Kimber R7 Mako Tactical Review

The Kimber R7 Mako Tactical. Let’s check it out.

 

Kimber’s best known for their 1911s and they produce a number of different calibers, barrel lengths, different sizes and they’re just good quality and the one thing I love about Kimber is just the finish of the firearm.

It really is outstanding. In 2021 they introduced the R7 Mako and that was their very first striker fired polymer frame pistol and that’s one of the things about concealed carry is having a very small pistol and yet having an excellent round capacity. Today we’re going to be taking a look at the R7 Mako Tactical.

Now it has a 15 round mag capacity which gives you the capacity of a full-size firearm and yet it’s really small and has that small form factor but also we have a threaded barrel. It was already optics ready. There’s a lot of cool features about these.

They’re Kimber quality and they’re just excellent for concealed carry or if you want to take it up a notch with a tactical model gives you a lot of options. Now we want to give a big thank you to Kimber for sending the Mako R7 for this review and also in full disclosure they are giving me the gun and partnering with the Suits Channel. Regardless we will be talking about a lot of the pros but we’ll also bring out a few cons as well.

The R7 Mako. This was Kimber’s first polymer frame striker fire pistol and it was designed in 2021. It was the answer to a lot of companies that have introduced micronine starting out with the Sig P365 and then a number of companies followed.

Kimber’s known for their 1911s and so this was new waters for Kimber and there’s a lot of cool features about the R7 Mako. Then they introduced the R7 Mako tactical and this just really upgrades to a more capable self-defense firearm. Not necessarily just for concealed carry but great for home defense, great for the range and it gives you a lot of options and we’re going to look at some of the differences but basically the pistol itself is pretty much the same design.

They’ve just made some upgrades that really just up the game. So first thing let’s do is we’re going to drop our 15 plus one magazine and that’s new from Kimber. Check the chamber and the gun is empty.

They started out with an 11 round and a 13 round magazine so this just gives you not only extra rounds but for a really small pistol it gives you a full-size grip. Now we have a shooting grip but one thing about this grip is the texturing. Now it is very textured.

 

While it is aggressive it’s not uncomfortable. In fact you can rub your hand on it you feel the resistance but it’s not sharp so this is going to fit well right next to your body but the texturing goes all the way around. I mean there are very few areas around the grip that aren’t textured and of course you have your styling lines that kind of come around but man this feels really good in your hand and then you’ve got texturing that goes all the way up right up to the accessory rail.

So as you can see I’ve got my finger right here it almost makes a memory pad and then when you’re shooting gives you just a little bit of a thumb place to put without any kind of ledge. So it makes it a very thin handgun and to me that is one of the most important parts of concealed carry is a very thin handgun. Now with this grip extended you know it’s going to definitely you know hang out just a little bit but again with the 13 rounder it gives you a little more grip but still makes it more concealable.

And then with their 11 round grip it gets it more flush. Now this is going to be optimum for concealed carry but obviously my pinky’s hanging off. If you have really large hands you’re probably not even going to get a pinky on there.

But again for concealed carry you want this area to be the smallest it can. But giving you that 15 round mag capacity again just gives you that full size grip and honestly that just makes it more shootable. We have an 11 round magazine that’s flush fit.

We have a 12 round magazine with a small extension and now we have the 15 plus 1 magazine that allows for 15 rounds. One thing that’s different about the Kimber is the ejection port and you’ll notice it’s only on the side it doesn’t come up over the top. Honestly I thought that that might cause some malfunctions because you know it doesn’t have that area to be able to get that brass out.

But not only with this particular handgun and the original Mako we had no malfunctions at all. And one of the reasons why they do this is to give structure really strong structure to the slide. When you think about how small you’re getting these nine millimeter pistols you know there is a lot of pressure and so this just gives you some reinforcement.

Also when you bring back the slide the barrel tilts but it doesn’t tilt quite as much as your standard John Browning design and it actually aids in recoil management. It allows this to shoot just a little softer. Now it is optics ready but so was the first one.

But also an addition is this slot for the picatinny rail. Now here we have one of the PL Mini 2’s. This light fits about any subcompact and then we just bring our lever around and so now we have a very compact light and yet we do have light.

This makes this an excellent home defense gun and a lot of guys like a light for their concealed carry. Now the slide cuts are made for the Holosun pattern and here it’s a flush fit so it fits right down directly to the slide. We have true glow sights and they’re kind of that medium height.

They’re not quite suppressor height but they actually allow you to co-witness with your sight which I really like. And they are night sights and we do have an orange ring around the front sight. Now we also have a threaded barrel and this is half by 28 threads.

The barrel is 3.78 inches in length and so you’re going to be able to put suppressors on here and we did test that out and it worked flawlessly. Now the barrel is stainless steel and it’s been black nitrided which is great for corrosion resistance. The slide itself is stainless steel and again it has a matte nitride finish on it that makes a really nice sheen to it.

So one of the things that Kimber does exceptionally well is their finishes. To me, especially their 1911s, I mean they’re some of the most beautiful finished 1911s out on the market. Now you have your rear and front cocking serrations.

They’re fairly wide. They’re not deep but they’re easy to be able to grab even for press checks which you have to do on this side. Now the magazine release is recessed but it’s really easy to get to.

Great thing is is that it is ambidextrous so I can actually take my trigger finger and hit that mag release. Your slide stop on both sides ambidextrous. This is a fully ambidextrous handgun and one thing I do like about this slide stop is that there are these raised areas that come up and meet to the slide stop.

So when you have a high ride grip on this handgun you’re not going to inadvertently hit that slide stop especially after the last round and so that just helps protect it. Has a nice undercut right here, rounded off trigger guard, and we have a flat face trigger and we’re going to take a good look at that in a minute. With the slide we had these cuts at the front.

Very well done. I mean the gun is very well finished all throughout. Nice beaver tail area so that’s going to keep your hand well away from that slide so you don’t really have to worry about any kind of slide bite and sometimes with these smaller handguns that can be an issue.

A little hump that comes down at the back and then it ends and one thing about these magazines is they fit naturally to the grip. They don’t seem like they’re an appendage coming off the end. Even with the 13 rounder I mean it just kind of completes it.

To me the 13 rounder really looks good on this handgun and again, flush fit, makes it nice. I mean it just molds right in there. Now you’ll notice that there is a small cutout for the serial number and this has an internal steel chassis that rides inside.

There are pins that are in place but this isn’t necessarily meant to be just removed, but you could possibly do that. Now we have a flat face trigger which it has really good geometry. It makes it a very natural pull back and then you can see you have your trigger safety right here so it has to be depressed or it’s going to butt up against the frame and you have to get a full pad on it.

Now as far as the trigger pull action, we have a very short take up. I mean it comes and hits a definite wall and a beautiful crisp break. Reset right there.

Guys that is a nice break especially for a striker fire pistol. Okay let’s check the trigger pull weight with our Lyman trigger gauge. Three pounds, 9.2 ounces.

Three pounds, 10.4 ounces. Man that is a nice trigger. Now with the optic mounted, the weight 23.5 ounces.

The weight on the original R7 Mako 22.23 ounces. Not a lot of difference. I want to give a big thank you to Fiocchi for sponsoring our ammo.

All made in the USA. One of the largest suppliers of ammunition in the country and we also really appreciate Lula Loaders for saving our thumbs. These things are the bomb especially if you have a lot of magazines to load.

Guys Kimber is known for their 1911s and when they came out with the Mako R7, I mean it really was a first for Kimber. Meeting that micro 9 market, great concealed carry option and now we have the R7 Tactical which has the threaded barrel. We’ve got a Holosun 407C on here.

Mates really well with the gun. It retains that back sight. We’ve got a 15 round magazine which really extends the magazine capacity.

A lot of great texturing. Very smooth shooting gun from what you’d expect from a Kimber. A very ergonomic pistol and I love the way it fits in your hand and with that texturing it does give you a lot of grippability.

A front and rear cocking serrations. I mean it’s got everything you need and if you’re a big Kimber fan this is a great option again over your standard 1911s. It’s a great shooting gun and has that extension so it gives you that full grip.

R7, great little gun for concealed carry. Now for disassembly. We’re going to drop our magazine, check to make sure the gun is unloaded.

First thing you want to do is to pull back on your slide about an eighth of an inch, pull down on your takedown tabs and then pull the trigger. Now on some striker fire pistols you pull the trigger first but you have to pull the trigger again if you don’t. And so then we can bring it back forward and just lift it up.

There are corresponding tabs in here that hold it into place so it doesn’t go all the way off. Then we take our recoil spring and guide rod. First we also need to take off our thread protector to get the barrel out.

Very fine threads and then barrel comes right out. One thing I want to talk about the barrel in particular. If you’ll notice there’s a little ledge right here.

It’s a little bit different and this has to do with the way this barrel tilts. It keeps it from tilting too high and if you’ll notice in the slide there is a little cutout right here and the barrel actually fits down in there. So as the barrel goes back you can see that it just drops right down into that little notch.

And that just gives it a little bit of delay. Now if this slide was cut open like a standard slide the barrel would fit actually up against the hood. And so this is just a different way to do it to be able to allow for that to be enclosed.

Now you can see the fit and finish on this slide. It is so well done and there’s some relief cuts here. You have your striker safety right here and then you see your striker.

So a lot like a lot of other polymer frame pistols in a sense but yet a little bit different. And here we have the chassis. You can see the internal sections all the way through it and this is your serialized part.

Again there’s a couple of small roll pins here and here that would have to be removed. I don’t think though that this was meant just to be removed for basic cleaning. And now for reassembly just in reverse order.

Put in your barrel. Let’s go ahead and put on our thread protector. You can do that after you reassemble it as well.

And then we’re going to take our recoil spring and guide rod, put it into place right there in that little shelf. Now when you’re putting your slide back, again it goes into those corresponding little slots and it’s not far off the back of the slide. And just do that.

So simple to do. Test for function and we’re back in business. Now as far as price, with the original Mako, the standard R7 was, retails for $599.

You could get it with an optic which you know the price was a little bit higher that was already mounted. With the new tactical model, I got this from Kimber and this gun has not been released as I’m doing this review. And so I do not have the price but that will be coming out and you know you can go to the Kimber website and check that out.

So what are some pros and cons with the R7 Mako? First off is you have a threaded barrel. So you can add a suppressor, even a compensator if that’s what you want. Also it does have the picatinny slot and so that is a big plus to put on you know compact lights and lasers.

We have up to a 15 round mag capacity and that’s huge. That gives you really a full-size capable firearm and it does extend the grip so it shoots like a full-size firearm. And if you want to go flush, you can go with the 11 rounder and then again with the 13 rounder.

So it gives you a number of options there. The optic cuts are perfect for your Holosun sights. I mean it’s that footprint and they mount directly to the slide.

That is my favorite way. Also the TruGlo night sights show up very well and they co-witness. The texturing is very well done.

It covers the entire grip. It gives you a lot of purchase on the grip and then we have the flat face trigger which honestly it is exceptional. Ambidextrous controls, a lot of great features.

As far as cons go, a little bit larger than some of your little subcompacts but yet that can make it more shootable. Recoil is very mild. The bore axis is not super low but it’s about the same size as a Sig P365.

So really there is not a lot of cons with this handgun. I mean it’s priced right and then of course whether you get the standard version or the tactical version, this just gives you a lot more options. It’s going to be a little more expensive but it does give you some features that I really like.

And with those 15 round magazines that gives you a lot of capability as well. Of course the R7, just like it is, I mean it is an excellent firearm and so just gives us more choices. So guys if you’re looking for a concealed carry option that has a great round capacity, you know check out the R7 Mako series whether the standard pistol or if you want to bump it up a notch and go with the tactical model.

And it has that Kimber quality in the finish. The texturing on the grip is excellent. Again, red dot ready.

It’s just an excellent pistol and even with the R7 it’s been a great concealed carry option as well. And we do thank Kimber for sending the R7 for this review.

 

Be strong, be of good courage. God bless America. Long live the Republic.

 

-Don