Ok a couple of weeks ago I purchased a brand new Kimber Custom II with night sights.  I had to wait for it to come from the factory, to the dealer I ordered it from, to my dealer in-state.  I got it in on Friday 2009-07-10 and noticed that there was a little rust on the chamber right at the ejection port.  Just a little surface rust no pitting that i could tell.  I figured I would get it home and clean it off.  now this was in the box directly from kimber in the blue plastic bag it comes in.  I got it home and disassembled it and tried to clean the rust off with WD-40, Break-Free, and Rem-Oil all to no result.  I then re assembled it and I put it in the safe thinking I could get to it in the next day or so when I had more time.  This afternoon I again dissassembled it and noticed more surface rust on the barrel on the left side.  i tride cleaning both and some came off but it still remains.  I am very frustrated considering it was my first 1911 and I have never had this with any of my other pistols have had this issue and they were all used.  I bought Kimber for their reputation of being an excellent weapon and am very disappointed in what i have recieved.  I even have the invoice from the dealer stating the order status as "ON ORDER FROM THE MANUFACTURER" so does anyone have any ideas?

Get on the horn with Kimber like yesterday. That shit is unsat.

I don't  know how it is now, but Kimber used to be used to releasing barrels in the white.

Rust from the factory...

Yeah, Kimber needs a phone call.

A call...shit they need more than that to retain my loyalty. Lately I have heard so much negatively about  Kimber. I have 2 & luckily no problems have occured  Good Luck & at least ask for a couple magazines for your trouble.

I recently shot a match with my Custom Target II. It started to rain during my stage and the pistol got pretty wet. Of course, when I safed the pistol and took it to my vehicle, I wiped it down with a clean rag with a few drops of oil on it. The next day, the entire slide and rear sight was covered in surface rust, along with the barrel hood. The magwell was also surface rusted. I exposed my Colt to worse, and never saw anything like this. It's all good now, but,.....? I'll never get it wet again.

I've heard the rust story before with Kimber.



Luckily, mine, which is my main CCW gun, shows no signs of rust, even though it's carrier IWB in the FL heat.

Sometimes the gun is wet from sweating. Yet no rust, other than on places where the bluing is worn off, like the grip screws and the added mag-well.

You can get it wet, but you have to hose it off with WD-40, not wipe it with a rag with a few drops of oil.

Barrel rusting is a known issue with Kimbers.  I am not a subject matter expert, and thus someone who is may very well come behind me and correct me, but my understanding is that b/c of the way Kimber manufacturers their barrels, to include both the type of steel itself and the finish on the steel, they are prone to rusting very quickly....including while being being shipped from the factory.  I've had 3 Kimber pistols.  Each exhibited some form of barrel rusting no matter what I did.  My best solution was to rub the rust spots with Never Dull and then keep it lubed.

I called Kimber and they are having me ship the barrel back to them.  and they will refinish it under warrenty.  I will let yall know how it is when i get it back.  they said turn around would be 24-48hours

Just the barrel, huh!? That's not too bad.



I know a guy that got a new Kimber, and the mag that came with it came apart. They wanted the gun and everything back.




 

I had an ak47 that would rust when ever I looked at it.  I finally wiped it down with gun grease then I wiped it down with and oily rag and the rusting problem was gone.

My 1911 Springfield V12 ported stainless has had a rusting problem since day one.  I bought it new in about 2001 or 2002 and the stainless slide started rusting.  I looked on the internet at the time and found some other persons had the same issues with the rusting stainless.  I finally wiped the thing down with gun grease and then used a rag to wipe the gun down with a light coat of oil.  Problem gone.  Or so I thought.  About 1 1/2 years ago I took the Hogue wrap around grip off to clean my pistol and found the metal had rusted and pitted some under the wrap around grip.  Pissed me off.  So I took a green cleaning pad like for dishes and put grease on the pad and used the pad to buff/wipe the grip where the rust was until the rust was gone.  There remains some pitting however the rust has not come back.  I also put some other wood grips on the pistol and I gave the Hogue grip away.

nuts

I recieved my barrel back today and a brand new tacmag as well at no aditional charge so great cust service

Good to hear.  Kimber barrels are known for a little rust/discoloration, you should make sure to keep it oiled or greased during storage.

I plated my Custom II with electroless nickel, no more rust issues.

This.  Kimber uses good quality steel on their barrels, and they are in the white.
Good quality steel rusts unless you keep it oiled, greased, or put a finish on it.

My Stainless Custom II seems to be a rust magnet as well.  I always get specks on the slide and under the grips.  I keep it well coated with CLP but it still occurs.

A light rub with a dish pad and Barkeepers friend takes care of it but I just dont get it; I take extremely good care of my weapons and have no rust issues with any other one.

One of these days I'll probably get it melonited or cerahided just so I dont have to worry about it anymore.

The funny thing is my Custom II is an external extractor model so I was thinking that the extractor would be my biggest headache with this gun.  The gun has been 100% with every type of ammo I have put through it.

Brand new, under glass Kimbers

I noticed the barrel on my Eclipse Custom II 10mm was in the white, so I hit it with some cold blue and keep it oiled with Fp10. I has not rusted on me yet.

Interesting thread.   I have had one for ten years and seven years, respectively, and neither has shown a trace of rust anywhere.  I always assumed the barrels were stainless.

I will be checking them today, that's for sure.   The cold blue idea seems good to me.  I've had good success with it on other firearms, you just have to make sure you wash it off thoroughly after you apply it.


ETA-  ok, just checked them.  Still looking good, and they don't get a particularly high amount of TLC either.    Does anybody know if the rust issue is confined to the newer Kimbers?

I"d raise holy hell with Kimber and send it back to them asap. And I'd let the dealer know exactly what is going on too.

That is just not acceptable.

Good luck, keep us updated on your progress. I'm sure Kimber will take care of your problem.

This is exactly what my Pro carry looked like with very little use and good coat of CLP just sitting around the house, needless to say I was dissapointed.

Try reading the whole thread next time.  




He posted 5 days ago the barrel was already back.  





 

I bought 3 Colt 1911's from my deceased friends wife the past few weeks. There was also a new Kimber in the safe, I am glad I didn't buy it also. I can't stand rust on guns. If it rust that easily it would be brown with my hands.
JR