I've had two Kimber 1911's, a Raptor and an Eclipse. The Raptor had jamming and failure to feed issues from the beginning and went back to the shop to be returned to the factory. I was given a store credit and applied it to an Eclipse. The Eclipse functioned fine for me but I ended up trading it to a friend for a scope and some cash. Unfortunately, my friend then had jamming and failure to feed issues with the Eclipse a little later. Since that was the third Kimber he had run into problems with, he swore off the line completely.
From what I've read and seen, the newer production Kimber 1911's have been suffering more QC issues. Even the Eclipse that replaced my Raptor had bad checkering. It was a small thing but it was evidence of a larger issue. They are cranking the guns out at a rate that exceeds their ability to control quality. In the late 90's, Kimber 1911's offered a lot for the money. Now, they are more of a midpoint product at a midpoint price.
If you already have a Kimber and like it, that's great. However, if I was in the market for another 1911, I'd add some money and pick up a used Wilson CQB. I've seen several used ones in fantastic shape end up selling in the $1500 range. You have to be patient to get one in that price range, but once you step into the semi-custom 1911's (Wilson, Nighthawk, etc.) you're not going to want to go back into anything less.
My first 1911 was a very nicely tuned, customized Colt. It's a great pistol and I like it a lot. I've had a bunch of 1911's since. I did not find anything that rivaled my first 1911 until I shot a friend's Wilson CQB Elite. If I had just started with Wilson pistols, I could have saved a lot of time and money.
