1911 Plastic mainspring housing??

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jrod102

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Let me say that so far I love my pistol. I don't really want this thread to start a bashing contest. I have a Ultra Carry II that came factory with a PLASTIC :fire: mainspring housing. You would think that at the price point that this gun retails at, you would at least get an alloy housing? But PLASTIC? I don't get it. :banghead: Did they do it to save on manufacturing costs? To cut down on weight? It just seems to me they should have looked at it as "cheapening" the overall gun. Oh well I ordered a WC alloy mainspring housing and replaced the JUNK PLASTIC one, so all is well. --Rant over--

If anyone has any input on this, feel free to enlighten me to understanding the PLASTIC housing.
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just because your paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you! :D
 
I've wondered about this too. The shop I work at sells quite a few Kimbers, and many of them are $1000+. At first I thought it was for cost savings, but considering the cost of an aftermarket replacement and the price of the guns, that doesn't make sense. Weight savings? All the guns are 30+ oz, so no go. Durability? They use alloy frames extensively. It's uncomfortable when I show customers a CDP II priced at ~$1149 and they ask "Is this plastic?"..... I'm not hatin' either, I love my Custom II. A 1911 just shouldn't have plastic on it or in it. And one mag??? Really???
 
"...the JUNK PLASTIC..." Plastic or polymer? Isn't the same.
"...alloy mainspring housing..." Not all alloy's are equal either.
Mind you, if you want a real 1911, it's made by Colt. Preferably a Series 70. Everything else is a clone.
 
Well, polymer is high grade plastic. I have no prob with polymer in general, just in 1911s (or clones). I think polymer is superior to any aluminum alloy for gun frames. I also think the alloy used by WC or Kimber for mainspring housings is prob pretty good (safe bet). And the Colt clones made by Kimber are more consistent and have better QC than any made by Colt in a long, long time. A REAL 1911 says U.S. Property on the frame, and companies other than Colt made those, too.
 
just buy a brown custom one from brownells they are the best for the price and I often replace all my stock ones with a brown combo spring housing and magwell.
 
Not all $1000+ Kimbers come with plastic mainspring housings but I know where you're coming from and agree with you. My TEII came with a factory installed oversized magazine well and it has a nice checkered steel mainspring housing. At some point I want to buy a Stainless Pro Raptor II so will replace the plastic MSH with an Ed Brown one.
 
Not for naught, but even the mighty Colts use plastic mainspring housings. If you have doubts, just go look at any Combat Elite, Trohpy Match, Rail Gun, or any XSE.

That said, any replacement mainspring housing that you get from Wilson Combat, Ed Brown, EGW, etc. will be STEEL not plastic or alloy.

As far as the plastic mainspring housing cheapening the Kimber overall, I have not argument to the contrary, but based on my less than ideal experiences wtih them, I'll never own another Kimber.
 
My $4,000.00 STI open division blaster has a plastic mainspring housing. Hmmm...come to think of it, all of my STI and SVI guns had plastic main spring housings. Funny how the barrels, frames, and slides gave up the ghost long before the main spring housing. :)

Edited to add. I do agree for the money a quality 1911 should have a quality steel mainspring housing.
 
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Hummm...I wonder how many of you that are complaining about polymer main spring housings also own "plastic" glocks?:rolleyes:

I have both a Colt Series 80 (somewhat modified) and a Kimber UCC II. The Colt 1911 came with a alloy housing and I replaced it with a steel one to increase the rearward weight. The Kimber is my carry weapon. I would and do trust my life with either.:)
 
On the contrary,.....

The Wilson Combat that I ordered direct from Wilson is a aluminum alloy part #NW246. Caught it on sale/special for $10.49 + shipping:eek:. Go ahead check their web site, I didn't believe it either when I first saw it. But I ordered it and it sure does fit good and makes me feel better about the gun. I know, I know I'm picky with a touch of OCD, so what :neener:.
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Just because your paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you! :D
 
My first 1911 was a Kimber Custom II with walnut grips and trittium night sights that I paid over $1k for about 8 years or so ago. I was quite surprised to find that it had a plastic mainspring housing. I replaced it with a metal one. The plastic one worked fine, but it just did not seem right to have a plastic MSH on a 1911. I have never bought another Kimber again.
 
BTW,......

Bushmaster,.... I have two of the "plastic" Glocks and I love them I was just pointing out the sad fact that at the price you pay for a nice "brand" name 1911 you'd think that they wouldn't cheapen the pistol buy putting a hunk of PLASTIC in it. And there is a difference, when I bought my Glock's I knew I was getting a plastic gun for roughly $450.00 at the time I bought it. Now for close to $900.00 for my ultra carry II I didn't expect it to have any PLASTIC parts. When I bought the UC II I didn't realize the MSH was PLASTIC until days/weeks later. I guess really what it boils down to is at $900 you shouldn't get plastic parts. Do the PLASTIC parts work? Yes. Does it cheapen the overall gun? IMHO, yes. Maybe not to others.
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just because your paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you! :D
 
Yes!

but it just did not seem right to have a plastic MSH on a 1911
Click to expand...
Purple Rice, me and you are on pretty much the same page!!! Would it keep me from buying another Kimber I don't know,.... maybe :confused:?
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just because your paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you! ;)
 
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I have a plastic mainspring housing in one of my 1911's. I have not experienced any problems.
 
jrod102 said:
Purple Rice, me and you are on pretty much the same page!!! Would it keep me from buying another Kimber I don't know,.... maybe
Click to expand...

I don't choose a 1911 based on any feature or part that I can easily change. I base my decision on the parts that I can't easily change.
 
Stress wise, a plastic (polimer) MSH fine. Just like plastic grips. I changed my grips out to wood, pretty quick. Hmmmm a MSH made out of cocobolo. I may have to look into that. :D
 
Kimber cuts corners on the small parts. Not all really need replaced.

What I replaced to get my Kimber CDP REALLY nice
-MSH (EB)
-Sear (Wilson)
-Disconnector (W)
-Hammer ( W premium)
-Firing pin (70 series, after removing the series II FP safety stuff)
-Thumb safety (EB big paddle single sided)
-grip safety (K bump)
- sights (Dawson ft/Warren rr)
-springs (W, Wolff, EB)
-MSH spring and plunger (EB)

All of those weren't that expensive at all. And my CDP was obsolete as my skills and taste are have changed different since I bought it.

The EB MSH replaces the plastic MSH part really well. It matches up the K frame shape well. If your really picky, before it's time to refinish your K, you can India stone the bottom corners of your frame to match the EB MSH perfectly.


I wish Kimber would include ZERO magazines and a metal MSH. Probally would cost them about the same.
 
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Zerodefect, I did much the same to my Kimber TEII but ended up removing the FPS and changing everything with the exception of the frame, slide, barrel, MSH and magazine release (I have an Ed Brown one to install any day now). The MSH is steel and the checkering matches the front strap so no plans to change that. The grips are from Cylinder & Slide and I used mostly Ed Brown parts with a few pieces from Wilson Combat.

I did all of the work myself so didn't incur any gunsmith charges. However, I spent around $300 upgrading all the parts in my TEII. That Kimber has proven to be a superb match pistol and because I did the work, I know the pistol inside and out and feel more attached to it. I've been thinking about buying a Kimber Stainless Pro Raptor II and doing the same upgrades. My plan is to fit an Ed Brown bobtail stainless snakeskin MSH and to grind, file and polish the frame to match. Then I'll paint the whole thing with Cerakote. Some will say that I'm crazy in that I would have spent $1,700 or more and it's still a Kimber. They'll argue that I could have bought a Dan Wesson V-Bob or even an Ed Brown Kobra Carry for around the same price or a few hundred more in the case of the Kobra. But there's something really satisfying about personalizing a 1911 and then the pleasure when it shoots so well. It's hard to put a price on that.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=988489

Also, I just wanted to say thanks for the "tactical bump" tip. I installed one in my TEII and the Pro Raptor comes with that grip safety from the factory but as you say, every Kimber should ship with one of those.
 
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Wow, everything! That's a ton of work.

The only part I want to replace now is the slide stop. Maybe a froged 10-8. But I'm still a bit tuckered out from all the stoning and dremeling and think I'm done investing in this gun.

I have to get a bead blasting cabinet to clean up my slide. Then I'm sending it out to CCR to get redone in house black. My grips are Alumagrips so I'm having those done as well.
 
Have you posted a photo of that Kimber? If not, I'd like to see it.
 
To O.P.: Junk or Treasure ?

It all depends on whether you consider your 1911 to be a piece of art or a functional tool.

Functionally, a pistol that will not see 1,000 rounds in its owner's entire possession will probably not require a steel MSH. If the original pistol is designed and used for carry it makes sense to keep it light and corrosion resistant as possible and plastic is a good candidate for both those goals.

Aesthetically, it may never fire a shot and still "need" a blued, stainless, rubberized (remember Pachmayr?), arched, straight, bobbed, fluted, checkered MSH. Know what I mean?

Yeah, one man's junk is another's treasure!

Or not...
 
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I'm trying to figure out why Kimber is taking the beating for polymer MSH's when nearly all the other makers use them too. My Colt, which cost $300 more has a plastic MSH also.
 
My RIA Tactical has a plastic MSH and shhots just as good as a Kimber or Colt, but cost a lot less.:rolleyes:
 
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