Kimber’s new Aegis Elite Custom OI combines functionality, modern styling and a pre-mounted optic.
According to Greek mythology, the aegis was the protective shield or breastplate handed down from Zeus, ruler of the Olympian gods, to his daughter Athena. It is referenced in Homer’s Iliad, and according to popular accounts, the aegis was adorned with golden tassels (or, in some cases, writhing serpents) with the head of the Gorgon Medusa at its center. This gruesome artifact, according to legend, granted universal protection to its bearer regardless of the strength or number of enemies encountered.
In modern culture, the term aegis refers to anyone or anything that offers protection or support in the face of danger. Though none of us modern mortals will likely face an enemy as dangerous as a chimera, the world in which we live is not without peril. Our defense against those threats is not a breastplate or a shield bearing a Gorgon’s severed head but rather a sidearm loaded with expanding hollowpoint ammunition.
If there’s a modern interpretation of the aegis for the 21st century, it might well be the 1911 single-action semiautomatic pistol. It was not handed down to us by Zeus from the heights of Olympus, but rather from the mortal firearm designer John Moses Browning—though some consider Browning something of a demigod.
Aegis is also the name of Kimber’s newest family of 1911 pistols. You’ll find no golden tassels on this weapon, but this doesn’t mean these Kimber pistols are without adornments. For starters, they feature a stylish two-tone construction: a satin silver frame and a slide finished with a KimPro II protective coating in matte black.
The Aegis Elite Custom OI features AEX front and rear slide serrations, unique G10 grips and a Vortex Venom