I would 100% recommend this gun for concealed carry if a shooter wants an ultra-compact pistol, especially if a manual safety is a must.
Kimber Micro 9 Rapide Black Ice Pistol Specs
SPECIFICATIONS
- Model Name Kimber Micro 9 Rapide Black Ice Pistol
- Brand Kimber
- MSRP $1,059.00 ~ LESS $$ ONLINE
- Caliber 9mm
- Height (inches) 4.07
- Weight (ounces) with empty magazine: 15.6
- Length (inches): 6.1
- Width (inches): 1.08
- Magazine capacity: 7
- Recoil spring (pounds): 11.5
FRAME
- Material: Aluminum
- Finish: Kimpro II Silver
SLIDE
- Material: Stainless steel
- Finish: Silver / Grey KimPro II
BARREL
- Length (inches): 3.15
- Material: Stainless steel, match grade
- Twist rate (left hand): 16
SIGHTS
- Tru-Glo TFX Pro Day Night Sights
GRIPS
- Black G10 grips
TRIGGER
- Premium aluminum
- Factory setting (approximate pounds): 7.0
PRODUCT CODE
- Product #: 3300223
- UPC: 669278332239
Factory Micro & Micro 9 Disassembly & Assembly Video Instructions
Kimber Micro Pistol Models Safety & Instruction Manual
About Jim Grant
Jim is one of the elite editors for AmmoLand.com, who in addition to his mastery of prose, can wield a camera with expert finesse. He loves anything and everything guns but holds firearms from the Cold War in a special place in his heart.
When he’s not reviewing guns or shooting for fun and competition, Jim can be found hiking and hunting with his wife Kimberly, their son, and their dog Peanut in the South Carolina low country.
