Am I about to make a wise choice with a Kimber ?? Please Tell!!

F

Ford

New member
No Gun shops in my area stock Para-Ordnance so I have not got to see the new LDA and I want a .45 with a 1911 style frame, they can order one but I atleast want to see it before I buy it. So I think I am about to order a Stainless Kimber .45, that is the direction that all the gun store owners keep sending me in. Are there any MUSTS that I have to order this gun with? I have to stick in the $600 - $700 price range
 
Extra mags are a must. I bought my 1st Kimber last week, the Compact Aluminum, only 1 shooting star mag came with it. First thing I did was order some Officers mags from Wilson.

You might want nite sights if you are going to use your Kimber for defensive purposes - a Surefire 6z or 6p will serve you better, though.

Read the Kimber threads about the MIM parts. I'm going to have those replaced right away.

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BKs Pistol Pages
 
I almost bought the stainless target but went with the goldmatch in blue instead! They are great guns,accurate ,reliable,and well worhth the price.You should be able to get the target in stainless for a little under 700$

Killer45auto
 
Ford, I have two Kimbers. The stainless Gold Match I've been shooting two to four times a week for months. No problems with MIM parts,
an occasional problem with the old-style shooting star magazine, but you'd be getting a different type of magazine with your new gun. I do have feeding problems on occassion, but it's with my reloads only, since I seat the bullets out as far as I can. Very nice pistols.

Dick
 
Whoa!...Replace the MIM parts in a Kimber...Why?

One of the big questions that we Kimber owners have is, "when are these MIM parts supposed to break?" There are contributors to this board who have over 10,000 rounds through their Kimbers without a parts replacement. I only have 4200 rounds through my older Kimber Classic Custom, and am not about to change any parts. Kimber owners keep right on shooting and let the gurus of the internet boards rave on!

I have a great deal of respect for my favorite gunsmith, but he is also hung up about MIM parts, and I know of at least one world class smith who visits these boards who is not fond of MIM. I understand that they have experienced problems with MIM...I personaly will keep right on shooting my Kimbers without fear or trepidation!

If any of you want to remove your MIM parts from your new Kimbers, give me a zap as I have a couple of 1911s that I would like to upgrade! :-)

Enjoy life, shoot the hell out of your Kimbers...They are great!
 
Ford,

I am new to pistols. All the best info I could gather pointed me towards Kimbers. I now have 2 and a Colt Light Weight Commander. I am very pleased wit all three. As noted earlier, you need to buy extra mags. I have have experience a failure to lock slide on the last round with my Kimber Pro Carry. Everything points to the mags. Wilson mags have been 100% reliable. The accuracy is good to great.

My .02 cents.

Vee

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I purchased a Kimber Custom Classic about a month and a half ago. My pistol is nearing the 2000 round mark without a malfunction yet. It has become my main off duty gun for concealed carry and I have complete confidence in it.

Over the years I have owned Colts, Springfields as well as others. The Kimber is the best of the lot (please save all of the comments about your Gold Cup from the fifties etc., it's not relavent). The only criticism I can make is that the black oxide finish could be a bit more durable. However, since you're planning on stainless that's not an issue.

As for the MIM parts are concerned, I'm not concerned. Similar methods of manufacture have been used succesfully for years by various companies. Most people who are the most vocal about these parts are either people who haven't had first hand experience with Kimbers(so they really don't know) or people who are in the business of replacing those parts. (I'm a gunsmith, let me replace those parts for you at a reasonable fee :))

Buy with confidence.
 
Ford, you are making a great choice in Kimber. I have had five Kimbers, 10,000+ rounds through them without a single jam or parts breakage. I have a Gold Match with over 4,000 through it and had a Classic Custom with over 5,000 through it. Those two guns are the most accurate handguns I have ever fired, I can't reccomend them highly enough.
 
I need to get back to you after I talk to one of my IDPA acquaintances. He is very good, and has (I've heard) over 60,000 though 2 year old his Kimber. I asked him if it was stainless, and he said no, blued, it just looks like a dirty stainless from all the holstering wear :)
 
Kimbers are great pistols, but can be finicky about mags and lubrication. Wilson and McCormick power mags seem to work well. Also Mec-Gar mags work great. Keep it well lubed and use quality mags and ammo and you should have no problems until it is time to replace the springs.
 
I have had minor problems with 2 Kimbers (one a Pro Carry and one a Combat Carry) not locking open after last round. After changing magazines with no improvement I finally realized that it was the slide stop, not the magazine. They were not long enough from shaft to back of stop i.e., the slide stop did not extend far enough back alongside the gun to position it far enough towards back of magazine well to engage the follower. It had nothing to do with how far from the side of the gun the stop extended into the well, it was how far from the front of the well towards the back. I don't think Kimbers are at all finicky about magazines, lubrication or anything else. They are excellent guns. However, having said that, if you experience failure to lock open after the last round, I suggest trying another slide stop (I used Ed Brown) first before buying a bunch of new magazines. All of the magazines I have gotten with Kimbers have worked well although I prefer the MecGars they come with now over the McCormicks they used to come with because the followers seemed more stable in the magazine body. That's my experience anyhow. BTW, I believe the slide stop "problem" has been fixed since I haven't experienced it on the last 3 or 4 Kimbers I have purchased. Sometimes it seems small problems take on a life of their own here, especially when it has to do with Kimbers. Every Kimber I have owned has fired without fail however I once had a Glock (THE extra-double reliable brand) with a curious habit. I used to shoot at an outdoor range and if you set it left side down on the bench on a sunny day for about ten minutes, it would get very warm to the touch from the sun and would not fire until it had cooled down. I wonder if they ALL still do that? :) I am not trying to get the old battle going here. I have owned and still own several Glocks and I think they are great guns too. My point is that any manufacturer can make a gun with a problem. If Kimbers were as uniformly bad as some people (not necessarily in this thread) would like you to believe, they would have been out of business long ago. Just my .03 worth.
 
I just got my first Kimber 2 weeks ago. I love it so far. It is the most accurate 1911 that I have owned. Although I don't have a lot of rounds through it yet, it has preformed flawlessly right out of the box. Reading what everyone else has written, I think you can't go wrong.

Halffast

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"I say that big talk is worth doodly-squat." Granny Hawkins from the Outlaw Josey Wales
 
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