Kimber BP Ten II Blues

[NightTrainGA]

Bought a new one yesterday. Liked the idea of the 13rd high cap mag., and the price was right, so I made the purchase. Always wanted a 1911 45, and was looking forward to taking her home and going the first "pre-fire" clean-up. I was very impressed with the quality and workmenship. Had to break her down several times to get used to all the steps, but after the 3rd time, it was as easy as my Glock. Went to the indoor today loaded with 50 rds. of Remington 230gr. FMJ and couldn't wait to try her out. Set a target at about 15 yrds for starters. 1st 4 in a 2 inch group. 5th round problem with round going into the barrel. Fixed and reset the target to 25 yrds. 6 through 9 went in a 3 inch group. 10th jammed again. 11 & 12 right next to 6 though 9. 13th, another entry jam. At this point, I'm starting to worry. Slapped the next clip in and hoped for better. Had 2 jams with that clip of 13. At this point, I'm heading for the counter looking for a different brand of 45ACP. Bought another box, different mfg., of 50, same grain & FMJ. Shot 2 more 13rd clips with 5 more jam's. I loved the accuracy, hated the jam's. Has anyone ever had this problem to this extreme? The counterman at the indoor range, also is the place where I purchaced it, told me to let the gunsmith look at it tomorrow, and he'll fix any problems. Looked at the ramp through a mag. glass and it looked fine, no machine marks.

Thanks ahead of time.............

 

[rbernie]

I've had more than a few Kimbers, and as far as I've been able to determine the Series II pistols are known for occasionally failing to completely go into battery, especially when new. This is due to the firing pin safety bits not mating well and causing the slide to hang up. For what it's worth, my PC 10-II was really bad in this regard for about 500 rounds but after which it worked well.

You can always ask Kimber to warranty it, and make them do a fluff-n-buff on things. But the moral of this is that if the failure is a return-to-battery issue, the first thing to check on a new Kimber is the firing pin safety bits.

 

[blue86buick]

I have a BP Ten II myself, and don't recall having any problems when I first got it, or since then for that matter. I was a cheapskate (and didn't reload), so I shot mostly Wolf 230gr FMJ for the first 300-500 rounds. Lately I've been shooting cast 200gr SWC though, and they don't give problems either when I load them properly.

BTW, didja know that those full cap magazines are actually 14 rounders, just that the 14th round is a royal PITA to get in? 14+1 of 230gr .45ACP is HEAVY, but a nice feeling.

 

[Skpotamus]

I just bought one of those babies myself a few months ago and had the same problems. After 450 rounds (kept count) the problems went away. The kimbers are damned tight and have a stupid "break in" period listed in the manuals before the gun is expected to funcion correctly. As mentioned above, Kimber can do a fluff and buff on it, or you can just shoot it out until it works correctly.

Once it starts to work right, I'd recommend putting about 1K rounds through it before I'd carry it though (just my personal preference).

Hope this helps some

 

[lycanthrope]

The new Kimbers are pretty tight and new a few hundred + to run well. Lube it up with a light oil like FP-10.