Springfield MC Operator or Kimber TLE/RL? opinions

[lawusmc0844]

Never been impressed with any Kimbers, from friends guns to rental guns. Overpriced for what they are in my opinion. I've seen more than one at gun stores brand new rust just sitting under the glass counter!
I've had great luck with Springfields, having owned the GI, Mil-Spec and older MC Operator. I still have the MC Operator which I rarely shoot because of .45 prices and Safariland doesn't seem to make ALS holsters for 1911s. I sent it back to Springfield last year to get the extractor fixed as it was sometimes crushing cases on extraction. Springfield of course has great customer service, I got my Operator back I test fired 200 more rounds, perfect ejection. As a plus, they even refinished the muzzle end which had holster wear from the RCS holster I used to have.

I'm still debating on whether to sell my Operator and the rest of my .45 ACP or not but for anyone looking to get into 1911s I highly recommend Springfield.

[Jewell]

I'm a little late to the party, but I'd personally go with the Springfield. As others have said, Kimber just isn't what it used to be.

[Dean51]

Well I have an update, first I would like to thank everyone for there responses so far. My goal was to actually get two 1911's, a commander sized for CCW and a full sized for work. I was still torn as to which I preferred Springfield or Kimber, so when a gun show came to town I took the opportunity to go and coon finger all the pretty toys. I got to examine many different models of 1911's from both companies and the Kimber won me over. The fit and finish on all the Kimbers I looked at was impressive, the lockup was tight, and the safeties clicked off and on exactly as it should with no wobble (for some reason the Colts I played with all had some slop in the thumb safety). Inside the Kimbers the feed rams looked exactly like the Springfields (none of the SA or Kimbers were cut quite deep enough but they were workable). This was the first time I was able to really compare the two makers, Kimbers are hard to find in my area.

I looked hard at the Springfield MC operator but it just did not impress me, and the green frame is awful (no offense to anyone who likes it). On top the that I found the Kimbers just fit me. Every 1911 has a little different feel, I can tell the difference between a Springfield and a Colt and a Wilson and so on. The Kimber fits in my hand perfectly, something about the beavertail and frame cut that makes the gun feel like it was made for me. So I came home with the CCW that I wanted, a like new Kimber TLE Pro. I grabbed some ammo and went off to the range. After a few magazines the slide started to lock back with a few rounds left in the chamber, I was prepared for this, it is a common Kimber problem with an easy fix. I took the opportunity to replace the cast slide stop with a Colt bar stock slide stop. I took the pistol back out to the range and the problem is totally gone.

So far I have about 350 rounds through the gun, this includes different brands of hardball and two different hollowpoint brands. I have also used 3 different magazines, now that the slide stop issue is resolved the gun runs flawlessly. The gun eats everything I feed it, I finally broke down and cleaned it yesterday for the first time (I wanted to know it would still run if it was dirty...... it will) The last magazine I shot was the best group I have ever shot, 10 yards, 7 rounds, ONE HOLE. I have never shot that tight of a group. I am a very happy Kimber owner. Now I just have to find my work gun.

[jedi391]

Glad you like your new gun, let us know how it goes.

[ClearedHot]

I dig my MC Operator. It's not perfect out of the box, but for the money it's a pretty damn good 1911.

[Drifting Fate]

Glad you found a pistol you liked. I've had a roller-coaster ride with Kimbers, but still have two of them, so that says something. IMO, they are the brand people love to hate-on even with no experience, so brace yourself. Overall, they are well finished guns with good triggers. I think it's a QC issue more than a design issue. So, if you have one which runs, you should be good.

I'm a big Springfield fan, too, so, honestly, I don't think you could really have gone wrong either way.

Both brands have their pros and cons. Shoot 'em, keep 'em cleaned and lubed, carry 'em, fix 'em as needed, as with any 1911 - heck, any gun.

[GregP220]

Kimbers have pretty good frames, slides and barrels. It's everything else that fails before it should.

Replacing the slide stop was a good move. If you're serious about carrying the Kimber, consider replacing the hammer, sear, extractor, firing pin stop and thumb safety. Those are the parts that go first.

Keep an eye on the plunger tube too.

And I have owned a couple, plus fixed a few more for those who may be wondering.

[L-2]

I've kept one Kimber (an SIS Custom) of the three I had, not that the other two were bad.
This one Kimber is at 18K rounds. I've replaced:
-recoil springs w/firing pin spring ~2500 round intervals (wear/feed & extraction malfunctions begin to occur);
-slide stops one or two (lobes breaking off);
-extractors ~5K intervals (hooks breaking off; depending on extractor/brand/model tension may not be holding)(I've had extractor hooks break off on my other brands of 1911, too. It's not just a Kimber thing.);
-ejector occasionally loosens, but it's pinned, therefore I give it some "Loctite" occasionally when it loosens up.
-somewhere ~10K+, I smoothed out the bottom barrel lugs as I was getting some "barrel bump". I hear this may later occur again but I've not needed to file there lately.
-also ~10K rounds, the front night sight went dim but Kimber replaced it under warranty.
-when brand new, Kimber ended up immediately replacing the hammer & sear due to it going full-auto (doubling or tripling). Since that initial couple of magazines, I'm essentially still on the all-but-original hammer & sear.

When I had the other two Kimbers:
I needed a replacement slide stop due to premature slide lock back. Kimber sent me a modified one which worked fine. I found Ed Brown and Wilson-Combat slide stops also worked fine with zero fitting, too. When I removed the grips a grip screw bushing came out with the screw. Before I knew to try an alternate, non-destructive method, I destroyed that bushing and bought another set to replace that one bushing & screw. For "peace of mind", I had a gunsmith do some reliability work on it. He did some timing work on the Swartz safety mechanism to ensure the grip safety was lifting the firing pin safety prior to the trigger releasing the hammer. That timing issue may not be an issue to all folks and not every Kimber will need that extra timing of the mechanism.

My Kimber Warrior had a small rust stain on its barrel when I first bought it. I cleaned it off as best as I could and didn't notice it anymore after a few thousand rounds. One rear night sight dot went dim but I never sent it back for warranty before selling it. The extractor/firing pin stop needed some work due to extractor clocking. I was just starting to do more armorer work on my own guns and pretty much got it working ok. The trigger had a bit of grit somewhere, but I never got around to taking it apart to look for and remedy the cause.