needed a couple boxes of ammo
through it, before it became fl awless.
Not so with the EVO SP. The sample
I shot was 100% reliable out of the
box. Actually, I cleaned the pistol
fi rst out of the box as I do with every
fi rearm, but you get the idea. There
were no hiccups with any ammo fi red.
Everything fed, fi red and extracted
with precision no matter what bullet
confi guration. Ejection was strong and
positive with empties being fl ung far
to the right with no hot brass ending
up behind my shooting glasses or
down my shirt.
Sometimes reliability in a semi-auto
handgun comes at a price when
it comes to accuracy. Not with the
Kimber EVO SP. It proved extremely
accurate—more so than is actually
required of a defensive pistol—fi ve-
shot groups at 15 yards mostly
stayed in the 1.0- to 1.5-inch range.
The excellent trigger pull of the EVO
SP defi nitely aided practical accuracy
with the pistol.I tested the pistol with some excellent
ammo, but not necessarily from the
usual handful of companies. I shot
defense loads that included two from
Ammo Inc. (Streak and Jesse James),
Aguila, Sig and the new offering from
Norma. The EVO SP had no preferenc-
es for any specifi c ammo.I assure you that any differences in
the accuracy results indicated in the
accompanying table are purely the
result of my impatience and ineffec-
tiveness in shooting from the bench
and don’t refl ect one way or another
on the specifi c brands of ammo. I
would feel confi dent with any of the
defensive loads tested in this pistol.Off-hand, the pistol was a pleasure to
shoot and easy to control, with tar-get-to-target transitions made easier
by the excellent sights. I kept a 5-inch
plastic ball rolling between 15 and 25
yards with no problem.GOOD CONTROLS
I found the pistol’s ergonomics to be
very good too. Speed reloads were
easy, with the pistol’s magazine
release button easy to reach and pos-
itive to activate. That’s not always so
with some micro compact pistols that
are so small and confi gured in a way
that makes manipulating the controls
diffi cult.I didn’t use the slide stop lever
much—I never do. I prefer to use
the hand-over technique of pulling
back the slide and releasing it, which
requires less fi ne motor skill under
stress and also withdraws the recoil
spring to the max, making feeding the
top round off of a full, tight magazine
more positive.LEFT TOP: The
muzzle of the EVO
SP’s barrel features
a deep, protective
crown.
LEFT BOTTOM: The
EVO SP’s striker pro-
trudes through the
rear of the slide to
indicate the pistol is
cocked.RIGHT: Field-strip-
ping the EVO SP
involves removing
the slide stop lever
as you would with a
1911 pistol.FALL 2019 CONCEALED CARRY HANDGUNS 59