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I am looking at buying a Stainless Ultra Carry II because I simply love this gun. I have shot about 600 rounds through a rental at the range. I currently carry a Glock 22 and it is just too big to conceal. I ask this question here because from what I have read, most law enforcement agencies do not use Kimber. Is there a reason for this such as inconsistency, prone to jamming, etc.?
Maclean would be a good person to ask this question to.
I purchased a Kimber Tactical Custom II a few years ago for a carry gun. I continually had malfunctions with the gun, even after the '500 round break in using 230 grain ball ammo.' I sent it back to Kimber, they did some tinkering, polished the slide, replaced the extractor, ext.....got it back and was still having malfunctions. Needless to say I wouldn't carry the gun on duty as it did not go "bang" every time. HOWEVER------- I have 5 or 6 buddies, a few who I work with, that carry a Kimber and have shot 1,000's of rounds without a glich. They all swear by them!!!
K-9 Thank you. I will PM him
Tactical I definitely don't want something I am not 100% sure will go boom every time. It is interesting that others have had no problems with them. Maybe Kimber doesn't have stellar quality control?
BTW, what part of Oklahoma are you in? I grew up in Lawton and went to school in Norman
Ryan, I carry a Kimber TLE.
I think Kimber makes an excellent gun, with some foibles.
I cured my foibles by sending it off to Wilson Combat.
Every so often, just like with anyone, Kimber makes a dud. I saw a guy wash out of a firearms instructor class because his Kimber choked up on him and he couldn't clear it in time.
My suggestion is to call Kimber (follow up with a letter) and let them know this is a duty gun. Let them know how fond you are of it, blah blah - and let on that you make purchasing decisions or recommendations.
Ask them to make it right, and they will. They replaced a slide stop for me just on my request, free of charge.
The other route is to send it off to Wilson and ask them for the reliability package and their Bulletproof extractor and ejector. That will set you back $200 or so, but mine goes bang more reliably than my Glock now.
Also, the 1911 is an exception the lube rule - most people underlube their rifles and overlube their pistols. The 1911 is the EXCEPTION, it likes to run wet. I use Slip 2000.
Give me a PM for more details, but I bet you can get it right.
Maclean post the pictures of your Kimber after sending it to Wilson, I need some more gun porn.
I carry the Ultra II stainless for my bug; personally have not had a malfunctions or misfires with basically any type of ammo.
They are in the Weapons forum of the LEO side of the house.
Damn (I can't get to the pictures)
Thanks for all of the answers
Aight, here they are again:Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryan
Before Wilson
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/DSCN4389.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/DSCN4388.jpg
After Wilson
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/IM000174.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/IM000175.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/IM000176.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t/IM000177.jpg
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h232/1Bad-SS/052.jpgQuote:
Originally Posted by maclean
:D:biggrin1::D
Looks good
I currently own two Kimbers. On duty I carry a Kimber TLE/RLII with a Surefire X200a attached. I have taken that thing through hell and back, including through my current agency’s in-house academy range. In three days I expended about 1200 rounds of ammo in some of the worst kinds of conditions…crawling through mud and dust, rain, etc. I had, count em, two and only two, malfunctions near the end of day two. These were failure to go into battery malfunctions after inserting a new mag under rapid firing conditions. Also, the weapon had about 300 rounds of fouling through it. This is explained by the fact that coming into the program I had already put over 1.5K rounds through it since my last spring change. I cleaned it and I had no issues the following day until it was getting pretty dirty. I finished the program shooting in the 90’s, and changed the spring out. No problems since.
I also own a Kimber Tactical Pro II that I have the occasional odd-direction extraction (i.e. straight back towards my head, etc), but never really had a malfunction with it under average shooting conditions. Have about 3K rounds through it.
As you can see, sometimes you have a lemon (like any other gun), but IMO my Kimbers are plenty reliable.
The only people who don't like Kimber are pansies. Yeah, I said it- what? :D
Seriously, the only reason most departments don't carry Kimber are, I believe, two big ones:
1. The price. Kimber is the Rolls-Royce of 1911s, IMO and nothing worth having is cheap.
2. There are officers out there that can't shoot a .45 ACP. Personally, I think these people need to re-evaluate their career choice. But most departments like diversity, so they try and stay away from it.
Also, I've met and heard from many supervisors and training officers that they don't like the safety system of the 1911s. I usually ask "As opposed to a Glock?" and watch them shrug for lack of a better response.
I also used to work for a department that forbade officers from ever carrying- on duty or off- a single action weapon. That's why I had to sell my Kimber (I miss her). The next handgun I buy will be a Kimber, though.
Kimber IS a good gun but you can also do what I did. I bought a slightly used stainless series 80 from colt and sent it to Wilson for "The Job". It came back a masterpiece, hell, even Maclean likes it and I only have about 1300 bucks into it. It is a match for any 1911 both in looks and performance. The stainless is bead blasted so no shine and it has all of Wilsons tricks built in.
Wilson is the shit when it comes to tuning guns...especially 1911's.
Car 4:D
I have been drooling over Wilson's website for a while. For those who have sent their weapons in to them, what did you have done? From their order sheet they can do everything from mild to wild and I am just curious what work should be performed to make it operate smoother.
Start with the reliability package.
From there, start replacing critical parts, staying with their "Bulletproof" line, all forged steel.
Have them do a trigger job on their parts - not before on your existing parts. They'll set it how you want it.
After that, everything is cosmetic or preference like sights, mag wells, checkering, etc.
Wasn't there another problem with your Kimber? I think the barrell might have been a bit crooked, as your bullets weren't all going into the 10 ring like mine do!!!:D:D:D:DQuote:
Originally Posted by TacticalII
Awesome. Thank youQuote:
Originally Posted by maclean
I had one(CDP II), right up until it fell apart in my hands. The safety sheared in half and allowed the slide to fly off (while I was shooting it). A $1200 pistol should never do that (the pistol had less than 400 rounds at the time) and I shouldn't have to send a $1200 pistol to anyone or spend a dime more on it in order to make it reliable. As soon as it got back from the shop, I traded it for a REAL gun... a GLOCK (it goes bang everytime I ask it to, maintanence cost has been zero, and its never fallen apart!).