Shooting the Kimball

by
posted on September 19, 2014
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
kimball-1024x587.jpg

If ever there was a gun idea that had every chance in the world of going wild, the Kimball pistol was it. In 1955, the Army was about to drop the War Baby (or M1 carbine) from use and quantities of both guns and the short little .30-caliber cartridge were on the horizon. The designer knew that Americans loved the idea of feeding a handgun and carbine from the same belt of ammo. So why not a modern automatic pistol chambered for that round. The Kimball pistol was a heavy, solid steel pistol with a delayed blowback action. Beautifully fitted and finished, the Kimball was somewhat reminiscent of the Colt Woodsman with barrel screwed into the receiver and a short slide at the top rear.

They never made more than 300 guns before they went out of print and the maker shut down. In a delayed blowback system with a high pressure cartridge, the action must remain closed until the bullet is long gone and pressures drop. Kimball used a heavy spring (you could hardly rack the slide) since a heavy slide was out of the question. That didn’t get it done, so he milled a groove around the chamber. When fired, the cartridge expanded into this groove and stayed in place until rearward inertia literally swaged the expansion out of the case. This allowed it to move back for extraction and ejection. The nifty little gun broke itself right and left and some of the breaks were catastrophic.

When I mentioned to my editor at the time that I had access to one of the guns, he was quick to go for a shooting session. I was a bit crazier at that point in life, so I set it up. I fired the gun (about a dozen shots, as I recall) and got chronograph results. I also got a group on target, which is probably the only recorded evidence of this curious pistol’s accuracy.

Latest

springfield armory kuna
springfield armory kuna

Springfield Kuna: A PDW For The Masses

Small, yet fierce, the namesake of Springfield Armory’s latest large-format pistol is a revered forest dweller in the land of its Croatian manufacturing partner, HS Produkt. The new Kuna is poised to be just as welcome in America.

The Armed Citizen® June 30, 2025

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

Book Review: Clockwork Basilisk: The Early Revolvers Of Elisha Collier & Artemas Wheeler

The result of a decade of research, Clockwork Basilisk is a comprehensive, two-volume history of the rare revolvers that preceded the development of the well-known Colt guns of the 1830s.

Preview: 1791 Gunleather Cobra Gun Belt 01

Employing the same rugged and rigid 0.25"-thick American steerhide as 1791 Gunleather’s original Gun Belt 01, the new Cobra Gun Belt 01 offers enhanced ease of use by taking advantage of a high-strength Cobra quick-latch/release buckle.

NRA CEO Hamlin and President Bachenberg Hold First Virtual Townhall

In the interests of transparency, NRA CEO and EVP Doug Hamlin and NRA President Bill Bachenberg held a live Townhall event, where both answered direct questions from NRA members.

Benelli Adds New 28-Gauge Models to Super Black Eagle 3 Line

Benelli initially introduced the 28-ga. chambering to its Super Black Eagle 3 line in 2022, but this year, the company added three new models tailored specifically to hunters.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.