Kimber any thoughts????

[MICHAEL T]

I traded a Colt for a Kimber Eclipse Mistake . Traded back at loss on another Colt. I have seen the same gun sold and traded back 2 more times.to that dealer . Today I guess has a happy owner or still passing around at different dealers.

Nevermore a Kimber Colt or Dan Wesson . Maybe a CZ

 

[Slamfire]

This is an original Clackamas Kimber Classic, I have shot thousands of rounds through the thing. I have worn out two MIM hammers. I took it to Camp Perry and the Marines did a trigger job. I think I replaced the last MIM hammer with a forged hammer, and I replaced the MIM sear with a forged sear. I got those parts off of Commercial Row from the Springfield Armory's pavilion .

I am not a fan of these MIM parts as they have not held up. But, the rest of the pistol functions fine, still tight.

 

[BYJO4]

I have 2 stainless Custom II Targets, one 45 and one 9mm. I've had no problems with either and the 45 has 8,500 rounds fired and the 9MM has 10,000 rounds. I think the Custom II and Tle models for the quality and accuracy are a good buy. I also have a Baer, Brown, and a Wilson which have also been flawless.

 

[JTQ]

SlamFire1 wrote,
This is an original Clackamas Kimber Classic, I have shot thousands of rounds through the thing. I have worn out two MIM hammers….

I am not a fan of these MIM parts as they have not held up.

I would have guessed all the Clackamas stamped Kimbers (though I believe all Kimber 1911's have always been made in Yonkers, NY) came without MIM.

 

[JTQ]

Corpral_Agarn wrote,
The stuff from the Custom Shop has been pretty nice, in my experience.

I would NOT recommend buying one of there lower end pistols. I saw a safety lever break off at the range one time. The safety lever... what?

I'm not a Kimber guy, but I'm a 1911 guy, and the typical advice is the complete opposite of this.

Kimber has no custom shop, and has been mentioned earlier in this thread, Kimber uses the same parts in all their guns.

The Custom II and TLE II are typically the best value in the Kimber line-up. The high end models are typically just adorned with "bling", which is the only difference between the base models and the "high end" Kimbers.

 

[Bama Drifter]

+1 on JTQ's ideas.
The major diff b/w a Raptor and Custom II is the slide finish/serrations and stocks.

FWIW, my 1st .45 purchase was a "pre-II" Kimber Custom in 2005. Through amazing gunshop connections, I paid $500 for a straight up black, Kimber Custom that was NIB the day before I got it. A customer had taken it to the range, fired 50rds and decided he wanted to upgrade to the Warrior instead... his loss Anyway I'd say my gun is still an $800 gun today. Would I pay $800 for a Custom II? May be more interested in a Dan Wesson VBOB for carry... anyway. Take what you hear about Kimbers with a grain of salt. Go do some actual handling and shooting to see what you like best. YMMV.

 

[Damon555]

I can only speak from my personal experience. My 2 Kimbers (An Eclipse Custom II 45 and a Stainless Target II 9mm) have been perfect from day 1........My older brother has a 10mm that is an outstanding pistol. My younger brother has a Custom II 45 that has been perfect. One of my good friends also has a Custom II 45....excellent as well. One of my co-workers has a 10mm also.....guess what? Flawless function. There's a common theme here......

oh yeah, almost forgot. My brother-in-law has a Kimber SIS that has been nothing but pure joy to shoot too.

 

[burk]

I've owned two, a custom Eclipse 5" which I added a Dawson rail and Trijicon rear sight dots on the adjustable sight along with Black VZ grips. It was a tack driver, very reliable and printed inside of 2" at 25 yards with Blazer Brass on the bench. The other was CDP Pro which I carried for years. My modifications were some Wilson Combat grips and I replaced the springs with Wulff X-powers which cleaned up my ejection pattern. It was reliable and a great shooter.

If you want a 1911 my take is this. The 5" Kimbers are excellent machines and with reasonable break in will give you years of reliable service. The 4" guns need hotter springs to improve the performance. The 3" Kimbers are probably the best 3" 1911's in the production market, but they require serious diligent break in. Don't even consider carrying without at least 500 rounds of no issue ball ammo, and a 100 rounds of hollow points.

As far as comparable value, I would take a Kimber over any Brazilian framed mim loaded Springfield (if you're going overseas go with Rock Island). And Colts QC along with their pricing leaves something to be desired. The Dan Wesson's are great but priced a notch higher than all but the highest priced Kimbers. To me no one offers better value in and a tighter frame to Slide fit than Kimber in the $900-1400 price range. I wouldn't hesitate to go back with Kimber if I hadn't switched to 9mm for my primary SD guns.

 

[JDR]

My friend's Custom TLE II is accurate & reliable, this is a really nice range gun!

 

[Valkman]

Well I've had 3 Kimbers, still have 2 and all 3 have been perfect from round 1. If I bought a 1911 today would I buy one? Sure but depending on how much I was spending I'd look at SA, Ruger and DW too. I've had a SA Mil-Spec and it was so good I had it fully customized. I have not owned a Ruger or DW but would like too.

 

[SDGlock23]

I won't call a Kimber a "bad" 1911, but the more accurate term is way overpriced for what you're getting. I've owned well over a half dozen and while none were terrible (take that back, Eclipse 10mm was a jamomatic 3000, the .45's were fine), for the money there are better options. My biggest issue is that they take their basic model, put an odd checkering pattern on there, put night sights on it and sell it for $500 more.

The Ruger SR1911 is just as good as any production model Kimber with better features than most.

 

[nettlle]

I have a Tactical Pro ll with over 15,000 rounds on it. It has always had about a 7% FTF issue. At 14,000 rounds the thumb safety broke. At 15,000 rounds the plunger tube fell off. It's waiting on parts now.

I bought a Colt about 6 weeks ago and after 2,000 rounds it has a FTF rate of .0013. Both guns shooting identical reloads.

 

[kcofohio]

I have 2 Kimbers, a 45 in Pro Carry, with about 800 rds. through it. And a 9mm Aegis Pro, with about 200 rds. through it.

No regrets with either. Though, the Ruger SR1911 Lightweight looks tempting. My wife claimed the Kimber 45 for herself and I need a replacement 45.

 

[Badger1911]

I've owned two Kimbers, a TLE II and Pro CDP. Both have been flawless. Granted, Kimber's price point is a bit steep, but the new Warrior SOC is an eye-catcher IMHO.

 

[Zerodefect]

Kimber Warrior WOC:

$1389.


Dan Wesson Specialist:

$1500. I even saw one for $1425.

It's not even close. Kimber needs to drop their prices $300+ across the board.

The DW has modern Hienie straight 8 sights. K has olde 3 dots.
DW has melonite finish ($$$$$), series 70, thick bushing, and no MIM.

I do like the Kimbers plain front strap. Grip tape>checkering IMO. I don't really need checkering on 1911's too often. The carry melt is nice as well.

 

[Evil-Twin]

little bit confused here?

Kimber need to drop their prices?

499531223 CZ USA Dan Wesson Specialist 45 Auto ACP Black 1 $1,750.00
498292568 Dan Wesson 1911 Specialist .45ACP USED! LAYA… 1 $1,800.00
these are on gun broker.

BTW this isn't the Dan Wesson of old... this is a CZ... made in the US. but CZ just bought the name.

 

[Zerodefect]

So what. CZ's a darn good company. Even if you did get stuck paying $1800 for the Specialist, that's still a ton more 1911 than the $1400 Kimber.

It's a bit cheaper than the Valor here. Average Kimber here is often within $100 of a comparable DW. Remember back when Kimber made excellent Colt killing Clack's? That's where DW is right now.

DW CCO is $1250.
DW ECO is $1375
DW Specialist is $1500
DW Valor is $1800
DW Valkyrie isn't in stock yet.

That's tough to beat. Especially when Colt is still selling at a premium.

 

[Captain33036]

Just more anecdotal information for you. I have had several Kimber's, over the course of a number of years. All ran 100%, were highly accurate and worked great, out of the box.

Kimber Custom II, .45acp - great value ($800?), accurate, reliable, nice to shoot.
Kimber Eclipse Ultra, .45acp - bought used, ran 100%. All stainless steel. Weight and a Hogue rubber grip adsorbed recoil...amazing.
Kimber Ultra, .45 acp - bought used - a favorite carry gun. Wish I had kept it.
Kimber Pro, stainless, 9mm - ran like a top, highly accurate
Kimber Target II Stainless (presently own), 9mm - accuracy on par or better than a SIG X5 I had. My favorite range and competition (local BE) gun.
A cousin in NY has a Kimber Raptor, .45acp. His favorite gun.

I have also owned several other 1911's. RIA, Colt, STI and SIG. Colt and SIG, I personally just do not like the Series 80 safety system. RIA was fine for low end, but, low end. STI, great guns (had two), but ...the internals on one were just off enough that I could not replace them with after market parts.

So, that is a total of 6 Kimber's. Bought at different times, over several years, several different shops, in two states, new and used, .45 and 9mm, full sized, Pro and Ultra models. Not one problem. Any after market parts I got for them were drop in.

Just my 0.02

Hope this helps

[Note added: the Kimber Target II stainless fit and finish is excellent. Tight and feels hand fit. Better than the Colt Rail gun I had and on par with any STI. Just fyi]

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I think they are totally overpriced and would never buy any Kimber product.

I picked up a $1200 Kimber in a shop to look at and it had rust on the muzzle. It was a new gun too. I found it rediculous to the point that I wanted nothing to do with the company. It was one example, but if I was going to buy another 1911 it'd probably be a Dan Wesson.

 

[JDR]

I would not have a problem buying another one, but It will simply go straight to the gunsmith before I mess with it very much.

This applies to every 1911 regardless of make that I've ever owned or encountered!

 

[ID-shooting]

Had a II in 10mm once, went back to Kimber 3 times for bad chamber/barrel, dealer finally refunded my money and stopped selling them. Will never own one again unless I got it for under $300.

 

[warhwkbb]

My experience...
I have owned an Eclipse Ultra 3" that I have put 4000+ rounds through (purchased in 2004). Not a single problem. I'm still on the original recoil spring that I intend to replace when the gun starts to become unreliable.

Still waiting...

 

[TruthTellers]

Sure for $600.

But for what Kimber charges, there's far better 1911's out there for only a little more. My Kimber CDP needed a ton of work to get right, pretty rough machine work on the barrel. And the thumb safety was soft and easy to break. Mine couldn't withstand sweat as well as my other 1911's. Barrel discolored and pitted quick.

Look towards the black Dan Wessons, CZ, or Colt instead.

Yup, Kimber is too expensive. I'd rather spend the money on a Rock Island. IMO, no 1911 is worth $1200.

 

[TomJ]

I was in the market for a compact 1911 a number of months ago and really liked the Kimbers I saw. I wound up buying a SA Range Officer compact for 2 reasons. The first is what we see on this thread, in that while many Kimber owners have had great experiences with them, too many others have had problems. The second is Kimber's 1 year warranty compared to SA's lifetime warranty. If I did get one with problems, having to pay for repairs after the first year was a concern.

 

[AZ Desertrat]

Timely post..I just got rid of the Custom II I have had for about 3 years. I am now a Dan Wesson man.