Problems with my 10mm Kimber

[Jeep_Maniac]

To save time, I copy and pasted my post from a Facebook group that is apparently outdated

I have a Kimber Eclipse in 10mm. My kimber, although I love it, has not been perfect. I had to modify the slide stop/release to clear the projectile inside. The nose of the bullet would contact the slide stop/release and randomly cause the slide to lock back while making my way through a magazine. I "cleaned up" the face of it until it no longer made contact and it's great now. I swear I'm nearly certain that my gun was simply assembled with the slide stop/release for a 9mm rather than 10mm.

Here's my other problem I want to ask about. It fires and functions fine. Toss a loaded mag in it, chamber it, fire away. BUT when you try to clear it (like after a hike in bear country) it does not like to eject a live round very well (especially after dropping the mag). I have worked with it using dummy rounds and it seems to more consistently cycle and eject rounds with a loaded magazine in it (seems as though the following rounds coming up under tension of the mag spring assist in ejecting the rounds from the chamber.

This is sort of a discrepancy, sort of not. It's just out of the many other semi-auto handguns I have, none ever have this issue. What are your thoughts? Anyone have any issues with Kimber 10mm's?

 

[Zerodefect]

Will it eject ok if the mag is empty?

 

[Jeep_Maniac]

after firing the last round in the mag yes, but not when trying to cycle live or dummy rounds

 

[Jeep_Maniac]

this thing confuses me. It's just temperamental. I just went and played with it and it's better than I remember. With a mag in it, with only one round, it is ejecting fine. Chambered and no mag is still an issue.

 

[TonyAngel]

Those live rounds that you're having trouble with ejecting, what are they doing? Getting hung up on the slide? Or they just aren't getting kicked out?

Stupid thought, but if you really think that 9mm parts were used, if they're getting hung up on the slide, your ejector might be too long.

Are we talking about hand loads or factory ammo?

 

[Jeep_Maniac]

all factory ammo. The nose of the bullet seems to hit the ejection opening on the slide. I take my time, and sort of study what the rounds are hitting causing this issue. I should take a video

 

[Jeep_Maniac]

the thing that concerned my the most once was, the part of the slide where the firing pin stick out, that "back area" left a good little dent on the primer of one of the rounds when this happened. Then I became concerned it could have hit it hard enough to set off a round. Not sure if that's actually possible.

 

[TonyAngel]

I haven't seen all 10mm 1911s, but I need my pistols to be able to clear ejected unfired rounds. It would suck to hear a click and not be able to rack another round in.

Either your ammo is too long or your ejector is. Maybe take a ride to your LGS and look at another one and compare the ejectors. If you are right about 9mm parts having made their way into your gun, you may have a 9mm ejector in there. They are a good bit longer than those for 10mm and would account for your troubles.

 

[mavracer]

Yep prolly the ejector is too long. My Dan Wesson pointman had the same issue. I took ~.050 off the end and fixed it.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

What is the overall length of your cartridges?

 

[TonyAngel]

Yep prolly the ejector is too long. My Dan Wesson pointman had the same issue. I took ~.050 off the end and fixed it.

mavracer is right. I just didn’t want to recommend that you go hacking on your gun. That issue is also nothing that I would return it for either. Ejectors are cheap and easy to replace if you need to.

I’d use a fine file and take a bit off of the end until the loaded rounds eject properly. Just take note of the face of the ejector and see if there is any sort of angle on it. Ejectors, to an extent, can be “tuned” for ejection angle. Well, some can be anyway. Just take off a tiny bit at time. You can always take more off, but you can’t put it back on.

 

[Jeep_Maniac]

do you guys mind putting up a picture to help explain where you're talking about removing some material. I'm not afraid to do this, I'm just having trouble picturing it

 

[herrwalther]

1911 tuning can often be a try it and see method of solving an issue. File a part, shoot it to see if the problem is still there. The ejector sits on top of the frame when you take the slide off. You may or may not have to take the ejector out to file it. If you do, the ejector is held in by a small 1/16" pin inside the slide rail on the frame. And don't lose it. There are many different profiles and shapes to an ejector based on brand but this is generally what they all look like.

https://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p232/niemi24s/Ejectorf.jpg

 

[Jeep_Maniac]

Awesome, I played with my dremel a bit and I seem to have worked out these issues.

 

[TonyAngel]

1911 tuning can often be a try it and see method of solving an issue. File a part, shoot it to see if the problem is still there. The ejector sits on top of the frame when you take the slide off. You may or may not have to take the ejector out to file it. If you do, the ejector is held in by a small 1/16" pin inside the slide rail on the frame. And don't lose it. There are many different profiles and shapes to an ejector based on brand but this is generally what they all look like.

https://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p232/niemi24s/Ejectorf.jpg

Perfect. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Awesome, I played with my dremel a bit and I seem to have worked out these issues.

If you have it worked out, good deal. For future reference, Dremels and guns don't usually mix very well. Polishing with Flitz is usually fine. Removing material with whether rouge or sandpaper can lead to bad things.

 

[Jeep_Maniac]

I hear ya on the dremel. I don't have files, and sand paper was taking too long. I used a fairly fine drum roll that was old and used so I knew it wouldn't go hog wild.