Alternatives to a Kimber

[tacman605]

I can't speak for Kimbers never owned one but I can speak for Springfields.
My last duty weapon before I left LE was a Springfield Operator with the full length dust cover and rail. I recently purchased a TRP with rails, adustable night sights and armory kote that I was able to put through its paces while I was home it was flawless.
This particular version may be over your price range but the standard Operators would not be. SA customer service, although I have never had to use them, from my understanding is the best in the business.
Good luck in your search.

[cdunn]

Friends don't let friends buy kimbers.

[STS]

Well first off I don't think there's anything wrong with a Kimber. I owe one that has fired every time I asked it to. I've fired a few newer ones and friends of mine have new ones too that work fine.

Don't let the internet or social forums propagate malfunctions as being quality control problems or problems at the manufacturing point.

Has there been some grumbling on the net regarding malfunction regarding Kimbers--yes. But...so has many other manufactures!!! It's simple engineering statistic; you stamp out enough products in volume your find a few that have issue. Every manufacture has issues with their products and hopefully they stand behind them and make things right.

As MIM parts I believe the steel is still stronger than originally specified by Mr. Browning in his original design and those examples still work today. Hell--I have a Commercial Colt 1911 (C65,XXX) made in 1916 and it works fine to 94 years latter.

Just remember...you can get a parts failure regardless of how the part is made. And, many manufactures use MIM parts, so is this really an issue with just Kimber.

The only thing I would suggest to make you feel better is; if you plan on running hot loads through it all the time, every time, then maybe having an issue with MIM parts might be warrented.

Sorry for the rant, but I'm just tired of spreading info on the net that is form folks not in the know and comes from 5th, 10th or maybe even 1000th hand knowledge.

I'd like to hear from the Kimber guys who have actually had problems...

A post like yours could be dangerous to a brand new LEO looking to buy a new 1911 for duty use.

[Rob_0811]

How bout an STI?

I ditched my Kimber TLEII and got a STI Trojan.

Great guns...

[SWATcop556]

How bout an STI?

I ditched my Kimber TLEII and got a STI Trojan.

Great guns...

Good gamer/comp guns but not setup for duty use.

[YVK]

The Kimber I have has approx 10,000 rounds through it. Before I sent it off for custom work I broke a slide stop, safety, my barrel chamber was too tight and caused malfunctions, and my extractor hook sheared off. It had two trips back to Kimber and still had issues.

I had to send it to an impartial smith before it was lined out correctly. I wouldn't buy another Kimber unless it was a great deal. .

Tight chamber, mistimed Schwartz and malfunctioning external extractor, also requiring trip to a pistolsmith. Traded for Colt 70 that has been reliable out of box. I wouldn't buy another Kimber unless it was a pre-Series II and a great deal.

[BlueOvalFan]

A post like yours could be dangerous to a brand new LEO looking to buy a new 1911 for duty use.

Understood...my post is more; don't believe the hype and do your own due diligence reasearch. Other words, talk to the kimber guys and just don't propagate info if you’re not the source or know it to be creditable. Besides, you’re likely to find people who post issue with their weapons than those that obsolutely love it. Out of those problematic posts what’s the sample rate your hearing from--0.01% or 25% of the owners?

Absolutely, do your homework if this is going to be a CCW or LEO duty weapon and pic the best.

But, doesn't the military and LAPD issue Kimbers to their special units--I think so.

Although it might appear so, I'm not a kimber lover as I have a Glock, Colt 1911 and have my eye on a Sig and XD. I just have some heart burn over hearsay info spread on the net--regardless of the issue.

Yea I know...but I can take an equal stance for the Kimber as those that oppose it.

[gan1hck]

What are his intended purposes with the gun? Duty, Self Defense, plinking? If only plinking anyone will be "ok". Now if he plans on duty use or self defense 1500 is the bare bare minimum. This should cover the cost of the gun then he should plan on spening another 1000-2000 on mods done by a qualified gun smith to get it running 100%. Just my 2 cents.

can you define "running 100%"?

[YVK]

Understood...my post is more; don't believe the hype and do your own due diligence reasearch. Other words, talk to the kimber guys and just don't propagate info if you’re not the source or know it to be creditable. Besides, you’re likely to find people who post issue with their weapons than those that obsolutely love it. Out of those problematic posts what’s the sample rate your hearing from--0.01% or 25% of the owners?

Absolutely, do your homework if this is going to be a CCW or LEO duty weapon and pic the best.

But, doesn't the military and LAPD issue Kimbers to their special units--I think so.

Although it might appear so, I'm not a kimber lover as I have a Glock, Colt 1911 and have my eye on a Sig and XD. I just have some heart burn over hearsay info spread on the net--regardless of the issue.

Yea I know...but I can take an equal stance for the Kimber as those that oppose it.

You are right that true prevalence of any problem, be it Kimber, or Glock with their Gen 4 issues, or Sig's quality control etc. is really only known by manufacturer alone.
However, Kimber is one of the examples where internet buzz preceded implicit recognition of existing problem by a manufacturer. Some 5 years ago Kimbers were all the rage, as good as production 1911 comes, bunch of people recommended it - Hilton Yam, for example, had it as one of recommended basic 1911s. Then people started to report problems with external extractors, and were brushed away as insignificant minority. Then some agreed that it was a problem, but only in short-format 1911s. Then Kimber started to replace all slides with external extractor with slides with conventional one, and the rest is history.
As far as units issuing Kimbers - you do know the answer to that, don't you?

[HK45]

Springfield MC Operator. If you can find one. They are popular for a reason.

I'm seeing complaints about the Wesson Valors QC. Plus they have gone up dramatically in price.

As to Kimber and MIM, well there is MIM and there is MIM. Quality control matters with MIM parts just like anything else.

My experience with Kimber is you may get one that runs well out of the box but none of them stand up to hard use and high round counts.