Breach face not flat?

[MCFLYFYTER]

Noticed this while cleaning this evening. It's in a horrible spot to try to smooth by hand. What would you do about this?

 

[koz4guns]

I would talk to the manufacturer about sending it back.
I wouldn’t want to try and correct it myself.

 

[Blue68f100]

It can be smoothed out using a scraper. Its seams to be a common flaw in quite a few mfg these days.

 

[MCFLYFYTER]

It can be smoothed out using a scraper. Its seams to be a common flaw in quite a few mfg these days.

What kind of scraper?

 

[MCFLYFYTER]

The manufacturer didn't have a problem with it, and said there machining process wasn't accurate enough to make a flat cut in 2 operations. They said they would look at it if I really wanted them to, but they wouldn't guarantee they could actually make it flat.

Measuring off the back of the slide looks like it's close to 3 thousandths difference.

 

[mcb]

I would attempt to flatten it by shooting it a lot!

 

[edwardware]

Ah, the unbearable fate of mass-produced 1911s. If you look at a lot of 45ACP brass, you'll find lots that show that telltale imprint.

It's kind of careless on the manufacturer's part, but it doesn't effect function a whit. Clean it with a brass toothbrush (Hoppes, etc).

 

[Steve in Allentown]

MCFLYFYTER, who is the manufacturer?

 

[MCFLYFYTER]

MCFLYFYTER, who is the manufacturer?

Who would have machining and fit like this on a $1k gun?

 

[Steve in Allentown]

Who would have machining and fit like this on a $1k gun?

Good gawd! That's terrible. So, who's the manufacturer?

 

[MCFLYFYTER]

Good gawd! That's terrible. So, who's the manufacturer?

If you give 2 guesses, I will tell.

 

[Steve in Allentown]

If you give 2 guesses, I will tell.

So we're going to play this game, huh? Okay. I'll go first then others can try. Eventually someone will guess the right one. Seems like a long way around to get a simple piece of information but it's your show . . .

1. Springfield
2. Kimber

 

[MCFLYFYTER]

I'm surprised to see Springfield at the top, but of course it is a kimber. This is my first kimber, and I now understand why there is so much trash talked about them.

 

[Steve in Allentown]

Kimbers are pretty on the outside but not always pretty on the inside. Of course, many of them are fine but many are not.

One of the common problems with them is the poor fitting of the barrel where barrel bump is the result. As we all know, barrel bump can cause all kinds of feeding malfunctions depending on the severity of the bump as well as bad accuracy as the barrel is forced up into the slide with uneven contact between the lower barrel lugs and the slide stop cross pin.

Another common problem across many 1911 manufacturers including Kimber is poor extractor fitting which results in feeding, extraction, and ejection malfunctions.

These manufacturing goofs can all be fixed, of course, but it'd be nice to get a fully functional and correctly manufactured product every time you bought one. Knowing that you're rolling the dice on every purchase doesn't produce warm, fuzzy feelings.

 

[Blue68f100]

What kind of scraper?

Mine are made of carbide and I have had them for over 30 yrs. I've seen scrapers made from lathe tool bits. Depending on size you may need something to hold the bit.

I've used needle files in a pinch. They work well just have to be careful to keep the breach face flat. You can grid a file to make a scraper out of it.

btw. I've seen this flaw on many makes of firearms, even Colts. A Colt was the last one that I cleaned up for a fried of mine.

Google scrapers and you will find some videos on how to use a scraper. It does take some patience.

 

[jaguarxk120]

I've got a Crown City parts gun finished better than that!!

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Wow. High dollar name.

I am tempted to drag out my -ahem- Numrich Arms West Hurley New York Auto Ordnance clone of a 1911A1 -- voted on the internet as one of the lowest of the 1911A1 clones ever -- and compare.

I won't pretend. That makes me feel better about shooting a low dollar gun.

 

[jaguarxk120]

Me too!! Hey it works and will take anything I put through it.

 

[Rock185]

I hate to ruin anybody's fun, especially where Kimbers are concerned, but that mismatch on the breech face is not uncommon, regardless of the manufacturer. I've encountered it on various manufacturer's 1911 type pistols for many years. The Kuhnhausen manual indicates that mismatch of breech face cuts should not be over .003". If present, this raised shelf will leave an imprint on fired cartridge cases, but has never caused an issue of any kind in any of my 1911 type pistols.

 

[SGW Gunsmith]

I would talk to the manufacturer about sending it back.
I wouldn’t want to try and correct it myself.

That's the sensible way to go, send it back to Kimber. If anyone were to start in with filing and scraping metal in the hope it would make that pistol better, you'd only be providing the manufacturer with an excuse to refuse to accept any warranty in place. Then, what would you have?

 

[MCFLYFYTER]

It actually has a benefit. I know exactly how many times a case has been fired. I bet a guy could even differentiate mild from hot load firings with some good magnification.

 

[BBBBill]

Agree with the above. Let Kimber make it right if they will be fore tackling that breech face. It is not hard to do with a good scraper, but why not put it on Kimber to fix. Enough of those coming back might get their attention. If they fail to fix it, either by refusal or incompetence, then the world wide web will get wind of it and the bad PR might have an effect.