When did Kimber become a bad word?

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Unfortunately the one Les Baer will cost what 2 or 3 Kimber's do. Not saying the LB isn't worth the money, I've shot them...they are! We're not comparing apples.
 
wristtwister said:
I'm not a big Kimber fan, because when I took my CWP class, a young man's father had bought him a brand new $1500 Kimber and it stovepiped about every third shot. The poor guy got so frustrated, I made him shoot his qualification with my old 4006 Smith... but he was turning the air blue cussing out that Kimber.

Working in a gun shop now, I see and hear just about everything about every gun... and the Kimber "legend" isn't as great as it could be. We get our share of used Kimbers in, and they're usually because of problems the shooters are having with them. The ones I've played with don't seem to have any better quality than most of the other 1911's we carry.

I'd match my Springfield stainless against most Kimbers for both looks and mechanical excellence, and the new Rugers and R1 Remingtons all run as smoothe as the Kimbers we've gotten in. Most of the Para Ordinance 1911's have pretty good characteristics and would match up as well.

I don't really dislike the guns, I just haven't found anything that makes me think they're the holy grail of 1911's which their proponents seem to think they are. We've had some Les Baer and Ed Browns come through, and they DO live up to the legends. I think I'd rather have 1 Les Baer 1911 than 5 Kimbers. They just don't trip my trigger.

WT
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When I bought my Eclipse, I was aware that they do not function well right out of the box. Every friend that I know who has a Kimber has had to go through the 200-500 round break in period (to extrapolate on this, my father, who spent his career in government service overseas, never relied on a 1911 until it was well broken in. Back then that meant Colt, but I believe that can possibly apply to all 1911s regardless of manufacture). Mine was no exception. But, when that period was over, it was like someone flipped on a light. The functioning was perfect. The accuracy was as good as any pistol I had shot (still is, even after a few hundred round through Wilsons and Ed Browns). In the TN permit to carry class, shooting at distances of 3 yards out to 20 yards, slow fire, rapid fire, I scored a 100/100 with no flaws in function.

I am not surprised about the malfunctions that young man had in his "brand new $1500 Kimber", as that performance sounds par for the course to me. I would be happy to take his POS pistol off of his hands for $500, run some rounds through it, and then carry it every day.

What surprises me most about the near incessant "Kimber sucks more than anyone else" threads is how many people are expecting perfection right out of the box, and they get rid of the pistol before it is even broken in. Do Wilsons, Baers, and NIghthawks require a break in period?
 
Typical company works. they started off doing great, got to many orders too quick and went into mass production without upgrading quality control. 1911's are picky guns to shoot anyways. seems like any production 45 needs tweeking before it runs and guns. This is why 1911 shooters are a picky crowd.
If I drag my glock thru the mud I just hose it off. My 1911 gets stripped and inspected. They are just a more personnel firearm.
Got a Rock Island Tactical that works flawlessly from the start. $450.00 NIB.
Springfields Trophy match shot like **** for the first 1000 rds. Now hole for hole. Why??
don't know.
 
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First off, thanks to everyone who contributed.

If I may be so bold as to summarize: if a fellow happens to come across one of the earlier production guns with the internal extractor (like Browning originally spec'd and God approved) then there's a pretty good chance it's a good gun. But later production pieces have had their share of QC problems, most likely as a result of the company growing too fast.

Is that a fair assessment?
 
I owned a Kimber Pro CDP II. It was a great gun and I put a few thousand trouble-free rounds through it. I have zero complaints. Kimber even replaced a part I admitted to breaking, and it was out of warranty. Ok, they sent the part to me...but I don't like to send guns back...I'd rather fix it myself, so I was thrilled.

That being said, for the money I doubt I will ever own another new Kimber. There's so much other stuff in the same price range, now.
 
ForumSurfer said:
There's so much other stuff in the same price range, now.
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If you are looking at Kimber price range or less, I would suggest you take a look at current manufacture 5" Sig 1911s (regardless of model/finish, all the pistols are built on same frame/slide using same internal components). My railed 1911 TacPac fit/finish is very good with black Nitron finish over stainless frame/slide, match barrel/trigger and minimal MIM parts. I paid $850 for mine. It is one of more accurate 1911s I have shot in the sub $1200 range (It is shooting comparable to friend's several Kimbers - dime/quarter sized targets at 7-10-15 yards off hand).

Railed model $829 (comes with laser, holster, spare mag pouch, 2 mags) - http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/s..._10151_10051_493555_-1?N=329211139+4294961843

Non-rail model (comes with holster, spare mag pouch, 3 mags) - http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/74701

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Those sigs are nice, I've checked them out a few times. If I buy another 1911 anytime soon, it will be an STI. I've gotten a look at a few in IDPA and they are very nice. They seem to run well, too.

Right now I'm content running SSP and I'm happy with my setup, I'm not in the market except for maybe a 9mm. STI has that covered, too.

Not sure if I got bit by the 1911 bug again or just an STI bug.
 
I would love to get a STI Trojan but would have to go through the single shot exemption process for California. It is on my 1911 shopping list along with a railed 2011 RIA Tactical - http://centerfiresystems.com/ac-ri1911-2011-ns.aspx

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I have owned 1 sig xo and 4 colts(70 series and three 1991) and none of them needed any sort of break in period. They all ran 100% from the start with factory ammo or my "good" reloads lol. I would have the occasional jam but that was because of a bad reload.
 
My Kimber's manual said it needed a break in period, but it never had trouble during that time. I could care less honestly. I'm not going to carry something I've shot less than 500 times, anyway. Even if it is the same model, just a different size...I still like to run it hard and fast for a few hundred rounds.
 
monadh said:
.

What surprises me most about the near incessant "Kimber sucks more than anyone else" threads is how many people are expecting perfection right out of the box, and they get rid of the pistol before it is even broken in. Do Wilsons, Baers, and NIghthawks require a break in period?
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No, Les Baers do not need a break in. But they do loosen up and shoot smoother after about 1000 rounds.

The easiest way to see if and what needs a break in: Lock the slide back and drag your finger nail down the barrel. You can feel the machined barrel finish.

Rough like Kimber and Kahr and it may take a while for the gun to smoothout and break in.

Smooth finish barrels like in finer 1911's and hammer forged barrels like Glock require no breakin.
 
i dont know if the quality is down or not, I find it hard to belive they are any worse then a springfield tho . springfields are also chock full of MIM and they even glue the ejectors in place.
the whole plastic mainspring housings is a non issue, iv seen STI's SVI's and colt 1911's with plastic MSH.



I have owned a kimber since 1999 and have over 5,000 rounds thought it for sure and have only had 2 fail to extracts(both times it was a casing that got stuck in the extractor) there has never been a broken part on it.

2 out of 5,000+ hands down beats every other pistol I own or have owned.
even the "legendary" H&K USP 45

IMO i dont believe kimber is the best but they are far from the worst.
 
Production used to be in Clackamas, OR then Yonkers, NY.. most would put a premium on an Oregon production gun. The specific extractor problem has been addressed, so you alternately might want to avoid external extractors on Yonkers guns.

I believe the production site (or co. headquarters?) is roll marked on the gun. I'm looking at mine and it is stamped on the frame below the ejector port. To identify the extractor differences I'll leave it to others to tell you.
 
The needs of competitors for competition guns will be different than my needs and priorities.
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Not necessarily. The primary purpose behind IDPA is anyone can buy a handgun, take it out of the box and compete.

...a young man's father had bought him a brand new $1500 Kimber and it stovepiped about every third shot.
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- It wasn't broken in, yet.
- He was limp wristing.
- Faulty ammo (probably reloads)
- Faulty magazines.

Did I miss any?
 
Production used to be in Clackamas, OR then Yonkers, NY.. most would put a premium on an Oregon production gun.
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They never produced 1911s in Clackamas, I should know because I own one. They were all made in NY but for the first year stamped Clackamas because they didn't have the FFL paperwork completed.
 
I now have the Kimber 1911 that my grandfather purchased in 1996 (OK, technically it's my dad's but I've put WAY more rounds through it than him) and that gun has been flawless. It's not ever carried but that's only because it's so much heavier than my Glock 23. I shot it for my CCDW class and shot the smallest group in the class.
 
My bad, the 1911's were later in the productions, but anything they made after they left my State is junk, no local bias there whatsoever ;)
 
:evil:Then you are left I must assume with the Mod II vs, Mod I method of discrimination. I dont't think that the first models bore a "Mod I" in anticipation of the future so simply avoid all "II " (roman numeral 2 designations).

This is also clearly apparent on mine, but on the slide just below the ejection port.

That will eliminate at leat 1 competitor for the rest of us.:evil:
 
csa77 said:
i dont know if the quality is down or not, I find it hard to belive they are any worse then a springfield tho . springfields are also chock full of MIM and they even glue the ejectors in place.
the whole plastic mainspring housings is a non issue, iv seen STI's SVI's and colt 1911's with plastic MSH.



I have owned a kimber since 1999 and have over 5,000 rounds thought it for sure and have only had 2 fail to extracts(both times it was a casing that got stuck in the extractor) there has never been a broken part on it.

2 out of 5,000+ hands down beats every other pistol I own or have owned.
even the "legendary" H&K USP 45

IMO i dont believe kimber is the best but they are far from the worst.
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To be fair, my USP 45 has never missed a beat from day one. But, it has no more than 2,000 rounds through it.

Pretty accurate though.
 
Thousands of flawless rounds out of my Eclipse Custom II 45 and my Stainless Target II 9mm.....my older brothers Stainless Target II 10mm.....flawless. My younger brothers Custom II w/external extractor.....flawless. My buddies Custom II.....flawless......My buddies SIS.....flawless. All full size guns. I did have a friend who bought a ultra carry II that was junk but I attribute that to the fact that it was one of the compact models. Never could get it to feed and eject reliably. I bet if you buy a full sized gun it will run perfectly.
 
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