He did not have a good experience with the Kimber at all.
Go and read the whole post. It's surprising to see such problems with what's really one of the higher end models in the Kimber line - although one that was quickly discontinued, and it seems apparent why. The problems he's been having with the Kimber are minor and annoying but not critical; however this is exactly the kind of thing that lends credence to the "1911s are finicky and you can't rely on them". I've been more fortunate, in that the only 1911 I've had that wasn't 100% reliable was an AutoOrdnance AO1911 that had issues with stovepipes and failures to eject - and I traded that post haste (for the impossible-to-find-magazines-for VEPR. The guy I traded with and I are still trying to figure out who got the worst of that deal...)
Now, the 1911 I referenced in my post this morning, the SW1911 I sold to SCI-FI, has had countless thousand rounds put through it. I've put probably close to 500 - 600 rounds through it in the 6 months I owned it; the guy I bought it from used to compete in matches with it. It has fed everything I've put into it, including steel cased, dirty-assed ammo, sometimes without cleaning or lubrications for two or three range trips. This is a gun with an MSRP significantly below that of the buying price of the Kimber, mind you; it needed no work whatsoever to function flawlessly.
Is Dennis's experience with Kimber a fluke, or have others had similar issues with quality?
That is all.
14 comments:
I won a Kimber Custom II (FLGR, extended safety, basic sights) from Friends of the NRA. Its been nothing but a pleasure to shoot and operate. It was eating my reloads on its first outing. I haven't put an 'idiot-scratch' into it yet. Good trigger (by my plebian standards). Despite being all black, the sights aren't too shabby either.
Having said that for what these pistols retail for, I would not have purchased the Custom II with my own money. For its place in the market, I think that better pistols can be had for the money. If you must have a 1911 at this price point, I'd get a Kimber though.
I've had a Kimber Compact Stainless II, (Officers frame, Commander slide / barrel) .45 ACP for 5 years. In that time I've put over a thousand rounds through it. Factory or reloads, Semi wadcutters, hollowpoints, ball, button nose SWCs. Mostly full power, some reduced power. All have cycled properly From right out of the box, NO break in. The pistol has never failed to function properly. Clean, dirty, hot, sweaty, whatever, it works. It is an EDC for me and I am very pleased with it. It is fitted with tritium nite sights and CT laser sights. I use 2 Tripp Cobramags and the Cobra follower kit in the stock Kimber mag as additional reliabilty insurance.
Trigger is a clean 5 lb, just where I want it. Pistol shoots to point of am with 230 JHP ammo.
It has not been re-worked, gunsmithed, or modified.
What more would you want?
[img]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p235/RogerS_photo/Fire%20arms%202010/firearms41410016-1.jpg[/img]
I have and love my Kimber Ultra CDP II.
When I bought it I ordered several Wilson Combat mags for it wanting more than the 1 mag it came with. The first range outing it hated the Kimber mag. Loved the Wilson's.
Kimber mag is not at the bottom of the range bag. I have seen this time and time again on forums where owners say the mag sucks eggs but they love the gun. That is my case.
Mine is a little pickey on JHP loads but Feeds Winchester PDX1 with no problems. It likes the rounded nose.
This is also what scares me about the Solo. There are no aftermarket mags for it. And if Kimbers mags suck eggs how do you remedy this.
Teke,
Interestingly enough, my first words of advice to Dennis were to order up some Wilson Combat magazines and try them out. I had not heard that Kimber mags were lousy, though...
I have had a Kimber Pro Carry Hd for about ten years. What was said on the factory Kimber mags - dumped those after the first range visit. Wilsons or McCormicks work fine.
Thousands of rounds and no problems after that.
I've owned 2 Kimbers.
Had a Stainless II that had the occasional FTF. That was probably bad mags more than anything. I was pretty ignorant about 1911s at the time.
Then I bought a Kimber Ultra Raptor. It cost me twice as much as the Stainless and was, in retrospect, junk. Wouldn't feed reliably no matter the ammo or magazine brand. The finish was crap. The slightest bit of moisture and it went to rusting. I was happy to trade it away for a mosin, ammo, and a few bucks.
Been carrying a RIA for a while now. I abuse the hell out of it. I've had my problems with it but I was able to fix them easily. It's been more reliable than either of the Kimbers and has costs less two
That said, I see a Smith E series in my future.
I have a Kimber Custom Classic my dad bought me in 2001. I've put about 5000 rounds through it over the years, I do not recall ever having any failures. I've shot dirty, clean, factory ammo, reloads, wad cutters, HP, SP, you name it, it's fed it.
The mag that shipped hasn't given me issues when I've used it, but most of the time during practice I've been using older colt mags my dad had from a previous 1911.
I have two friends who have Custom IIs and are pleased with them and haven't had any issues I'm aware of.
All that said, I used to be a royal spokesman for Kimber and showing off my 8400 Tactical. Kimber has done some things as of late including snubbing my normal shop. As such I'm no longer buying anything Kimber. The next 1911 will be a Sig and I'm going elsewhere for rifles.
Check with Tam. There was some heated discussions on her site a couple of months ago about Kimber Quality, and what she prefers in the 1911 Family.
I was gonna say, yeah, ask Tam. She's touched on Kimber's decline in QC a couple of times in her typical delicate fashion.
Just today George Hill (MadOgre) had this to say on a Kimber his shop bought back from a customer: "I remember selling the gun to the fellow years ago. This was before Kimber took they QC Nose Dive."
Have had a Gold Match 11 for a few years.
Same as above, Wilson or Chip mags work perfect.
90% of my shooting is with reloads ie: 200gr Hornady XTP or all copper SWC.
No probs.
I had a Kimber Eclipse Custom II in 10mm for four years, and not once did it make it through a magazine without a stovepipe. On top of that, the brass that did make it out had been crushed so bad in the process that most of the case mouths had been ripped open. I also had a Kimber Desert Warrior that ran fine, but the experience with the Eclipse soured me on Kimber so bad that I sold the DW to the first person that asked how he could get one. Been sticking with my Colts and Nighthawks ever since.
Yea they're finicky or they're just a mass produced product that every gun company can make provided the parts are correct. Dennis is describing parts that are out of spec, not just mag feed issues. That's quality control. Honestly, a few weeks ago I must have picked up and played with about 50 different 1911's and the Kimbers felt the worst. Like the quality control just isn't there. If I were Dennis I would start replacing internal parts with Wilson parts until I was satisfied.
There are 2 problems:
1) the 1911 is an old design that is very finicky about tolerances and has issues feeding hollowpoints
2) Kimber is one of the most trouble-prone brands of 1911
I documented the real-world reliability of every 1911 tested by Gun Tests magazine, and Kimber was at the bottom:
http://www.yankeegunnuts.com/2011/01/18/1911-quality-ii-short-guns-other-calibers/
I have had three Kimbers, and still own two. My first is a first-generation Classic Stainless that is my IDPA/Bowling Pin gun, and it is an absolute dream to shoot. My second was an Eclipse II (Commander-sized) I bought used. That one got me entered into a Kimber giveaway that won me an Ultra CDP II (Officer's-sized).
The Eclipse never did work right. I traded it straight across for a brand-new EAA Witness. The Ultra CDP is my preferred carry gun when I can't tote the full-sized Classic (and when I can't carry either of those, I tote a Kel-Tec PF-9).
The Ultra CDP is finicky about what it'll eat - hardball and Speer 230 grain Short Barrel Gold Dots are all that I've found it really likes. The Classic feeds everything I've given it. The Eclipse didn't like ANYTHING I fed it, even after Kimber replaced the external extractor slide with an entire new internal extractor model. (Lots of FTE prompted the warranty replacement.)
If I can ever scrape up enough cash, I want another first-gen Gov't-size Kimber of the pre-"II" configuration.
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