I had three bad Kimbers in a row; the first two I got working with replacement of the slide stops, and the third, a Gold Match, had an extractor that bent the wrong way, like a banana. I replaced the extractor, and only fed it with McCormick Power Mags. NONE would work with their own factory mags. Kimber certainly will never get more of my money.
2 New Kimbers... Broken..Help me out guys
- Thread starter lawdogso
- Start date
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All of my Kimber 1911's are per Series II with the exception of a 9mm Target. Those run well, even the Series II in 9mm.
By the way, if you don't have a full size 1911 in 9mm, you need to get one. This is one of my most fun range guns.
By the way, if you don't have a full size 1911 in 9mm, you need to get one. This is one of my most fun range guns.
joe_security
Member
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2007
- Messages
- 490
Sig hammer ? Wil it break like the Kimbers in this thread ?
I own a Sig P226, purchased new at retail in 2000. Does this gun have an MIM hammer, or is it cast ? Its grey and ugly, looks like some kind of porous metal. Ive seen nicer hammers on west german made Sigs. This pistol has digested 1000 rounds of ball and various hollowpoints with out any malfunction. I bought 3 used mags in 2000, the slide didnt always lock back when empty, wolf 5% extra power springs fixed that...can anyone tell me if this Sig has any other cheap parts in it besides the hammer ? Thanks !
I own a Sig P226, purchased new at retail in 2000. Does this gun have an MIM hammer, or is it cast ? Its grey and ugly, looks like some kind of porous metal. Ive seen nicer hammers on west german made Sigs. This pistol has digested 1000 rounds of ball and various hollowpoints with out any malfunction. I bought 3 used mags in 2000, the slide didnt always lock back when empty, wolf 5% extra power springs fixed that...can anyone tell me if this Sig has any other cheap parts in it besides the hammer ? Thanks !
ugaarguy
Member
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2006
- Messages
- 13,828
Joe, I'd not worry about your SIG 226. The key thing to remember here is that SIG designed the 226 to use modern manufacturing techniques. The 1911 was designed for older manufacturing techniques. Trying make a part by MIM that was designed to be made by machining and hand fitting generally (there are exceptions) doesn't work too well, which is the case with 1911 parts.
Sapper771
Member
Broken Kimber
I purchased a Kimber Eclipse Target II about 2 years ago. At first it shot pretty well, then it turned ugly(I owned the pistol for about 1 week when this first started). It started jamming at least once every magazine I fed it. I tried different ammunition, still jammed. I went through about 7 different brands of ammo, even the good stuff, and it still would jam. I contacted the factory and they told me to send it in, but I wasnt aware that I had to pay for the shipping to them because of warranty repairs, I thought they furnished that for me, well , I was wrong and our local fedex was the only place that would ship a firearm, but it had to be over night, and that was $55. Well, about 5-6 weeks later, I get my pistol back, and the tag on it says repaired. Well, I was extatic, I got my pistol back and now I can get back to carrying it, Not really. Same problem.....JAMS! I contacted them again, they said the same thing, send it to them. So, like an idiot, I spent another, un-refunded, $55 shipping bill to get my pistol back to them. Another 4-5 weeks later, I get it back, again it says repaired. I went out to shoot it, this time it made it to the second magazine and then jammed. I called Kimber.....again. I asked them if I could get a refund because I was tired of dealing with this. They said no, and the only thing they could do was try to fix it again. I took the pistol to my local gun shop to have them look at it. They told me that the reason my Kimber wasnt functioning was because Kimber had bought out Auto Ordanance and was using their parts in their Kimber slides to save money. I dont know if this is true or not, but something was wrong. I decided the best approach was to sit down and write a letter to the President of Kimber, so I did. I was civil, but I went to my point. I told him that I could have bought 2 Glocks for the price I spent on this Kimber. I wasnt griping to him or ranting, I just told him that If something was going on under me that wasnt right, I would want to know about it. About a week after I sent the letter. I got a phone call from the preseident of Kimber. He is a really nice guy and he understood everything. He asked me what he could do to fix the problem , I again stated I would like to have a refund, again I was denied. I wasnt really mad at this point, just sick of having a very nice, over priced pistol from a company that was very highly recommended to me. I took the pistol back to the store I purchased it at and I traded it in for a Glock 22 and some extras for it. In all , I lost about $400 off of the trade....but at least I had a pistol that I knew would work. I know that there are mistakes and there are rotten apples, but I am in a business where my life may very well depend on the weapon I carry. I just thought I would share my story with you and to let you know , you werent alone.
I purchased a Kimber Eclipse Target II about 2 years ago. At first it shot pretty well, then it turned ugly(I owned the pistol for about 1 week when this first started). It started jamming at least once every magazine I fed it. I tried different ammunition, still jammed. I went through about 7 different brands of ammo, even the good stuff, and it still would jam. I contacted the factory and they told me to send it in, but I wasnt aware that I had to pay for the shipping to them because of warranty repairs, I thought they furnished that for me, well , I was wrong and our local fedex was the only place that would ship a firearm, but it had to be over night, and that was $55. Well, about 5-6 weeks later, I get my pistol back, and the tag on it says repaired. Well, I was extatic, I got my pistol back and now I can get back to carrying it, Not really. Same problem.....JAMS! I contacted them again, they said the same thing, send it to them. So, like an idiot, I spent another, un-refunded, $55 shipping bill to get my pistol back to them. Another 4-5 weeks later, I get it back, again it says repaired. I went out to shoot it, this time it made it to the second magazine and then jammed. I called Kimber.....again. I asked them if I could get a refund because I was tired of dealing with this. They said no, and the only thing they could do was try to fix it again. I took the pistol to my local gun shop to have them look at it. They told me that the reason my Kimber wasnt functioning was because Kimber had bought out Auto Ordanance and was using their parts in their Kimber slides to save money. I dont know if this is true or not, but something was wrong. I decided the best approach was to sit down and write a letter to the President of Kimber, so I did. I was civil, but I went to my point. I told him that I could have bought 2 Glocks for the price I spent on this Kimber. I wasnt griping to him or ranting, I just told him that If something was going on under me that wasnt right, I would want to know about it. About a week after I sent the letter. I got a phone call from the preseident of Kimber. He is a really nice guy and he understood everything. He asked me what he could do to fix the problem , I again stated I would like to have a refund, again I was denied. I wasnt really mad at this point, just sick of having a very nice, over priced pistol from a company that was very highly recommended to me. I took the pistol back to the store I purchased it at and I traded it in for a Glock 22 and some extras for it. In all , I lost about $400 off of the trade....but at least I had a pistol that I knew would work. I know that there are mistakes and there are rotten apples, but I am in a business where my life may very well depend on the weapon I carry. I just thought I would share my story with you and to let you know , you werent alone.
Not owning a Kimber and reading this, I suspect I never will. I work in the semiconductor industry and quality control is king. We shoot for three returned parts (chips) per MILLION delivered. That illustrates that our reputation means more to us than anything. Some weeks we throw away 10s or 100s of thousands of botched products because our reputation is more important than our marketing. We test the holy bejesus out of each and every part we make, and we spend millions and millions of dollars on those tests, quite literally.
All of these issues could be addressed with a relatively simple system of statistical process control. Obviously, many of their competitors have a handle on this and Kimber has decided that marketing is more meaningful than quality. That's a shame and they are going to lose market share due to it, and rightfully so. This is the very premise that had the Japanese kicking the American car manufacturers a&&es for a couple decades. And it was an American named Deming that helped put them there, only after the big 3 told him to bugger off and refused to listen. Chrysler almost went under for this arrogant attitude.
Reading of THR members talking directly to executive managment and still not even getting their shipping reimbursed indicates where the problem comes from. How can the manufacturing facility address it's issues when the management won't support them. Unfortunately, until there is a shakeup at Kimber's management and heads roll for this type of stuff (which they obviously have not) it won't be addressed.
Let's not make excuses for lousy manufacturing or chime in with the "mine runs great, so they're okay by me" posts. When you have a bad experience with a product and then don't get a decent customer service response, the company deserves to lose your business.
I really appreciate these types of forums to get honest feedback on issues with products such that you can make a well informed decision. A gun rag writer (or any rag for that matter) has a direct tie to advertising dollars and can't be as honest about a products function, as people in these venues can, for fear of losing ad money.
And as for Old Fuff, I didn't think you were being anything but honest. Brutal honesty is a bit much for some at times, but don't apologize for it if it indeed honesty.
All of these issues could be addressed with a relatively simple system of statistical process control. Obviously, many of their competitors have a handle on this and Kimber has decided that marketing is more meaningful than quality. That's a shame and they are going to lose market share due to it, and rightfully so. This is the very premise that had the Japanese kicking the American car manufacturers a&&es for a couple decades. And it was an American named Deming that helped put them there, only after the big 3 told him to bugger off and refused to listen. Chrysler almost went under for this arrogant attitude.
Reading of THR members talking directly to executive managment and still not even getting their shipping reimbursed indicates where the problem comes from. How can the manufacturing facility address it's issues when the management won't support them. Unfortunately, until there is a shakeup at Kimber's management and heads roll for this type of stuff (which they obviously have not) it won't be addressed.
Let's not make excuses for lousy manufacturing or chime in with the "mine runs great, so they're okay by me" posts. When you have a bad experience with a product and then don't get a decent customer service response, the company deserves to lose your business.
I really appreciate these types of forums to get honest feedback on issues with products such that you can make a well informed decision. A gun rag writer (or any rag for that matter) has a direct tie to advertising dollars and can't be as honest about a products function, as people in these venues can, for fear of losing ad money.
And as for Old Fuff, I didn't think you were being anything but honest. Brutal honesty is a bit much for some at times, but don't apologize for it if it indeed honesty.
gudel
Member
i second jeepmor's post. calling a product as a "weekend play toys, not as serious defense tools" is unacceptable, specially in weapon category, and when you paid big bucks.
How unfortunate after calling the president you did get not satisfactory answer. If I was that guy these people would never get a penny from me anymore.
How unfortunate after calling the president you did get not satisfactory answer. If I was that guy these people would never get a penny from me anymore.
I'm glad I read this thread. I was so very close to buying a Kimber Pro CDP II, this past weekend. Now I'm really glad I took a few days to research this potential purchase.
Due to the current high prices on the various 1911s on the market, I'll likely not get one now unless a good private party deal comes out and slaps me in the face.
Due to the current high prices on the various 1911s on the market, I'll likely not get one now unless a good private party deal comes out and slaps me in the face.
I've read many horror stories regarding Kimbers before purchasing mine so I guess I took a chance. I've had it 8 years now and have shot a few thousand rounds without ANY problems. Nothing has ever fallen off it or loosened up and it still looks good, just a little holster rub on the edges of the slide. By my side 24/7 except when in classes. Shoots anything I put through it and has my total trust.
lawdogso
Member
I got my Gold Combat back today with a new hammer installed. I am still waiting for the Ultra CDP to return. I have thought long and hard about this and I believe I am going to put them up for sale. I have been looking at Wilson CQB's and may get one with a cone (HD) barrel (option).
lawdogso
lawdogso
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