Am I the only person who is sick of every gun rag having a Kimber ad on every other page? Yeah, they make pretty guns, but I can't see anything about Kimber 1911's to set them apart other than a way higher price for pretty much the same thing. I have a SW1911 Pro Series Sub Compact that costs $400 less than my Dad's Kimber. His has a 1 year warranty with a company known for ****** customer service and I have a lifetime warranty with a company known for great customer service.
I would honestly like to know what people think makes Kimber so much better.

Oh yeah, Kimber sounds like a girl's name, so there's that.

You pretty well summed it up.
I never drank the Kimber Kool-Aid, either.
Seems to be a mass cult thing, sort of like Harley.

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

I wish I had a dollar for every forum post that said, "I just love my Kimber! Sure, I had a few kinks that needed adjusting, especially the feed ramp. But Kimber was great. Even shipped it back to me free twice and the turn around time was quick. Now, with a couple thousand rounds through it, it fires flawlessly."

To me its like saying that a Lincoln Navigator is better than a Ford Expedition even though they're the same vehicle. The lincoln just looks a little fancier. It's the same with Kimber and most other quality 1911's. Not sayin they're bad or anything, just overrated.

They still have gun magazines?

I always thought the swirly rollmark looked like it belongs on a box of feminine hygiene products....

Grow up son, Kimber's are A-OK, and along with that Advertising is putting food on the table for many people. People still living at home and not having responsible jobs and lives in the community are a drag and detriment to society. If no jobs are local, relocate. Spread your wings and fly, the world awaits your contributions.

Game playing youth and Mall Ninga's are letting the world pass them by. The Chinese, Korean, and Indian kids are studying math and engineering along with medicine to better themselves. These are the people you should emulate as the world is theirs to conquer. Education and Hard Work still do work. Set aside your Smartphone, Computer, Music, for a longer period every day, communicate face to face with real people and learn some social interaction skills.

Many people could and should also take time to use a BARBER and a TAILOR for a change. Image does rule the world.

JMHO & 2 Cents worth

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NRA Pistol/Rifle Inst. RSO

What in the hell did that rant have to do with what I posted?
First I AM grown (almost 40), and second, I didn't say Kimbers were bad guns. I just don't think they're better guns. I'm not sure what all that other stuff you said pertains to.

Personally, I think Kimber's stink and don't deserve the attention they get.

Kimbers were some of the first factory 1911's to come out with what were usually custom features (forward serrations, beveled mag well, polished feed ramps, lowered ejection ports, etc.) and back in the day they were GREAT guns. High demand and changing production lines seems to have had a bad impact on their QC. They are not what they once were. S&W has them beat hands down, so does Dan Wesson.

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Even older, even crankier....

I know people with Kimbers who act like anything else is "low end" and not worthy. To me Kimbers are, "Hey look what I can afford" guns.
Did I mention that Kimber is a girly name?

I have Kimber that I have been happy with. Yes, it was expensive, but it is also a great gun.

I have a Supermatch II (a custom shop model). I've read that their "custom shop" doesn't actually do much, but I can't confirm that.

Nits: expensive, very similar price to my Rock River 1911, but has MIM vs tool steel parts. Has a lot of doodads that I would rather not have paid for like ambi safety, magwell, beaver tail. Has a firing pin safety. Needed a trip to the local gunsmith to get the trigger cleaned to where I wanted it. Replaced the full length guide rod with the normal short version.

Pros: Accurate - it came with a 25 yard test target with a 1" group, and I believe it. Wilson doesn't promise any better with their $5000 gun. It is reliable - it has never malfunctioned. Ever.

I use it as a target gun, but it would serve as a SD weapon also.

The doodads make it more expensive than it should be, but it is a quality pistol.

I do believe Kimber had a CEO change.

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NRA Pistol/Rifle Inst. RSO

I have to agree with JLDuke, what does this have to do with the price of tea in China?

It wasn't worth .02 cents. Although I agree with you second paragraph, it has nothing to do with Kimber and advertising.

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Still Running Against the Wind

The older Clackamas Kimbers were great, some of the newer ones not so much.
They still were nice, but plauged with problems for a while.

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Hold my beer and watch this!

I've heard that there are some plastic parts in Kimbers like the guide rod. Any truth?
Also I heard they are tought to take aprt and put back together.
I have only held them and really have no first hand experience.
I have a problem with a company that vomits out so much advertisement, charges such a high price and then only offers a 1 year warranty. Even Taurus gives a lifetime warranty!

I don't know if its accuracy is better as they all shoot pretty good but, my low life Taurus PT 1911 is approaching 13,000 rds. while my Colt, Sig, Remington, and Kimber have been shot much less. Guess which one I think is best.

I bought a Kimber sst compact when I worked at cabela's 13 years and hands down it was so much better than the 2 colt 1911's it wasn't funny. it has over 6,000 rounds through it without one problem and yes it has a plastic spring housing and that hasn't been a problem either. at the prices back then I wished I had bought a couple more. I have a full size S & W basic 1911 and while i like it a lot it isn't that much better than the Kimber.

what does Kimber sell a year? 50,000 guns maybe? (a somewhat accurate number based on some 10 year old numbers round way up) If they spend $5,000,000 per year (a wild guess) to sell them, you are paying an extra $100 per gun for the privilege of being suckered into buying it.

I'd be very curious as to what the real numbers are if anyone has them.

I'm guessing there are plenty of high quality 1911s out there with a very minimal advertising overhead. I'd rather buy one of those myself.

It would seem some like to criticize Kimber but have never owned one. My Kimber Eclipse Pro II is all stainless (no plastic) is more accurate than I am and functions as well as new after 7500 rounds. The 4" likes to eat recoil springs so I have had to replace it twice, but I think that is somewhat common for the shorter barrel 1911. Perhaps the reason Kimber sells so many guns is they advertise alot and make a wide range of quality products that are attractive to a wide audience. Sounds like what Ford is doing. Now lets start the Ford vs Chevy wars! Wahoo! (personally I drive a Toyota Tacoma TRD.)
Stonecove

I agree, however, Kimber is paying big dollars for those full page spreads. It only costs you if and when you buy a Kimber then you will be paying a piece of the advertising. The magazine companies love to collect the fees. The only thing that irritates me is the articles written about Kimbers, I buy the magazines for the articles and I don't want to pay for those Kimber articles.

just a guess but if you was trying to sell gun of yours you would spending every bit as much money as you could afford to make sure that the potential gun buyer knows about your new gun. there certainly ain't a shortage of advertising from S & W , taurus , Springfield Armory , glock and H & K. if you want your product to be noticed you WILL advertise

Well, both the Smith and the Kimber use a Swartz type drop safety, but at least the Kimber no longer has an external ejector. Kimber also sells more 1911s than anyone else.

I'm not a big fan of either. I don't hate them though. They are okay guns. I prefer SA, Colt, DW, STI for a gun at those prices. I did get a Ruger recently, and I like it so far, but only have a couple hundred rounds through it so far.

Here is a old, but good article on 1911's, but it's probably a little hard core for most people.

Choosing a 1911 for Duty Use

Interesting article. Who's Hilton?

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James L. "Jim" Rhiner

Bad Hair Day.

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NRA Pistol/Rifle Inst. RSO

Kimber can be good guns all they want, I still get hacked off when I pay $10 for a magazine just to see Kimber on every other page. I never really criticized the quality of Kimber, just that I'm sick of seeing the ads everywhere. You're not going to convince me that Kimber sells more guns than S&W, but I don't see every ad page monopolized by S&W.
Furthermore, if you have a Kimber that will do some trick that my Smith or any other quality 1911 for that matter, won't, please demonstrate as I'd love to be amazed.
The fact is, people drop large wads of cash on these Kimbers then try to justify the expense by acting like all others are junk by comparison. How arrogant. There's absolutely nothing wrong with liking Kimbers, but just call it preference and leave it at that. Round counts and all that other B.S. don't impress me because I can do that too. If your gun works well, then good for you. Me and countless other people can meet you at the range with other brands that cost half the money and match you shot for shot even WITH external extractors (with S&W does well by the way).
Again, I never said that Kimber weren't good. I just said that they're not better. For every round count you post on here I can find two just like it about a "lesser" 1911.

You won't get any complaints about Kimber from me. I have just this one - it works every time, it's handy, powerful, easy to maintain, and it's accurate. What more can I say?

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

I just got the latest American Rifleman the other day and the first ten pages had three different adds about Kimbers and of course about 30 pages later yet another one.(sigh)

I want to see an ad in the AR about every 15 pages that shows the 3913, 6906, 4506, 4516-1, 4566TSW...with the caption, "They're back and ready for order from your LGS.!! Coming this summer to a store near you."

Oh, yeah.

I can't speak to their handguns but I absolutely love my Kimber .22 rifle. It has the finest factory trigger I have ever had a finger on, and it shoots well enough to take money from guys using heavy target rifles. I want one of their centerfires in .243. As for all the adds I don't buy magazines so i don't see them, but my take is they could slash their marketing budget and lower the prices on their products.

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Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

Always reminds me of the Kimber doll from the TV series Nip Tuck.

I don't own a Kimber so I can't make an educated guess, but I have shot one in 10mm a few times. It is a nice gun, not as nice as my Ted Yost Delta Elite, but nice for a lot less money than a full on custom.

bob

I wanted one back in the late 90s when they were much less expensive than they are now, but had a lot of the goodies that I wanted on a 1911. As their prices crept up my enthusiasm for Kimber went down accordingly.

They're obviously spending a lot of money for advertising in just about every gun magazine out there. It must be paying off or they'd quit doing it.

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Why duck?? It's a 9mm!

I had one and it just didn't work out.

Unreliable with cast TC and that's all I shoot.

FTRB every 80 rounds give or take.

The chamber was cut too tight.

Sold it and bought a DW CBOB, straight across swap and I never looked back.

Personally, I'm glad to see an american gun company doing well.
I'm glad to see the NRA selling advertising.
I mean, like, you know- just turn the page......

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

I owned three, and none now...guess what my opinion of them is?

They give you one ****** mag when you pay $1200 for a gun that is full of MIM parts. When you call customer service, the answer you get is "Shoot 500 rounds and then call back." They need to stop spending a fortune on advertising, and spend some money on better magazines (and two of them) as well as customer service.

I refuse to buy any more guns from companies that don't make quality products and stand behind them...if they don't have a good QC record and a lifetime warranty, or a very long, well established tradition of taking care of their customers, then I won't spend my money on their products. In my experience, Kimber doesn't meet any of those criteria.

Bought one 8 yrs ago,external extractor and all.Accurate,reliable,boring.

What a simple world it would be if the things that upset me would go away by simply refusing to look a an ad. Just stay away from gun rags, man. Think of the money you'll save on prozac and the such!

+1.........

Sounds like Kimber."envy "."To each his own."As long as you like what you shoot who cares.

When it comes to 1911's I just will not trust a "production" gun. If you want one to defend your life with then get a Nighthawk, Wilson, Ed Brown or Les Baer. All of those makers will deliver a weapon that will function flawlessly because much of them are hand built and fitted by competent craftsmen. With the 1911 platform this is a must!
If you cannot afford one of those then get a Glock, Walther PPQ, or a S&W M&P. These are all reliable weapons that are affordable and can be made with modern techniques and still be reliable.

It might be that he made some assumptions about your age and occupational status based on the subject and tenor of your rant. I am only guessing though.

I don't see anything wrong with a Kimber. But they are rather spendy, if resale value is a major concern and you don't mind paying a bit more up front. How 'bout a Colt? They do have some experiance at building 1911's.

Hilton Yam

10-8 Consulting - Instructor Biography Page

Alot of people think along these lines. I tend to think if it runs, it runs. Those guys you mention are more likely going to consistently deliver a gun that runs without any tweaking though.

The only problem is that a 1911 does need more attention the more you run it than say a Glock or maybe a M&P.

Duke-- Apparently you don't understand how a printed magazine works. If everyone who hated Kimbers (or S&W or Glocks or Sigs or whatever) was like you and you got your way, there wouldn't be enough advertising revenue to print the magazine. Do you read Playboy and crab about the ads for male enhancement products or crab about motor oil ads when reading a Car magazine??? Maybe you just got out of bed on the wrong side, but I think you were just looking for a fight. Chill out and turn the page if you don't want to look at Kimbers.
Stonecove
ps Kimber sells more production 1911's than anyone else because they put semi custom features in a production gun that you sometimes have to pay more from when ordering a custom Brown or Wilson.

Love my Kimber of America Hunter .22; much better than the Clackamas .22 I used to own.



Kimber did revitalize the 1911 market when they started making production guns with the custom features you used to have to send off for, and I give them credit for that. Although some of the first 1911's that they sold were marked "Clackamas", that's because that is where the headquarters were still located at the time, they actually were made in New York, as they are today. I remember reading years ago in gun magazines that more than one writer scoffed when Greg Warne said he was going to start making 1911's, saying they would believe when they saw it happen.

There has been a lot of talk about their drop in quality, but I've never owned one, so I can't speak to that.

Kimber is a place in Australia where the original founder of Kimber of Oregon, John (called Jack) Warne, came from, and you would not call the folks from that area girlie to their faces. There is definitely more than one explanation of the name; some say the name of the town he came from was Kimba, and that Kimber was the aboriginal name for a brushfire. I'm no expert on that (or anything else), but it is a rather harsh area.

[QUOTE=Jlduke;136477643] You're not going to convince me that Kimber sells more guns than S&W, but I don't see every ad page monopolized by S&W.
Duke,
Smith & Wesson does indeed sell more pistols in the category of "over 9mm to .50 Cal. However S&W's numbers include dozens of non 1911 models where Kimbers 80,000 piece production of pistols is all 1911. Here is a link to the ATF numbers so you can see for yourself:
http://www.atf.gov/statistics/downlo...ort-report.pdf
Have a good day!
Stonecove
ps. I only gave you a round count on my Kimber as evidence of why they might be popular. I didn't suggest others were less so, I'm sure there are better pistols out there, but apparently alot of guys think the value of a Kimber is there or they wouldn't be #1 in 1911. Just saying.

Ahhhaa, Now I see the problem, they are made in New York , right close to the city proper no less.

Who would buy a gun made in an elitist area of gun control laws, its unconscionable.

I also know that theres a 7/11 store close by the factory....





What, you mean, Springfield is in Massachusetts, since when.....


Oh ok, never mind....




I dont own one yet, waiting for the LGS to get in a Super Match...

I only have two 1911s. The Kimber Pro Tactical II SE shoots a little better than the Colt. Kimber has had no reliability problems. The only thing I don't like about the Kimber is that a takedown tool is required.

As far as advertising... There are so many gun manufacturers and 1911 makers that I certainly couldn't criticize Kimber or anyone else for keeping their brand in front of potential buyers.

I have the May 2012 issue of Guns & Ammo right here on my desk. S&W, Beretta and Kimber each have two full pages of advertising. Springfield has two full pages plus a partial page.

Kimber has a lot of back page advertising. Try placing your gun magazines on the coffee table cover page up.



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The sole reason Kimber is successful is their marketing strategy. Which happens to be better than their guns.

I've owned 6 different Kimbers and sold them off. I'll put my Dan Wesson up against any Kimber any day.

Kimber is overpriced and if you ask anyone at Kimber, they will tell that they are simply the best. They aren't.

IF I were to buy another it would be the entry level Classic Custom. The others ain't worth the money.

Why do I dislike Kimber? Two salesmen walked into my friends pawn shop and tried to convince him Kimber was absolutely the best and that he would surely sell more than he could keep in stock. All he needed to do was buy $10,000 worth to start. When they tried to give him the hard sell, he told them to get the hell out.