kimbers external extractor.

[WillBrink]

..in fact the only experience I have with a Kimber 1911 style 45 had a broken MIM disconnector...probably some bad metal...

A lot of bad metal seems to finds its way into Kimber 1911s. Just sayin'

[YVK]

I had one, and it was bad. A master gunsmith tuned it, and it lasted for several thousand rounds, but when it wore off a bit, it started malfunctioning again. Traded at loss and with disclosure.

[Bolt_Overide]

Theres a reason that you hear a lot about external extractor kimbers being junk, because more people have had issues than those that havent. My personal experience with a tactical II was that it was shit.

[Dave Berryhill]

OP's words not mine...

Sorry! My bad. After re-reading your post I realized that you were commenting on the OP's pistol, not your own.

[hill]

Ain't no thing Dave...I prefer all steel pistols as well despite them being heavier than the so called wonder nines...which includes most auto calibers now-a-days...my stable is quite literally full of Colt 1911 45's...that's just personal preference...

[Cagemonkey]

Personally, the only 1911 with an external extractor I would trust my life to, is S&W who has a lot of experience with them, and they have been very robust, especially those from the Performance Center. Kimber external extractors were well known for being problematic, but your experiences seem to suggest you don't have a problematic one, but it may or may not show itself with additional rnds. Personally, Kimber would never be a 1911 of choice for me regardless of extractors used, but some like them just fine.

Nice to hear some good comments on the S&W 1911. I have one and have had good luck so far. My only mods are some Simonich Gunner Grips, grip tape on the front strap and removal of the firing pin safety system. Being a fellow citizen of Mass, its about my only choice for a reliable, affordable 1911. I hear the Performance Center 1911's have larger extractors. I wonder if they could fit one to a standard S&W 1911?

[WillBrink]

Nice to hear some good comments on the S&W 1911. I have one and have had good luck so far. My only mods are some Simonich Gunner Grips, grip tape on the front strap and removal of the firing pin safety system. Being a fellow citizen of Mass, its about my only choice for a reliable, affordable 1911. I hear the Performance Center 1911's have larger extractors. I wonder if they could fit one to a standard S&W 1911?

For the $$$, the S&W d tend to be some of the most reliable out of the box 1911s going, but two major issues prevent 1911 purists from full acceptance: the external extractor and the internal safety. Some early runs had hit or miss QC issues, usually cosmetic.

You can't use PC 1911 extractors on their non PC 1911s, as they are larger and situated lower on the frame. My PC 1911:

[Cagemonkey]

For the $$$, the S&W d tend to be some of the most reliable out of the box 1911s going, but two major issues prevent 1911 purists from full acceptance: the external extractor and the internal safety. Some early runs had hit or miss QC issues, usually cosmetic.

You can't use PC 1911 extractors on their non PC 1911s, as they are larger and situated lower on the frame. My PC 1911:

I feel pretty confident in my S&W 1911. Thats a nice looking 1911 you got there.

[MustangGreg66]

I have a kimber TLE/RL II as well, althought I bought mine used some time ago and the previous owner said he had a lot of gunsmith work done to it, including a reliability tune.

I fired about 2000 rounds through it (I forget how many the original owner put through it) and they were flawless. I cleaned it after most range sessions and it was fine. Then I got lazy and went probably 800 rounds of Moly coated lead reloads through it without cleaning. At that point I started consistantly getting failures to eject. The Moly bullets are dirty and I'm sure it malfunctioned more as a result of it being filthy than because of the external extractor.

Now I make sure and clean it between 400-600 rounds or when it starts to look really dirty. Even with the Moly it does lead the barrel, but FMJ is just so much more expensive that I'm willing to clean up the mess it makes.

I trust it, and regularly shoot with it in competition. My plan is to shoot it until it wears and something breaks and then I'll call kimber and have them do an overhaul on it. I've heard several people who've had problems have called and had the slide replaced under warranty.

Oh, and here's a pic for fun

[Ned Christiansen]

My good friend Alex Zimmermann consulted with three companies about the external extractor as this fad spooled up..... Alex is sort of a behind-the-scenes 1911 genius. The list of outfits that got it right includes these three, and by extension, sorta, a fourth. I'm not sure there are any others that got it right, I just don't see many EE 1911's.

Kimber tried several iterations of it and although I only examined a half-dozen or so, it seemed like they moved left and right of accomplishing the task but never tried the middle. I am not at all a Kimber-basher, I've seen some very good ones, but on this issue it looked as if they didn't exactly understand what had to happen when extraction time comes in the 1911's cycle.