Kimber not locking back, Part 2

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johnboy

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Well the new slide stop arrived yesterday. Put it in and guess what, same problem.
Would not lock back.

I looked at it for about half an hour. Reassembleing the pistol with out the barrel and recoil spring and inserting different magazines, showed me what the problem was. The slot on top of the slide stop was too narrow. The inside edge of the slide stop stop was pressing against the inside surface of the slide.

Got a file and emory paper out and started to open the slot up. After several iterations,
I got the fit I was looking for. It works perfectly now.

The new slide stop required less work than the old one, so I only have one working now. This weekend while watching the Vols kick Wyoming all over the field, I will fit the old slide stop.

Johnboy
 
Hi, Johnboy,

I sure didn't think of that one. Just goes to show what kind of QC is involved with some of these folks.

Glad it worked out for you.

Jim
 
I really expected better QC from
Kimber. Since a large percentage
of Kimbers have this problem ,
it needs to be rectified by the
factory. So sad! Who can you trust?
 
The narrow slot on the slide stop is interesting. I have 3 Kimbers and that slot is very wide in fact so wide that the slide stop plunger gets caught in it during re-assembly. (No big problem, however.)

Slide stops work perfectly as intended.

marsh
 
I ordered a Kimber Stainless last week. I also e-mailed Kimber and asked if they are taking steps to resolve this slide stop problem that so many of you are having. I'll let you know how they reply.
 
I inspected my magazines really closely, and the original mag that came with the Ultra Carry works sometimes and not other times... seems to depend on the follower shifting a little forward, which causes a failure to lock back, or being seated back, which works fine. The Wilson lockback failures are still a mystery, since the "activation" place is solid plastic on the Wilson mag. I've not gotten to the range to test yet; I've given the magazines a thorough cleaning and will see if that helps.

-Jorah
 
Jorah, it is not the magazines. My personal opinion is that Kimber needs to do something about the slide stop. The one that came with the gun and the new one they sent me, were not of the same quality on the one in my older Kimber. I am going to order another slide stop, but this time from Ed Brown.
 
Let us know how the Ed Brown slide stop works. I suspect that there are a lot of other Kimber owners who are eager to know more about this problem and how to fix it. Kimber should wake up... no resting on laurels.

-Jorah

RKBA!
 
Some of you here know I have been a Kimber fan. (Typing this in my Kimber Polo Shirt right now) but they really left me cold last week. I own three; Stainless Target Classic, Combat Carry and Stainless Polymer. The first is just awsome. It has not given me a minute of trouble. The Combat Carry had the slide lock problems with Wilson mags. A Wilson Slide Stop solved my problems and the gun has not missed a lick since.

The Polymer on the other hand has been a nightmare. I have only had one cartidge feed reliably in this pistol; S&B FMJ. Everything else I have tried has failed at a rate of 1 in 7 or 8 rounds. I have spend a good deal of my career in customer service. I know you need a lot of detail in order to fully understand a customer's problem. So,I sent a 2 and a half page e-mail to Kimber detailing all the problems, all my attempts to clear the problems and steps on how to make the pistol fail. I got a response back in less than an hour telling me to send the pistol to the Custom Shop and they would make it right.

Pistol went out the following day. A week later, I got back a dirty gun with a one line response "gun fired fine". I can still cause the thing to fail at will with several types of ammo. I had every intention of turning the polymer into a race gun for bowling pin and maybe even some ISPC shooting. But now I just don't believe I can trust it. Kimber's standard work seems fine, but this half breed from Kimber/Bull is not up to the family heritage.

The question is wheither to dump the turkey or spend the money with a good smith to make it what it should have been from the beginning. I am leaning on getting out of this one and just getting what I need from a reliable smith.

Kimber? Are you listening? You had someone here who was one of your largest fans. Someone who sang your praises at every turn. And now you have turned me cold. All which could have been solved with a simple phone call. "Mr Burba, we are having trouble duplicating your problem. Can you give us some additional insight?"

Sigh.....



------------------
Bubba
IDPA# A04739
====
It is long been a principal of ours that one is no more armed because he has possession of a firearm than he is a musician because he owns a piano. There is no point in having a gun if you are not capable of using it skillfully. - Jeff Cooper
 
When I talked to them, Kimber Custom Shop, that was the standard answer, "Send it to us and we will make it right". Had to get forceful in telling them I fixed it myself, and that I was not going to send it back. I explained in much more detail how I determined what the problem was and how I fixed it. My impression was and is, they are throwing parts at it and hoping that it will fix it.

I think they are a victom of their own success. My Classic Stainless Target is the best pistol I own. They now produce multiple models, custom guns, and spare parts. In short, QC can not keep up with production quotas. Tolerances have been changed to increase production, and quality has fallen. They had better get back to makeing them the way they did a couple of years ago.
 
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