Kimber TLE/RL II opinions

[evilmonkey]

Whats your opinion on this pistol? Haven't owned a 1911 in 6 years and got the itch to get one so I picked one up today. I heard bad things about there external extractors! I always thought Kimbers were top of the line.

[M4Guru]

Kimber admitted the external extractors were not performing and will swap the slides for you if you have one.

[evilmonkey]

Damn I guess Ill give them a call! Have they been having trouble extracting or are the parts breaking? Thats just my luck!:mad:

[TUNNEL RAT 33]

i have a tactical custom II and it works great . i've been thinking about getting a warrior and have been researching a lot . supposedly their QC is hit or miss over the last couple of years . so if you get a good one great

[JLM]

Kimber admitted the external extractors were not performing and will swap the slides for you if you have one.

While they DID replace my slide, they chalked up the extractor change to 'cost issues' and did NOT admit it was a poor design. They basically did everything they could to blow me off but I stood my ground until they made it right. I'd rather nail jello to the wall, much easier :D

According to the CS (and I use that loosely) guy that I spoke to the whole 'external extractor' debacle was merely a rumour propagated by a bunch of 'internet gunsmiths' and had no credibility.

The argument ended when I asked him if he considered LAV to be a 'gunsmith'. Followed by a 'send us the gun then'.

[JLM]

Damn I guess Ill give them a call! Have they been having trouble extracting or are the parts breaking? Thats just my luck!:mad:

Breakage I don't know about, but they suffer from poor tensions and poor geometry. Mine was so bad that the gun would drag the case head of the last round fired down thru the feedlips of the magazine, spreading them apart and completely locking up the gun. Showstopper. It took a a screwdriver to get the empty case and mag out of the guns.

There are pictures of all this over at 10-8 in the 1911 subforum, they have an ongoing thread for 1911 Malfunctions. Go take a peek.

The funny thing was, the gun ran perfectly for around 2700 rounds and then WHAM, heinous malfunction.

http://www.10-8forums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=52142&page=0&fpart=2&vc=1&nt=3

[TUNNEL RAT 33]

so how does it run now ?? i have about 1500 rds through mine and havent had any problems . i like it so much i am looking at the warrior . and yes i have been reading all the negative things about kimber and the warrior . i have also started looking at springfeilds , specifically the mc operator . what do you guys think and yes even though its been covered any updated info would be much appreciated

[JLM]

Got it back with a new slide, and new night sights from Kimber. They also reamed the chamber and did a few small other things.

Fired a 50 round test, and sold it. :D The CS guy was so abrasive that I was over it at that point. Extractor tension was good on the new unit, so I would guess its probably fine with its new owner. Easier to work on with the internal config as well.

Buying an out of the box 1911 and expecting it run with the degree of reliability I require is an ongoing adventure. Decided I didn't want to take the trip, at least in the near future.

[evilmonkey]

Screw it, I just got back from returning the Kimber and got one of the Springfield Trophy match 1911's. The manager of the shop was a hell of a nice guy! He had no problem taking back the pistol. The place is Collectors firearms here in Houston. You cant beat good customer service!!;)

[Grey]

If you get a good one you are good to go. Unfortunately the TLE II I bought a couple years ago (internal extractor) never did work properly. After a few trips to Kimber it worked well but I did not have great confidence in the gun so I sold it.

I am now in the process of saving for a custom/ semi-custom 1911.
I know a lot of guys who shoot the heck out of there Kimbers and they have been top notch. I think I just had one that slipped through the QC cracks.

[Robb Jensen]

In my experience Kimber replaces slides with internal extractors on the 2nd return to them.

[LDM]

evilmonkey, this is just one guy's tale for what it's worth.
Like you, I had not had a 1911 for a while and bought a Kimber TLE II a couple of years ago. I hate to admit to it, but when I bought it I did not know it had a Swartz safety, nor the issues with same. I did not know the internals were MIM, nor what MIM is for that matter.
What I ended up with was a very good precision frame, slide, and barrel. My Frankenkimber as I now call it is actually a very good weapon now, with tool steel internals and about every other part replaced with top drawer parts. Even had it DLC finished by Ionbond. It was a learning experience. But an expensive education.
For what I spent on this weapon, I could have easily gotten a Brown, Baer, Nighhawk, Wilson, etc.
If I had it to do over, I'd either bite the bullet on cost and buy one of those listed above, or buy a stock Springfield Mil-Spec and send to a good gunsmith (e.g. EGW, or a number of others) to replace MIM with tool steel trigger-hammer-sear / extractor and perform a reliability tune so I had a good basic weapon for about what a Kimber TLE costs.
Stay safe.

[Powder Burns]

If I was ready to purchase a 1911 I wouldn't buy a Kimber. Of all the Kimbers I've held, (which would probably be in the 20-30 neighborhood) almost half of them exhibited signs of rust/oxidization on or around the hammer or the back of the frame on the slide rails...and these were new-in-box models, not used guns. I suspect it has something to do with the finish they are using, and/or the internal parts. For the price of a kimber, which is upwards of $1200 and even more on some models, you are probably better off chipping in the extra $ and getting a 1911 from les Baer, Wilson Combat, STI, Caspian Arms, or any of the other top tier custom shops. From what I understand the smith & wesson 1911s or even the taurus pt1911 would be a better deal, even after custom work.

The Kimber rifles sure look nice, though.