They are a very nice pistol. For me I love the new colt agent dao double action pistol.

Hornady and Gold dot ammo is all I use.To me they are the best.Hornady has Wins 2011 USPSA Area 3 Championship. This is why I use there ammo. What I like to see in my ammo.

Short barrels and short slides in the 1911 configuration make for a very fussy gun.

I am not a firearms engineer, but these are some of the things I do know.

First, the 1911 was designed for a 5" barrel. With a shorter barrel it is necessary to tilt the barrel up at a more acute angle in order to allow the slide to scoop up a round and insert it in the chamber.

With a shorter slide you have less time to get all the steps done (fire round, eject round, scoop up next round). You also have less mass sliding forward and rearward so the slide wants to travel faster and has less time to get it all done.

The upshot of all this is that the weapon may be very fussy over the type of ammo used. It may require +P or full pressure loads. It may require 230 grain, or 180 grain or 165 grain or something else for reliable cycling. You might be limited to one or two types of ammo. It might require some fine tuning to work really well.

It is not that Kimber makes a poor weapon; to the contrary they make very good weapons. But they skate further out on the ice than many other manufacturers do and their reputation sometimes gets blemished for that. You don't hear about Wilson's, or Ed Brown's guns being fussy like this, but they only make full sized or Commander sized weapons so they are not skating on the thinner areas of the ice.

I would try several types of ammo. Make certain that your technique is not adding to the problem. I think you will be able to resolve this over time.

The bigger problem will be once you resolve this issue will you have sufficient confidence in the weapon to trust your life on it. The longer it takes to resolve the problem, the longer it will take for you to regain confidence in the weapon.

Note: I am extending my thinking to you. When I've had weapons with problems in the beginning I've had a hard time trusting it later on.

You say failure to extract, I hate asking as you were perfectly clear in that, but often times people misunderstand failure to extract and failure to eject. Is the spent casing not being removed from the chamber, or is the spent casing not making it out of the ejection port?

If it is truly a failure to extract, forget all the tinkering, call Kimber, send it back, if they give you grief about a "break in period" tell them to stick it, there is something wrong with your gun. Regardless of ammo type, days ending in "Y", grip, stance, bad breath or anything else, the casing should make it at least out of the chamber. Take a look at the rear end of the slide and see if the "flat" of the extractor is lined up with the hammer channel, you can also apply some pressure to the top & bottom of the extractor flat and see it it rotates, if it does there's something rotten in your gun, either the extractor or the firing pin stop.

1911s in 9mm are finicky things...extractor tension is another possible issue if you're having genuine failures to extract.

Originally Posted by Packard

Short barrels and short slides in the 1911 configuration make for a very fussy gun.

I am not a firearms engineer, but these are some of the things I do know.

First, the 1911 was designed for a 5" barrel. With a shorter barrel it is necessary to tilt the barrel up at a more acute angle in order to allow the slide to scoop up a round and insert it in the chamber.

With a shorter slide you have less time to get all the steps done (fire round, eject round, scoop up next round). You also have less mass sliding forward and rearward so the slide wants to travel faster and has less time to get it all done.

The upshot of all this is that the weapon may be very fussy over the type of ammo used. It may require +P or full pressure loads. It may require 230 grain, or 180 grain or 165 grain or something else for reliable cycling. You might be limited to one or two types of ammo. It might require some fine tuning to work really well.

It is not that Kimber makes a poor weapon; to the contrary they make very good weapons. But they skate further out on the ice than many other manufacturers do and their reputation sometimes gets blemished for that. You don't hear about Wilson's, or Ed Brown's guns being fussy like this, but they only make full sized or Commander sized weapons so they are not skating on the thinner areas of the ice.

I would try several types of ammo. Make certain that your technique is not adding to the problem. I think you will be able to resolve this over time.

The bigger problem will be once you resolve this issue will you have sufficient confidence in the weapon to trust your life on it. The longer it takes to resolve the problem, the longer it will take for you to regain confidence in the weapon.

Note: I am extending my thinking to you. When I've had weapons with problems in the beginning I've had a hard time trusting it later on.

Ya it's not going to be hitting good at 1000yd. But at 7yd's it will. They are like all most have the BG 380 s&w They are for ccw use. And to show people you think you know what your doing lol

I appreciate all the feedback. I put 250 rounds through it using four other brands and regular Remington FMJ in the green and white box. The Remington was better than the UMC, with two extraction failures and one stovepipe out of 50. I also tried Monarch, Blazer, PMC and Federal, none of which failed to extract. If the problem persists, Kimber will certainly hear from me. Fortunately, I didn't buy the 9mm for carry, as I have well-used Tactical Ultra that accepts any .45 rounds I feed it, but it is disappointing to have spent so much for such a fussy new weapon.