RogersPrecision,
I respect your work Sir. BUT you will not take on any other work at this time. I find this true of most of the Smith’s who’s work I most admire.
For those who don’t know, Mr. Rogers is one of the leading and finest 1911 gunsmiths and Custom Pistol makers in America today. I would love to have Mr. Rogers build a Colt for me.
That leaves production high end guns, and the “regular” guns.
I own a bunch of 1911’s and Highpower’s too (FN & Browning which are in the end FN‘s too). Colt, Springfield, Kimber, Daily….. Except for the Daily they are all pretty good guns.
Which gun do I presently carry. My “carry” Colt Gunsite pistol, one of two is in the smith’s right now for some frame & sight work. I have my gaming Colt Commander in 9mm in getting work too. I have a Springfield Professional, and a Series one Kimber Gold Combat Stainless. Both are beautiful guns, and dead nuts reliable and accurate too.
When I went looking for a ‘railed’ 1911 a few years ago I went with a first generation Kimber Warrior, with the original Novak rear sight. It has just under 12,000 rounds through it, and I am planning to have it worked on. I would love to be able to use Mr. Rogers by the way. In all those rounds, it has never failed to fire FTF, never.
My second Warrior, Is my present competition 1911, while the Commander is being tooled up, and besides classes, I shot it at a 1000 round endurance shoot last year. No problems, in only 4,700 rounds through it.
None of my Kimber’s have been a problem.
As to breaking in a gun, I disagree. No weapon of mine will be used for fighting until
I have [\b] run at least 1000 rounds error free through it of ball, and at least 200 rounds of my carry ammo. Presently that is 230gr Gold dots not +P. Yes it is expensive to get a weapon “qualified” to use for fighting. Lucky for me I qualified most of mine before the present ammo shortage. It ain’t about price, it is about my ass, and those of the people I care about.
I don’t care who manufactured or rebuilt my weapons, they must satisfy MY STANDARDS, before I will use it for action. Even Glocks.
I don't want anything for free, just paid $1000 for a new in the box gun. All I want is the same quality $1000 gun every one else gets, no more, no less. I should not have to go out and buy new parts to replace new parts (unless of course I choose to do so).
That is exactly what you got. An inexpensive lightly upgraded 1911. Don’t like the price, go buy a Glock. A Glock IS A BETTER VALUE IN A FIGHTING WEAPON.
But some of us have used the 1911, to fight and win before. We know how to fight and win with it. I will stick with what has worked for me before, and will work again.
But understand a 1911, isn’t for wimps or those with a thin wallet. More money, time, work, and often patience than any of my SIG’s, Glocks, XD’s, Rugers, Kahr’s, etc. Don’t like it, get a Glock. The Glock is a great gun. I I preferred the SIG 228/226 for my own purposes, and now stick to the Highpower for high cap 9mm.
The first thing I do when I get a new weapon, is tear it totally down, clean, inspect, tweak, and lubricate it. Solve problems before they happen. I use either Wilson 47D’s or CMC powermags. They both work in all my guns. I tried some Trip mags, and haven’t had much success.
If it is a used weapon, regardless of appearance or number of claimed rounds, REPLACE ALL THE SPRINGS. It is cheap insurance. On a Brand new pistol I rarely go past 1000 rounds without replacing it’s springs. Of course all fighting weapons have springs replaced on schedule per manufacturer after the first replacement on my schedule.
I clean, inspect and maintain my weapons every time I shoot them. Every time. The Sun doesn’t come up on a dirty weapon.
Yea, I AM an old Marine DI.
cno53 - you misunderstood my comment. I meant that each type of firing pin safety (or lack thereof) has its pros and cons - not that Kimber is absolved of responsibility for failing to produce a reliable product.
Funny, the most reliable weapons in the world, ALL HAVE FIRING PIN SAFETIES. I have two Kimbers with the Swartz safety and one of them have the external extractor too. Mine work. Must be defective.
Maybe there is a reason, that those of us who use and maintain our 1911’s diligently don’t have that sort of problems.
Look, I ain’t no Mr Rogers, not even close. But I can fit a safety, grip safety, or put a passable trigger job and new trigger on any of my 1911’s. The first thing I do with most of my guns is replace the trigger with a C&S short “rounded” trigger, most often a Ed Brown singe sided tactical safety, extended Mag release, and when need one of Ed’s main spring housing. Then I fit an oversized EGW ‘square’ based firing pin stop. The Recoil spring will be a 18 ½ lbs recoil spring with a full power 23 lb’s main spring. Springs from wolf. That usually happens with a brand new gun too.
I even did most of that with my Springfield Professional too.
I agree with others that you shouldn't have to polish, tune, or tinker what a finished product to make it do what it's designed to do! I currently own 2 Kimbers. They all ran right out of the box. That's exactly what I expect out of a product in that price range.
It ain’t about what you think is expensive, it’s about 1911’s. The Kimber is a base price to moderate priced 1911 and quality is about right for that level price in the 1911 world.
Don’t like it, get a Glock. Personally I would consider one of Mr. Rogers, guns. Beautiful and worth every penny. But it will be a nickel or two above the $1000 you paid for a Kimber. Accept that, or not, it is a fact. Your choice.
Look, I ain’t no Mr Rogers, not even close. But I can fit a safety, grip safety, or put a passable trigger job and new trigger on any of my 1911’s. The first thing I do with most of my guns is replace the trigger with a C&S short “rounded” trigger, most often a Ed Brown single sided tactical safety, his extended Mag release, and when I need it, one of Ed’s main spring housing‘s. Then I fit an oversized EGW ‘square’ based firing pin stop. The Recoil spring will be a 18 ½ lbs recoil spring with a full power 23 lb’s main spring. Springs from wolf. And after all that a set of Black Gunner Grips. All that usually happens with a brand new gun too. Price ain’t the reason.
I even did most of that with my Springfield Professional too.
The reason is, I want the most reliable gun I can with the set up that REALLY fits me both for size and personal preference. The properly setup 1911 is dead reliable. It’s other great strength is it can be setup to exactly fit the shooter, like no other pistol.
That's a timing issue talking to you thru one of several means:
Inconsistent ammo (cheap stuff)
Lack of oil: they like to run WET (but first, cleaned of any factory shipping goo). Also, if gun sits awhile, just add some oil down the rail guides via the vertical drip, gravity method, then cycle the slide 3 or 4 times, then head to the range.
Feed ramp issue: can polish it yourself with Flitz Polish, via application, up and down only, with Q-tip, along with breach of the barrel.
Mags interior walls, and follower need cleaning: EEZOX works great there, but I'm very doubtful it is a mag issue.
Grip is key with these 1911's, very unforgiving of a weak or lose grip..
Luck,
Ls
I must agree with about all Ls has said.
The 1911,is not for the casual shooter. It cost more, in money, time and dedication and knowledge to fight it and maintain it, properly. If you don’t like it, please get a Glock, you will be much happier and save a ton of money.
Good luck.
Fred
