Kimber Compact Report

S

Sarge55

New member
Well, I finally made my decision between a Kimber Compact Stainless Aluminum and a Compact Stainless......... However, it was a tough one.

Got lucky. My dealer had both in stock, so I had the chance to fondle them both (along with a Pro Carry he also had in the display case). After two sleepless nights, I finally decided on the Compact Stainless Aluminum. Without a doubt, the all steel Compact won in looks and potential durability, but since this is going to exclusively be a carry gun, the weight ended up being the deciding factor. There isn't a great difference between the two, but it is noticeable.

Anyway... Cleaned her up, took her to the range and put 200 rounds of Blazer 230 Gr. FMJ through her. Very nice! Recoil wasn't an issue, and she put all the rounds where I wanted them out to 25 yards. I only have two gripes...

After approximately 170 rounds, I had four instances of the slide not fully going into battery (about 1/4" shy). This occurred with the Kimber mag and two Wilson mags. A light push to the rear of the slide got her going again.
Got her home and stripped her down to give her a thorough cleaning and inspection. The chamber, breechface and feed ramp were all polished nicely, but when I got to the extractor I found that there was absolutely no tension on it. It amazes me that the gun worked at all!
Anyway, I'll take her out again in another couple of days and see how she runs with the extractor adjusted.

Any other ideas on possible reasons why the slide failed to go fully into battery? Since Kimbers are said to have tight chambers, and the slide malfunctions didn't start until after 170 rounds, could it be that the malfunctions were caused by a dirty chamber?

As always, many thanks in advance for your suggestions and opinions!

Sarge
 
It might be, but if were mine I wouldn't worry about it until I put a few hundred more rounds through it. I recently picked up a steel compact and it is super tight but has not malfunctioned in a the few hundred rounds I shot so far. I really like it, great gun!
 
This seems to be a common problem in the Series II guns. Is yours a Series II? There has been a lot of talk about it over at the 1911 forum and the general opinion is that it is related to the new Series II firing pin block/safety mechanism. Apparently Kimber is not admitting they have a problem at this time, but Gun Test magazine dinged the Series II for this problem. Dang, and just at a time when I had about chosen the Kimber over the S/A loaded 2001 model.
 
It's a Series I gun. Hopefully after another couple of hundred rounds, the problem will work itself out. Unlike Glocks, Sigs, Rugers, etc , because of their close tolerances, it sounds like Kimbers need to be broken in (loosened up) before judgement can be made about their reliability. All in all, I'm really pleased with the gun, and I'm confident that one way or another she'll be running the way she should be. I guess that with age comes patience. Ten years ago I would have already been on the phone with Kimber, bitchin' and moaning, and the gun would already have been on its way back to the factory. We'll see how I feel after another couple of hundred rounds...

Sarge
 
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