Ive read a lot of hate here and elsewhere about Kimber 1911’s. I dont recall ever seeing exactly what the problems with them are/were.
So…IF you can specifically state whats wrong with them, known problems, unique problems, past problems that were corrected, ect., please chime in.
I DO NOT WANT BS ANSWERS THAT DONT INCLUDE FACTUAL INFORMATION. Dont come here to bitch & moan, if you can answer the question, please chime in.
If not- STAY OUT.
DISCLOSURE: EARLY 1990’s…I want to say 1992-93…I ordered one of the first Kimber 1911’s in my geographical area. The gunshop hadnt even HEARD of them. Took awhile to get it, was a very low serial number…just over 1000.
Shot the hell out of that gun. I was into 1911’s heavily then, as were many. After a few years, about the only problem I had was the FP STOP would slide down enough to jam the gun. Did it twice months apart in two matches. One I still won, it cost me one. I tried a few different mags, it would NOT run with Chip McCormick Shooting star mags. The black Colt factory mags ran well. Had the gun about 10 years and sold it and soon after went all Glock & never looked back. So, Ive had some experiance with them, but apparently something has changed. This is for informational purpose only, as wont be going back to the 1911’s again. Someone asked me this and I flat dont know.
Thank yall for any info you may provide.
Early Kimbers from OR were good. After they moved to NY, got into MIM and external extractors, guns were crap. As a dealer, I was returning at least 1/3 guns to them for issues. Also the Swartz safety had some timing issues, probably in part because users didn’t understand how it worked and were damaging it reassembling guns. Currently they seem to be running. Seen a bunch at USPSA matches the last couple years, and they don’t seem to be having problems. During time period they were problematic, customer service went to hell too. After Cohen left as CEO, they seemed to improve quality wise.
I think a lot of people that had bad experiences with them have not forgiven or forgot.
It’s tough to put a finger on what makes the Kimbers so much less reliable, but they just are/were. Back when I used to take lots of classes, it was the kimbers that brought the classes to a stop the most. 1911s were always problematic, but kimbers took it down another notch. When you’re hot and tired and have to stop drills for some kimber guy, it gets old.
As to WHY? Like any other 1911 that won’t run, it’s not always simple to figure out the reason(s).
I was working in a gun shop around 2008 or so. We would get pistols broken right out of the box. Like hammers broken as soon as you open the box. Obviously garbage MIM process. They were a nightmare to deal with for warranty work. Everybody dreaded having to call them. I don’t know what they are like now, but I would never own one after dealing with them back then.
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Those are great answers, thank you both. Mine come to think of it, was from Yonkers NY. Does anyone know if they started the serial numbers over when they moved from OR to NY?
If Im remembering right, mine was serial number 1029. How many/how long did they mfg in OR?
I also had an Oregon Kimber that was reliable, accurate.
That was ca. 1994.
The recent negatives as previously stated;
MIM
Schwarz Firing Pin Safety
Shit Q C on assembly
Poor CS
Add:
Kimber uses MIM parts in their rifles. Ironically, the rifle MIM parts are well executed and seem to be GTG. I don’t know why this is such an issue with their 1911’s.
While I’d always prefer tool steel “bits” in a gun, if a manufacturer is trying to meet a price point, MIM can work.
I’ve worked on and have owned their “Montana” rifles, which after bedding and trigger work shot well for a light gun.
I don’t make enough money, to buy all the ones I want.
Other than that, MY statistical sample of 2 (TLE RL II, Ultra Covert), have worked just fine, for 11+ years each. Use the factory mags for range mags ONLY though.
Clackamas Kimbers were good guns then Ron Cohan got a hold of them and ****ed them up.
I believe my 1st Kimber 1911 was a 5" Custom Carry in the #3,600 range. It had several issues. The breech face wasn’t fully milled out. Like there was a distinct ridge on one side that would stamp every piece of brass fired. I’m not sure if that was one of the reasons it had extraction issues (the extractor was miraculously properly tensioned out of the box), but I did have to polish the chamber. I recut the breech face myself, if only to save my brass from getting stamped every shot. I can’t imagine it was helping, what with pushing on the round in the chamber from one side only.
The other issue was far more problematic. It didn’t matter whether I used the Kimber factory mags, WC, Shooting Star, factory Colt, 7 or 8 round, the gun would routinely lock up with a round halfway fed into the chamber. Didn’t matter if it was 230 or 200gr, FMJ, SWC or JHP, factory or reloads, it would just lock up and it would lock up hard. You could smack the back of the slide all you wanted and it wouldn’t budge. I tried replacing the mag catch with a WC and a Colt part, no luck. Whatever it was about the specs of that gun, the rim of the cartridge would ride up and slam into the top of the firing pin hole in the breech face, cutting a neat little half moon notch into the rim. Ultimately I radiused the top of the FP hole enough for the rim to no longer catch. To date it’s the only 1911 I’ve ever had to do that on.
My second Kimber was an absolutely gorgeous 4" alloy 2 tone Elite Carry. It’s was one of the prettiest 1911’s I’ve ever owned. It had it’s own teething issues as well. I did a full tune-up/polish on the critical parts and by the 800 round mark it was pretty much “reliable”. At the 800 round mark, the 2 piece guide rod broke and locked the gun up on the range. Replaced that along with the recoil spring. I now know you’re better off replacing the recoil spring on short 1911’s at around the 500-600 round mark, and having an extra spare on hand as reference for length at rest.
So with the gun back in business I get another 300 rounds out of it. Suddenly it went from a repeater to a single shot. The MIM mag catch broke at the range. There was enough of a shard left to lock the mag in and chamber a round, but the mag would fall out under recoil on the 1st shot. So I replaced that with a WC part (and ordered extras). By that time the shine had worn off and I sold both guns, bought a Gen2.5 Glock 19C and a Gen3 34, and never looked back.
I’ve had several more 1911’s since and still have four right now, but none have been Kimbers.
So my personal experience is 1st hand but still an anecdotal sample of two. My larger experience is 13 years running a timer as a CSO/RSO all over the country up to national and world championships. I’ve also squadded with every level of shooter, from complete new gun owner novice to world champions. There’s not a gun manufacturer on the list I haven’t seen choke at some point or another. Sometimes it’s the shooter, sometimes it’s the ammo, lack of maintenance and more often than not, the “upgrades” they’ve made to their gat. But sometimes it’s a complete mystery and that was where I saw Kimber’s more often than the others. One local shooter loved his Kimber SO much, he endured several years of mistreatment by it before the love faded. We tried everything to get that gun to be reliable for him (training, parts, ammo specs, the works) and it flatly refused.
But I’ve also seen Kimbers run like a Singer Sewing Machine. I squadded with an up and coming female shooter (I’d describe her as petite) at a big regional match one time. She’d was running a Kimber Eclipse .45 and had shipped her match ammo ahead (because that much .45acp easily exceeds the FAA 11 pound ammunition limit) and it didn’t arrive on time. So she ran the entire match with Walmart sourced WWB. Not a single hiccup. I would up squadding with her at several other matches and her gun never choked.
What I’ve learned in all those years is that if you get a good Kimber, keep it. They can ship a perfectly serviceable gun. They just don’t always do that. If you get one of the “mystery in a box” Kimbers, send it in for warranty repair and once it’s returned, sell it. Even if they did manage to fix it properly (Lord knows what they actually did to make it work), you’re never going to trust it. That’s Kimber in a nutshell. JMO, YMMV
P.S. I remembered that a buddy got one of the very early (sub #1K) Custom Carry guns and it never choked. But he was always running out of money and eventually sold it after I got my #3600 range gun. Hindsight being 20/20, I should’ve just waited till he was strapped for cash and bough his for less. 
My experience with Kimbers mirrors some of the comments above. If it was an Oregon or “Classic” without series-80 type firing pin safety they were generally good, functioning weapons.
After the Yonkers move you could tell quality generally nose-dived. Many 1911 smiths ditched everything except the frame and slide and built from there. What I saw kept me from ever buying anything Kimber.
Working retail and basic instruction I found the magazines weren’t very good, either.
I was gone when we switched from the MEU(SOC) 1911 to the Kimber, but those guys told me the MIM parts broke too frequently, and I recall the firing pin safety was an issue.
The only one I ever shot to any extent was one I borrowed for a 2-day class, about 700 rounds, and it did fine. I don’t recall what model.
WOW- THANK YOU ALL for this information…exactly what I was looking for.
My Kimber didnt have the Swartz Safety, it was a Yonkers gun.
Now, the next time someone asks about MIM parts and people start chiming in “oh theyre AS GOOD as steel”…Im gonna refer them back to this thread.
I dont like MIM & never will. The cost savings CANT be so much as to warrant use of an inferior part.
Question: Whats the cost ifference between, say a MIM hammer & a steel one?
Generally speaking MIM will give a 30-60% savings over other production methods depending on volume produced and the complexity of the part. The strength of the end material - assuming it’s properly produced - ends up between a cast and a forged part but the labor for production is greatly reduced due to the minimal finishing work required. Most of the issues arise due to improper cooling leading to weakening of the structure.
The technology is solid - MIM components are used in turbine engines where they’re exposed to high temperatures and rapid temperature cycling with minimal dimensional clearances between parts but those components are being made in tightly controlled conditions where the cost benefits are far down the concern line, not being shopped out to the cheapest overseas factory as we’ve seen manufacturers like Sig do.
Yes, the technology is good to go if done properly. How often do you hear of HK guns having issue with their MIM pieces?
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I own a Kimber TLE with a standard extractor that was made in NY. I’ve only experienced one negative issue. The MIM thumb safety broke at what appeared to be a fissure in the metal at around 500 rounds. I did not want to spend the money to ship it to Kimber via UPS Next Day Air, so I purchased a thumb safety from Brownell’s and fitted it myself.
For the past several thousand rounds it has been stone cold reliable and very accurate with my 185g handloads. It will feed semi-wadcutters, hollow points, FMJ round nose and JSP rounds reliably and I sometimes carry it when I leave the house.
It would appear that Kimber has relocated outside New York.
What is the round count on those pistols?
I’ve never held a Kimber I thought was worth the asking price. My money continues to go to Colt / SA for 1911’s. They’re kind of like the SIG of 1911’s with all the silly models. Speaking of SIG, some cat on HKPro was trying to sell a Sig “P226 Elite Emperor Scorpion FDE.” -Seriously?
Im OUT on almost all things Sig. Have NEVER liked the P226, ever. Ugliest, most unergonomic thing Ive ever shot, tho reliable. One of my most hated pistols.
I dont have much more experiance with Kimbers after I sold mine. I just keep reading how they are “junk” or “crap” and wanted to WHY, exactly.
Good answers so far.
Maybe not now, but back before 2000 the 4" Elite Carry I had cost me less than a grand OTD. To touch the features and appearance it had out of the box, would’ve cost North of $2K on a Colt/SA base gun + custom gunsmithing. If nothing else, Kimber shocked the 1911 world into the modern era. They couldn’t keep asking the same money for a gun that hadn’t been updated for a half century or more.
On a deployment I swapped the 1911 with a P226 with a guy in the accompanying SEAL platoon…one-for-one, gun, mags, ammo, mag pouches. Of course we almost never go to pistol, so the only time I shot it was in training. I liked it, very much. I would have been happy carrying it. It IS ‘chunky’, tho.
Speaking of SIG and 1911s, one of my fave 1911s is my SIG 1911 Revolution, SN around 11K. Best out-of-the-box trigger of any of my sub-$2K 1911s. The only ‘in-class’ 1911 that compared was a TRP. Otherwise every other 1911 I had, I had a trigger job.