Kimber fitting

[Narragansett]

I have been on the 1911 band wagon of late, and hand fitting of parts seems to be of specific importance. I just happened upon this picture of a new Kimber polished 1911.

I wonder if the rest of the gun is fit as poorly as this main spring housing? Colts are better, and my Dan Wesson is perfect

 

[03hemi]

I have been on the 1911 band wagon of late, and hand fitting of parts seems to be of specific importance. I just happened upon this picture of a new Kimber polished 1911.

I wonder if the rest of the gun is fit as poorly as this main spring housing? Colts are better, and my Dan Wesson is perfect

Stay away from Kimber!
Decent guns with a lifetime warranty, but I've had 3 completely different gun shops tell me when they've contacted Kimber for warranty work they always tell them the same thing. It's not covered because their guns never break. It's always the customer that broke them, in every case.
They did recently move from NY, but I stay clear of them because of the "hauty" attitude.

 

[Narragansett]

Stay away from Kimber!
Decent guns with a lifetime warranty, but I've had 3 completely different gun shops tell me when they've contacted Kimber for warranty work they always tell them the same thing. It's not covered because their guns never break. It's always the customer that broke them, in every case.
They did recently move from NY, but I stay clear of them because of the "hauty" attitude.

I won't be getting a Kimber. I have 2 colts and 2 Dan Wesson's all unfired, and 1 SIG 1911.

I am at the top of my game, I see no more coming.

 

[44wheelman]

Let's just say..."Some assembly required" should be posted on the outside of all their packaging.

Once you get them going, they go, but til then....

 

[sceva]

Yeah, they could have done a better job. To me Kimber will always be Kimber of Oregon and the fine .22 rimfire rifles they made.

My 1911 is a Springfield Armory and the fit / finish is very good.

 

[madmikeb]

I had a Kimber Ultra CDPII that would not get through a mag without a stoppage. Contacted Kimber, sent it to them and they changed the entire upper from an external extractor to an internal extractor and didn't charge me a nickel. Still jammed after that so I got rid of it.
I do have to say that the customer service was good, not so much for the gun.

 

[WardenRoss]

Had a serious problem with a Kimber, circa 2014.

Called them and they emailed me a shipping label. I immediately sent it to them.

Very quick turnaround. IIRC less than 2 weeks.

They replaced EVERYTHING but the frame, sights and grips.

Great customer service. No questions asked.

However, no more Kimber for me.

,

 

[D Brown]

I have been on the 1911 band wagon of late, and hand fitting of parts seems to be of specific importance. I just happened upon this picture of a new Kimber polished 1911.

I wonder if the rest of the gun is fit as poorly as this main spring housing? Colts are better, and my Dan Wesson is perfect

Could you explain how the fit of the main spring housing to the frame will have a negative effect on function? I don't see the problem. I've been working with the 1911 platform for going on 45 years and have yet to see a malfunction caused by the fit; or lack thereof between frame and main spring housing.

 

[03hemi]

Just speaks volumes for sloppy tolerances and a general lack of concern for fit in my book for a pistol that cost that much, totally unacceptable. A Tisas or Rock River Arms fit better than that for a fraction of the cost.
Nice TJ btw!

 

[maxfam]

I HAD a Kimber Gold Match, their top of the line at the time. Not impressed with the whole pistol. Traded it away after shooting it on two different occasions. Then my son purchased a Dan Wesson C BOB in 45ACP, wow, what a difference. I now have four Dan Wesson 1911’s and they are worth the small amount they cost over the price of a Kimber. Remember, someone has to pay for all the Kimber magazine ads.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

I won't be getting a Kimber. I have 2 colts and 2 Dan Wesson's all unfired, and 1 SIG 1911.

Does it matter if it will be "unfired" like the others?

Or are you just looking for Safe Queens?

 

[Marshal Tom]

I am not and never have been a Kimber 1911 guy and I love a nice 1911. I recommend many other makes to folks, other than Kimber. Poor customer service, MIM parts. Not for me.

 

[.38SuperMan]

Here we go again. Let’s all join together in bashing Kimber.

I currently own several Kimbers. I think I’ve owned about 7 in the past few years and have never had an issue of any sort. I think I own 3 at the moment and can say nothing but great things about them and their customer service. I think if you dig down into the Kimber haters you’ll find they never followed the instructions on how to break them in. I know from several I’ve talked to they took them straight from the box to the range, didn’t clean them and lube them and shot them dry. I can say too that several of the haters I talked to never owned one or ever fired a Kimber but they’re quick to pass judgement based on a friend who had a friend that actually never owned one either.

From my experience, Kimbers are built to a very close tolerance, much closer than my Colt and Springfields. For example my 5” 38 Super Eclipse Target was so tightly made I had to use a bushing wrench to get the barrel bushing out. Compare this to my Colt LW Commander that the bushing will fall out on its own and the slide is loose and rattles. Despite that is still a great shooter. Every one of the 3”, 4” and 5” Kimbers I own and have owned have been built tight with the intent of needing to be broken in through a prescribed process outlined in their instruction manual.

I’ve shot 1911’s for 40 or more years and one thing I’ve learned is they need plenty of oil. They’re not designed to be run dry or with grease. I keep my 1911’s clean and well lubed and pay close attention to my ammo that I load. Proper length is important like any other auto and proper spring weights are very important. Magazines are equally important.

I’ve never had a failure with my Kimbers. I had one question I contacted Kimber about prior to purchasing my Eclipse. I had 1000 major power factor loaded 38 supers (125 gr jacketed RN at 1450fps) as to whether the Eclipse would handle these loads as it has a fully supported chamber. They assured me they have customers regularly shooting high power loads and said it was no issue. I bought one and shot all 1,000 hot 38 supers. On their recommendation I went up in spring weight and added a buffer. There were no issues and I never had one failure. Years later I’m still shooting it.

The only issue was one magazine that came with the Eclipse. It would fail to feed the last round. I called Kimber and they sent a new one that day and said keep the bad one.

I also think most of the Kimber bashing is myth, my gunsmith said kind of stuff or I read on a forum. In my experience most of the negativity comes from people that have never owner or shot a Kimber.

From my experience, I’d never hesitate to buy another Kimber.

 

[Narragansett]

Could you explain how the fit of the main spring housing to the frame will have a negative effect on function? I don't see the problem. I've been working with the 1911 platform for going on 45 years and have yet to see a malfunction caused by the fit; or lack thereof between frame and main spring housing.

I am not foolish enough to think that the fitting of the main spring housing to the frame will effect the performance of the gun. I am simply stating that the display of less than excellent workmanship on the outside makes me wonder about what the quality of the inside fitting is like.

Surely you get that.

 

[arjay]

Bought one with the external extractor in the early 2000s. Accurate and reliable but it needed plenty of lube (tight!) Gave it to my son about ten years ago

 

[Narragansett]

Does it matter if it will be "unfired" like the others?

Or are you just looking for Safe Queens?

One DW I have had for 2 weeks. One will be in my hands Monday.
One colt is 6 months old. The 1978 royal blue Govt is a safe queen. The SIG has been used.

I have just had too much personal stuff on my plate to get to the range. Not that I owe an explanation.

 

[Kanewpadle]

I had a grudge against Kimber for years now.

They slap together guns, make them look pretty and jack up the price.

They’ve had quality control issues for years now.

They really irritated me several years ago. Two Kimber reps walked into my buddies pawn shop and looked around.

One of them commented that he didn’t see any new Kimber’s in stock. He also stated that we must not believe in selling high quality guns.

So my buddy is simply stunned.

It’s a pawn shop! Why stock over priced 1911’s when one can buy a decent used one for much less?

Then the rep told him the buy in was $5000. and you don’t have a choice in the guns they ship to you.

They were ushered out of the store rather quickly.

 

[Baxter6551]

I have a Kimber Custom II that I bought used roughly 15-16 years ago. I’ve never had an issue with it. Replaced front sight with a gold bead, had a trigger job done by LaRocca Gun Works in MA and replaced the mainspring housing with an aggressive VZ one. I’ve shot quite a few rounds through it and shot it in two gun schools. I also have Colt, Springfield and Wilson. I find no faults with the Kimber.

 

[03hemi]

One DW I have had for 2 weeks. One will be in my hands Monday.
One colt is 6 months old. The 1978 royal blue Govt is a safe queen. The SIG has been used.

I have just had too much personal stuff on my plate to get to the range. Not that I owe an explanation.

Nothing wrong with being a collector over a shooter, I haven't even shot the last 10 guns I've bought. lol

 

[STCM(SW)]

My Kimber Pro Carry 2 works flawlessly. Never had any problems with it.