Kimber Jammamatic-Now I am Outraged

Status
Not open for further replies.
A

Ankeny

New member
Sorry about yet another thread on the continuing saga of my new Kimber Stainless Gold Match, but I thought some of the previous “posters” might want to read this. Besides, I need to vent and I am looking for suggestions.

To briefly re-cap. I bought a new Kimber in .45 ACP and posted a thread about what a great feeling and looking pistol it is. On the first visit to the range the pistol experienced failures to feed with several brands of factory 230-grain ball so I posted a rant under Kimber Jammamatic. I sent the pistol to Kimber and they repaired it post haste. I then fired a couple of magazines full of ball through the pistol. The pistol seemed to work and I more or less took Kimber’s word for it that the pistol was fixed so I posted another thread, Kimber Jammamatic-Conclusion in which I extolled the virtues of the Kimber repair/custom shop. In that thread Skorzeny posted that the remedies performed on my jamming Kimber were the same as the remedies performed on his jamming Kimber, but in his case, the fix didn’t fix the problem. Got me to wondering if maybe Kimber just routinely had a flunky do a standard set of protocols on repairs.

Well I took my Kimber out this afternoon and ran some more ammo through it. Five malfunctions in 50 rounds. First, the pistol will not even chamber a round of UMC/Remington 230 grainers (yellow box) when the slide is released with the slide stop. If I rack the slide violently the rounds will chamber. The gun also jams about every 25 rounds with yellow box. Next, I tried Winchester 230 grainers in the white box. They feed OK, but slide will not stay back after the last round is fired. By the way, accuracy sucks.

So I call the dealer and he offers to send the pistol back to Kimber and put some pressure on the repair shop. I ask about a refund or replacement and he waffles. So I tell him I am going to call Kimber and ask for the custom shop foreman or supervisor. The dealer tells me I can get more done with sugar and spice than with vinegar. I tell him that’s easy for him to say since I am the one who is out a thousand bucks…argh.

So here is the boat I am in. I have this new Kimber that I have fired about 400 rounds through since I thought I would try the break-in period route. Pistol has been sent back to Kimber for repairs but still malfunctions. I am out $1119.79 for the purchase price of the pistol plus $32.65 in shipping to send it in to Kimber. Now what? Send it back to Kimber again? Find a bullet configuration that will feed? Send it to the dealer and let him send it in? Send it to the dealer and tell him the only acceptable remedy is a full refund including shipping? Never buy another Kimber and badmouth Dean’s Sporting Goods on the Internet? Maybe send it to Wilson or Baer for repairs and send the bill to Kimber? I am at a loss.

Seriously guys, what do you think would be fair?
 
I think you hit it right at the end. Send it in to Les Baer and beg forgiveness for buying a production piece. Maybe he can make it right.

I have never heard of anyone and have never had any problem with my Baer's and Les has always been a very helpful pistolsmith, so I think he might be able to help you.

Good luck.
 
I have 2 Kimbers, the Ultra Elite and the Pro Carry. I have followed your delimma with your Kimber. I have only fire about 400 rounds in the Ultra Elite and 200 in the Pro Carry. I did experiecne the failure to lock back on the last round during the first 50 rounds on the Pro Carry. However, this seemed to be with none Kimber mag.

The Ultra Elite has had one failure to feed in 400 rounds. I have used the same ammunition you listed. Both of my pistols have been accurate.

Based on my limited experience and the research I did prior to purchasing my Kimbers, you may have a lemon.

If I had spent the money you did--I did--I would strong request a new gun or a refund. I understand being patient and I would recommend that you share with Kimber that your postings on the internet is creating a great deal of bad publicity. Tell them you would like to be able to report that customer service was so good--they replaced my "lemon."

my 2 cents.

Good luck!!!

Vee

------------------
 
Sorry about your problems. I have a Kimber Ultra Elite that had failure to feed problems with every hollowpoint I tried but it would feed hardball fine. I sent it to Kimber and they turned it around in four days. Since then, I have fired +1000 rounds of everything (It liked Hornady 200gr SXT the best with 1 5/8 group) with no further problems. With that said, I'd take it back to the dealer and make them either exchange it for a new one or refund your money. There is no excuse for a "quality" firearm not to work properly and I sure wouldn't let the dealer squirm out of his obligation. Good luck.
 
Hi, Ankeny,

You can try fixing it, having it fixed locally, or by Les Baer or someone else. Problem is that repair by anyone but Kimber will cost more bucks, and would void Kimber's warranty. In other words, your choice is to send it back to Kimber or try to get your dealer to refund your money (do not hold breath on that one).

Maybe you can trade it in with the dealer on something else, but you lose big bucks that way, too.

One suggestion. Forget all the high tech mags and get a couple of genuine GI WWII magazines. They will often feed when nothing else will, due to the different lip design.

Jim
 
My advice is: first, try to put a few more different kinds of ammo through it. If you can narrow it down to certain kinds, it will help them figure out the problem. Then send the gun back. It sounds like Kimber has tried to do right by you, even if they haven't figured out the problem yet.
 
Screw your gun dealer. Man does it bother me that you shelled out $1000.00 and what you got was a Keltec P11. What a joke. Have your gun dealer fix it , replace it , or refund it. Send page (copies) of the three threads that you started to specfic Kimber e-mail addresses and to your gun dealers e-mail! What a nightmare! I would break out the dremel or take it to a local gunsmith. By all means do raise HELL otherwise you will be forgotten.
 
Kimber does appear to have spotty quality problems. I had posted on another site the many problems I had with a Custom Target model. Failure to feed,loose slide,loose bushing, bad mag. release and slide not locking back. I suspected that the barrel throat angle was wrong causing the feed problems. I returned it to the Custom Shop after talking to the head man there. I received it back in 5 days. After the barrel was replaced all of the feed problems went away. I have appox. 3,000 rds. thru it with not one failure to feed. I think there is a hole location problem with the slide release on some of the Kimbers. I put a Wilson release in and cured the problem - the one Kimber sent me and the one they installed will not lock back some mags. Most of the other problems were repaired to my satisfiction. Thinking back I never had a problem with the slide release on any of my Springfield guns, but then again I had to replace that junky two piece barrel in all of them. The Kimber Gold Match fills the gap between regular production guns and the high quality ones by Wilson and Les Baer. I guess you get what you pay for. I have shot some Gold Match guns that were very nice.
 
SHORTFUSE is right, you got to raise hell
with Kimber. Tell them they make junk, try
to get hold of the president or threaten to
get hold of the president to complain about
his employees who can not do things right.
This is the only effective way to win your money back, and FAST. No "sugar or please or
may be you can help" stuff.

In any case, try to get rid of Kimber. If they can not fix their own product, it means
they have no right idea what to do with it..
or they have problems hiring the qualified
people, which means bad things for any company and its products.


That is disturbing.

buy yourself normal pistol.
 
Try to get a lawyer to send a letter to KIMBER telling them that you consider the malfunctioning gun to be a possible danger to anyone who may use it in it's current condition.And that you will consider them responsible.That usually will get you your money back ASAP. If that doesn't work take them to small claims court,you will get a judgement or a refund since they will have to get a lawyer to defend them.Good luck ! If what you say is right you will prevail.
 
This may seem a bit far out. But take the dealer to a place (range) where you can show him how bad the gun malf's. let him see for himself that the gun is a defect. maybe if he sees you blew a grand on a junker he will be quick to give you your money back. or to put the pressure on the manufacturer to make you a happy customer.

P.S. If i was in your shoes i wouldnt accept anything other than a refund. I wouldnt even want a replacement. "F" kimber !!!!!

------------------
TIM : )
 
Firstly call Kimber (be nice)
Then ask to talk to the Manager.
Explain your problems then DEMAND that THEY pay for its SECOND trip back in a WEEK & that they had better get it right !
Otherwise you'll take EVERYONES advice here & the crapola WILL hit the fan. ;)
Be nice BUT in a THREATENING way.

------------------
"The Gun from Down Under !"
http://www.para1911fanclub.w3.to/
E-mail hotshot_2000@hotmail.com
Alternate E-mail
HS2000@ausi.com
 
Everybody is missing a couple of things.

Feed failures are often magazine problems as is failure for the slide to lock open.

The shooter, buy not holding the pistol firmly enough, can cause feed and ejection failures.

May I suggest that before you go much further try to find out what is really wrong.

1. Have someone else shoot the pistol to see if they have the same problems.

2. Try some different magazines

3. Have a good gunsmith look at it to see if there is a mechanical problem. If you know Les Baer or live near him that would be great, but any good gunsmith ( one who makes a living at it) should be able to do some simple checks and give you information. Even if it costs a bit to get an informed opinion it would be worth it.

4. Then talk to Kimber
 
Jeez, you guys are over the edge. He has sent the pistol back to Kimber ONCE, they returned it in like four days. Okay, they didn't catch the problem the first time...so crucify them now? That's moronic. Send it back again and give them another chance.
 
I see a lot of Kimbers come through my door for repair. They are not the miracle 1911 that gun writers try to make you believe they are. You have just as many bad Kimbers on the market as Colts and Springfields.

Anyways, the problem with the slide stop is the slide stop. They are crap. Replace it with either a Brown Hardcore or a EGW. I have one we offer that is the exact same as the Brown and EGW, but about half the price and that is what we use on the Kimbers. Also the barrel chamber is probably tight and the feedramp a little off. A chamber reaming and redressing of the throat will take care of that. Also a check of the extractor tension is needed. I have a Gold Match in shop now along with a Gold Combat ($1300+ gun) that neither one will feed reliably along with other problems. Both needed the chamber reamed, extractor tensioned, breech face polished and other tinkering.

As someone pointed out earlier, mags can be a problem. If you are using Shooting Star mags and the bullet is nosediving into the ramp and stopping, you need to replace the mag springs.
 
As normal, Kimbers barrels are too tight. Once they are opened up a bit. I have had two Kimbers and both had this problem and both went back to Kimber for repair and neither was fixed. One, Classic, went back twice and even had the barrel changed but the problem still was not fixed. The other, Gold Match, only went back once.
The fix was to have a gunsmith who knews what he is doing open up the barrels.
Since then the Gold Match has been disposed of and the Classic may be leaving soon.
 
Here was MY problem:

I did not mind sending the gun back to Kimber at all the first time around. It even came back rather quickly.

But the fact that Kimber did a shoddy job of fixing it really rubbed me the wrong way.

Nowadays, it costs $25 to send the pistol back to the factory. Two trips means $50!

Plus, don't even get me started on how much ammunition I wasted trying to test the gun 1) when I first bought it, 2) with Wilson mags (when Kimber mags didn't work) and then finally 3) after the trip to the factory. I must have spent another $50-100 easy on hollowpoints to see if they fed okay.

At that point, I wasn't going to return the gun yet again to the factory, just so that I can get it back in two weeks and spend another $50 to test the ammo.

I traded it away for a song and bought a Springfield instead. So far, so good (though I have not tested the gun extensively - been too busy with a new CZ-75B).

Skorzeny

------------------
For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence. Sun Tzu
 
Geez! Glad I never bought a Kimber. I have never had that much trouble with a Colt or a Springfield product!!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top