Are Kimber's really crap?

[Wayneard3413]

I had a bare bones Custom II that ran great (minus some mag related issues, ****can the stock mags right off the bat) for several thousand rounds before I traded it off

The current Crimson Carry I have had a couple of hiccups within the first few mags but so far has about 400 rounds through it (I know that isn't much to judge by but but still)

[NBollinger]

I love mine, no issues, and like any other good handgun like a SA, S&W, or Sig....it shoots well.

[LUVMYSIGP225]

I am not a 1911 expert, by any means. I work a few hours a week, part-time at a local gun store that specializes in 1911's. The owner has been wrenching on 1911's for 30 years, and stocks nearly 100 1911's in his display case and his collection combined. I have asked him about the Kimber "hate". He basically related something to me about extractors. Internal and External versions, I believe. He said that one is basically a Kimber proprietary design, and extremely prone to problems. He said there are fixes, that usually only work for a short period of time, or not at all. In his daily business and dealings, he will gladly take on trade any Kimber with the standard design extractor, as a premium trade in. Anything with the Kimber externals, and he will tell you to turn around and dump it at a gun show. He doesn't want it.

Again, I am no expert. I just see who he turns away for repairs and trades.

[R Dub]

Classic Custom and a TLE. No probelms with either.

[fastboy]

I have a UC II, love it.

[Perchjerk]

Originally Posted by Joeywhat

They're not bad, just not worth the price tag. From what I've been told they used to be fantastic pistols.

ill agree some are not worth the price tag! generally you could shave 150-200 off the price and u got a keeper!

[WilliamWallace]

Originally Posted by Vandal

Other than William Wallace on here have I heard much that couldn't easily be solved by a quick trip to the smith for a tune or at the worst a vacation to Yonkers

…and even mine seems to have been solved fairly easily. My issue was exacerbated by my taking too long to get it to Kimber. I still have not shot it since dyferant worked on it, but he said it is good to go.

My take on Kimber after 2 years of frustration is that if you have a problem, send it in. It will most likely be taken care of and you will be fine. Just don’t wait…

[Hetuck]

Originally Posted by LUVMYSIGP225

I am not a 1911 expert, by any means. I work a few hours a week, part-time at a local gun store that specializes in 1911's. The owner has been wrenching on 1911's for 30 years, and stocks nearly 100 1911's in his display case and his collection combined. I have asked him about the Kimber "hate". He basically related something to me about extractors. Internal and External versions, I believe. He said that one is basically a Kimber proprietary design, and extremely prone to problems. He said there are fixes, that usually only work for a short period of time, or not at all. In his daily business and dealings, he will gladly take on trade any Kimber with the standard design extractor, as a premium trade in. Anything with the Kimber externals, and he will tell you to turn around and dump it at a gun show. He doesn't want it.

Again, I am no expert. I just see who he turns away for repairs and trades.

That I have no problem hearing. The guy doesn't like the design and he's giving a decent opinion. Those that say they are all crap and have nothing to back it up with should just keep quite instead of looking like a fool.

FWIW, I picked up a pro carry II and am in love with it. My friend has one and has had 2,000+ rounds of flawless performance with his. I like em but have no right to say that they are without a doubt better than an SA or any other brand of 1911.

[SixtyDashOne]

What I want to know is where did all the Kimber haters run off to now? There has been random Kimber hate all over the forum lately, and now when somebody comes right out and asks the question, the haters are nowhere to be found? We have here a bunch of reports from people who actually own Kimbers, giving their opinions on them (imagine that, speaking from actual experience! what a novel concept!) and everybody is happy with their guns. So what happened to the "Kimber sucks" crowd?

[danp]

Partner at work bought a TLE (I advised him to go with an Operator) and found that out of the box it had feeding problems and sight issues. I looked at it and found that the feed ramp needed to be polished and the rear sight wasn't even close to being centered in the slide.

He sent it back to Kimber and they polished the feed ramp. They told him there was nothing wrong with the sights. We took it out and shot it and it now fed reliably, but it shot 4" left at 15 yards. I loosened up the set screw and attempted to move the sight. The rear sight was so tightly fitted in the dovetail, that I started having XD flashbacks. We couldn't move it at all. We're heading back to the range with a sight pusher next week.

I've heard enough Kimber horror stories like this to develop the opinion that Kimber's quality control is spotty.