Kimber

[geno22]

New to this sight and don't see much about Kimber 1911's, is there any problems, Shot a friend of mine and Im looking to buy one.

[Pahoo]

Kimber 1911's
Some of the best and lots of models to choose from !!!! .....




Be Safe !!!

[Ozzieman]

I own two, I like them so much that when the new small Kimber SOLO comes out I get the first one that comes into the gun store sight unseen.
http://www.kimberamerica.com/solo

[Ben Towe]

"Shot a friend of mine..." Might want to edit.

Kimbers are great guns but expensive.

[Shane Tuttle]

New to this sight and don't see much about Kimber 1911's, is there any problems, Shot a friend of mine and Im looking to buy one.

Have you used the "Search" function in the toolbar?

[TheGoldenState]

New to this sight and don't see much about Kimber 1911's, is there any problems, Shot a friend of mine and Im looking to buy one.

Ton of Kimber Info.

Goes either way sometimes. Great gun.

[amd6547]

For the $$'s, I would much rather have a S&W 1911.

[ghost556]

there are better guns out there for the money.....and better ones for a lot less money. the RIA guns i've owned were far more reliable than the kimbers....buyer beware

[Tom Servo]

They seem to require a break-in period. The barrels are bare white steel, and are not treated at all. As such, I've seen new guns come from the factory with rust on the barrel hood.

For some reason, they use a thread locker on the grip screws, but not on the bushings. Be very careful when removing the grips, or the bushings will come out with them.

Little things like that matter to me, especially on a gun running close to $1000. In the same price range, Colt and S&W make marvelous 1911's.

[FoxtrotRomeo]

New to this sight and don't see much about Kimber 1911's, is there any problems, Shot a friend of mine and Im looking to buy one.

Do you still qualify as a friend now? lol Just messin with ya.

You'll hear good and bad about them. I own a Kimber commander size Pro Eclipse II and it has ran flawlessly for me when bone stock. I've been tinkering with a stronger recoil spring so that one is my fault as I am learning what I need to do to get the recoil spring to work properly. The stock recoil spring at 22 lbs is flawless though. I'm a tinkerer though so most of the time the screw up is me learning. lol

I also want a TLE II in the future. You'll pay a good bit for one of those. I have had no rust issues with the barrel on my Pro Eclipse II though as it is a stainless steel bull barrel. Stainless steel by it's self is rust resistant which helps, all I have to do is do my part and treat it like any other pistol I have.

If you look around you can find some for a decent price. Just stay away from a Kimber with the external extractor, they discontinued those models because of extraction issues. If it is a Kimber and has an internal extractor, you should be ok. Break in? I never found mine in need of one, however it does give you an excuse to shoot it a bit more for a while which is ok in my book. lol

Like any well made 1911, it'll likely shoot better than the person pulling the trigger can.

[billnourse]

I have an Eclipse II Target in 5" and a Pro Tatical in 4". Both have been flawless in operation, fit and finish. As already mentioned, stay away from the external extractor models.

Mine work with everything from 185 grn. lead semi-wadcutters at 700 fps to full house 230 grn. hollow point defense loads.


Bill

[Kreyzhorse]

Lots of info out there on Kimber. Overall, they are great guns but they did have a period of spotty QA and questionable customer service.

[pilpens]

I have two Kimbers, a .45 custom II and a 9mm Custom II target.
.45 has better fit (tight frame/slide fitting) than the 9mm. Had extractor issues with the 9. Tuned the extractor (easy DIY) - no more issues. No issues with MIM parts.
Things I do not like about Kimber (considering the prices today):
1. Plastic mainspring housing - functions well. So, no real issue.
2. Barrels easily get finger print rust.
3. Grip safety is not comfortable compared to STI, S&W, Springfield.
I think the best deal on Kimbers is on their base model or base model + checkered front strap. Others seem too expensive for what you get.
Do not misunderstand I like my Kimbers. They are good pistols but at prices now, I would look at others like STI, S&W, and Springfield first.
Also, consider possible replacement cost of parts like wood grip and steel mainspring housing.
The Springfield Range Officer looks good but I have no experience with it.

[Champion5]

I have a Kimber CDP II 3" and love it. It had some FTE's during the break in period but since it has shot flawless. I have not tried any hollow points though, all mine have been 230g round nose.

[Sulaco2]

Have one of the discontinued Kimber Ten II's full sized five inch with the 10 round .45 mags. Have not shot it much but have no complaints, very accrite and has not stuttered on any ammo I have fed it. I have not heard the same on some other models but seems as noted above rather spotty QC some times. LAPD Spl Ops carrys Kimbers and seems to love them for duty carry...

Only problem is finding the hi-cap (standard) mags. Although this gun was imported by another company, Charles Dailey I think under a differenct name, unfortunately also out of biz so there was more than one source for the mags, can't find any of the 12 rounders though.

[Michael A. Le Lack]

I have noticed that people who do NOT own Kimbers tend to bad mouth them, people that own a Kimber seem to like the gun. I own 3 and am in the second group.

[free2game]

I've heard a lot of bad things about QC Kimber does, I thought most of it was internet hearsay till I saw this.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/201...et-traded.html

RALEIGH Little more than a year after buying 150 collector-grade handguns, officials at the N.C. Division of Alcohol Law Enforcement say the $1,055 pistols were so unreliable they had to get rid of them.

ALE director John Ledford said the Kimber pistols repeatedly suffered such problems as rounds jamming during training exercises, broken sights and the weapon's safety button sometimes falling off. He made a deal with a local firearms dealer to swap the pricey pistols for less expensive handguns without spending any additional money.

[BigJimP]

I have several 1911's .... a pair of Kimbers ( a tactical Pro II model, and a Gold Combat Stainless model ) ...both decent guns, not great. All of the Kimbers, even the custom shop models costing around $ 2,000 are mass produced ...see very little time with a qualified "gun smith" ....

Often the Kimber triggers are ....ok at best ...

All of which can be fixed or rebuilt ....... I think Kimber is in the top 10 of 1911 mfg's .... but not in the top 5 ( where Wilson Combat, Ed Brown, Nighthawk and Les Bear are in my opinon )....but they're in the mix ----with Springfield, Colt, Sig, etc ...

[KyJim]

I have noticed that people who do NOT own Kimbers tend to bad mouth them,

That's because we sold or traded them.

Seriously, there was a poll a couple of years ago here that might be of interest. Ignore the votes by those who never owned a Kimber but it is still revealing.
http://thefiringline.com/forums/show...ghlight=kimber

[357 Terms]

I agree not a top 5 manufacturer, I do like my Tactical Custom 2, not great but light, looks good and shoots fine. I would trade it in a minute for a Springer TRP.

[mikejonestkd]

My LGS smith builds a good number of 1911 race guns each year. He no longer will build off a kimber 1911, as he had too many issues over the years with them. I also noticed that he took his " Kimber " signage off his storefront....

[FoxtrotRomeo]

Well I see it has started to rain haterade in here. Oh how I smell haterade coming just by a topic in here mentioning the name "Kimber"...

OP, do your own critical thinking. Ask around with people in real life who own them. Try and find some one at the range that will let you fire off a few rounds for first hand experience. Then make up your own mind. But don't just stop there, shoot every brand you are interested in too if you can.

[mec]

Over the years, every single mass-market 1911 maker has turned out batches of turkies. Kimber is no exception and there was a period about a decade ago when one of our local dealers had to return about 40 percent of them due to funcitional problems. People remember things like this and the current ambivalence toward Kimbers may stem from problems in the past.
Many current Kimber owners are very satisfied.

[ClydeFrog]

I do not own any Kimber pistols but I've heard they sell more 1911 series firearms than any other major US company, .

The LAPD's elite SWAT & SIS detectives(a covert unit that trails high-risk or violent criminals) use Kimber .45acp models.
The USMC picked Kimber for the issue 1911a1 sidearm for their counter-terrorist/spec ops too.

Quality control and drawbacks seem to be more common with many gun companies. I bought a NIB Taurus Ti revolver in 2004 that said; "magnun".
I'd feel okay with buying a few Kimber .45acp pistols, but I'd want to be 100% sure the company supported the weapon or purchase.

[Auto426]

For some reason Kimber always brings out strong feelings in folks. It's usually a love it/hate kinda thing. You will find people who wouldn't trade theirs for anything, and you will find people who curse their very existence. They build decent guns, but I do find that they are a little on the expensive side.

Personally I wouldn't own one, but that has more to do with the appearance of their guns than anything else. I happen to prefer to classic rollmarks and vertical serrations of Colt's, so that's what I buy. I'm sure that a Kimber or a Springfield could serve my needs just as well, but the Colt's just appeal to me more.