Josser-
Currently I own three Kimbers (tactical custom, eclipse pro, and a newly acquired crimson carry ultra). While I have not fired the crimson carry ultra, I love the other 2 guns. They work flawlessly, never a FTF, and I find are an absolute pleasure to shoot. My dad has 3 kimbers, and my brother owns a CDP ultra and they carry them daily. As far as I'm concerned, the Kimber is a fine gun and we've never had a problem with them. My CCW just showed up in the mail today, and I'm proud to say that to today was my first day with the iron on the hip, and it felt good.

That being said, you should buy what you want to buy because you feel it is the best gun for you and because you are the most comfortable having it and are confident in its ability to protect your well being. While VAMarine clearly knows what he is talking about, everybody out there has reccomendations to make. I suggest reading everyone's opinion and forming your own based on the information that is presented, then making a decision from your own formed opinion.

Good luck with your purchase, hope you decide to buy the Kimber because I feel that it is a fine 1911!

Originally Posted by kevinm783

Josser-
Currently I own three Kimbers (tactical custom, eclipse pro, and a newly acquired crimson carry ultra). While I have not fired the crimson carry ultra, I love the other 2 guns. They work flawlessly, never a FTF, and I find are an absolute pleasure to shoot. My dad has 3 kimbers, and my brother owns a CDP ultra and they carry them daily. As far as I'm concerned, the Kimber is a fine gun and we've never had a problem with them. My CCW just showed up in the mail today, and I'm proud to say that to today was my first day with the iron on the hip, and it felt good.

That being said, you should buy what you want to buy because you feel it is the best gun for you and because you are the most comfortable having it and are confident in its ability to protect your well being. While VAMarine clearly knows what he is talking about, everybody out there has reccomendations to make. I suggest reading everyone's opinion and forming your own based on the information that is presented, then making a decision from your own formed opinion.

Good luck with your purchase, hope you decide to buy the Kimber because I feel that it is a fine 1911!

Thanks Kevin783,
Your opinion helps, Really like the feel of the Kimbers. Like the 3 inch because the are small for carry. Guess it is like any product made, There is always a bad one that once in awhile comes off the assembly line.

Originally Posted by Josser

Thanks Kevin783,
Your opinion helps, Really like the feel of the Kimbers. Like the 3 inch because the are small for carry. Guess it is like any product made, There is always a bad one that once in awhile comes off the assembly line.

It's like I've said, there are more happy Kimber owners than unhappy ones, I'm not saying they are all going to be crap, but just that you should be aware of previous issues and not discount those issues and be aware that the possibility of you buying a gun that flat out doesn't run exits.

Two recent examples from another forum:

Originally Posted by ScubaDuba

This pistol was manufactured in November 2009. I bought it new from a local gun shop. Out of the box, it would fail to go into battery on the last round in every magazine, with PMC, Cor-Bon, WWB, and Independence ammunition. I fired the requisite 500 rounds through it, and as that period ended, the pistol was also starting to lock the slide back on the 3rd or 4th round in the magazine about every 3rd mag. I tried Wilson, Tripp, and Wolff magazines. I bought a Wolff XP spring for the stock Kimber magazine. Nothing worked. The other magazines actually made it worse. I contacted Kimber, and spoke with a customer service representative who emailed me a UPS slip, and told me they would fix it, and to expect a 4-6 week turn around time. They said they would call me the day they shipped it, so I would know to expect it. I received the pistol back in just a shade under two weeks, and no one called me when it shipped out. I shipped the pistol to them in perfectly clean condition, they shipped it back to me after test firing it, filthy. If it had been lost in the mail, it probably would have rusted. So I cleaned it up and took it too the range. 2 mags of Cor-Bon, perfect. I'm feeling pretty good. After all, I do love this pistol, it's sexy, and it shoots tight, tight groups. I love 'em tight. Then I fire a box of Federal Champion 230gr FMJ. Failure to go into battery last round of every mag. A box of PMC bronze 230gr FMJ. Failure to go into battery every mag, last round, and slide locks to rear mid-mag. A box of Independence 230gr FMJ. No malfunctions, thank Jesus. A box of WWB JHP, 1 stove pipe. I want to get rid of it, but I don't want to dump these problems onto someone else. It jams more than a 50 dollar Saturday Night Special.

Originally Posted by RogerThat

Heres my predicament. I have a kimber pro cdp II. I bought it for concealed carry. I have 2 other guns, a sig p229 9mm and a sig p220 which neither have ever jammed. My kimber on the other hand has had nearly 5 malfunctions. 2 cycle jams, and 3 failure to loads. All under 400 rounds total. I can't carry something that is this unreliable when I have 2 other guns that have never jammed, and I would like to have all three of my carry guns to be rotated. The fact that the kimber is the prettiest gun and most expensive gun at that isn't good enough for me. Here are my options. Keep it, and be more patient see if it will "break in" or what not. Trade it in and get only 2/3 of what I paid for it as far as trade in. Send it back to kimber which to be honest I don't really want to do because I don't want to wait months to get my firearm back. Any feedback is appreciated. Please let me know what you think you would do, and not what you think everyone else would do.

Personally, I'd just go with another make than Kimber to avoid the possibility of issues.

As I've also said "The Kimbers that run, run great, the ones that don't will make you want to slit your wrists."

As for other models, I'd check out Springfield and S&W for a 3" 1911, if you up the bbl to 4" you will have a larger list of possibilities.

The smart thing to do with any pistol you plan to carry and use for PD is to run about 500 rounds threw it anyway to get to know the gun and make sure there are no issues. Some Kimber's come a bit tighter than others from the factory. Some shoot in is good. They are very high on the good gun list of mass produced pistols so I sure wouldn't turn my nose up at one. The first time I pulled the trigger on my Para LTC it went click.....It has never missed a beat since.

I have two Kimber 1911 pistols and both are for sale. I first bought the Stainless Pro Carry II and about 1 week later someone at the gun club had a CDP Pro Carry he wanted to get rid of to buy something else. It was a really good looking two tone and I bought it right then and there. Both of these weapons are very accurate out to 25 yards. NOw for the problems - BOTH of them fail to go into battery, and I have had many failure to properly load the next round. I have tried alot of different ammo types and brands, I have used factory mags, Chip McCormick both regular and Power mags, and Wilson Combat mags and still have the problems. Both of these guns have had more that 1000 rounds put thru them so the breaking in of the gun is a none issue. The Stainless pro carry has been back to Kimber and still does the same thing. I think I have the CDP sold and the other wil follow suit right away. There is no way I intend to put my trust in these firearms the way they are now and I have heard of many people having the same problem. I must also say that I have friends at the IDPA range that have Kimbers and love them.

To the previous poster...call Kimber and send them back and they will get you going.

Now I have a Ultra CDPII, no problems, fun to shoot, easy to carry.

Originally Posted by mattyd

To the previous poster...call Kimber and send them back and they will get you going.

Now I have a Ultra CDPII, no problems, fun to shoot, easy to carry.

Ended up buying a Kimber Stainless Ultra Raptor II. Have shot 300 loads and went BANG everytime. New shooter here and getting more accurate every trip to the range. Gun and Third range target below, have really improved from my first trip. Jerry

I came real close too owning a Kimber...read some opinions and decided there should be little controversy over the reliability and quality on a $1200.00 pistol. Way too much negative feedback despite those that are satisfied with theirs. I thought twice and bought a SIG 229SCT instead and glad I did, it's a great pistol. I'm use to a DA/SA anyway.

oops...I should have read the entire post...I see you made your choice Josser. Glad you're happy and with no complaints. Looks sweet!... Congrats! Enjoy! and Happy shooting!

I love my Kimber




While I've heard of the 500 round break in - mine has never failed in any way since I bought it.

I have considerably more rounds through it than 500 now.

And I still love the gun, the way it shoots, feels,and handles .

If I were looking to buy another .45 - it'd be a Kimber for sure.

Go shoot one, you'll see.

Originally Posted by VAMarine

It's like I've said, there are more happy Kimber owners than unhappy ones, I'm not saying they are all going to be crap, but just that you should be aware of previous issues and not discount those issues and be aware that the possibility of you buying a gun that flat out doesn't run exits.

Two recent examples from another forum:






Personally, I'd just go with another make than Kimber to avoid the possibility of issues.

As I've also said "The Kimbers that run, run great, the ones that don't will make you want to slit your wrists."

As for other models, I'd check out Springfield and S&W for a 3" 1911, if you up the bbl to 4" you will have a larger list of possibilities.

This is a true statement for ALL Manufacturers.

In the 6 months of intensive research I did before my first purchase what I learned is that
(insert any name here) SUCK!
Just ask around.
I also heard
(insert name here) are GREAT!
Just ask around.

My next pistol will be a Kimber Ultra (something) Unless I ever get to touch an EMP in person, then maybe there will be a competition.

Sled

Sled- I agree. It is like boats or cars or planes...everybody has a love affair with one particular species and hates the rest. I'm sticking with Kimbers because in my experience, I know they work. Not to say that I might add a SA 1911 to the collection at some point...

Go with what you know works, fits you best and you like the most...and you'll never go wrong!! (IMO)

I was speaking with a shipmate (coworker) and he used to sell guns. I told him of how impressed I was with the Kimber Gold Combat ll, and he's immediately derogatory towards the brand, stating that ANY time a customer would touch a Kimber they would have to perform maintenance or it would have rusted by morning. and I was certainly piqued by this, as the model in question is stainless steel, and he said even those rust. Interesting. stainless steel is pretty resistant to rust, but he still says kimber's are crap.

so I'm interested to see if there's any validity to this kimber's are inherently easy to rust/therefor requiring excessive maintenance.

Originally Posted by Gunners_Mate

so I'm interested to see if there's any validity to this kimber's are inherently easy to rust/therefor requiring excessive maintenance.

Google Search Results: Kimber Barrel + Rust

It's mainly just the barrels, only certain models have the premium barrels that are more resistant to corrosion. A couple of mine had barrels that were rust prone.

You should have asked him if he's ever really owned one for a period of time.

Most of the comments like that are just hearsay.

I am quite satisfied with my purchase. No rust yet at all and had for a month. I think this is way overblown. Nobody I have talked to that has a Kimber has this problem. They are great guns and very accurate!. Jerry

I have 3, and with regular cleaning and oiling after shooting, no rust at all. My dad bought one off gun broker that had a something on the barrel that looked like corrosion, the gun was advertised that it was NIB, but after further inspection we weren't so sure about that claim...and he also has 3 others that are perfectly fine.

The only thing that keeps me from wanting a Kimber is the firing pin block and whole series II junk. I think that is something that isoverlooked by many buyers, but is still valid info in making an informed decision. That being said, I did want to get an SIS model (inpart because it was one of the models without the firing pin block), but those have been discontinued now.

Originally Posted by LoneStar

The only thing that keeps me from wanting a Kimber is the firing pin block and whole series II junk. I think that is something that isoverlooked by many buyers, but is still valid info in making an informed decision. That being said, I did want to get an SIS model (inpart because it was one of the models without the firing pin block), but those have been discontinued now.

They do make models without the swartz firing pin, they would be the ones without the II behind them although the Swartz system does not bother me at all.

I wouldn't trade my Kimber for anything, except maybe a better Kimber.

i bought a custom 2. i have 300 rounds through it with one FTE, using the factory mag and cheap ammo. i wouldnt trade this gun for anything. its is very accuarte, tightly fit, and nicely finished. i think you would be very pleased. just gotta keep em clean. resale value is good to.

I have 2 Kimbers: 1 - Kimber Heritage I bought in 2000 and CDP Custom I bought in 2001. I have shot 5k plus rounds through the CDP in a 2 year period and have done very well in many IDPA competitions with it during that time frame without any problems.
Bottom line I love my Kimbers and would reccomend them to anyone that asks.

One other thing to consider, I don't recall the numbers off the top of my head but if you figure out how many Kimbers are sold in comparison to how many have problems I bet that percentage is very low compared to other 1911's. Also how many people troll around on these boards that own Kimbers and never post because they "don't" have any complaints/problems . Analogy would be going out to eat and you love the service and or food, how many times do you ask for the manager to tell them about your excellent experience at their establishment, if you are like most not very often. Then the same scenario where your food and/or service is bad you tell the server,manager and friends in conversation about your bad experience when talking about restaraunts.

Shoot one and you will be hooked.

Just my .02

I own 3 of the full sized models. 2 Custom target II's and one Gold target II model ALL with the cussed at external extractor and NONE have given me even a hint of trouble EXCEPT when I was starting to reload wadcutters. ( They can be a pain to get "just right) but once I had them seated "correctly" and crimped properly...NADA..no problem what so ever.

Would I buy another Kimber? No! I dont need anything more upscale than what I have and one of mine has been "customized" and used as a carry weapon for more than 5 years; the second Custom II is my wife's and it setup with a VERY light spring and presently sports the Kimber conversion for 22's.
If I owned NO .45 ACP's presently and wanted one....Id look first at a Kimber but always remember...Kimber doesnt make any "cheap" 45's. If you want a "toss under the seat" weapon...or a "toss around stump killer" for shooting in the local dump....get a cheaper brand. But if you want a much nicer weapon to KEEP....Buy the Kimber ( which I see you have)..

I love the looks of most Kimbers but you just never know when a new problem is going to pop up with one of them. You should not be having these problems for the premium price you have to pay for these guns.
Sigs are not only beautiful guns, they are among the most reliable and accurate weapons that money can buy. Great 1911's . Mine is the P226 Elite in a 40. I love this gun and I know that if you had one, you would feel the same.
You can always count on a SIG...