StrikeFire83
Member
Note to the Mods: This is not a “Hate Thread” as I am just posting my legitimate experiences with a weapon that I wasn’t satisfied with.
My odyssey with the Kimber Custom II has ENDED, and I’m satisfied with the outcome. For those of you that haven’t been keeping up with my story and problems, here’s a quick overview.
1) Bought the Custom II about 7 months ago after renting a VERY WORN Kimber Classic (series 1) several times at the range, putting several hundred trouble free rounds downrange and experiencing wonderful accuracy.
2) Began shooting my new Custom II and having great accuracy with it. Reliability was near 100%, the only failure was with a box of Steel Case Wolf Ammo, which I blame on crappy ammo.
3) At around the 500 round point the problems started cropping up. Failure with BRASS case FMJ ammo, failures of all kinds. Failures to eject, failures to feed, problems with the slide locking open halfway through a magazine. Talked to people at the gun shop and here and was told that Kimber ships bad mags with their pistols. SO I bought two Chip McCormick power mags, which were supposed to solve all the problems.
4) Now, about 500 rounds later, the slide was not locking open prematurely, but was still averaging about ONE failure per 50-75 rounds. Borrowed a fabled Wilson Combat mag from a guy at the range and the problems persisted another 150 rounds. The gun was immaculate EVERY time that I took it to the range, clean and oiled, and still had what I consider to be unacceptable problems, especially for a gun nearing the $700 price range.
5) So today, on my day off, I cleaned the gun one last time, and went out to sell it. I disclosed the feed problems to every potential buyer. Several gun shops offered anywhere from 250-400, and I was tempted to sell. Then I went to a few pawn shops. Many of these proprietors who take/sell guns seem pretty ignorant in general about guns. The last shop I went to I showed the gun to a guy who recognized it as “a 1911.” He had remembered seeing very expensive Kimbers at gun shows, and I said that I had paid “a lot.” I said that it should be a range gun, as is has a jam “about every 100 rounds” or so. He asked me how much I’d take for it. I hedged my bets and said “$600 with only the one Kimber mag.” He made me a counter for $525 for the gun and all three mags the box and the manual, and I said yes. Got the transfer bill of sale, and left the store with cash in hand.
I consider myself fortunate to have gotten a good deal for this weapon. I feel a bit guilty that someone might be buying a gun which isn’t 100%, but I basically told the truth about the gun before I sold it.
In short I’m done with Kimber. I can’t afford to pay $2000 to get a reliable handgun. I’m not saying that their products aren’t good, I just had a bad experience. In defense of their customer service department, I cannot comment as I never sent the gun in for service. I’m going to be laid off here in about a week and didn’t want to put more money into something that should have worked out of the box. This is the most expensive gun that I've purchased and the ONLY one to not be 100%.
I’m still in love with the 1911 platform, and I’m sure a 1911 from Springfield or S&W will be in my future, just not for quite some time.
My odyssey with the Kimber Custom II has ENDED, and I’m satisfied with the outcome. For those of you that haven’t been keeping up with my story and problems, here’s a quick overview.
1) Bought the Custom II about 7 months ago after renting a VERY WORN Kimber Classic (series 1) several times at the range, putting several hundred trouble free rounds downrange and experiencing wonderful accuracy.
2) Began shooting my new Custom II and having great accuracy with it. Reliability was near 100%, the only failure was with a box of Steel Case Wolf Ammo, which I blame on crappy ammo.
3) At around the 500 round point the problems started cropping up. Failure with BRASS case FMJ ammo, failures of all kinds. Failures to eject, failures to feed, problems with the slide locking open halfway through a magazine. Talked to people at the gun shop and here and was told that Kimber ships bad mags with their pistols. SO I bought two Chip McCormick power mags, which were supposed to solve all the problems.
4) Now, about 500 rounds later, the slide was not locking open prematurely, but was still averaging about ONE failure per 50-75 rounds. Borrowed a fabled Wilson Combat mag from a guy at the range and the problems persisted another 150 rounds. The gun was immaculate EVERY time that I took it to the range, clean and oiled, and still had what I consider to be unacceptable problems, especially for a gun nearing the $700 price range.
5) So today, on my day off, I cleaned the gun one last time, and went out to sell it. I disclosed the feed problems to every potential buyer. Several gun shops offered anywhere from 250-400, and I was tempted to sell. Then I went to a few pawn shops. Many of these proprietors who take/sell guns seem pretty ignorant in general about guns. The last shop I went to I showed the gun to a guy who recognized it as “a 1911.” He had remembered seeing very expensive Kimbers at gun shows, and I said that I had paid “a lot.” I said that it should be a range gun, as is has a jam “about every 100 rounds” or so. He asked me how much I’d take for it. I hedged my bets and said “$600 with only the one Kimber mag.” He made me a counter for $525 for the gun and all three mags the box and the manual, and I said yes. Got the transfer bill of sale, and left the store with cash in hand.
I consider myself fortunate to have gotten a good deal for this weapon. I feel a bit guilty that someone might be buying a gun which isn’t 100%, but I basically told the truth about the gun before I sold it.
In short I’m done with Kimber. I can’t afford to pay $2000 to get a reliable handgun. I’m not saying that their products aren’t good, I just had a bad experience. In defense of their customer service department, I cannot comment as I never sent the gun in for service. I’m going to be laid off here in about a week and didn’t want to put more money into something that should have worked out of the box. This is the most expensive gun that I've purchased and the ONLY one to not be 100%.
I’m still in love with the 1911 platform, and I’m sure a 1911 from Springfield or S&W will be in my future, just not for quite some time.
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