I Want A Kimber Micro 9 But.....

Status
Not open for further replies.
I've never owned a Kimber of any kind. I don't think I've ever shot a Kimber. That said, I have a few friends that have had them, and they seem to fall into two camps: (a) those that swear by their Kimbers; and (b) those that swear at their Kimbers.

My question for the OP would be: What's this potential purchase's purpose?
There is a 3rd group. I know of at least 1 member of that group. Has identical micro9 pistols. One was bought as a home defense gun. That one is well used and very well functioning, the other which he bought as a desk drawer gun for the office based upon the performance of the first gun…straight lemon. He has one he swears by, and one that he swears at. I have asked repeatedly to take both guns and start swapping parts to see what part is the offending hunk of iron, but he doesn’t want the guns disassembled. It’s a shame and a waste.
 
I've had a Micro 9 for about 5 years now and it has always functioned flawlessly. I recently bought a Kimber 9mm in a full size 1911 pistol from a friend and it also has functioned flawlessly. There are a number of people I shoot with in a bullseye league that use Kimber pistols and I haven't heard any complaints. One thing you need to remember, people will nearly always complain about a product but will hardly ever make any compliments on it. Read on any forum whether it is guns, cars, can openers or whatever and you will read enough complaints that it will make you hesitant about purchasing that item.
This is true. I recently bought a used f150 with a 5.0 in it. If I were to believe the internet lore then my truck would drink a quart of oil every thousand miles and get horrendous fuel mileage compared to the ecoboost versions of the same truck, all while underperforming on towing power vs the 3.5L v6. My truck pulls hard, hasn’t notably used any oil, and is rocking 22mpg if I behave, so realistically I get about 18 mpg.

There is the other side of the token though, because as the old saying goes, where there is smoke there is fire. Generally if something is flat out false then the internet lore doesn’t hold up and dies but if there’s even a sliver of truth then it grows.

Personal experience with tiny 9s in general is that they are hard to shoot well as the power and size seem to be at odds. Better grip generally means larger but larger goes against the idea of being small, but better grip would solve most of the problems dealing with limp wrist, slide bite, and poor accuracy. Specifically dealing with baby 1911s, you compound the problems because the proportions of the gun are not forgiving. Hammer fired gun without much of a beaver tail because a beaver tail adds size… yeah slide but happens so you force the grip lower. Now you have a low grip on a gun with relatively high slide energy, so yeah limp writing absolutely happens. So you try to just man up and shoot the gun with a traditional hold and suddenly your gripping the gun in a way that the web of the thumb gets kicked by the hammer. The baby 1911 just wasn’t redesigned to be an ideal pocket gun for most folks because you basically are trying to balance out function and feel amongst several obstacles. A big beaver tail would go a long way on those guns but then it wouldn’t be a good pocket gun anymore, but it should be much better on the functionality side by giving slide and hammer bite protection.
 
This is true. I recently bought a used f150 with a 5.0 in it. If I were to believe the internet lore then my truck would drink a quart of oil every thousand miles and get horrendous fuel mileage compared to the ecoboost versions of the same truck, all while underperforming on towing power vs the 3.5L v6. My truck pulls hard, hasn’t notably used any oil, and is rocking 22mpg if I behave, so realistically I get about 18 mpg.

There is the other side of the token though, because as the old saying goes, where there is smoke there is fire. Generally if something is flat out false then the internet lore doesn’t hold up and dies but if there’s even a sliver of truth then it grows.
That's my biggest rub here. Online reviews are skewed for negative experiences because people rarely come out of the woodworks to report positive outcomes. And then, if you look further into the negative reports, 30-40% of the time it's someone doing something completely idiotic or not using the item the way it's supposed to be used. Not to add, when people feel wronged, they tend to exaggerate and you don't get the whole story.

But then again, if there is smoke, there is usually fire.

The thing that muddies that waters is that you can always find smoke with a lot of popular, lauded guns. You can find smoke about modern Glock, Sig, S&W, Beretta, etc. models. I've seen bad reviews about the 43x, 30SF, and Hellcat. All of which I currently have and had I seen the reviews before hand... I probably would have bought them anyway lmao but you get the point.
 
Personal experience with tiny 9s in general is that they are hard to shoot well as the power and size seem to be at odds. Better grip generally means larger but larger goes against the idea of being small, but better grip would solve most of the problems dealing with limp wrist, slide bite, and poor accuracy. Specifically dealing with baby 1911s, you compound the problems because the proportions of the gun are not forgiving. Hammer fired gun without much of a beaver tail because a beaver tail adds size… yeah slide but happens so you force the grip lower. Now you have a low grip on a gun with relatively high slide energy, so yeah limp writing absolutely happens. So you try to just man up and shoot the gun with a traditional hold and suddenly your gripping the gun in a way that the web of the thumb gets kicked by the hammer. The baby 1911 just wasn’t redesigned to be an ideal pocket gun for most folks because you basically are trying to balance out function and feel amongst several obstacles. A big beaver tail would go a long way on those guns but then it wouldn’t be a good pocket gun anymore, but it should be much better on the functionality side by giving slide and hammer bite protection.

This is very true. Now for me it isn't a big deal to shoot these micro 9mm pistols. My first pistol outside of Army issued was a Star Firestar in 40 S&W. they in-between these micro 9s and a compact 45 1911. And yes how you grip them does make a difference in how they shoot and function.

It does take more practice to be proficient with any micro 9mm pistol no matter what type of action or brand. My first true micro 9 was the Kel-Tec PF9 which has sat in the safe since buying the Sig P938. And if I want to carry a striker fired pistol that is not much bigger than the P938 then I carry a Glock G43
 
That's my biggest rub here. Online reviews are skewed for negative experiences because people rarely come out of the woodworks to report positive outcomes. And then, if you look further into the negative reports, 30-40% of the time it's someone doing something completely idiotic or not using the item the way it's supposed to be used. Not to add, when people feel wronged, they tend to exaggerate and you don't get the whole story.

But then again, if there is smoke, there is usually fire.

The thing that muddies that waters is that you can always find smoke with a lot of popular, lauded guns. You can find smoke about modern Glock, Sig, S&W, Beretta, etc. models. I've seen bad reviews about the 43x, 30SF, and Hellcat. All of which I currently have and had I seen the reviews before hand... I probably would have bought them anyway lmao but you get the point.
In other words... take everything you read with a grain of salt.
 
Kimber has a lot of the same problems as other manufacturers which is the lack of good employees so you may or may not have problems. I had to work over my Micro 9 before ever taking it to the range. Below is a pic of the feed ramp they let leave the factory, it speaks for itself.

microramp.jpg
 
Kimber has a lot of the same problems as other manufacturers which is the lack of good employees so you may or may not have problems. I had to work over my Micro 9 before ever taking it to the range. Below is a pic of the feed ramp they let leave the factory, it speaks for itself.

View attachment 1086010
That's ridiculous.

Edit: just looked at the feed ramps in my other guns, Shield has got tool marks on it too. Don't know how I haven't noticed them before.
 
Last edited:
I have a Kimber micro9 to rapide black ice. It was an impulse buy as I already had a full size or a rapide. Only one range trip, but a few mags through it and not one problem. It's actually for sale because it was just an impulse buy and I don't really need it.
 
If you like a particular gun, I would say buy it. Even if it needs a trip back under warranty for some tuning, you will end up with a gun you basically like. It’s better than compromising and getting a gun you are lukewarm about. Even if it’s reliable, you will likely end up not using it and buying another gun you like better.
 
I don't really mind sending the gun in to Kimber if need be.

I would, emphatically. Who needs the added hassle of sending a pistol back to the maker to fix a problem when other manufacturers are selling pistols that work straight out of the box (assuming that Kimber is, in fact, prone to malfunctions)?
 
Kimber makes some beautiful pistols, but I've never seen another premium brand that gets such a high percentage of online complaints, which is why I've never bought one.

The only time I've ever personally come into contact with one was at an "NRA Self Defense Inside the Home" class a while back. During the shooting portion of the class, we had to double up in the range bays, and my range buddy had a Micro .380 that started jamming (mostly FTEs) right from the jump. I couldn't get it to run either, so we called the instructor over, and he couldn't get it to run right either. The whole time she was shooting, it never went more than a few rounds without a malfunction. It was a fairly new gun, and that really soured me on the brand. I get that maybe it wasn't fully broken in, but jeez.
 
Kimber makes some beautiful pistols, but I've never seen another premium brand that gets such a high percentage of online complaints, which is why I've never bought one.

Taurus & Kel-Tec enter the chat... o_O

(PS I dont consider Kimber premium)
 
I made a swap for this Kimber 3”. The original owner (a female) had trouble racked the slide and FTE issues. A steady diet of 147 grain bullets solved all of those problems from me, a outstanding gun IMO. View attachment 1086497
That sure is pretty. I like the look of the slide serrations, but I can see where it may be hard to grip for racking.
 
Personal experience with tiny 9s in general is that they are hard to shoot well as the power and size seem to be at odds. Better grip generally means larger but larger goes against the idea of being small, but better grip would solve most of the problems dealing with limp wrist, slide bite, and poor accuracy. Specifically dealing with baby 1911s, you compound the problems because the proportions of the gun are not forgiving. Hammer fired gun without much of a beaver tail because a beaver tail adds size… yeah slide but happens so you force the grip lower. Now you have a low grip on a gun with relatively high slide energy, so yeah limp writing absolutely happens. So you try to just man up and shoot the gun with a traditional hold and suddenly your gripping the gun in a way that the web of the thumb gets kicked by the hammer. The baby 1911 just wasn’t redesigned to be an ideal pocket gun for most folks because you basically are trying to balance out function and feel amongst several obstacles. A big beaver tail would go a long way on those guns but then it wouldn’t be a good pocket gun anymore, but it should be much better on the functionality side by giving slide and hammer bite protection.
I own and have owned several tiny nines in my quest for the perfect deep conceal carry gun.

First, let me define what I consider a deep conceal carry gun for me. For the most part, I wear blue jeans with a tucked in tall T-shirt, preferably Carhartt. I carry my pistol IWB appendix in a suede leather holster from Relentless Tactical. Due to my body design, I don't have enough ass, I have to wear suspenders to shore up my britches. I blouse my tucked shirt a little bit to cover what little part of the grip that protrudes over the belt line. The only thing that is remotely visible is the clip that goes over the belt. I don't usually wear a cover garment.

I had a Sig P365.. I found it way to small and uncomfortable with regard to the grip.. SOLD IT! I have a P365XL.. great shooter.. love the feel.. shoot it well.. but a little big in the grip for deep conceal. I carry when I wear a cover garment. Shield Plus.. love it! love it! love it!.. but a little bit to fat .. carry when I wear cover garment. P30SK.. couldn't ask for a nicer gun as far as shootability, grip fit, recoil absorption.. but .. like the Shield a little to fat..

Enter the 1911 style pistol. My Kimber Stainless Ultra II is a dream to shoot but it's girth and grip length make it difficult for deep conceal. My Kimber M9 Rapide Black Ice is not only extremely pleasing to look at.. it fits my hand like a glove .. is extremely accurate. Very pleasant to shoot and conceals perfectly. My only complaint is my ability to bump the safety on with strong hand thumb when shooting. Have never experienced any slide bite and I slam the web of my hand into the beaver tail when gripping. The only alteration I have made is to grind the pinky finger tip off the plastic magazine cap. Still able to get close to a full 3 finger grip. S&W CSX... Ahhh...I think I have finally found the holy grail of small micro sized pistols. This little pistol has so many features I find to my liking. I like that it has ambi safety and controls. I like that the safety levers are low profile and don't get in the way when shooting ( are you listening Kimber?). I like that I can switch the mag release to the opposite side so I can use my index finger to release because I have stubby thumbs. I like the easy pull nubs on the slide that allows one to get a good purchase on it when racking the slide. I like the optional palm swell grip panel that allows for larger hands. The 4 oz additional weight over there Kimber helps mitigate recoil. I like that both the Micro 9 and CSX have the ability to chamber a round with the safety on.. get close to a full 3 finger grip...and finally the 12 + 1 ammo capability is a big plus!
 
That sure is pretty. I like the look of the slide serrations, but I can see where it may be hard to grip for racking.
The previous owner, a dear friend weighs less than 100 lbs. with weights in her pockets. However I’m 82 YO which probably puts her stronger than me. I have to have assistance from my knees to rack the slide on any with slide. It is a beautiful gun. It cost around $1K when she bought it some years ago. I ended up giving her about $6C after all trades and buy backs were over
 
The only Kimber I own is K6s DASA, beautiful and reliable (as a revolver should be), the trigger is even better than those from Performance Center (which is also good). I always love looking at Eclipse and Micro 9 but never think I will ever own them.

I suggest that you take a look at p365 (as mentioned by other members). If you dislike polymer frame, take a glance at CSX and 2075 rami. I have both p365 and rami, both are excellent.

Or go for a small revolver. Model 36 is always keeping calling me. By the way, Kimber K6S (6 rounds) is as small and as pocketable as model 36 and, I believe, has a better trigger.

Or you may just buy them all and let what's not right for you go.
 
If you want a micro 9 that's super reliable, why not just get a SIG P365 or a S&W Shield Plus? Both are well established designs with a long track record. And they aren't hard to find.
 
Never had the Kimber, but 2X Mustangs, 2X Colt Govt .380, P238 and 938.
All were reliable enough to trust with CC duty. Between them all, unknown hundreds of rounds, I can count the jams on the fingers of one hand.
Just my 2 cents. Good luck with whatever you choose.

That has been my experience as well. That includes the grand daddy of all the above mentioned pistols which is the Star Model D. The original Colt Pony wa a joint venture between Colt and Star since the Star Model D didn't make enough points to be imported into the US.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top