Kimber 1911's, What do you think?

Honest opinion:

They're decent guns, but expensive for what they are. I won't pay that much for anything filled with MIM.

You take a Rock Island Armory 1911 and give it a good finish, you've got the rough equivalent of a Kimber.

Rock Islands are good guns, too, but that company doesn't pretend they're something they're not.

Regards,
Josh
 
It does have one problem... the safety plunger needs to be restaked, a relatively quick fix.
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One advantage of the Ruger pistol is that this not uncommon problem with the 1911-style pistol can't happen with the Ruger 1911 pistol. Not a "deal breaker" per se, but something maybe worth considering when deciding which 1911 pistol to invest in.
 
You can take a $400 pistol, dress it up and say it's as good as a kimber, but the frame/slide/barrel will still have a $400 fit. No basic part swap is going to fix that. I'll take my Kimber, swap a couple MIM parts out and have a superior gun.
 
I rented one a few years ago and loved it. It seemed like I was barely aiming and hit wherever I wanted. My buddy has a 10mm and has almost stopped shooting any of his other pistols.
 
claydoctor said:
I I have no personal experience but I have always wondered how much of the $1000, give or take a couple of hundred, price tag goes to quality control and how much goes into those full page ads.
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Yes, but it's not like you came up with that statement on your own. I've heard it a hundred times by others. ;)
 
tanker2000 said:
You can take a $400 pistol, dress it up and say it's as good as a kimber, but the frame/slide/barrel will still have a $400 fit. No basic part swap is going to fix that. I'll take my Kimber, swap a couple MIM parts out and have a superior gun.
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Slide:barrel fit is similar; superior if you fit a barrel bushing to the RIA. Slide fit is looser in an RIA, but very easily tightened and lapped.

Look: If I'm going to get a Kimber, I'm going to swap all that MIM crap. If I get a RIA, I'm going to swap all that MIM crap.

I'll be left with the frame, slide, and barrel.

If barrel lug fit is OK top and bottom, I'm probably keeping the barrel. From what I've seen and talked about with others, the barrel fit is similar. Both brands select the best matching barrel out of a container of barrels. Very little actual fitting goes on. It's called "select fitting" or "select matching" parts.

Same with the sears etc.

Early on in my 1911 modding/building hobby, I ordered some Kimber parts. I was very disappointed. They were pretty soft.

The only real "advantage," if you can call it that, is that the Kimber has a forged frame, while the RIA has a cast frame. Caspian used to use cast frames, so I dunno that the forged frame is an advantage.

This is not Kimber bashing; they're good for what they are. However, I'm also not going to pretend they're something they're not.

If you want to put a little work in, you can buy an Armscor 1911 and replace the internals. You'll have a gun that's superior in quality to the Kimber for about the same price.

There's a reason Wilson, Brown, Baer, Dan Wesson, STI, and the others are so much more expensive than a Kimber.

Regards,
Josh
 
Josh Smith said:
Slide:barrel fit is similar; superior if you fit a barrel bushing to the RIA. Slide fit is looser in an RIA, but very easily tightened and lapped.
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Sorry Josh but I'm not really sure what you are talking about especially concerning how easy it is to tighten up a "slide" fit, whatever that is. Maybe you can clarify a little bit. ;)
 
Slide to frame fit, Rinspeed.

Peen the rails and maybe squeeze the slide. I've been wanting to try Acc-u-rails, too.

Regards,
Josh
 
I have owned quite a number of Kimber 1911s, and virtually all had to be tweaked in some form or fashion by a gunsmith buddy before they would run reliably. At the price Kimbers bring, it just seems they ought to be good to go out of the box. Mine were not.

BOARHUNTER
 
Hello,

That "select fit" method leads to malfunctions when you're trying to get tight fits.

Seems lower lug bump is relatively common on Kimber for this reason.

Regards,
Josh
 
I own 4 new Kimbers. 1 Ultra two tone 45, 1 Eclipse Target 38 Super, 1 Pro TLE 45 and a Micro 9 two tone. No issues at all other than a bad 45 magazine that Kimber immediately replaced. They’ve been excellent right out of the box in each case. I also have a custom built Springfield 45 built for IPSC, a Springfield 9mm 5” RO stainless with target sights and a Colt LW Commander SXE 38 super. The Kimbers are the tightest, best fit and most accurate with superb triggers with the exception of my custom SA is a dream but for what it cost it should be. The 9mm SA is excellent in every way but the colt is poorly fitted and not blended at all. The Kimbers are very tight and the Colt very sloppy with regard to slide to frame fit. Edges on the Kimbers are rounded and well finished. The Colt edges are sharp and reflect a lack of finishing. My Eclipse requires a bushing wrench to disassemble, the bushing in the colt will fall out of the gun when swiveled to the disassemble position. The slide on the colt can be rocked side to side but none of my others.

I’m totally satisfied with my Kimbers and would buy another.
 
Several years ago I ended up with a little Kimber Ultra CDP II. A friend needed money so he offered the below pictured gun at a $500 price just as seen with the Galco Holster and 3 magazines.

Kimber%201.png


This is the only Kimber I own. It is also the only short 3" barrel .45 ACP I own. While I do not have thousands of rounds down range with it the maybe 800 I have shot were no failures with a mix of 230 grain hard ball, 230 grain JHP (my loads) and a few lead SWC bullets. The little gun also surprised me as to accuracy with the short barrel.

My niece won a full size Kimber 1911 at a NRA raffle and again, hers was really a good well functioning gun.

So while these are my only two up close and personal experiences with Kimber based on them I have no issues with Kimber. Over the years I have seen both good and bad experiences with just about any manufacturers guns. I sort of collect the Colt Series 70 1911 types and while most are great there were a few dogs which needed some tweaking and peaking done.

Ron
 
I have 1 Kimber. It had a problem when new. It would go to slidelock on the next to last round about 1/3 of the time. I dimpled the slide stop and this corrected it. Boosted the hammer and installed a Colt sear spring, installed a small Colt safety. It's now a real shooter. It's accurate and reliable. I bought the lowest model 5" bbl. It's a plain black gun. It does have Good sights and beavertail grip safety. Has a full length guide rod, would be better without it but I got a bushing wrench with it. I have bought other 1911s since I bought the Kimber. I would buy another Kimber if the right deal came along. For the same money I would buy a Colt, Dan Wesson, or Springfield. I also have a Ruger CMD that I had boo coo problems with. Strangely the CMD may be my favorite .45 cal. 1911 to shoot. My latest 1911 is a 9 MM DW Valkyrie, zero malfunctions to date.
You pay your money and take your chances......................................................
 
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