I just bought a Kimber Ultra Carry and need to know what ammo to start with.

I also have the original mag and an extra Wilson combat with it.

Where would you start? Maybe a list from most reliable building up to your favorite Jamomatic rounds.

Lets find out what this one wants to eat.

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Dum vivo cano

Federal Hydrashock 230 gr. Winchester white box 230gr, Fiochi 230gr.
230gr FMJ over 6.0gr of Unique

I use Speer's 230 gr. Gold Dot Short Bbl., another good choice is Barnes TAC-XPD 185 gr. +P loading.
Both have functioned 100 % in my Kimber Ultra.

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CSM, U S Army(Ret) 1963-1990

You really need to test the original mag until you are completely satisfied with it's reliability.
The Wilson mag should be good to go, but test it anyway.

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CSM, U S Army(Ret) 1963-1990

I start with random fmj. Whatever I have on hand

Ultra TLE was mine.

SD - Remington Golden Saber preferred, several Federal JHP LE versions all ran fine.

Range -
Everything worked. Remington bulk, Remington JHP, WWB, various Federal LE editions, Blazer Brass, Herter's, Speer.

I did not experiment with steel / aluminum / reloads / reman.

I only tried one box that was less than 230g, a Winchester flat nosed, that worked too.

Get some extra outer springs for the recoil spring assembly. They don't last long (400-500 rounds at best). The slide will start slapping a bit (hesitation and uneven slide return) when they weaken.

I had one WC mag, and it didn't hold up well. (Different from the full size WCs which have held up well). It developed wear ridges on the surface of the follower, and the follower had to be replaced. It is the only mag that has given me issues. My spares were Kimber Tac-pro. Easy to disassemble and clean. Kimber runs buy 3 pay 2 discounts a few times a year.

All past tense, I've had to give mine up because of medical issues. But it was one of the best firearms I've owned.

Put about 3k rounds through it over a couple of years.

I have an Ultra Custom Compact Kimber 45 and have run about 500 rounds. I use Federal 230 FMJ aluminum case and Perfecta 230 FMJ without issues, and its inexpensive at Walmart. I called Kimber and was told they have no restrictions on any factory ammo thus far.

A Reliable Compact 1911 by Bill Wilson:

Wilson Combat | Custom Gun Options

Excellent article. Covers all of the variables clearly and concisely.

Groo here
I have had a "few" compact 45's.
Shoot it with 230 ball to wear it in.
After you recover, search for what IT likes.
What you like is unimportant.
The gun will tell you in how it feeds, smooth or ruff.
I ended up using a rn or fn 230 ball for most of my compacts
as they are the most "picky".
Whether the bullet opens or not is of a lesser concern then
will it feed and function.
PS I and my friends have had "bad" luck with wilson mags.
We like Metalform.

Get some 230 grain ball ammo, round nose full metal jacket 50-100 rounds to break in. Then try various loads and see what you and your gun prefer.
My gun likes Winchester Super-X 45 acp Silver tip JHP 185 grain ammo. It feeds , fires, ejects and the lighter 185 grain bullet seems to have less felt recoil than 230 grain .
Gary

I finally made it to the range today.

Here's what I shot,

I took both mags and started with,

Federal 230 RN; 28 rounds fired. No problems and very accurate. I wasn't really trying to shoot for accuracy but was surprised.

Winchester 185 flat nose: 28 rounds again. No problems and as accurate as the Federal.

Perfecta 230 RN; 28 (correction 21 more, I didn't bother to load the kimber mag again). The first round FTF with the Kimber mag as did the fourth or fifth. No problems with the Wilson Combat mag. I guess it was accurate but my target was full of holes.

That's all for today but I'm real happy with the Kimber and look forward to seeing what else it digest.

I took along my .44 Handejector for giggles and fired a few cyls just because. The range master loved it. I didn't think to ask him if he wanted to give it a try. I'll make sure to ask him next time. He sure complimented it enough. I feel embarrassed as I'm usually happy to share with anyone interested.

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Dum vivo cano