Talk me into (or out of) a Kimber

xXxplosive said:

It's Not A .45 Unless It Has A Horse On It...............

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My Dan Wesson doesn't have a horse on it... To be frank at the various price ranges I'll take a Springfield, Ruger, or (as price goes up) a DW over a Colt every time. In fact, I have. They are fine, but I feel you pay for the name and most models lack features I prefer (better sights, extended safeties, beaver tails, etc).

As for the OP, I've had 3 Kimbers (warrior and two of the pro series, the commander and full size) and never had a functional problem with any of them. I still have the Warrior. The only problem I have with them is the blued kimpro finish is pretty weak and rubs off quickly. I like working guns and don't mind holster wear, so its a non-issue for me. So, for that $700, yeah you'll probably get a great gun, at least from my experience. Naturally there are always risks for problem children.

That said, for my dollar I would probably spend a bit more and get a Springfield Range Officer. YMMV

stchman said:

I believe even Jimenez has some type of lifetime warranty. Taurus has a lifetime warranty, Ruger has the "if you ever have a problem with one of our firearms, we'll fix it".

IMO, a firearm make should stand behind their product.

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For those who prioritize warranties, and I'm one who believes that having a good warranty is a good idea, it is hard to beat a lifetime warranty that covers you and subsequent owners if the pistol is ever sold or traded for free repair or replacement in the event of defect or damage. SCCY Firearms brags, "How can we have a warranty this good? Because we're so sure that most of our customers will ever need it." Pretty impressive, I think.

Arkansas Paul said:

I too have been eyeing the Kimber Custom II on Buds Gunshop site at only $695. Seems like a great price.
I just spent some cash building my first AR or I'd jump on it.

The only thing is that it's 2 toned. That wouldn't necessarily be a deal breaker, but I prefer blued steel.
They have some, but not at that price.

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For $700 I'd call that a pretty good buy provided it has the features you want. That's about what Gander Mountain wants for a Rock Island, which isn't a bad pistol at all but I'm not gonna drop that much on one.

I'm smitten with my Custom II, but I wanted a single sided safety, forward cocking serrations, and plain black serrated target sights.

SwampWolf said:

For those who prioritize warranties, and I'm one who believes that having a good warranty is a good idea, it is hard to beat a lifetime warranty that covers you and subsequent owners if the pistol is ever sold or traded for free repair or replacement in the event of defect or damage.

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Yes, but most manufacturer warranties are for the original purchaser only. I sent my 1959 made Python back to Colt a few years ago as the timing was slightly off, and they fixed it for free, just had to pay shipping back to me. I thought that was pretty impressive.

Based on what you've said and what you already own, look at the Dan Wessons. You already have a few 1911s and another sub-$1000 gun isn't going to get you much that you don't already have. Get into a Dan Wesson and you immediately have a much better fit pistol with superior parts. I own a couple Dan Wessons (along with a Smith & Wesson Performance Center 1911, a Les Baer Premier II, an older Kimber Classic Custom Target.... and have owned other 1911s from STI and Sig), and the DW guns are the best you'll find with a sub $1,500 price tag NIB.

JR24 said:

My Dan Wesson doesn't have a horse on it... To be frank at the various price ranges I'll take a Springfield, Ruger, or (as price goes up) a DW over a Colt every time. In fact, I have. They are fine, but I feel you pay for the name and most models lack features I prefer (better sights, extended safeties, beaver tails, etc).

As for the OP, I've had 3 Kimbers (warrior and two of the pro series, the commander and full size) and never had a functional problem with any of them. I still have the Warrior. The only problem I have with them is the blued kimpro finish is pretty weak and rubs off quickly. I like working guns and don't mind holster wear, so its a non-issue for me. So, for that $700, yeah you'll probably get a great gun, at least from my experience. Naturally there are always risks for problem children.

That said, for my dollar I would probably spend a bit more and get a Springfield Range Officer. YMMV

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Just to clarify............all my Colts are Pre 80's.....and just great pieces.

CNobbe said:

Yes, but most manufacturer warranties are for the original purchaser only.

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Which is one of the reasons I cited the unique warranty as offered by SCCY. I can't think of a more inclusive warranty offered by anyone, ever.

The best way to talk yourself out of a Kimber is to already own one!

Olympus said:

I just picked this Kimber Pro Carry HD up over the weekend and already put 100 flawless rounds through it. Not sure what you mean by "flashy" but Kimber has a lot of more subdued models. I wouldn't call mine flashy. Mine is tighter fit than any Colt I've ever owned and so far seems to be reliable.

View attachment 229418 View attachment 229419

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100 flawless rounds. What a testament to reliability.

Not a Kimber fan.

Mine had:
-poorly timed FP safety problems
-magazine ate the frame area under the ramp
-lame 1980's three dot sights.
-rusty barrel, not abuse, just super easy to rust barrel compared to my better 1911's
-very rough barrel finish. Tons of extra drag until that smoothed out. Poor reliability until that smoothed out. "Break in" I guess.

I recommend spending 2-3 times as much and getting a (black) Dan Wesson. At least put 3000 rounds through a Kimber before you carry it. Make sure that it's 100% reliable through all of that, and 100% with at least 200 rounds of HP carry ammo.

Or Guncrafter. Serious $$$, but the best 1911's out there.

Don't think they've been released yet, they're new for 2017. I have a CZ branded 1911 A1 which were supposedly made by Dan Wesson. Fit and finish is good as is my Valor, but when I read they only made 1k or so of the CZs I decided to put it away to see what happens with the value of them, Might use it towards another Nighthawk or Wilson down the road.

CoThG said:

The best way to talk yourself out of a Kimber is to already own one!

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It took a week or so, but the brand-bashers finally arrived ... Cute little phrases, yet no actual experience cited or even semi-useful commentary provided (that's okay, we can tell you're an expert on 1911s by the tone of your post). Ah, well. We were due.

At least the faithful Dan Wesson fanboys arrived on time (as they do in any 1911 thread, e.g., "Springfield Armory or Colt? What should I buy" Standard thread response: "Buy a Dan Wesson.").

Old Dog said:

It took a week or so, but the brand-bashers finally arrived ... Cute little phrases, yet no actual experience cited or even semi-useful commentary provided (that's okay, we can tell you're an expert on 1911s by the tone of your post). Ah, well. We were due.

At least the faithful Dan Wesson fanboys arrived on time (as they do in any 1911 thread, e.g., "Springfield Armory or Colt? What should I buy" Standard thread response: "Buy a Dan Wesson.").

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You should heed their advice.

Son, I've been shooting 1911s since the 1960s -- and buying 1911s since the 1970s. I don't need yours -- or anyone else's -- advice on what particular 1911s I "should" buy.

Old Dog said:

Son, I've been shooting 1911s since the 1960s -- and buying 1911s since the 1970s. I don't need yours -- or anyone else's -- advice on what particular 1911s I "should" buy.

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You must not want the best 1911 for the money then.

Gosh, I'm starting to think that you're one of those guys that always needs to have the last word.

Okay, you win. You clearly know so much more than I, and all the rest of the posters here.

We bow to your superior knowledge and overall excellence. Thank you for sharing your greatness with us tonight!

Old Dog said:

Gosh, I'm starting to think that you're one of those guys that always needs to have the last word.

Okay, you win. You clearly know so much more than I, and all the rest of the posters here.

We bow to your superior knowledge and overall excellence. Thank you for sharing your greatness with us tonight!

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You're welcome.

Having had pretty extensive experience with 1911s, I have to concede all were series 70 Colts. There were full size, steel commanders, light weight commanders, stainless, satin nickel (really like these), Gold Cups and more. Calibers were .45acp, 9mm and .38sup. I'm not counting a couple of Star along the way. When I started the Colts could be had for around $100 with Gold Cups going for a bit more. Two exceptions are a nice AMT stainless that was excellent and accurate and a Kimber Ultra Carry purchased nearly 20 years ago. That Kimbers fit, finish, reliability and accuracy are second to none. This means, of course, that I am not qualified to address the good/bad points; only my specific example. The other exception was a stainless AMT that I should have kept. It had excellent adjustable sights and accuracy that truly surprised me. I most mourn selling my last Gold Cup which was a dream in reliability and accuracy. But then, I wanted to have a new long gun built . True, my customized 1911 is just as accurate, but....

I love the 1911 platform, even more than the S&W 39-2. Retained in the stable are .45acp and .38sup; A Browning Belgian Hi-power is my lone 9MM. Let's see if photobucket worked correctly this time.

Posted previously, but..


.38sup.

Commander Commander .45acp.

So what are you looking for in a 1911? Do you want a basic G.I. model, or something with a few bells & whistles? Budget?

There are a few of these floating around still, but I paid $200 less than what this seller wants. IMO not worth their asking price.

http://www.gunbroker.com/item/617680526

CoThG said:

100 flawless rounds. What a testament to reliability.

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Going on 600 rounds now, not one failure yet. Would you like an ongoing update for my "testament to reliability"?

I only know that I've seen a few jam on the firing line, and jamming is something I have a low tolerance for. It could be ammo, the way one was holding the gun or just the wrong lube. I just remembered at the time that they looked mighty expensive to fail. But then I have close to a zero tolerance for non-22s.

This was a few years ago. Since then I've seen them on shelves and have admitted their looks. Back in the 80s I really wanted a nickel S&W 59, but I heard some rumors about their failing. I eventually bought an Italian Beretta after considering it and a S&W 459, and the Beretta never jammed. And the 16-round magazine seemed to me to be miraculous. One of the initial military tests showed a fail rate of 1 in 2000 rounds! The 459, same test, was 1 in 950 (still fantastic), and these were under harsh conditions. But these guns were the first autos I considered to be the ultra-reliables.

If the Kimbers have been able to perfect its designs to what seemingly everyone else has perfected, they look to be beautiful guns, though I'm not a huge fan of two-tone designs. Should you get the Kimber, I'd very much like to hear how it turns out.

Hanshi

I like your 1911 collection. No Kimbers in my stable but I have been a Colt fan for many years so that's what I like to go with. The Commander size guns have always held a special place in my collection.

Olympus said:

Let's just be plain and simple, just because a company is the first to produce a model doesn't mean that subsequent companies producing the same model aren't "real". That's just laughable and follows no form of logic that I'm familiar wit

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Heck that's not even taking into account the companies that did produce the M1911 i.e. Remington Rand, Ithaca, Union, Singer. Etc.
You'd have to be pretty dim to not view those as true 1911's.