I have an Ultra in .45 that has been very reliable and super accurate at 25 yards.
The only trouble I had was under the heavy recoil I'd sometimes bump the slide stop and lock the slide back. This was remedied by center drilling a small detent dimple for the pint to rest in.

I had a desert warrior and a warrior model, both series 70s if IIRC, both ran perfect and both looked great, the SIS models are supposed to be excellent

My neighbor bought one of their compact models. Damn thing won't fire a single mag without stovepiping or fail to feed. When he called them they told him if he sent it in on his dime they would only charge him $50.00 to give him an estimate for repair.

to be fair, i dont know anyone in my area who will run one for duty, much less SD or carry. they have a poor reputation of quality and poor CS , if it was my money I would buy a Springfield Armory if you had more money a Alchemy Arms or Wilson Combat, I have always wanted a Les Baer

If I were looking for a premium 1911, it would be a Dan Wesson Valor!

One of our local sheriff's department traded in their Kimber Series 1 for new rail Kimbers about 7 years ago. I talked with their armorer a few months after the switch,and he hadn't seen anything to cause him concerns.

Speaking of finish durability......my new 10mm Kimber had horrible finish. Finish just peeled off in many areas. I ended up trading it off. I would second getting a Springfield. All mine have been trouble free.

My late 1990s Kimber Gold Match Stainless 45 ACP has been flawless. It is a superb pistol.

quote:

People falsely expect that you can buy a 1911, treat it like a Glock and it will be as reliable as a Glock.

Yet I've done exactly that with:

Springfield GI Model
Springfield Loaded
Springfield Garrison
Ruger SR1911
Ruger SR1911 Commander
Tisas 1911 US Army GI Model
S&W 1911PD
Charles Daly 1911
Dan Wesson Guardian

Every one of them flawless out of the box, yet my NIB Kimber Pro Carry 1911 was not.

Also when I worked in a gun shop the number one 1911 style pistol we sent back to the manufacturer was Kimber. It got so bad at one point that the store owner stopped stocking Kimber 1911's and wouldn't purchase them/take them as trades from people that walked in the store.

quote:

People falsely expect that you can buy a 1911, treat it like a Glock and it will be as reliable as a Glock. Simply is not so.

Yeah, I decided in the end to skip a 1911, and got a Glock 21 gen 5 MOS. Cheaper too, and runs like... a Glock!

In my limited experience, most 1911s have issues with their own factory mags. My S&W ran great after I swapped out the factory mags to Chip McCormick mags. My fairly new Kimber II runs great with Brownell 1911 magazines.

In a market full of 1911s at similar or even lower price points, I don't see the value in Kimber.

I had a TLE2 that I could never get to feed right. Original extractor was fit poorly. It wouldn't go through a full magazine when I got it. Replaced the extractor and fitted a Wilson Bulletproof which got me about 90% where I wanted it to be. Still had a lot of inertia feeds. After playing around with magazines, mainsprings, recoil springs, and firing pin retainer plates, I finally got that gun to where it might only have one last round FTF out of a hundred rounds. I sold it to someone else with a full disclosure that it had issues. Reliability aside, the black finish on the TLE was terrible. It seemed to wear just by looking at it.

My wife, on the other hand, has an early Kimber Gold Combat that she inherited from her father. It's a very, very nice pistol. She hasn't run it hard, but I'm not aware of it giving her or him any issues ever, and it was his carry gun before he got into Glocks.

Meanwhile my Springfield TRP, 2 Ronins, Colt Government, Colt Defender, and Wilson all run without a single issue. The one that surprised me was the Defender. I fully expected a 3 inch gun to be problematic. That thing just keeps working.

I'd avoid the II designated Kimbers. I'm not a fan of the Swartz firing pin safety that engages off of the grip safety. The Kimbers that are Series 70 (the non II marked guns) are pretty good to go and if anything's wrong any gunsmith can fix it.

I don’t own a Kimber, but have shot a buddy’s Raptor and thought it felt good my hand. It shot well and never had an issue on the 5-6 times he had the Rapter at the range when I was with him.

Good looking pistol as well.

+

The K6S revolvers certainly are not

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
My 1911 smith, widely-regarded around here as one of the best 1911 smiths in the business, had this to say when I asked him about Kimber: "They're no better or no worse than any other production 1911."

I've two: A 10mm Custom II GFO and a Rimfire Target. They both needed a little smithing to be 100% reliable. Others have had theirs be flawless right out of the box. Still others have never had theirs run right.

This. Kimbers are ok now. BUT, I have a Colt Competition 9mm that is honestly a REALLY well put together gun. Slide to frame fit and barrel bushing fit rival my Ed Brown. Grip safety and trigger have a little side to side play, is all I can fault it for. However, it's a REALLY nice shooting pistol and very accurate.

quote:

treat it like a Glock and it will be as reliable as a Glock.

You mean not shoot it because you dislike it so much?



I wouldn't buy one in the past, based on many many things I saw first hand. One came into my possession, could have kept it for free, I did not. The current guns MAY be better, I don't know. But I have no reason to trust that they are, nor need to. The last time I listened to the shooting world and "everyone" telling me a company had changed and things were better, they were wrong. They had not. Heartache, and lots of time and money lost. I try not to make that mistake again.

An early Clackamas Kimber might tempt me (theoretically away, I sure don't need one) but otherwise I turn my nose up at all Kimber's now. (shot the K6S, handled a couple. Didn't impress me) Right or wrong, the only thing it's doing is saving me money.

quote:

Originally posted by cas:

quote:

treat it like a Glock and it will be as reliable as a Glock.

You mean not shoot it because you dislike it so much?

I don’t get it?

I bought one in the late 1990s because they were all the rage.
It was the biggest jam-o-matic I ever owned.
Sending it back didn't fix it.(they throated the feed ramp)
Magazines did't fix it. An extractor didn't fix it.
I could see where the barrel mated up to the ramp face was out of alignment from the factory.
I finally sold it and got a Stainless Springfield Loaded that just worked.

I'm very jaded against Kimber now.
I've had Rock Island 1911s that were better than that Kimber POS.