Sick Of Kimber

[jlrhiner]

I figure as much maintenance is required for a 1911, I'm better off going with a gun I won't have to constantly worry about whether or not I oiled it the previous day. Now I have an M&P40 and 9mm

I must be doing something wrong. In the 40+ years I've owned, carried and shot 1911a1 type pistols, I never once worried whether I oiled them yesterday. It's amazing all of us "old" guys ever survived without a wonder pistol

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Who the hell is Schwartz?????
Let's see...Ruger has no firing pin safety, an internal extractor and a short GI recoil spring guide. But it has a cast frame-notoriously known not to be as good as the forged frame. No Ruger for this boy.
Colt has forged frame, internal extractor, short GI guide rod but it has a series 80 fireing pin safety which makes the trigger pull go to squat. (I read it in the internet so it has to be true).
Smith & Wesson has a forged frame and an external extractor which the Humphries guy says is better than the internal extractor but it has the long guide rod and this Schwartz safety which Humphries says is the worst thing that hapened since sliced bread and he wouldn't trust his life to a gun with none of these thingies in it.
Kinber has that *^&% Schwartz thingie in it, an internal extractor but it has a forges frame but I don't know if it has a long rod or a short rod.
And now, I find out that the 1911 is such a high maintence weapon and that unless it was hand put together by tiny elves in a hollow tree I shouldn't trust my life to an "off the shelf " version, but need to go the custom route. What ever happened to the loosey goosey John Browning design that maybe rattled a bit but always went bang?? ANd that could be put together from parts bins???
What to do What to do What to do......
I know-I'll but the same kind of 1911 that Magnum PI carried cause in all the episodes I watched, it NEVER EVER jammed on him.
By process of deduction, given the time phrame of the show and being that S&W, Kimber and Ruger were not making 1911's back then, it seems to me that he was carrying a Colt 1911.
Or he was carrying a Browning Hi Power in which case I'm screwed

 

[jlrhiner]

Interesting and funny aside.

I was stumbling through the LGS and spied a 1911a1 sitting on the shelf for $325.00 NEW!!! So I'm standing there waiting until one of the kids is free,and please understand the owner is a little older than me, but his son and several of his sons friends work there. (no comment on age, theyre very smart, articulate and respectful young men) when they finally get to me, it's a Rock Island mil-spec 1911a1 made in the Phillipines. As I'm talking to one of the boys, another one comes over and we are kind of round tabling it. At that time, I had not heard of RIA. One of the proceeds to tell me that they took it apart and the only difference they could find between it and a Springfield was it was just a little looser in the tolerances and he couldn't understand why anybody would do that. I explained the whole mil-spec thing, and he was surprised that they would have a market for such a loose gun.

Yes it did come home with me and I've had a ball with it. Incidentally, it is close in tolerance with both my 1922 commercial and my WWII Ithaca. But no where close to my Kimber or my Springfield. (maybe I should go oil them!)

I wonder how the new guys would have done up against a NIB military .45 made in, let's say 1935ish. Anybody got one they want to donate to the cause?

 

[wheelgun28]

What to do What to do What to do......
I know-I'll but the same kind of 1911 that Magnum PI carried cause in all the episodes I watched, it NEVER EVER jammed on him.
By process of deduction, given the time phrame of the show and being that S&W, Kimber and Ruger were not making 1911's back then, it seems to me that he was carrying a Colt 1911.
Or he was carrying a Browning Hi Power in which case I'm screwed

I seem to remember that it was a 70 Series Government Model...

Now where to get those shorts and a Hawaiian shirt

 

[mball]

I would put my 4566 up against a Kimber in the accuracy,fit,finish,warranty department any day- Yes,I get sick of hearing how prestigious Kimber is.Go to the 1911 forums and read the Kimber owners discussions for a good laugh you get to read how horrible their CS is,how many times they have been back and forth to the factory for repairs,how their 1 yr. warranty sucks,but that one time you get to put 50 rounds through it after a 2 month wait on the factory to ship it back how amazingly accurate they are! Not worth the inflated prices especially being equipped with the fp safety they have either-the Schwartz is definitely not with me!I love 1911's to no end but the snobbery that follows Kimber is rediculous but humorous.Guy the other day asked if I had a Sig,when I told him yes he proceeded to tell me that he carries a Kimber(something or other) like I was supposed to be impressed by his choice? I gathered he just asked about my Sig just so he could brag about his Kimber and what an instant expert shot he was :barf:

Hell, that sounds like the S&W forum. You can search anything on the internet and find out it's the biggest piece of junk made.If I went by the web warriors advice I'd have to sell both cars, my guns, my appliances, shoot my dogs and divorce my wife.
Mike

 

[GKC]

Smith & Wesson has a forged frame and an external extractor which the Humphries guy says is better than the internal extractor but it has the long guide rod and this Schwartz safety which Humphries says is the worst thing that hapened since sliced bread and he wouldn't trust his life to a gun with none of these thingies in it.

I know that your post was largely satirical in nature...

But in the interests of new development, the SW1911 "e" series pistols don't have a FPS. The FLGR can easily be swapped out to a GI guide rod and plug.

The external extractor is an abomination to "purists" but I will take a S&W 1911 every day and twice on Sunday over a Kimber!

 

[jspick]

Holy Cow, I just sat down and read the last 10 or so posts.

I can't believe I'm supposed to oil my Kimber to keep it shooting!!!
I did not know what a big piece of junk 1911's are!!!
How was I to know my 1911's are no good unless I read it on the internet!
I'm not going to sell my 1911's, shot my dog or divorce my wife(unless she starts raising a stink about me buying guns ).

This thread to too fun!

John

 

[joespapa]

I know that your post was largely satirical in nature...

But in the interests of new development, the SW1911 "e" series pistols don't have a FPS. The FLGR can easily be swapped out to a GI guide rod and plug.

The external extractor is an abomination to "purists" but I will take a S&W 1911 every day and twice on Sunday over a Kimber!

Yes, but my question is would you take it over a Colt?

 

[mc5aw]

I used to work for a market leading magazine, and the advert-to-content ratio was basically 1-to-1 ... one page of advertising for every page of content. If advert $s went south, so did the amount of content we could publish each month. If my favorite gun rag was to run 50 Kimber ads, I wouldn't be too chafed since my favorite gun rag was obviously using the Kimber advert money TO PUBLISH A NEW ISSUE.

As for Kimber 1911s, a good friend with military firearms training background, as well as retail gun sales experience, passed along numerous quality control stories about Kimbers that his employer (LGS) was dealing with regularly. His opinion was that he'd never own a Kimber based on what he was seeing at the distribution level. That's good enough for me. For .45 ACP, I'll stick with my SIG 220 that will shoot the ridges off a quarter with 0% issues every time.

 

[wheelgun28]

Did I ever tell you guys about my Glock.....

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

I seem to remember that it was a 70 Series Government Model...

Now where to get those shorts and a Hawaiian shirt

You're on your own for the shorts and the Detroit Tigers cap but here's the shirt
Paradise Found "Jungle Bird Magnum PI" Hawaiian Aloha Shirt in Red, Paradise Found - All Hawaiian Shirts, PF-JungleBird-Red - Paradise Clothing Company

 

[billy396]

I have 3 Kimbers and I love them all. Having said that, two of them were completely customized by Coal Creek Armory before I bought them, including the Melonite QPQ/Isonite finish. The stock gun doesn't shoot quite as well as the modified ones, but that's to be expected when you consider the price difference and all of the best aftermarket parts that were installed. I've heard a couple stories of MIM parts breakage, but I've never seen it happen. To me, it's just another thing for people to complain about for no apparent reason. All of my 1911's shoot great. I have a full-custom Cylinder & Slide 1911 with Caspian Arms frame and slide, plus all the best parts and hand-fitting, and it doesn't really shoot much different than my other 1911's, although it's a real work of art. I can't personally shoot as well as many of my guns are capable of, or even as well as I could 30 years ago, but to me, the S&W, Kimber, Colts, SIG and Springfield 1911's all shoot great. Back in the early 1980's, I had an Auto-Ordnance, and it seemed to have a very loose slide-to-frame fit, but I don't have it anymore to compare. I can't see much difference between any of them. My Doug Koenig model Smith 1911 cost a good $400 more than my regular stainless Smith, and I see NO difference in shooting, other than the fact that the high-dollar gun has the straight trigger. I don't have any Regent or other low-dollar 1911's to compare, but I suspect there's not all that much difference. I am very partial to my Springfield 9MM EMP, although that's not a real, full-size 1911, it's a tack driver.

 

[rimfired]

I've never owned a Ford. Never owned a Saturn, a Prius or a Dodge/Chrysler. I wouldn't run any of them down verbally. I don't have the experience to qualify as "expert".

I got a sweetheart stainless Ultra CDP II. Had Colts, Remington Rand and....

Lots of heresay, not a lot of realworld fact. Lots of BS. The ads pay for the Mag. Something about marketing drives,
Oh yeah US JOBS.

This one works slick everytime...

 

[GKC]

Yes, but my question is would you take it over a Colt?

Well, that depends...

Colt went through some problems a few years back, so if it was a Colt made during that period, I'd say no. Early models and recent models are fine.

My answer is, why not have both? And, I do! I have a Colt MKIV Series 70 Government Model in stainless, as well as the SW1911 "e", the SR1911, and a SA Range Officer. I am content with the ones I have now.

 

[Jlduke]

Just saw a short video showing a guy hating on compact 1911's because they don't work and jam up a lot. The video showed the guy having all sorts of issues and swearing to get rid of it when he was finished with the pistol class he was in. Not surprisingly, when he turn it over there was a Kimber logo. Coincidence? I think not.

 

[jspick]

More than likely is was poor bullet design, poor magazine design, overpowered recoil spring, over powered ammo, etc.
Anytime you drift away from the original design of the gun you will have problems. Ever wonder why Garand guys are so adimate about what ammo they shoot? Anytime someone goes to another kind of ammo other than M2 spec problems accour.

John

 

[ladder13]

Only own one, it's been flawless.

 

[Stonecove]

Just saw a short video showing a guy hating on compact 1911's because they don't work and jam up a lot. The video showed the guy having all sorts of issues and swearing to get rid of it when he was finished with the pistol class he was in. Not surprisingly, when he turn it over there was a Kimber logo. Coincidence? I think not.

OMG Duke, give it up already... I thought you just didn't like all the Kimber ads. As I said before -- your original post was disingenuous. What is your agenda?
Stonecove
In case you forgot, heres your first post:

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 crappy 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.

 

[Jlduke]

I heard that the external extractors, when done right, solve the most of the malfunction issues with the sub compact 1911's. I read that S&W do it well but Kimber and some others tried it and it didn't work out so they went back to the internal ones.

 

[Jlduke]

OMG Duke, give it up already... I thought you just didn't like all the Kimber ads. As I said before -- your original post was disingenuous. What is your agenda?
Stonecove
In case you forgot, heres your first post:

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 crappy 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.

Wow, you should really find something more constructive to do with your time than worry about what little old me is typing.