Alot of people don't like Kimbers because of the Firing pin block (schwartz safety). People claim that they are not reliable and that Wilson, Les Baer, Ed Brown, etc.... are all superior guns. THat MIGHT be true, heck, I'd be willing to bet that these guns will outperform a Kimber out of the box. THe reason is the work that is put into these individual guns. The price tag shows it too!
Any of these puppies are gonna cost you close to 2 grand or more often, more than that.
Back in yesteryear, 1911's were sold very basic. No beavertails, no lowered and flared ejection ports, no beveled mag wells..... you get the point. You would then have to take this pistol to a gunsmith to get all of these upgrades done to it. THis translates to alot of moolah. But that was the only way to do it. Then comes along Kimber and they revolutionized the way the 1911 was sold. THey manufactured the gun with the majority, if not all of the upgrades most 1911 lovers wanted. THis meant alot of moolah saved for the buyer.
When you take a Kimber and compared it side by side with a GI model that was custom built, the Kimber would be alot less expensive and yet be on par with it as to quality. I know cuz I did the whole GI rebuild upgrade with my SPringfield GI. I'd say it's better than the Kimber, but I had to put double the money I put into the Kimber to get it where it's at now. THat's not saying that Kimbers are perfect out of the box. I've had to drop an additional $250 to get it to where I like it. I'm a perfectionist though, so some people might say it wasn't nesessary. That being said, I would HIGHLY recommend Kimber to anybody who wants a quality firearm, but not break the bank getting the other more expensive Custom builds from any of the aforementioned brands like WIlson, Les Baer, etc....
Fact is, Kimber sells more 1911's than ALL other 1911 makers out there. The only other outfit that gives competition to Kimber is Springfield. Funny how everybody is always critical of whoever is in the #1 spot. I don't think Kimber would be as succesfull as they have been if they truly sold a piece of junk. The free market tends to weed out bad products, Kimbers guns are a testimony to thier quality.