Why the Ruger and not the Kimber?

A

AL45

New member
I have a .45 acp load that functions flawlessly in a Ruger 1911, but does not function at all in a Kimber 1911. In the Kimber, you initially charge the gun, it fires, but the slide will not go back. You can repeat this procedure until the gun is empty. I am using Lee carbide dies with a slight crimp. The bullets are 185 grain Berry plated bullets with bullseye powder. The factory rounds we used worked fine in the Kimber. What's wrong here?
 
My friend has a Springfield Armory 1911. His won't work with cast 230 grain semi wad cutters at all, but use a plated 230 grain semi wad cutter and it works. His gun works fine with the 200 grain cast round nose I gave him to try. It might be that you haven't found the bullet or powder charge the Kimber wants.
On the other hand, My Ruger SR1911 has worked with any round I have tried. Keep at it.
 
It would be interesting to see how the Kimber functions with the Ruger's recoil spring installed (and visa-versa, for that matter).

I got a Kimber 1911 (Target II? I think) a couple months ago. I'm a revolver guy so I haven't gotten to shooting it a lot. But last week, I had my first truly good bonding session with it. Put 240 rounds through it this last trip (about 700 rounds total through it now). It's broke in now and running really smooth.

Fodder: My oldest pet load of them all: 200gn LSWC; 5.0gns HP-38. Along with some 185 JHP's; 10.0gns HS-6. Some 200gn Speer TMJ SWC's - TiteGroup - forget the grainage, and I'm too lazy to get off the couch to check :p. And a box factory Speer's 200gn GDHP +P's. It gobbled up everything.

P.S. - I use all Wilson Combat mags. The factory mag is in the case - unused - and will remain so.
 
My guess is your load is too light for the Kimber to fully recycle. Try 230 grain bullets. Kimber's come with a 22 lb recoil spring and are very stiff at first. As you put rounds through it, it will lighten up.


Good luck and stay safe.
Jim
 
I am not pistol smith but I can tell you that you have the responsibility to keep the 1911 clean and lubed properly. When I purchased my Colt the smith gave me directions what to do and what not to do. He also mentioned that those custom 1911s can have some tight tolerances that can give you problems. Not so much with the Colt 1991.

My Daughter inherited a Springfield TRP that was carried for many years and I found it to be quite difficult to cycle the slice slide. I broke it down cleaned and lubed it and found it to be a fine operating pistol.

I have read that after about 1000 rounds that the springs should be replaced.
If after you clean and lube the pistol it still gives you trouble try asking the Question on the (Smith) category not here on the reloading area.

Good luck and let us know what the problem was after you get it resolved.
 
I do not know, what I do know is if I do not hold a slide action like the P90 Ruger or my 1911 pistols there is a good chance the slide will not eject the last case fired.

F. Guffey
 
Could be a thousand different things - ranging from recoil springs to chamber finish to tolerance between slide and frame to lubrication to simply the gun not liking that particular load.
 
Semi-auto pistols rely on chamber pressure to cycle the action. If there is not enough pressure, enough to the case to overcome the slide/bolt/spring mass to operate the bolt/slide, it will not function. As noted above, perhaps the recoil spring in your Kimber is stronger than the Ruger spring and needs a heavier load to cycle the action...
 
Kimber's not set up for those wee bullets. The only 185 grain Bullseye load Alliant shows is for a jacketed bullet. A plated bullet is not jacketed. My old Lyman book gives 3.5(778 fps) to 4.9(966 fps) of Bullseye for a cast 185.
Anyway, you have to work up a load for each firearm. The chances of having any 2 that will shoot the same ammo the same way are less than slim.
 
Half to agree with T. O'Heir.....especially with Kimber mags and slide springs. I only shoot 230's in mine......

I've never understood the reason for shooting lighter bullets in a .45. I can see shooting lighter bullets alright......in a 9mm or a .380, where you have to.....

I guess my madness is based on the reasoning that even the heaviest bullets in most pistols are is less than optimal for self defense.....so I practice to be efficient with least deficient.....that I can shoot well.:rolleyes:
 
The bullets are Berry's plated bullets. I loaded them light when my wife and I qualified for our concealed carry. I wanted to keep recoil down. We chose to qualify with a .45 acp so we could legally carry it and every caliber below it. That is the regulations here in New Mexico. Based on your responses, I believe the load is too light for the Kimbers stiff springs. Thanks guys.
 
I've had the opposite results, 200 SWC load works in 4 of my 1911s including a Kimber, I had to increase the load .2 grain to function 100% in my Ruger CMD. The spring in the ruger is a bit stronger than in my Colt Commander.
 
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