Kimber does not stand behind its guns

Status
Not open for further replies.
I never did once refer to them as the best, or close to it, however my experiences which are more than most, have been fine, so I guess I am the exception to the internet rule.
Click to expand...

My biggest issue with them is the cost. When you look at the quality of the components in them vs the price tag they fall very low on my value scale. That does not make them bad but if I am paying $1000+ for a 1911 I expect a lot less MIM. When you put them up dollar for dollar against other guns they simply do not stack up.

I personally view Kimber as a very good marketing company that happens to make and sell guns. ;)
 
Given my bad experiences with their customer service, as stated above, I have still kept them. As their purpose, for me, is target shooting and they are very accurate pistols, although having the adjustable sight fall apart is discouraging.
Still in all, for the role of self defense they are on the bottom of the list of handguns I would choose for that role as I have lost faith in their reliability. Sad because the 10mm. was bought for protection in the woods. Instead I carry a Smith 625 for that role leaving the 10 at home. As far as the Super Match goes it takes a back seat to a German made P220 for home defense.
 
WVSig while I can agree on the value aspect, you gotta shop around =P

I never paid over $1000 for any if the Kimbers a I owned (except the rifles ) because I bought used.

Not a fan of MIM, I get it, but it automatically doesn't make a gun bad, bad mom is bad yes, good mim can be as good as forged. Value however like you stated is a whole other issue, and I get that.

My issue is people bash them and say they don't stand behind their product (for which their gun is clearly OUT of the warranty by over 9 years) and blame them.

People NEVER read fine print on warranties. Even companies with "life time warranties" often charge customers for things that are not covered. SW charged one of my customers $60 to inspect and clean a revolver that the customer stated was out of time. I watched Ruger charge a customer to replace a barrel because they customer never bothered to clean it, and blamed Ruger for accuracy issues.

I watches I can't remember how many customers return Kimber Rifles claiming they wouldn't group, only to have the rifles returned with a test target and the customers were charged for the test fire ammo, turns out a lot of people don't know HOW to shoot 4-5lbs high caliber rifles.

I have a 4lbs Mountain Ascent, even with the break on it in mild .308, after a few 180gr hunting loads.... It hurts.;)
 
WVSig while I can agree on the value aspect, you gotta shop around =P

I never paid over $1000 for any if the Kimbers a I owned (except the rifles ) because I bought used.

Not a fan of MIM, I get it, but it automatically doesn't make a gun bad, bad mom is bad yes, good mim can be as good as forged. Value however like you stated is a whole other issue, and I get that.
Click to expand...

If you want to push down into the used market Kimber still does not hold up. For the same price as used Kimbers you are a short hop to Dan Wessons & ised Colts which hold their value better than the Kimber.

I have never paid for than $1000 that was not a base gun + custom build for a 1911 except for my Les Baer TRS which I bought used LNIB for $1200. :eek:
 
If you want to push down into the used market Kimber still does not hold up. For the same price as used Kimbers you are a short hop to Dan Wessons & ised Colts which hold their value better than the Kimber.

I have never paid for than $1000 that was not a base gun + custom build for a 1911 except for my Les Baer TRS which I bought used LNIB for $1200.
Click to expand...

You need to take me shopping.;)

1911's on the used market around my parts always hold a pretty high value. I bought a used but mint condition TRP for $1000, Dan Wesson, older ones go for good prices, new CZ production ones are sky high WHEN you can find them new or used.

I bought my Desert Warrior (My only Kimber left currently) from a friend for $800 and though its been a GREAT gun for me, (only thing I changed were grips and the trigger, as I prefer a short trigger) the sole reason I even bought it was because I have the matching desert tan Kimber 8400 Advanced Tactical rifle. They make a pretty cool little set IMHO.

That being said my FAVORITE 1911 is my STI Tactical SS 5.0 9mm. HEAVY, Full rail 1911 with a bushingless bull barrel, the STI recoilmaster guide rod / spring. It feels like shooting a type writter or a Open Division gun, just with out the big compensator and barrel porting.:rolleyes: Again, switched the trigger to a short trigger, and changed the MSH to a WC magwell one.

1911 traditionalist I am not....;)

My NEXT 1911 depending on which direction I go, I either want a Les Baer Thunder Ranch, or a STI 3.0 Shadow.
 
I understand the pure numbers of the matter and even my dealings are but a small sample. However I refuse to believe if they are AS terrible as people make them out to be on here they'd be selling 3x as many guns as others. Ads or no ads.
Click to expand...
I fully agree. I trust my life to the much maligned 3" model, a Kimber Ultra CDP II, which has been nothing short of spectacular for the last 12 years, not only flawless, but the most accurate weapon I've yet owned out of the box. I would have opted for a Colt, as usual, but at the time Colt offered the Officer's and that was it. Now, of course, they have a decent number of smaller carry guns with varying options, but I'll not give up my Kimber now.
 
I've got a Custom II and experienced no problems with it.

I let the bashers bash and get on with my life.
 
I AM NOT SURPRISED as the owner of KIMBER is the Bernie Madoff of the gun industry.
My KIMBER GM 45 had the rear sight fracture in two and fall on the ground.
It went full-auto and when it was "repaired" it had a trigger like kickstarting a Harley.
The guide rod fractured in two also.
The KIMBER RIMFIRE-TARGET we have has had twenty-five[25] of fourteen hundred[1400] magazines full shoot ten[10]consecutive shots. ALL the rest had two[2] to four[4] stoppagess per magazine full.
IF I lived closer to NY I'd drive over and shove one pistol down the yap of the owner Leslie edelmann and then the second down the yap of the lying SOB who is their highly stupid and incompenent service dept manager.
 
I have 2 older Kimbers that are great, but I made the mistake of buying a new super carry pro. After sending it back due to brass hitting me in the head, they replaced the barrel but sent it back with deep grind marks in the new barrel and a marred up feed ramp, and when I say marred I mean chunks taken out of it. When I questioned them about it they said it was normal. The grind mark in the barrel was so deep it was impossible to polish out. I wish I still had pictures of it to post because it looked like someone ground on it with a dremel. It wasn't just some scuffs or scratches. It was also visible through the ejection port with the pistol in battery. They also said the marred up feed ramp was due to hollow point ammo used to test my pistol after the new barrel was fitted. After taking the calm approach and escalating it to ranting and raving about the "new" barrel I finally got them to agree to take it in again after sending them multiple pictures. I told them that whoever worked on this gun obviously did not care about providing a quality repair. I would expect much more from a "custom shop" gun. I asked them to not fire hollow points. This was strictly a target gun for me and I don;t shoot them. They stated they had to, by law, test it with hollow points. When I got the pistol back again the feed ramp was marred even more and they tried to polish out the damage they had done to the new barrel. Oh, and the brass still hit me in the head. I called them back again and asked for a frame replacement due to the damage they created on the feed ramp, and a new barrel. They said no so I sold it off and will never give Kimber another dime. It's a shame too. They make some nice looking pistols and I'm sure a lot of them work as intended, but their CS truly stinks.
 
As I've said in the past a couple times I really love all the Kimber hate. It keeps the prices down on the early models made in the late 90's. Which by the way will embarrass the hell out of any Colt or SA made at the same time.


I always got a good laugh a few years ago when you would hear someone whine about Kimber trying to save money by using a plastic MSH when at the same time Springfield was using a crappy two piece barrel on all their lower end models. ;) One will cost you $30 to replace the other $300.

For what they are asking now I doubt I would ever buy a new Kimber, but the same goes for many other manufacturers. The used market is flooded with quality pistols. In many cases I really question why anyone would buy a new model instead of going on Gunbroker and buying one made 10-20 years ago. The quality is almost always better and the price is much less.




Kimber-7.jpg
 
My Kimber experience

Several years ago I went looking for a semi-auto in 45 acp. I was issued a colt govt. while I was in the service so I was somewhat familiar with the 1911.(yes it was a long time ago) The pistol was brand new so I filled out the registration and read the owners manual, cleaned it and headed for the range. I had a few stoppages but the instructions said expect it to happen until the gun is broken in (200-600 rounds) It smoothed out and is reliable now. About a year after I bought it, I found during cleaning the ejector was a little bit loose. I called Kimber and this was a couple weeks after the warranty expired. The customer rep sent me a lable and said to send it in to them. The gun came back 2 weeks later fixed at no charge. The service reps weren't the warm freindly type but they took care of my problem beyond warranty at no cost to me. That is my experience.
 
I call BS on the OP.

New member, and refuses to answer any questions regarding details of the gun's history.

Not buying any of this story at all.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top