crebralfix
member
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2004
- Messages
- 1,356
Hi all,
I just brought home my first 1911 in many years. After about six months of agonizing--spreadsheets, price checking, gun show patrols, emails, and forum reading--I decided on the Kimber Tactical Ultra II because it incorporated most features for the least money. The gun was about $970 + tax and I picked up some Wilson magazines after throwing out the cheap one Kimber includes with the gun.
In this post, I field stripped the gun and cleaned it. I noticed several flaws documented below. Overall, though, the gun seems to be well made.
As you can see, this is a picture of the field stripped pistol just out of the box. It was lightly lubricated inside the slide and barrel. The parts fit together nicely, with no rattling of the slide on the rails. The barrel appeared to be well cut and I noticed that it had some brown crud around the rifling. I removed the crud with a liberal dose of Breakfree and some J-B Bore cleaner. The ambidextrous safety was not overly tight and emits a loud "click" when activated or deactivated. The sights were clean and centered. Finally, the grips fit the gun and the magazine well was not loose.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the checkering on the front strap and trigger guard is not complete. I didn't see this at the store; I guess it was a case of blind love
Notice how the top two rows of the front strap just have lines, not checkering. The third row has some checkering, but it was not completed. The line closest to the grip on the trigger guard is also partially completed.
Here is a view of the gun from the left side.
The trigger is nicely centered and the magazine button is clean. You can really see the problems they had with the checkering on the front strap.
I continued my inspection of the gun by cleaning and looking at the slide. I noticed some mill marks on the cocking lug and bottom of the rails.
These are not that bad and this is not a custom gun. They certainly are not as bad as those on one of my Sigs.
The aluminum frame also shows some marks.
The beavertail grip safety appears to be well fit, as is the thumb safety.
I also noticed that the finish seems to be worn away at the very front of the slide.
In all, there are some problems with this Kimber Tactical Ultra II as it comes from the factory. The checkering could be better. There are some mill marks on the slide and frame, but none look overly severe. Finally, I noticed that the black finish was worn through near the muzzle. My overall impression is that the gun is good, but could use some detailing prior to shipment.
I will post the first set of results from the first range evaluation in several weeks.
I just brought home my first 1911 in many years. After about six months of agonizing--spreadsheets, price checking, gun show patrols, emails, and forum reading--I decided on the Kimber Tactical Ultra II because it incorporated most features for the least money. The gun was about $970 + tax and I picked up some Wilson magazines after throwing out the cheap one Kimber includes with the gun.
In this post, I field stripped the gun and cleaned it. I noticed several flaws documented below. Overall, though, the gun seems to be well made.
As you can see, this is a picture of the field stripped pistol just out of the box. It was lightly lubricated inside the slide and barrel. The parts fit together nicely, with no rattling of the slide on the rails. The barrel appeared to be well cut and I noticed that it had some brown crud around the rifling. I removed the crud with a liberal dose of Breakfree and some J-B Bore cleaner. The ambidextrous safety was not overly tight and emits a loud "click" when activated or deactivated. The sights were clean and centered. Finally, the grips fit the gun and the magazine well was not loose.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the checkering on the front strap and trigger guard is not complete. I didn't see this at the store; I guess it was a case of blind love
Notice how the top two rows of the front strap just have lines, not checkering. The third row has some checkering, but it was not completed. The line closest to the grip on the trigger guard is also partially completed.
Here is a view of the gun from the left side.
The trigger is nicely centered and the magazine button is clean. You can really see the problems they had with the checkering on the front strap.
I continued my inspection of the gun by cleaning and looking at the slide. I noticed some mill marks on the cocking lug and bottom of the rails.
These are not that bad and this is not a custom gun. They certainly are not as bad as those on one of my Sigs.
The aluminum frame also shows some marks.
The beavertail grip safety appears to be well fit, as is the thumb safety.
I also noticed that the finish seems to be worn away at the very front of the slide.
In all, there are some problems with this Kimber Tactical Ultra II as it comes from the factory. The checkering could be better. There are some mill marks on the slide and frame, but none look overly severe. Finally, I noticed that the black finish was worn through near the muzzle. My overall impression is that the gun is good, but could use some detailing prior to shipment.
I will post the first set of results from the first range evaluation in several weeks.
