Shane Tuttle
Staff
Bottom Gun said:I think people might be surprised if they knew the number of manufacturers using MIM parts in firearms and other products. It truly is an advancement in technology.
Smith &Wesson uses MIM parts but I never hear any complaints about them. Why are only the Kimber MIM parts problematic?
Personally, I think Kimbers are a good value. Every Kimber I've owned has been reliable, accurate and never needed any kind of break-in.
It isn't the fact they used MIM parts as much as the level of quality in the manufacturing process of the MIM parts and the sheer number of complaints on how Kimber's customer service was horrendous. S&W had failures, just like most other manufacturers, even though the frequency was likely less. Two major differences: One, it's how the manufacturer handled the failure with the customer. Two, it's the method of how the manufacturer addressed the failure of the parts themselves.
Is Kimber currently making quality firearms? Don't know. Don't care. They treated me like dirt when I had problems with my firearm. Call it, "marketing", but having the audacity to roll-mark their slide with "Customer Shop" when, in fact, they had no such thing is a flat out lie. There's no way in hell I will ever spend my hard-earned money to take a chance on their product again. There are multitudes of manufacturers that provide a quality 1911 variant that stands by their products and will bend over backwards to make sure I'm taken care of in the unlikely event a failure happens. The only Kimber I would consider are ones made in Clackamas. That's when they made a quality product.
In the end, "overpriced" is very subjective. I honestly don't think I can sit here and state it as fact they are. I can say it's my opinion, though, based on my experiences.
Oh, and one other thing regarding MIM parts. Admittedly, this is a loaded question coming up. I'm going to compare a truly hand-made 1911 that the owner fabricates all of his own parts minus the wood grips. And his production numbers aren't the same. But some, not all, Kimber owners keep comparing their "Custom Shop" guns as though as they compare in quality. So, that's why I'm going to use it in my example:
How many parts failures have you seen in a Les Baer? All of his parts are forged.