What's up with Kimber??

[ljnowell]

Everybody loves to hate the top dog, which Kimber is of the 1911 world ... so it's hip to trash Kimber. It's getting so it's hip to trash Sig now too, since the ex-Kimber President went there. My experience with both has been stellar, although I wouldn't spend my $1200 on a Kimber, there simply are better values available. If you did however I wouldn't question your rationale.

Kimber is a pretty good ways off from being the top dog of 1911s. I could think of at least three that I would rate much higher, heads and shoulders above kimber.

Then again, I guess I have seen too many kimbers fail to feed hardball until three or so trips back to them to fix it.

 

[TurboFC3S]

Top dog means top sales numbers ... I don't have numbers to back that up but would bet that Kimber sales more 1911's than anybody else. I can think of plenty I'd rater higher than Kimber too, but my objective rating has nothing to do with sales numbers.

BTW, I paid $575 for my Custom II and it's been nothing but 100% reliable.

 

[ljnowell]

Top dog means top sales numbers ... I don't have numbers to back that up but would bet that Kimber sales more 1911's than anybody else. I can think of plenty I'd rater higher than Kimber too, but my objective rating has nothing to do with sales numbers.

BTW, I paid $575 for my Custom II and it's been nothing but 100% reliable.

I gotcha man, I didnt get what you meant at first. I would agree, they probably do sell the most, advertising will do that. Just like the XD. Its a fine gun, but it isnt what its made out to be by magazines and gun writers. When you pay for enough advertisements you can get anything, and in XDs case, Gun of the Year. In my opinion this applies to the LCP also. The gun is a basket case of issues, but they still fly off the shelves. Good advertising.

 

[JoeSlomo]

Kimber quality control seems to be lacking imo.

Many of the issues people have had, including myself, were with small components that were just not fitted properly at the factory.

Example: Extractors that come out of the box too darn tight, and mag release buttons that cause the mag to get hung in the gun.

That's how mine came out of the box. I fixed both issues and have had no more problems ever since.

 

[DennisE]

I've owned 7 or 8 Kimbers and they've all been great! Dennis

 

[RogersPrecision]

Geeze Louise!!!!!

All you gotta do is run 500rds of premium FMJ ammo through the gun while holding it tightly and having it dripping with oil!

Just ask Dennis.

If it 'breaks in' in 500rds........does it 'wear out' in 1000?

I love these posts:
"I've had my Kimber for 10 years and have NEVER experienced a malfunction."
Uhhhhhh.......and you have maybe run 100rds through it?

Kimbers suffer from some simple problems that the factory refuses to address.
Poor mags, clocking extractors, lower lug peening and lack of an adequate radius where the barrel mouth meets the chamber.

Overall I think they are a good value for the money spent. BUT they usually benefit from the attention of a competent smith.

 

[jon_in_wv]

S&WMP45,

I don't believe your topic starting post.

Interesting, because I've heard exactly the same things. Only one local shop even carries Kimbers. The rest won't recommend them. The gunsmith I know also refuses to recommend Kimbers and on two seperate occasions has shown me kaboomed Kimbers in his shop where the barrels had very little chamber support. Most Kimbers are fine as far as 1911s go but there are issues with some of them, it wouldn't be honest to say otherwise.

 

[Tacbandit]

I bought a Custom II, and then a Pro Carry II...Great guns, no problems, and
absolute reliability. The Pro Carry II is probably one of the best 1911's I've shot, and has been the main stay for my CCW...Kimber, like any other brand(pick one, yours included) has a few rough ones here and there...They have come a long way, and have taken a lions share of the market, and this will cause folks to throw a few stones...All of the major manufacturers have some great guns, and occasionally will let some bad stuff through...On price, well....You won't get a much better gun for the money than I did with the Pro Carry II...It was around $750.00, and has been an absolute dream...A lot of times, the problem is that a dealer hears something, and repeats it, with no personal knowledge of their own..."He said, she said..." I had this happen with a major player in the gun market here...A dealer/salesman of the largest and best gun store around this geographical area made a comment to me about a whole line of a particular brand...come on, ya'll...some stuff you have to take with a grain of salt...

 

[Tacbandit]

Quote:
"Then again, I guess I have seen too many kimbers fail to feed hardball until three or so trips back to them to fix it."



Again, this would be true of Colt, Springfield, Para, and all the rest of them...
They all have their problems...Fortunately, they will generally make it right for you....unlike a "lemon" when you buy a car....

 

[bigcim]

Heres my Kimber eclipse flavored in 10mm. Haven't got to the 500 round break in yet but so far so good.

[/IMG]

 

[Tacbandit]

sweet.......That eclipse is a really nice gun....

 

[ljnowell]

Again, this would be true of Colt, Springfield, Para, and all the rest of them...
They all have their problems...Fortunately, they will generally make it right for you....unlike a "lemon" when you buy a car....

Yes, all of them will let out a lemon from time to time, thats not what I said though. What I said is that I have seen a disproportianate number of kimbers have problems over colts, etc. In all honesty, I would rather take my chances with a pt1911 or a RIA instead of a Kimber. My pt1911 has seen well over 5K rounds.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Assuming any are still in circulation, you definitely want to avoid one with an external extractor.

 

[Rob96]

There are top 1911'smiths that still recomend Springer and Colt but have dropped Kimber from their list of recomended pistols. That my friends is a clue.

Like I said, I just find it very humorous when a salesperson will sell you a gun that is $100-$200 less than the Kimber because of the issues they have dealt with, both as far as product quality and Kimber CS.

 

[DeepSouth]

I have been told that the MIM process that Kimber is using is the cause of the majority of the problems. All most all other 1911 manufactures use MIM but, from what I understand, everyone else's MIM just holds up much better than Kimbers.

The "break in period" is also a problem, You want me buy a thousand dollar gun and not expect it to shoot 100% right out of the box. That is bull and I ain't buying it, but Kimber is not alone in that area.

There is also the famous Kimber CS, or lack there of.

 

[wally]

Kimber's foray into external extractors damaged their reputation. People who drop $1000+ on a pistol that don't work initially and isn't quickly fixed tend to be pretty vocal about it. Use the search on some 1911 forums, persistent folks eventually got Kimber to replace the slide with an internal extractor model.

As to bad mouthing SIG, again its pretty easy to do over the GSR and Mosquito, maybe they've addressed the issues now.

--wally.

 

[Sapper771]

Maybe I got the lemon. I bought a NIB Kimber Eclipse Target II in '05. I couldnt get through a magazine with out having at least 3 malfunctions. I continued to shoot it, and it continued to jam. Kimber said it was my ammo first. I told them I had shot several different brands and still the jams. They said that it was my magazines. I told them that I was using Wilsons, and they worked perfectly fine in my other pistol. Then they said that it was me. This frustrated me a bit. I told them that I had been shooting 1911s since I was young. They finally told me to send it back to them.
Long story short, two trips to kimber, $110 in shipping charges, and still didnt fix it. I wrote a letter to Kimber requesting a refund, and they denied it and stated that they would not refund my money , but they would continue to honor their warranty service and repair.
I ended up taking the pistol back to the gun shop I bought it from. I explained to them the issues and told them that I wanted to trade it. I ended up getting a Glock 22, 5 hi-cap mags, holster, and some ammo.....but I still took a hard loss by trading it.
From my experience with Kimber, I do not recommend them to anyone. From what I have seen and heard, Kimbers either work well or they dont. I was impressed with their product, not impressed by their product's performance or their customer service.

 

[marriedguy1]

I've personally owned the following Kimbers:

CDP Pro II
Custom II
Tactical Pro II
Tactical Custom II

The following is a list of the problems that I have had with the pistols combined:


I can only assume all of mine were defective.
For me the features, price, and availability are what sold me. Oh wait I had to call Kimber once to order a new take down tool. They sent it to me at no charge.

 

[TimboKhan]

Top dog means top sales numbers ... I don't have numbers to back that up but would bet that Kimber sales more 1911's than anybody else. I can think of plenty I'd rater higher than Kimber too, but my objective rating has nothing to do with sales numbers.

Really? You think Kimber sells more 1911's than Springfield? I don't know, so maybe you are right, but I would think that with Springfield offering such a variety of pistols at such a variety of price points, they would rule the roost.

 

[mljdeckard]

My Kimber Custom II has been the best handgun I have ever owned. Period.

I think the hating comes from what I call Ford Taurus syndrome. Ford sold so many Tauri that there was a timeframe when everybody knew a couple of friends who drove one. Then, they started hearing about all kinds of problems with them, making them think, "A taurus is a bad car." What they may not have had a way to know is, Tauruses may or may have not been less reliable than any other car, but the fact that there were SO MANY of them on the road made the failure rate APPEAR higher than it was. Mechanics I have talked to have related to me that Tauruses were at least as reliable as any other car in the price range.

Kimber sells two to three times as many 1911s at other manufactures. I don't know how to find it in here, but someone posted the reporting data from BATFE for 2007, Kimber sells FAR MORE 1911s than their competitors. This means, you are going to HEAR about more problems. Whenever a dealer sells a pistol to someone that has a problem, he gets an earful from the customer. Neither of these things means that the actual lemon RATE is higher than any other manufacturer.

The 1911s manufacturer I have had the most problems with in the last couple of years is Para-Ordnance.

 

[schmeky]

TimboKhan,

Someone posted an interesting post on this site a while back showing production numbers for all 1911 makers; it was surprising. Kimber sells more 1911's than all other 1911 manufacturers combined.

I had no idea.

 

[Mags]

hmm i just read up on the kimber custom II. it doesn't have half the features the springer champion operator does, which is only a little more xpensive brand new. i just paid $725 for a used but unfired champiom operator, and it shot great.

Owned a Custom II nite sight model and Springfield Loaded model at the same time. All the visible features were the same to me. Took longer to break in the springer about 750 rounds but it shot nice and I sold the kimber.(I regret it but at the time I didn't see the point of two guns in the same platform) Now I am buying a Kimber Tactical custom and we will see how that goes after a range session.

 

[Tacbandit]

Quote:
"Yes, all of them will let out a lemon from time to time, thats not what I said though. What I said is that I have seen a disproportianate number of kimbers have problems over colts, etc. In all honesty, I would rather take my chances with a pt1911 or a RIA instead of a Kimber. My pt1911 has seen well over 5K rounds.


Gotcha...I see where you're coming from, and I'm glad you're having great luck with your gun...We all have our preferences...However, I wouldn't say that Kimber has had a disproportionate number of problems over Colt, or anyone else for that matter...They all seem to have seasons of quality control issues...A few years back, many people were ticked over Colt quality...seems you couldn't get a reliable "right out of the box" pistol...This went on for a few years...If you sell more than others, eventually you'll have some problems arise...Good luck with yours...Happy shooting.....

 

[ljnowell]

Gotcha...I see where you're coming from, and I'm glad you're having great luck with your gun...We all have our preferences...However, I wouldn't say that Kimber has had a disproportionate number of problems over Colt, or anyone else for that matter...They all seem to have seasons of quality control issues...A few years back, many people were ticked over Colt quality...seems you couldn't get a reliable "right out of the box" pistol...This went on for a few years...If you sell more than others, eventually you'll have some problems arise...Good luck with yours...Happy shooting.....

Thats the truth too. I remember when no one would touch a colt. Some manufacturers will come around, some wont. It wasnt long ago that I wouldnt touch a taurus. Now I own two. The sigmas were god awful, but as I understand it now, they are improving. Even the mighty glock has had its ups and downs. Right now Glock is having huge problems with the 30sf models, and the 21sf ambi mag release. Not to mention the g36, yuck.

 

[charlie-6]

Have a SS raptor shoot ever week with no problems.