I hate Kimbers!

[amd5007]

I have shot a lot of USPSA and the Kimbers always seem to fail. I have seen multiple safety lever disintegrate to having guns full auto and dump full mags.

That was enough for me to never buy a kimber. I always hear of the locals talk about how their kimber has been 100% reliable and never malfunctions. I just can't believe that's the truth.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's true if you fire a box once a year.

Yep I've seen it too, not the full auto part, but things unexpectedly snapping during a stage. I shoot a lot of IDPA and I've seen my fair share of Kimbers go down hard during a stage. But to be fair, I've seen a lot of 1911s in general go down too. My friend likes to beat on the 1911 and every time one fails he's keen to point it out, however my 1911s in general and my Warrior keep chugging along. Not one malfunction during any stage. I carefully maintain my weapons and keep a general log on round counts to determine when maintenance should be performed.

Funny story though, his "flawless, utterly reliable" (his actual words) Sig 229 jammed during a stage about a month ago. He stood there dumbfounded looking at his pistol trying to figure out what happened. He's since toned down his criticism. I know it will happen to me eventually, hopefully I won't be stunned by it.

[Bret]

My first Commander sized 1911 was a 9mm stainless Kimber Pro Carry II. I bought it around the time that Obama got elected, so they were nowhere to be found locally. I looked at all the data and pictures on their website and decided to place an order online. It arrived and I found that my "stainless" "carry" pistol had black sights and a carbon steel barrel (in the white). BTW, their website didn't show a picture of the sights and it listed the barrel as being made from "match grade steel", whatever that is. When I get a new gun I shoot a variety of known good factory new ammunition through it. This one was no different. The first time I shot it I knew there was a problem. Spent cases were ejecting weakly in multiple directions and it experienced multiple failures to eject. I knew right away that the pistol was simply oversprung. Called Kimber and they told me that there was a break-in period. I knew that was BS, but I shot it just to be sure. Nothing changed other than the amount of ammo I had went down. Called Kimber again and they sent a call tag. I got it back and nothing had changed. Frustrated, I looked on Wolff's website for a lighter recoil spring. Found out that this particular pistol has a bastard size recoil spring and the only one Wolff offers is the same poundage as the factory spring. Sent it back to Kimber again and got it back. Same old story. I don't know what they think they did, but I couldn't have described the weak ejection problem any better, so they had to see it unless they were shooting +P+ ammo. I then decided that I would attempt to fix it myself. So, I installed a weaker hammer spring which brought the trigger pull weight down. But, most importantly, the pistol began ejecting spent cases with more force and they were ejecting to the right as they should. Even more most importantly, no more failures to eject. Of course since it was supposed to be a "carry" pistol, I had to replace the sights. Now it does run 100%, is accurate and I must admit it looks good, but the whole experience just left a bad taste in my mouth. There's no excuse for Kimber shipping out an unreliable pistol to begin with, but two trips back should have easily fixed things up. Not to mention, I just feel ripped off in regard to getting a carbon steel barrel in a stainless gun and black sights on a carry gun.

I've since purchased two 9mm Colt Commanders, one with a steel frame and one with an aluminum frame. Both run 100%, though I'd give the Kimber the edge in the trigger and accuracy department. I'd definitely give the Colts the edge in the bet your life on it department.

My most recent commander sized purchase is a 9mm Springfield Armory Champion. The first time I shot it the fiber optic sight looked great, until it fell off.

Based on my experiences, if I could only buy one, I'd go with the Colt. I am interested in getting a Ruger to see how it compares.

[WillBrink]

My first Commander sized 1911 was a 9mm stainless Kimber Pro Carry II. I bought it around the time that Obama got elected, so they were nowhere to be found locally. I looked at all the data and pictures on their website and decided to place an order online. It arrived and I found that my "stainless" "carry" pistol had black sights and a carbon steel barrel (in the white). BTW, their website didn't show a picture of the sights and it listed the barrel as being made from "match grade steel", whatever that is. When I get a new gun I shoot a variety of known good factory new ammunition through it. This one was no different. The first time I shot it I knew there was a problem. Spent cases were ejecting weakly in multiple directions and it experienced multiple failures to eject. I knew right away that the pistol was simply oversprung. Called Kimber and they told me that there was a break-in period. I knew that was BS, but I shot it just to be sure. Nothing changed other than the amount of ammo I had went down. Called Kimber again and they sent a call tag. I got it back and nothing had changed. Frustrated, I looked on Wolff's website for a lighter recoil spring. Found out that this particular pistol has a bastard size recoil spring and the only one Wolff offers is the same poundage as the factory spring. Sent it back to Kimber again and got it back. Same old story. I don't know what they think they did, but I couldn't have described the weak ejection problem any better, so they had to see it unless they were shooting +P+ ammo. I then decided that I would attempt to fix it myself. So, I installed a weaker hammer spring which brought the trigger pull weight down. But, most importantly, the pistol began ejecting spent cases with more force and they were ejecting to the right as they should. Even more most importantly, no more failures to eject. Of course since it was supposed to be a "carry" pistol, I had to replace the sights. Now it does run 100%, is accurate and I must admit it looks good, but the whole experience just left a bad taste in my mouth. There's no excuse for Kimber shipping out an unreliable pistol to begin with, but two trips back should have easily fixed things up. Not to mention, I just feel ripped off in regard to getting a carbon steel barrel in a stainless gun and black sights on a carry gun.

I've since purchased two 9mm Colt Commanders, one with a steel frame and one with an aluminum frame. Both run 100%, though I'd give the Kimber the edge in the trigger and accuracy department. I'd definitely give the Colts the edge in the bet your life on it department.

My most recent commander sized purchase is a 9mm Springfield Armory Champion. The first time I shot it the fiber optic sight looked great, until it fell off.

Based on my experiences, if I could only buy one, I'd go with the Colt. I am interested in getting a Ruger to see how it compares.

Another issue not even mentioned. Any machine made by man can break, any company can make a lemon. What matters then is CS. S&W, Springfield, etc have A+ CS if you have an issue. Never heard anything positive about Kimber's CS and plenty of complaints. I'd never buy a gun from a company personally not known for good/great CS knowing I may need it no matter how GTG their product.

[dwhitehorne]

OP I'm glad you got one that worked. I had a Kimber CDP Pro II about 8 to 10 years ago. I spend over $1000 on it and was proud to own such a nice looking weapon. After lots of ammo on the "breaking period" that customer service suggested and many types of mags I sent it back. I couldn't get through a box of FMJ ammo without at least one malfunction. After sending it back to Kimber and having the recoil spring replaced it still wouldn't run. I was quite sad that I had a $350 RIA that ran and my Kimber would not. I eventually traded in the CDP Pro II on a full size Custom II buying in to only the 5 inch 1911's run properly. My full size RIA did. My Kimber Custom II was an external extractor model and not the most reliable weapon either. I've been soured on Kimber ever since. OP make sure you keep that barrel well oiled. I'm not sure what has changed over the last decade but my CDP Pro II barrel would get surface rust quite easily. Good luck. David

[Drifting Fate]

I have owned my fair share of 1911's from a number of manufacturers, and I can't say the Kimbers were any better or worse than the vaunted Colts. Actually, yes, I can - the Colts were a complete PITA and the Kimbers have been better. The best guns out there? No. They are like what Car and Driver said about Chrysler/Dodge: great design department, terrible QAQC department (apologies to car owners, I love Challengers, Chargers, and Wranglers.) I'm down to two 1911's, both Kimbers. One was my fathers which I keep for sentimental reasons. Low round count, but no problems using only Wilson mags. The other is an SIS model, which, yes, has the cheesy "serrations," but I just had to have a pistol designed for that legendary LAPD squad - it's like someone who likes football paying too much for a team jersey. It's a safe queen but it's never given me any problems and has been a dream at the range.

Kimber's main problem seems to be quality control. If it works, it works wonderfully. If it doesn't, you are sending a gunsmith's kid through school. Note that my experience is mostly with 5" guns, but the one 4" I owned was also flawless.

[PattonWasRight]

Don't know any stats, but we do get some frustrated Kimber owners come to us where I work ... they want us to contact Kimber on their behalf. If they purchased the gun from us, we do, or at least try. I think that's where Kimber customer service for whatever reason has decided to shoot themselves in both feet. The customer is not the enemy. You can't keep telling customers to pour hundreds more dollars of ammo through their gun in the hopes of the "break-in fairies" waving a magic wand over it.

That said, I hear plenty of Kimber owners gush much love over their guns.

[HKGuns]

If you had negative experience with one, why did you get more? As a rule, those most knowledgeable about 1911s, do not recommend Kimber. They are considered the Bush Master of the 1911 world. There will always be someone who will tell you they have one that.s been perfect (just as owners of BM, DPMS, etc) but the BTDT in the 1911 world, do not as a rule recommend it. I have heard your story way too many times to ever consider that brand of 1911. I used to be all about 1911s, them went to polymer wonder pistol via M&P with APEX kit, so am out of the loop on latest in 1911 world. My advise, sell your Kimbers to your expery buddy who talked you into that brand, and get something known for quality and reliability, two terms not generally associated with Kimbers.

My thoughts exactly. All show, no go and if they spent 1/10th of what they spend on those full page ads in every gun rag known to man they could invest in some QC.

[Pappabear]

Every company can make products that work. Even if 70% run perfect. 30% that crash is way too high. I have no idea what the numbers are, but every friend I had that owned one, sent it in for service.

I've heard good things about their CS, because a lot of people have experience with them.

I just can't figure why they can't get it right. They are big and have money. You would think .....

PB

[Bret]

Right. It would cost them much less money if they had higher quality. Perhaps it's just as simple as they don't have good feedback communication between service and production. An engineering liaison person might be just what they need.

[Zonie]

Right. It would cost them much less money if they had higher quality. Perhaps it's just as simple as they don't have good feedback communication between service and production. An engineering liaison person might be just what they need.

It's possible that Kimber has crunched the numbers and made a financial decision not to spend money on good CS. What percentage of Kimber owners shoot enough to uncover problems? What percentage of Kimber owners who do uncover problems were going to be a future customer anyway? If Kimber spends money on advertising instead of CS, is that financially smarter than providing good CS? I'm not sure you can really know for sure. I tend to believe companies like SA and S&W invest the money in CS because it's the right thing to do more than because it makes them money.