Kimber Ultra carry II safety just fell out!

[msimonds]

I was wondering if anyone else has ever had this happen. I purchased an ultra cdp carry II about 4/5 months ago and it has worked flawlessly right out of the box. This past Monday I was packing for a trip to North Carolina from Dallas and picked up the cdp to unload it. When I pulled the slide to the rear it felt as if there was sand in it (which it did not have) and would not pull all the way to the rear. Well after about 3 or 4 tries I was finally able to pull it to the rear but both safeties fell out of the weapon and it left the weapon unusable.

Has anyone ever heard of this happening, I called Kimber and they had never heard of something happening like this before and asked me if I cleaned my cdp after firing it and how old it is. I responded about how clean I keep it and how new it was! I now have to send it in to get it repaired, which is not that big a deal, but I wonder if anyone else has heard of this before or had it happen

Thanks
~Mike

 

[myrockfight]

I have one and this has never happened to me. I have not ever heard of it happening either. Sorry - wish I could help. But that is all I have to add. Mine has always worked flawlessly.

I will definitely be following your thread though. So keep us posted, even if nobody here has an answer for you. I'm very curious.


Oh...Good Luck! Hate to hear that it happened.

 

[CWL]

I have had problems with my Ultra CDP which has seriously affected my opinion of Kimber so I do believe anything can happen but your experience does sound strange.

What do you mean by both safetys "fell out"? You mean the thumb and grip safety? For the grip safety to fall out, the thumb safety needs to come off first -did the post on the thumb safety break?

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

I believe that he meant that the safety is ambidextrous and both sides of it came apart on the frame. That's very unusual because on most 1911's you have to put the safety into the 1/2 on position and exert considerable pulling pressure to get it out of the frame. Perhaps Kimber will be able to shed some mroe light on the situation after they check it out. Personally I own a springfield 1911 and have encountered zero problems with it, even after modification. I hope Kimber can make right on this one.

 

[Hawk]

Ultra CDP II here - safety shattered while being shot.

Welcome to the club. We're small but distinguised.

Mine was the thumb safety. Replaced with a Wilson single sided before I traded it in.

I called Kimber and they had never heard of something happening like this before...

Used oats - they heard about mine.
In all fairness, I reported it to Dennis as "incidental" to another matter as I'd already replaced it and wasn't looking for any action from them on it.

 

[Hawk]

I believe that he meant that the safety is ambidextrous and both sides of it came apart on the frame. That's very unusual because on most 1911's you have to put the safety into the 1/2 on position and exert considerable pulling pressure to get it out of the frame. Perhaps Kimber will be able to shed some mroe light on the situation after they check it out. Personally I own a springfield 1911 and have encountered zero problems with it, even after modification. I hope Kimber can make right on this one.

I don't know what happened with the OP but I can help with mine - the projecting portion of the RH "ambi" safety sheared off leaving it free to rotate past the relief in the RH grip at which point it falls on the floor.

The sheared portion falls in the frame and is shaken loose in the same manner as removing coins from a piggy back.

 

[msimonds]

Yeah it was the ambi safety and I now have to play the waiting game once I ship it

That worries me and to let you know the just fell out onto the floor, nothing sheared off or anything, just fell off

It worries me to be honest

 

[Rexster]

I had problems with all three of my Kimbers, though not this particular problem. IMHO, Kimber is an off-brand that is still managing to somehow ride the wave of ad hype and the good reputation of their earliest-production 1911 pistols.

 

[myrockfight]

Hmmm...

What series are y'all's Kimbers?

I've heard the same thing Rexster. Fortunately, I bought mine when they first came out, which obviously makes it a series I.

I have had problems with my Ultra CDP which has seriously affected my opinion of Kimber so I do believe anything can happen but your experience does sound strange.

What problems have you had with yours CWL?

 

[Old Fuff]

The problem:

I don't know what happened with the OP but I can help with mine - the projecting portion of the RH "ambi" safety sheared off leaving it free to rotate past the relief in the RH grip at which point it falls on the floor.

The sheared portion falls in the frame and is shaken loose in the same manner as removing coins from a piggy back.

The solution:

Replaced with a Wilson single sided before I traded it in.

The reason:

Kimber's safety is made using MIM technology. Most of them seem to be alright, but obviously some aren't. Production shortcuts seldom result in higher quality products.

 

[CWL]

Mine was Series I. At that time, it was the most expensive and anticipated pistol I purchased, and it is still the greatest let-down.

Bad sear, came out of box firing full auto. "Brt" and 7 rounds are downrange. Really scary when you weren't expecting it.

Ambi thumb safety was loose, it would swing around and could unlock and lock by itself. Just this went back to Kimber 3 times on my dime.

Beavertail safety rattles, I think the frame slot was machined oversize. No way to solve, it still rattles.

Really bad finish work with the "melt down", looks like it was quickly worked over a grinding wheel without care for eveness.

 

[Rexster]

Mine pre-dated the "series" designation, so I guess by default that means Series 1? I bought two Classic Customs in 1997, and a Stainless Gold Match shortly thereafter. All were let-downs, though I got the first two working reliably enough to use them as duty pistols, until I got away from the 1911 in 2002, after finding I could not reliably release the grip safety when drawing in the awkward manner necessitated by my mandatory duty holster. The only 1911 I still have is my Les Baer Thunder Ranch Special.

 

[fastbolt]

Well, this can happen to other makes, as well.

I had the left side thumb safety break off and fall to the ground when I depressed it on my new Colt XSE stainless Government. Just normal thumb pressure sweeping it down from the locked position ... and 'tink', it snapped off and fell at my feet. It happened on the firing line during my first range session with it.

The exposed edges looked like it had been caused by a 'less-than-ideal' casting. The back side of the broken part had a lot of file marks on it, too, appearing as though it had needed some work to make it fit against the frame. Ugh.

I replaced it with a single-sided safety lock (being right-handed, and not really caring for ambi set-ups on my personally owned 1911's) but called and informed Colt about the occurrence, anyway. I was told that the ambi parts used in the XSE's were supplied by a vendor, and not one of the parts produced by Colt. I was also told that such breakages with the ambi parts weren't being reported very often.

 

[wally]

I had the left side thumb safety break off and fall to the ground when I depressed it on my new Colt XSE stainless Government

More proof you get what you pay for! Of course that's what gets said when I post that the right side ambi safety broke on my Charles Daly EMS.

Although with the cheap gun it was just one of the "ears" inside that broke so the right side lever didn't fall out and could take it off safe but couldn't put in on safe. The left side lever worked normally. Daly sent me a replacement after an exchange of Email and I've been very happy with the gun since.

--wally.

 

[Old Fuff]

I was told that the ambi parts used in the XSE's were supplied by a vendor, and not one of the parts produced by Colt. I was also told that such breakages with the ambi parts weren't being reported very often.

Well I'm glad it doesn't happen very often. Of course someone that has it happen to them - especially at the wrong time - might have a different opinion, if they were still around to have an opinion...

As an aside, if I owned the company that made the pistol I'd want that safety back to determine why it failed. Apparently Colt wasn't that concerned. :banghead:

 

[fastbolt]

Oh, they sounded concerned enough. The fellow didn't try to rush me off the phone, or seem to be trying to make any excuses. If his side of the conversation is any indication, they seemed well enough aware of the pro's & con's when it comes to cast parts, as well as the potential causes of failure of the occasionally improperly produced cast part.

I was told the production folks were going to be advised, and that they were glad I'd called because they did monitor such things from a QC perspective.

I was also told, however, that the only reason they even used those vendor-supplied parts was that a small part of their customer base apparently wanted the ambi safety option. It seems they feel the market demand for an ambi set-up isn't strong enough to really warrant the investment of time and money in producing their own ambi parts.

Users of such parts, especially left-handed folks, might somewhat disagree, though.

Fortunately, the after-market support for such things is pretty good and there are some good quality parts available.

You can imagine my reaction when the left side snapped off, though ...

Hadn't had that happen with a Colt pistol since I began shooting them.

 

[AndyC]

"Oh, yes, sir, MIM casting technology has progressed in leaps and bounds and is thoroughly reliable..."



Hmph - make my parts from machined steel, rather.