Sig Ultra vs Kimber Ultra 1911...I cannot decide.

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CNobbe

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Well folks I've been looking at these two 3" 1911s and cannot decide which to go for as they both feel identical in my hands, both weigh about the same, cost pretty much the same, only real difference I can tell so far is that Sig gives you two crappy mags and Kimber gives one crappy mag with their guns..

Looking at an Sig Nitron Ultra and the Kimber Eclipse Ultra II which is the same price as they said it has "finish issues." After looking over the Kimber really closely all I can see is maybe a tiny spot on the top of the slide where an empty case from test firing may have hit it but it is tiny..

Kimber weighs more, all steel which I like vs alloy but I think a general overall reliability/happiness poll might be the deciding vote for me because I think they're both great.

Any preference or hatred of these? Feel free to share your experiences here good/bad. Bad experiences always get posted, and have read plenty of issues with both Kimber and Sig 3" 1911s, so I I'm kind of lost..
 
If you want a 3" 1911 that's as boringly reliable as a Glock, get a Colt Defender or New Agent.
 
I bought a Sig ultra and initially I was very happy with it. They function just fine. No issues with it as far as that goes.

However they have a flaw with the recoil plug. At least six of us over on the 1911 forum have had this issue, and sig told all of us that we were the first ones and that they have never seen this before. They did replace the plug for me, but it was with a used one. The wear marks from a spring were clearly visible.

The other bad part was that Sig had no way to track my warranty claim. When I called in their CS guy said he would send an order over to the repair shop and that if I did not see something in 30 days I should call again. Needless to say that did not make me happy. The part did actually show up in about two weeks, but non the less being told to wait 30 days for a part that's not on back order is not very good. They said they virtually have zero communication with the repair shop, so no way to find out if and when a part would ship.
To me that's pretty crappy for a company that sells 1000.00 pistols.
 
I gotta agree with all the defender replies. If you must have either of the two, go with whatever isn't a Kimber.
 
I don't understand all the kimber hate. I just bought a kimber ultraultra cdp ii and it's great. My first time shooting I put 500 Rd of Winchester white box followed by a box of Winchester jhp with no problems at all. I did buy into the hype and tossed the original mag in drawer and bought a couple kimber tac mags and 2 wilsons.

I know nothing a bought the sig except I am still mad at them over that buy I Get one deal they offered that apparently evaporated a few hours after they put it out.

My vote goes with Kimber.

My guess is you will be happy with either one.
 
I just had the same decision to make and even though I owned already a Kimber Custom II that is fantastic I decided on Sig because it seemed like I was getting more for the money and just liked it better when comparing and holding them. You can't go wrong with either though. The Sig has been fantastic too, but if you want to be 100% confident in it, plan on buying better mags. My Kimber mags are definitely better. I also decided to go with a Sig C3 which is 1" longer in the slide which theoretically makes it more reliable, but same grip length as the Ultras so just as easy to conceal.
 
I don't understand all the kimber hate.
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I don't understand it either but I love it. It keeps the prices down a bit on the Kimbers made in the late 90's. For every dork on the errornet that barks how much Kimbers suck there are several dorks that will listen to them. It's simple math my friend. :confused: I'm hoping that if the trend continues I might be able to pick up my next Clacky for say $500-600. ;)





Kimber-7.jpg
 
The Sig & Kimber ultras are ALMOST identical. Buy you get so much more for your money with SIG !! Front & back strap checkering, night sights, receded mag well, two mags, de horned slides, to name just a few while all at a lower price to boot. ImageUploadedByTapatalk1396144347.478934.jpg
 
I got a SIG 1911 Carry Scorpion (4 1/4 inch barrel) Love the gun. Only 1 of the factory mags would consistently feed rounds. I wound up getting some Chip McCormick 8 round power mags which feed much better. I've put about 300 rounds through the gun, and it's getting better as the loading ramp gets lead moving over it.. Saying that to say if you get the Sig, by all means try to work with the factory mags, but plan on getting better ones, and the gun will get better as you shoot it :)
 

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iv been burned too many times with sig. its a brand ill never buy from again.

p238 FTF or FTE nearly every mag along with safety that didn't work

p290rs I get light strikes with any ammo ....even after iv sent it back .

from my experience sig is garbage.





iv only have one kimber, a series 1 classic stainless target. its flat out reliable.
 
I suggest you head over to the 1911 forum and read through the Sig section before you buy. Quite a few folks over there having issues with them.

I replaced my Sig with a Pro Carry II and it has been a 100% since day one. Even with the mag it came with. From my experience I will never own another Sig, but would happily buy another Kimber.
 
From what I've heard, many more stories if problems with Kimbers than Sig. I went through the same decision process you're going through. I've never had the first problem with the sig ultra, Sig C3 or the little P238. All factory mags have been trouble free too. I've heard more reports in general overall with them being a 3" barrel in either brand. The Sig C3 has actually became my favorite 1911 for CCW. It has the officer size frame with the 4.25" commander size slide amazingly it's just ad easy to conceal with better sight radius and balance. mugu4ane.jpg
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I have a sig ultra with g10 grips. it has been flawless. has feed and ejected anything i have fed it. i was hesitant to buy a 3in because i always heard that they all had problems,because of the short barrel. it seems to be a little milder recoil than my buddies colt special agent. that being said i am very satified with this sig.
 
My Sig ultra also ran perfect with colt magazines. My factory mags would feed round ball without a hitch, but HP's were a different story. I also had to instal a higher mag catch, but after a colt magazine and a .020 higher mag catch the thing ran perfect until the recoil spring plug broke.

Had they said ya it's a problem were working on, I would have been happy to work with them, but they wanted nothing to do with it. Like I said at least 6 people including my self have called in with the same problem. And they told us all the same thing. They told us all that we were the first ones to call in with this problem. That tells me they don't want to admit that there might be some kind of a problem with the materials or less likely the design.

It would seem to me that if they were interested in providing top quality CS they would have 1st admitted that there was a problem, and second they would have sent me a new recoil plug instead of a uses one.

By all means buy what ever you feel suits you best, but at least do some looking around and go into it with both eyes open. My pistole did not have a problem till I reached just under a 1000 rounds. Some came out if the box broken.

Best of luck to you, it really is a nice shooting gun.
 
I have the Kimber Ultra great gun no problems. It doesn't like my target lead light lead loads with the heavy recoil spring but standard or hot loads eats em up. I also have Colt old model which are better than the new ones. I have the Sig C3 pistol which is equally as reliable love it to. I would imagine Sig Ultra would be just as good a gun as the Kimber. I love the looks of the Eclipse thinking about a commander size one but have heard finish doesn't hold up well.
Also have Custom II Kimber great gun as well shoots anything including light reloads. In fact I own 6 different brands of 1911 the only one that not completely happy with is Ruger.
Roc1

Remington R1 custom
2 Kimbers
Sig C3
Colt 70 series
Rock Island 9mm 38 super
Ruger SR 1911 Commander
 
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