JTQ
Member
Is this a new ammo recipe you're using? https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/heavy-vs-lighter-weight-bullets.864278/
Kimber TLE II loss of accuracy
- Thread starter Waterboy3313
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- ammo discussion
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MislMan
Member
Have you changed your shooting routine over the last month or so? If you’re shooting a .357 magnum before your shoot the Kimber maybe you picked up a very slight twitch anticipating the recoil. Wouldn’t take much to be off the slight amount that you are seeing.
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Waterboy3313
Member
I haven't had much time in the last few days to do anything. Today when I got home I pulled my Kimber apart again to check the barrel lug. Both sides look to show even wear. The ammo is the same. I bought some different bullets a while back worked them up and ended up with the same exact load. I sorted through the box of the stuff I bought locally and found a lot of bullets that had imperfections. I ended up throwing most of them out. I did mention rmr as I bought a few thousand 357 bullets recently. I guess rmr was on my mind but for my 45 I have stuck with Berry's.
The plinking loads I shoot through my 357 are very mild and comfortable to shoot. The 6 inch barreled GP 100 with my hand loads is nothing to flinch at all. My 45 feels much more snappy with a great deal more recoil. I don't know if the weight and the balance evens it out or my loads just wouldn't be considered full out magnum loads.
Weather depending I'm hoping to go try again Sunday morning.
The plinking loads I shoot through my 357 are very mild and comfortable to shoot. The 6 inch barreled GP 100 with my hand loads is nothing to flinch at all. My 45 feels much more snappy with a great deal more recoil. I don't know if the weight and the balance evens it out or my loads just wouldn't be considered full out magnum loads.
Weather depending I'm hoping to go try again Sunday morning.
Charlie98
Member
Keep us posted... inquiring minds want to know!
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Waterboy3313
Member
I'm really hoping it's something stupid. My boss pulled me aside today to ask me some advice for buying his first pistol. He's not a gun guy at all. The first thing that came to my mind was my Kimber. Since I bought my last 357 around Christmas I've found I prefer shooting revolvers and have been debating on trading in my Kimber towards another longer barreled revolver. When he got serious I told him I didn't have anything for him. I couldn't pass on something with issues to someone that actually knows less than I do.
Charlie98
Member
Well, and I don't think a .45 would be the best idea for a first pistol, but it depends on his purpose.
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Waterboy3313
Member
He will never shoot it. He is worried about home protection. I have invited him to shoot with me but he never wants to go. I told him he can go with me this weekend so he could at least try out 4 different pistols. He doesn't understand the concept of training or being familiar with the pistol you would try to defend yourself with if a situation happened. He's probably better off without a gun at this point chances are he would fumble and it would get taken from him.
Steve in Allentown
Member
This can become a never ending rabbit hole but I would recommend a S&W K or L frame loaded with .38 Special ammo for someone like him who wants a handgun but has no interest in practicing.
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Waterboy3313
Member
Didn't get a chance to try it last weekend. Today I used my loads thought about what I was doing and how I was doing it. Seems to be it was either dirty or something I was doing weird. A couple of flyers only blaming myself for those.
Charlie98
Member
He's probably seen enough gunfights on TV, he is already pre-qualified...
(Sorry... I'm not picking on your friend, I'm just having a little fun.)
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Waterboy3313
Member
No offense taken. I pulled off some pretty decent shots today with the kimber. Since around the first of the year when I bought my 6 inch barreled 357 my Kimber doesn't seem to be favorite pistol anymore. I found I really like shooting out longer distance and my GP 100 seems to be much better at it. I popped some clay pigeons out on the berm between 25-35 yards and my 12 inch gong at about 50. I usually set up something at 100 but I wasn't feeling to ambitious today.
John G C 1
Member
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Glad it all worked out. Twice I have had something similar happen.
The first time, I realized that as I was shooting the sight was moving slightly. Every hundred rounds it would be slightly off to the left and just need to be clicked back to the right one click. I replaced the rear sight and was good to go.
The second time I never did figure out what was up with that gun and why I could not be consistent. I figured it was me doing and not doing something with my grip. I never did get consistent with that one. I was the problem but I could not figure out why.
enjoy
The first time, I realized that as I was shooting the sight was moving slightly. Every hundred rounds it would be slightly off to the left and just need to be clicked back to the right one click. I replaced the rear sight and was good to go.
The second time I never did figure out what was up with that gun and why I could not be consistent. I figured it was me doing and not doing something with my grip. I never did get consistent with that one. I was the problem but I could not figure out why.
enjoy
Charlie98
Member
Well... and I'll be curious to see if the problem comes back when the pistol dirties up.
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Waterboy3313
Member
I put 115 of my reloads through it yesterday and only lost 2 cases. I am wondering if it is sensitive to being slightly dirty? The last time it was cleaned it looked clean when I pulled the barrel out and looked through it. The patches I ran through came out greyish black and then it shot pretty decent. I've always keep it pretty clean. I don't clean it every time I shoot it but probably goes no more than 300 rounds between cleaning at most.
sparkyv
Member
Been there, done that.
JTQ
Member
While it's certainly possible, on the clean/dirty vs lubed/un-lubed spectrum, most guns can shoot just fine for a very long time being dirty, but will quickly have problems if under-lubed.
In today's Glock-era of "I only need six drops of lube for my gun", most folks significantly under-lube their guns, though I don't think that would be the cause of your accuracy issues either.
It is more likely a familiarity issue you are dealing with. Swapping around between different guns, with multiple months layoffs between shooting something different could easily cause your issues.
If he NEVER wants to shoot, he will more than likely not do the maintenance. I reoil my carry guns every 2 weeks. And, my home defense gun 1x a month. Oil evaporates over time.
If he is like that, then he likely should stick with a revolver. They too need maintenance. But if you let it sit a while, it is more forgiving.
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Waterboy3313
Member
What is your standard of accurate? If I can generally hit what I'm trying to hit I would call that accurate. I am no professional pistol shooter by any means but I would be willing to bet Berry's bullets are good enough for the general shooter. To me the average guy shooting free hand that can land 9 out of 10 shots where he wants them on average is doing pretty good. If I were to shoot from a rest I would probably expect better results. I would consider myself pretty decent on most days and say Berry's do pretty good. I don't shoot competitions or anything. This is only a hobby for me. I've seen the guys that are in this really deep but geez most people just don't want to turn this into a chore.
Master Blaster
Member
Its you not the gun, shooting handguns is a perishable skill you need too practice to keep it up. I find my accuracy can vary with rest, the amount of Coffee I had, stress etc. I own three Kimbers, including a TLE II. My TLE II has about 14000+- rounds through it. I change the recoil spring about every 5000 rounds. I shoot nothing but my reloads which come in several flavors. I am sure you will get it back together keep practicing.
JFrank
Member
Weak ignition will kill accuracy’ Replace your firing pin spring first thing and mic your barrel bushing on both sides for clearance, I like um tight as in a couple thousand barrel to bushing and a couple thousand bushing to slide. Ensure your barrel link isn’t cracked or sloppy.
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Waterboy3313
Member
When I replaced the recoil spring I bought a kit that also came with a pin spring. I did replace it. I did not mic the barrel and bushing. I will do that next time I tear it apart for cleaning. Thanks for the suggestion.
Charlie98
Member
I have 2 4" Kimbers, I change my springs out every 500rds (800 is factory recommendation.) I've been ridiculed for such judicious spring replacement, but for $10 I can insure my pistol is operating well and not beating the frame to death. It's a no-braner. I had one guy insist he was still running his factory spring at something like 40K rounds! To each his own... I guess.
Amen. I quit drinking coffee on the way to the range...
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Waterboy3313
Member
I leave for the range early in the morning I try to eat something and get a little bit of caffeine going. The times I didn't eat or have a coffee or soda is when I have usually don't shoot well. I learned that lesson a while ago. I agree springs are cheap and easy to replace. If I remember correctly I think I only got about 800-1000 rounds out of my factory recoil spring before it started acting weird. I figured it should have lasted longer but I started having issues with it returning to battery after running 2-3 magazines through it.
I guess I don’t understand. Your thread is about accuracy problems with your Kimber pistol. Then you state that less accurate bullets don’t matter to you. Why bust your ass trying to accurize your pistol and then use inaccurate ammo?
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