[STELLIX]

Anyone own a Kimber 1911? How is the quality and reliability? I'm looking for a 4" Commander size 1911 and the Kimber looks nice but there are a bunch of mixed reviews on them

 

[onlymaroonmatters]

Bout like most things. Some hate them, some love them. Never had a problem with mine. May be more a general 1911 thing as in they sometimes need a good break in (unlike other guns).
My next 1911 is going to be a smaller Kimber to match my fullsize. To each their own

 

[Myers]

Shameless plug, but I have a 4" springfield in the for sale section now that is decked out and comes with Wilson mags for I would presume less than a Kimber and IMO a better gun.

For Sale - Springfield Armory Range Officer Compact 45 with extras

 

[nonnieselman]

Out of the 4 or 5 Kimber's Ive shot, none of them were reliable. After messing with them few, i never seen the point in them since they were so expensive.

 

[jakeg823]

For the right price($700-900), they’re fine. Over $1k though, don’t waste your money.

They are tightly fit guns, and mine is extremely accurate. But it has had problems, which Kimber corrected. But due to the severity of the issues(major parts failure) I will not trust this particular one as a carry gun.

Kimber makes beautiful guns and puts ads in the right place, but mostly they’re just hype, considering what they are and the poor quality of their parts. You’re literally paying for a name and marketing costs. If you’re spending over $1k, do yourself a favor and save a couple hundred more and just buy a Dan Wesson.


I would buy another for the right price.

 

[TheBouncer1111]

over priced production gun, but can be purty....IMHO

every time I see one, the saying comes to mind...If you build it, They will come (and buy it)

 

[dhollis51]

Shameless plug, but I have a 4" springfield in the for sale section now that is decked out and comes with Wilson mags for I would presume less than a Kimber and IMO a better gun.

For Sale - Springfield Armory Range Officer Compact 45 with extras

This is what i would do right here. Great gun from a guy that knows a few things about guns.

 

[steve2112]

Out of the 4 or 5 Kimber's Ive shot, none of them were reliable. After messing with them few, i never seen the point in them since they were so expensive.

Yep. My brother had two of them, and ended up getting rid of them because they weren't reliable. They also had rust issues. Kimber has been living off their name for a long time, but their quality just isn't there in modern versions. I would rather save some money and get something like a Springfield or Ruger, or spend a bit more and get something like a Dan Wesson.

 

[patchz]

I have three, all stainless. Had a few FTE during break-in but no problems since. I carried the Stainless II for several years and even shot a few matches with it, but now I carry the Pro Raptor daily. They go bang every time and eject/chamber every time with whatever I choose to feed them.

 

[Dr. Benway]

I have a kimber custom II and hate it. The only reason I keep it is because it has my battalion crest engraved.

I can't believe I paid $800 for that piece of sh it and almost hate myself for doing it. After 1000 rounds the sear started getting rounded and the hammer hooks got all chewed up from the hammer follow caused by the crappy sear. The metal is too soft to hold up to actually being shot.

So I pulled hammer, sear and disconnector out and replaced them with cylinder and slide parts. Cut the new sear to fit which actually was much better fitting than what kimber did. It runs fine now, but seriously fu ck kimber. I'm sure the slide stop and safety will break if I keep shooting it too much.

 

[jakeg823]

“Custom” Shop

 

[chevy427]

I have owned a Kimber Stainless Target II for several years. I have shot several thousand rounds of round nose thru it with no problems. It was a little finicky with SWC's until I got the COL right. No problems after that. You are welcome to give mine a try.

 

[TheBouncer1111]

I guess the largest drawback I feel with Kimber is it's marketing.

You are paying the price of a "custom" gun, when it's only a production gun that needs additional custom service.

Better to get a basic production gun, Springfield, Rock Island, whatever, then turn it over to your trusted gunsmith to make it into "your custom" gun.
About the same price as base line Kimber, and it is truly made for you.

 

[DoyleAlley]

I doubt I will ever own a Kimber. From what I can gather (and I'm on several firearms forums), the words Kimber and quality don't always go together. For the price they demand for their firearms, they should have FAR fewer problems.

 

[STELLIX]

I just looked at a few Kimbers and they looked ok but the sights suck. I did see a Ruger lightweight commander that felt nice, any opinions on the Ruger 1911?

 

[Trashy]

I've shot 1 Kimber 1 time, 16 rounds, so not much help either way. But If it was me, I'd spend the same $$ or a little less than Kimber's lower end and get a Colt, Springfield or Ruger. If I was looking at their higher end I'd look hard at Dan Wesson or higher end Colts. YMMV

 

[vr1967]

I have one of those junky old Kimbers. Bought it New in late ‘95 when they only made one model.

127k plus rounds thru it and only one MIM parts failure 2-3k rounds ago, which could have been caused by me slipping and falling on the gun.

At that time, it was $475. Colts and Springfield’s were $425, but they only sold basic pistols then with a 9 month to year wait for their custom shops.

Like them or hate them, I believe they made the other manufacturers step up and produce a production gun with custom details.

 

[CajunBP]

I saw a Kimber at Academy a few months back. It was sitting in the show case and I could see where the grip screw had been overtightened to the point it actually and clearly cracked the grip! I know the counter guy and asked what happened. He said it arrived like that and they were waiting on a replacement panel. I know everyone has a bad day, but how did quality control not catch that?

 

[jakeg823]

I have one of those junky old Kimbers. Bought it New in late ‘95 when they only made one model.

127k plus rounds thru it and only one MIM parts failure 2-3k rounds ago, which could have been caused by me slipping and falling on the gun.

At that time, it was $475. Colts and Springfield’s were $425, but they only sold basic pistols then with a 9 month to year wait for their custom shops.

Like them or hate them, I believe they made the other manufacturers step up and produce a production gun with custom details.

If it’s a Clackamas, OR produced model, those were well made. They’re far more desirable than the Yonkers, NY produced guns.

 

[jakeg823]

I saw a Kimber at Academy a few months back. It was sitting in the show case and I could see where the grip screw had been overtightened to the point it actually and clearly cracked the grip! I know the counter guy and asked what happened. He said it arrived like that and they were waiting on a replacement panel. I know everyone has a bad day, but how did quality control not catch that?

We had one come in with the slide froze up from the factory when I was at flowood. Wouldn’t budge. I told my manager(no longer employed there) it wasn’t fit to sell and needed to be returned. He came back with a rubber mallet and whacked it several times. Freed right up. I still wanted to send it back but he never would go for it.