Kimber Ultra Eclipse Request for Advisement

[Geno]

Fellow High Road Members:

I am trying to decide between Kimber Ultra Eclipse or the Glock 26 as a back-up piece. I would like to hear from people who own a current model Kimber Ultra Eclipse (purchased in the last 12 months, and which has an INTERNAL extractor). I own Glocks and several 1911s and like both. The Glock I know would function well.

My concern comes down to the CURRENT Kimber's reliability. Over the previous 18 to 12 month period (that is to say that a year and a half ago) I purchased several Kimbers (4 of them were Custom Shop) and I had some HORRID experiences. The "custom shop" manager was less than professional and in fact, I will say he factually and persistently lied to me and failed to carry through of assured repairs.

The point of contention came down to the day that the custom shop manager told me regarding the unreliability of my Custom Shop Gold Combat, "It's not like you bought a limited edition. Those are truly custom pistols. All you bought was a pistol with a few custom parts, but not a truly custom gun. Now, if you had purchased a limited edition, yes, that would be truly custom, and you could insist that it function flawlessly". Finally, the Vice-president of the company called me, assured me that he would investigate. He was livid about the quotation! He stated that, "That's BS! All Kimbers, regardless of price, should give equal reliability".

My previous Ultra Eclipse blew the barrel the first day I shot it. Kimber replaced the barrel, but the gap between the barrel and frame looked like a picket fence. Accuracy was not good afterward either. It persistently failed to load/extract/go into battery, etc on average 7 out of 10 attempted shots. In short, it went back twice and was never corrected. When I sold it, I ended up telling the purchaser the truth of its problems and had to sell it for $375.00 (purchased for $999.00). It was truly a piece of trash. Then, there was the whole Kimber external extractor issue. Of the 4 Custom Shop Kimbers that I bought all 4 were defective, so I am rightfully hesitant to buy another Kimber without talking with my fellow THR members. Imagine, 5 Kimbers, 4 Custom Shop, and all defective. But, 100% of the external extractor Kimbers I have owned (about 9), all were 100% reliable, including my current Warrior.

I would like to hear about current-production Kimber, Ultra Eclipse models, internal extractor-only. Please tell me bluntly about the good and the bad.

1: WOULD YOU TRUST YOUR LIFE TO YOUR ULTRA ECLIPSE?

2: How is the barrel's bore quality?

3: How is the reliability?

4: How is the accuracy?

5a: Has it gone back to the custom shop for repairs?

5b: If yes, with whom did you deal?

5c: Did the person follow through and make the repairs?

Thank-you for your frank responses,

Gene (Doc2005)

 

[mattk]

Gene,
I have a Kimber Tac PRoII in 9mm of recent manufacture.
It has been 100%
But I have a suggestion for you.
The two guns you are deciding between are fairly different. Have you looked at other options?
Maybe an STI BLS in 9 or 40?

 

[warmrain]

Why do you want to hear from external extractor Kimber owners only? Is it because you already own one...?

I've had them both and I would never trust an external extractor... I've simply had too many that would not work.

I've got two perfectly functioning Kimber Ultra internal extractor versions that I DO trust my life with.

IMHO it is more about what kind of action do you want to carry. What is your primary carry. What are you more comfortable with. I would not mix DAO and SA as a primary and secondary...

 

[Geno]

Corrected--sorry

Wow, sorry about that. Yes, internal extractor. Thanks for catching that one.

Gene (Doc2005)

 

[KC&97TA]

I love my 1911's, but as a carry gun, I would have to carry a Wilson, Brown or Baer. I'd go with a Glock, just for the fact that there's no "real" safety, just point and squeez.

I have a TLE/II, not an Eclipse, it wasn't 100% reliable at anytime in it's life, it's now back at Kimber getting an Internal Slide. I've had good dealings with KMI.

As for other personal experience with 1911's. I have a Mil-Spec that's 100% reliable and the GI I just sold was 100% reliable, I have a Champion that I just picked up, that so far is 100% reliable, but it's too early to boast. I shoot with a guy who put over 11k rounds, documented in a little book, in his Springfield Loaded before he had his first stove pipe on reloads! I think it was like 11,3xx rounds.

I've owned one Glock a model 20 - 10mm bought it used and never in its life did it ever have a jam, that thing was so abused & dirty, it was a back up for running coyote, moutain lion, by horse or by foot. I used to shoot .40 S&W through it for practice, it would eat and eject .40 S&W just like it did 10mm. I once sat in a swam with it holstered (waiting on a beaver) and fired it wet and dirty as can be for giggles.

For my personal choice for bumps in the night and carry, I go with the Beretta 92FS, just because it's now second nature to me after 7 years of training on it, and the last 3 years I've done alot of CQB and defensive situations with it.

 

[warmrain]

KC&97TA,

"For my personal choice for bumps in the night and carry, I go with the Beretta 92FS, just because it's now second nature to me after 7 years of training on it, and the last 3 years I've done alot of CQB and defensive situations with it."

Got one, it's my only true DA. It is a great hi-cap reliable pistol. It seems difficult to put night sights on and I'm thinking to just put crimson traces grips on it.

I think you hit it on the head though in mentioning the 92FS. It's really about the action you prefer IMHO...

 

[jman74]

I've had experience with two Kimbers as of late. Number one being a Custom Shop CDP. This is the biggest POS, yes bigger than the P345 I bought, that I've ever shot. $1200 with a PLASTIC mainspring housing? It gives Jam-o-matic a new meaning with anything other than WWB. Some DEFENSE package... Number two being a bare bones, bottom of the line Custom II. Probably the most reliable and accurate 1911 out of the box I've ever seen. So I guess it's a crap shoot with Kimber.

 

[Ken Rainey]

Howdy Doc2005, I now use these two pistols almost exclusively for my concealed carry duties. I got the Kimber in April of this year and it had been purchased for about six weeks when I bought it .... I've had the Glock 26 for about 5 years. The Glock 26 is an amazingly accurate and reliable pistol. The ONLY issue it has had was with Speer Lawman 147 FMJ ammo, the first round out of the mag would nose dive and hang on the feedramp...only happened about 3 times - probably a nose profile issue combined with being the first rd ?? - but hey, thats enough to let me know not to depend on that ammo....everything else has functioned perfectly ...

My Kimber Ultra Eclipse II was a basket case when I got it. I had to tune and adjust the extractor, I had to install an EGW oversize firing pin stop to stop the extractor from clocking, I had to remove a sharp point edge on the left side of the barrel throat that would hang the edge of my SWC ammo, I had to smooth the very bottom edge of the feed ramp (right where it was black) to remove tool marks that would stop a FMJ bullet cold, and I had to reshape the slide stop to keep it from locking open during a mag. This was very disappointing to encounter and if I had purchased it new (it was only about six weeks old and had only fired a box of ammo, the guy said it worked with FMJ fine but had a couple of jams with the Hornady 200 +P he tried) and paid retail price for it I would have been extremely disappointed. However, using the valuable information that I've learned from "cousin" 1911Tuner, I trouble shot - fixed - shot, and repeated until all issues were resolved.

Before I had even shot it, I sent an email to Kimber inquiring as to the recommended replacement of the recoil springs and was called by a very nice custom shop rep, that personally used this pistol herself, to explain the maintenance to me - excellent customer care. After firing the pistol and correcting the issues, I sent an email to Dennis to let him know of the problems that I had experienced.....he replied with a thank you and said that he would pass it on to QC and Engineering....

I have two full size pre series II Kimbers that are excellent pistols. The issues that I experienced with this "Custom Shop" pistol was a shame. I've no doubt that Dennis and his crew would have corrected the problems that it had, but it may have taken more than one trip to do it, as one problem would mask another until one was resolved. I am very appreciative of the knowledge that I have acquired that let me be able to trouble shoot and correct this little short stroker's issues myself -- Thanks again, "Cuz"

The pistol is now reliable and shoots well...it's a good looking pistol and I carry it regularly...if I'm riding my Harley or I know I'm gonna be doing a lot of sweating or likely to get caught in the rain, I'll usually carry the Glock 26 - just to "save" the Kimber - well, ok, to save me from a little harder detailed cleaning ! .... if I were to own only one of them at this time, either of them would be fine.

Based on my experience with these two pistols, I'd have to say that the Glock 26 would get my nod for an out of the box accurate, durable, reliable pistol....they are amazing little pistols....but then again, if I had to walk into a gun store and pick up a new pistol that I would have to load and use right then to defend my life with, it would be a 9mm Glock (17>26>19) because, more likely than not, it will work . I really like my Kimber 1911 pistols, they are my favorite handguns and they are reliable and accurate...it's just that, unfortunately, this one still needed the "final tuning" that it should have gotten at the factory....sad but true.

I've read on here and other forums where many have bought the Ultra's and had no problems at all ... I guess mine must have been put together on a Friday evening!

 

[Tokugawa]

My eclipse (internal extractor) was a pos. Every concievable jam possible. Nose dives, stovepipes, empty case caught 180 degrees in the ejection port, failure to return to battery, and on and on. with all types of ammo, including hardball. I have never in 30 years of shooting seen so many different types of jams from one gun.
My advice- if you want a 1911, get a 5" bare bones gun the way JMB designed it. My old Colt series 70 worked every time.
I will never buy another Kimber- burnt once, twice shy.