Kimber 1911 upgrades

[Zerodefect]

I've been considering the Ed Brown grip safety with memory groove that I have on my Special Forces but would need to cut the frame to fit it.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=181642

However, the Kimber tactical bump version looks similar and it's a drop in you say ... hmmm. Have you compared it to the Ed Brown version? Any thoughts on the similarities or differences?

http://www.kimberamerica.com/shop/product.php?xProd=292&xSec=21

Yes I also have a DW Valor that came with alot of EB parts including the GS and TS.

The DW EB grip safety allows you to get about 1/8" higher up and into the gun for better recoil control. But it is much less comfortable. The gun can wear a nice bruise into the web of your hand until your hand hardens. (took me about 1200 rounds LOL) I feel that the DW requires a firmer grip than my Kimber. I grip as high as possible, so I'm pushing up on the Beaver tail. So I'm kinda fighting against myself to turn the grip safety off. A firm grip on the frame overcomes that push up on the beaver tail my fat hands have. Since the DW allows my hand slightly higher. I have to grip it slightly firmer .

The Kimber bump safety on a Kimber is very comfortable. Mine went in with no adjustment at all. The gun became much better to draw, less worry about not gripping the GS. Really didn't expect this to be truely better. I emailed Kimber to drop the current safeties and use the bump GS on all thier factory 1911's. They really are shooting themselfs in the foot by useing the old GS's.

The only part that seems to require fitment would be the bottom edge of the grips safties block. File some of that edge off if you want the grip safety to disengage sooner with less travel. Mine was about the same as my DW Valor when I dropped it into my Kimber. I hacked the bottom edge off the stock Kimber safety, incase I want a deactivated grip safety for competition.

Other than the overall position of the safety, they are the same in shape and feel. Also due to the EB type1 GS being shaped for a cut frame, and the back of the frame then being shorter, you have to trim the shield of the thumb safety so that it deosn't protrude into your hand. When the thumb safety is on on these type1 grip safeties, you can see the hole in the frame. Really ugly on a stainless 1911, unnoticable on a black one.

EB GS:


I also trimmed the rear edge of the thumb safety back 1/8". The point of that is that to use a thumb over safety grip, the thumb deosn't have to be lifted/pointed up at such a great angle. The further away the thumb safeties rear edge, the more my thumb points forward, not up. the less I have to lift my thumb, the better contact the web of my hand will have with the GS.

Huge difference.

Bottom line, I'd put a Kimber Bump GS on a Kimber instead of all the trouble of the EB GS.

 

[MCMXI]

Bottom line, I'd put a Kimber Bump GS on a Kimber instead of all the trouble of the EB GS.

Thanks very much for the tip and excellent description (and photo) of the differences between the EB and Kimber ... looks like I'll be ordering a Kimber tactical bump safety.

 

[The Wiry Irishman]

Firearm break in is a myth, your never going to cause enough wear on the gun to make it function better than it comes from the factory with only 250-500 rounds.

I've had experience with a lot of Kimbers, none of them have actually needed a breakin, but there's plenty of guns that do. Even on the ones that don't you'll still notice them getting smoother with time. Even my old FNP, with a plastic frame and a loose-fit slide got progressively smoother to operate after each range trip. I've got friends that have noticed that with their Glocks, as well. And there's no way you can simulate the forces of a 20,000 PSI detonation in the chamber with your bare hands.

I have a les baer premier 2 that I put about 600 rounds thru and it is still as tight as the day I got it and still almost impossible to rack the slide

I do, as well. It came like all Baers do, with lockup so tight you need to give the muzzle a whack before you can rack the slide. First 150-200 rounds it would fail to fully return to battery about a quarter of the time. That dissappeared as it broke in. When it had its first strip at 500 rounds, it was still hard to rack the slide, but it didn't need a whack. Got to be about like any other 1911 around 1000, and kept getting smoother and smoother every time it was shot until it leveled off around 5 or 6k. 600 rounds is not much ammo at all, certainly not enough to support blanket statements like yours above.

As for the OP, I have two Kimbers, one of which is a Custom II. I've replaced the fire control components on both. The Custom II has EGW parts tuned by a talented gunsmith, the other has SVI parts that are so precisely machined they just drop in. Honestly, the SVI parts lead to a noticeably crisper pull. This isn't a shot at my smith, his work is top-notch, its just that the SVI parts are amazing. I've also swapped out triggers on both. The Custom II now permanently wears a Marvel Type I .22 conversion kit and Randall Fung match grips and is now my bullseye pistol. Here's an older pic, its got a different trigger now:

I think your best bet, however, is to leave it stock and spend your money on ammo for practice. If you really feel the need though, experiment with different mainspring housings, grips, and trigger lengths and shapes to fine-tune it to your hands. For work you can do easily yourself, those will do the most to improve your performance with the gun. Maybe throw a strip of skate tape on that smooth front strap. Money spent on ammo will do more to improve your accuracy than fancy new parts will.

 

[dec41971]

My Kimber 1911 going on 8000 flawless rounds. Maybe its luck or lack there of. I do see lots of complains, but honestly can't relate at all.

 

[Buck Snort]

Firearm break in is a myth, your never going to cause enough wear on the gun to make it function better than it comes from the factory with only 250-500 rounds.

This is a BS sales and marketing ploy to get customers to shoot more ammo and spend more.

Ask yourself this, why would a firearms manufacturer sell a new gun that required a break in to function properly.

Either a firearm is properly assembled and tunned when it leaves the factory or it isn't tunned properly and malfunctions.

Also look at any blued semi auto pistol that has about 300 rounds thru it and you will see that most of the blued finish is still on the gun on the moving surfaces.

So if a gun is properly lubricated, you will never break in anything.

One other thing if a firearms company sold a gun that failed to function properly and released it to the general public, then they are easily sued.

If you want to similate a 250 round break in, just get some reloaded dummie rounds and cycle them repeatedly by hand and pulling the trigger after each shot and save the money. if you believe you have to break in a gun.

My sentiments exactly!!

 

[mljdeckard]

My Custom II is the best handgun I have ever owned. I put on Hogue wrap-around grips, and a G.I. style rod and plug, and Meprolight night sights. I got Mepros because at the time they were easier to find than Trijicons cut for that base, but I might change out to an XS big dot sight.

 

[rozziboy18]

grips and a magwell. also the trigger is fully tune-able. dont let the masses get you down about you kimber, most of the time the feed issue is caused by the extractor. some light sand paper in the valley of the extracter and your good to go! i have had 5 kimbers now and had very little trubble with them.

 

[Zerodefect]

Every Kimber I've had required break in.

Run your fingernail down the barrel. Feel that machined finish. That needs to wear down a little before you'll see perfect reliability. The gun should still function pretty well. Maybe FTRTB every once in a while. If your just getting a FTRTB every once in a while with a K, don't panic. Usually mags,ramp polish, wearing down the machined finish outside the barrel, and a little attention to the bottom void under the extractor as noted above fix K's all up.

Notice that DW,EB,LB,W spend extra time making that finish smoother. (that costs extra as well) Might be nessasary with tighter barrel/bushing fit as well, I don't know.

 

[PabloJ]

My Kimber experiences have always been bad. Have you fired it yet to see if it cycles properly? You may need to spend your money getting the gun in working order. Also, Kimber advises a 500 round break in. That will run you around $200 right there.

For the money they charge for those guns it should work very well right out of the box.

 

[mljdeckard]

Mine cost $630, NIB. (Several years ago.)

They are machined tools, they will have machine edges to be worn off. Look at it this way. You needed to run 200 rounds through it to ensure reliability anyway. And if I had a few errors in the first box or so, I would let them slide as long as it ran reliably for the rest of the run. And btw, mine was error free for the very first 200 rounds I fired out of it with factory mags.

 

[Magnumite]

New Kimber pistol. $1000.00
Internal "upgrades". $. 500.00

total. One modified Kimber


Les Baer Premier II. $ 1525.00. (scratches head)

Those Kimber internals are credible mim parts. Why change them if there is no improvement in performance?

 

[JoeMal]

New Kimber pistol. $1000.00
Internal "upgrades". $. 500.00

total. One modified Kimber


Les Baer Premier II. $ 1525.00. (scratches head)

I was thinking the same thing....someone earlier posted a list of about 20 aftermarket Ed Brown parts they added to their Kimber...why not just buy an EB to begin with and save yourself the hassle? Oh well...not my money, not my hobby ('upgrading' my new handguns, that is)

 

[The Wiry Irishman]

Those Kimber internals are credible mim parts. Why change them if there is no improvement in performance?

The only reason I can think of is if you want a top-notch trigger pull. The stock MIM Kimber sear and hammer are too soft to hold an edge for very long, so if you get them worked on for an exceptionally crisp pull, it will degrade over time.

 

[MCMXI]

someone earlier posted a list of about 20 aftermarket Ed Brown parts they added to their Kimber...why not just buy an EB to begin with and save yourself the hassle? Oh well...not my money, not my hobby ('upgrading' my handguns, that is)

I did buy an Ed Brown but it's a $2,450 pistol!! My Kimber cost me around $1,200 and the Ed Brown parts around $350. Not only do I have a superb pistol that I like as much as (and possibly more than) the Ed Brown, but do you have any idea as to how much I learned by fitting all the parts myself? The 1911 platform is not plug and play and the world is full of people that have no idea how what they use works ... just take a look at the barrel/sights poll in the revolver section. I have no interest in being one of those people. As for it being a "hassle" ... not even close. I'd do it again in a heartbeat!! In fact, I WILL do it again when I buy a Raptor.

 

[MCMXI]

Those Kimber internals are credible mim parts. Why change them if there is no improvement in performance?

That depends entirely on what you intend to do with the pistol. If like many you take it to the range twice a year and shoot one box of ammunition then you may never have a single problem. If on the other hand, you plan on shooting 5,000 to 10,000 rounds a year in high stress matches, then forged or CNC from billet steel may be a good idea. Frankly, I don't worry about what others decide to do or not do with their stuff. I simply state what I've done and it's up to others to follow their own path. I have no agenda other than being truthful about what I've done, what I'm doing, or what I plan to do.

 

[Magnumite]

That's all cool. I can idenify with that.

But those MIM parts are not as soft as many want others to believe. I had a Series I Gold Match and shot thousands of rounds out of it. I've built a few pistols with CMC MIM parts in it and there were no signs of premature wear on the fire control engagement surfaces.

For a year or two Bill Wilson was putting some mim in his pistols. He discontined the practice - not because there were reliability issues, there were nome - but because custmers expected machined internals on their guns.

I won't say forged/machined bar stock isn't better than mim, but I will say the percieved poor quality of mim is not true in well manufactured components. Buy a Kmber and shoot it, it set the 1911 world on it's ear when they started up. I had absolutely had no reason to modify that Gold Cup in any manner, it was accurate, nice trigger and dead nuts reliable...as long as the chamber was brushed out at least every two hundred rounds.

 

[Zerodefect]

New Kimber pistol. $1000.00
Internal "upgrades". $. 500.00

total. One modified Kimber


Les Baer Premier II. $ 1525.00. (scratches head)

Those Kimber internals are credible mim parts. Why change them if there is no improvement in performance?

It deosn't cost that much. Check out Midway USA for parts. Internal upgrades are $150 tops.

My CDP when done will have cost me around $1500 total. But I allready have had it sitting around for years collecting dust. If I could do it again I'd just buy a DW V like the one I just picked up. When I bought my Kimber the DW V didn't exist, and DW's really weren't that good back then anyway.

So rather than have an obsolete K CDP II sitting on the shelf, I decided to fix it to fit my improved techniques I've learned over the years. Besides, I'm not going to practice metal grinding on a $2000+ 1911. LOLz.

What happens when my DW V is obsolete and there are way better sights, safeties, internals? I'll fix that back up just like this olde K.

 

[Magnumite]

SOME Lockwork is that much. Throw in the slide stop, thumb safety, etc. and you're up there. Throw in gunsmith labor if you can't do it yourself and jih-jing...$$$$$

 

[dewalt-2]

I went a similar direction to 1858.
Kimber Pro Carry II 9mm. It ran without issues from the beginning. I decided to tune it up and upgrade the gun to custom standards-Kimber SS slide stop, ambi thumb safety, grip safety, and tactical Mepro night sights. Wilson Combat firing pin, extractor, mainspring housing/magwell. Ed Brown SS pins. Cylinder&Slide hammer group and Nowlin extended mag release.

Glad I did it!

 

[Balrog]

OK, so if you take your $1000 Kimber and do $200 dollars worth of home gunsmithing internal upgrades, you know have a gun that is worth less than it was before you modified it. I am always very wary of any guns that have been modified and then sold.

Good thinking.

 

[Zerodefect]

SOME Lockwork is that much. Throw in the slide stop, thumb safety, etc. and you're up there. Throw in gunsmith labor if you CSM ' do it yourself and jih-jing...$$$$$

Yeah, It's pointless unless you do the work yourself. Paying to get that much custom work is expensive. Better off selling the K and buying another pistol if you don't want to try some 'smithing.

 

[MCMXI]

OK, so if you take your $1000 Kimber and do $200 dollars worth of home gunsmithing internal upgrades, you know have a gun that is worth less than it was before you modified it. I am always very wary of any guns that have been modified and then sold.

Good thinking.

I don't sell any of my firearms but if by some odd turn of events I wanted to sell a 1911 that I've "upgraded", it'd take all of 20 minutes to put the original parts back in and the buyer would be none the wiser.

 

[silverhand65]

Thanks everyone. I shot my Kimber 400 hundred times yesterday using federal 230 grain FMJs and have not yet had a malfunction it was however very stiff for the first 100 rounds or so i used the lightest gun oil i had and cleaned it at 200 hundred rounds and 400 rounds. Someone told me diesal fuel works quite well for cleaning a kimber 1911 and was wondering if anyone had heard of this before. I did buy a pair of colt magazines though and crimson trace laser grips.

 

[EddieNFL]

It seems that people that own a Kimber love them and those that don't own a Kimber hate them.

Guess I'm the nonconformist Kimber owner.

If you get one that works, it's great.

 

[BlayGlock]

I usually replace the sear spring in my Kimber's to get a nicer trigger pull.