I'm looking at a used Kimber Covert 2, 5" barrel. Looks nice enough but I seem to read a lot of not so good opinions of Kimber in general.

What is everyone's take on these?

TY

I have had Kimbers in the past but for a production pistol Dan Wesson seems to have surpassed them

We have a few Kimbers and they run great.  I've got a Kimber Ultra Covert (black & grey urban camo) high on my want list.  I wouldn't be worried.

I only have 2 but the TLE2 RL has been perfect for rounds 1 thru 750 with a variety of ammo including my reloads.  

The Custom 2 had fail to feed issues for maybe 300 rds hit and miss.  Since then it’s been 100% for more than 2000 rds.  

I’m not very patient with function issues but I’m confident with both of them.

Meh... Not what they used to be. I have a newer Kimber, I gutted it and replaced all its inside parts. As a slide and frame and barrel it's ok. But the barrel is prone to rusting and the slide and frame finish flakes off... Dan Wesson is miles above better. Love my Valor, no need to change a thing. Now the original first gen Kimbers were fantastic. Dan Wesson is like the first gen Kimbers, but even better!!

What he said ^^^^

depends on which Kimber at what price.
The basic Kimbers are solid guns, but as the price goes up into Wesson and Baer country, their value drops. They're pretty and have a lot of external bells and whistles, but the bits that make it go bang are still pulled from the same parts buckets as the cheapest models, whereas with a Wesson or Baer you're getting great parts, and a degree of fitting.
You can find used Nighthawks, Baers, Wilson and Browns for under $2k, many of which will have led gentle, charmed lives in safes....

I can only speak from personal experience, all of my Kimbers have run 100%. I couldn't be happier with any of them.

I like the looks and have a older Warrior and its been good to go , others had to be sent back .

I have a fairly new Rapide.  I only have 300rds through it, but it's been flawless thus far.  The finish on it seems a bit fragile, but the gun itself seems pretty solid.  It's my first Kimber, and I was kind of expecting to be disappointed based on some of the things I've read, but it's really grown on me.  For reference I also own a Baer, SA Pro, and RRA.

I purchased a two tone Custom II about one year ago and it has had zero issues. It is one of my best shooting pistols and I own a number of different brands and models. So far, I am quite pleased with it.

I have six.
Four have been perfect.
The other two I haven't shot yet due to the Kung Flu and moving into my new house.

(Hint: Shoot all of your ammo BEFORE you move.)

2018 TLE owner here. Gun runs now but out of the box the slide stop would prematurely hold the slide open once out of maybe 100 rounds.

Two things may have happened to cause it:

1) bullets not seated fully aft in the mag were bumping the slide stop just enough to move it into a position where it could snag the slide

2) the slide stop rotated quite freely. I noted the plunger spring and detent weren’t really inhibiting upward rotation and that the spring wasn’t very stiff.

I put in an EGW slide stop that I’d removed a hair of material from and also got a Wilson plunger spring set that applies a lot of pressure in a manner that holds the slide stop in a lower position. As an added benefit my safety on/off became much more positive.

Overall I love the gun and am not butthurt enough to be scared off. I’m buying an ultra carry next weekend.

Bought a Pro Carry 2 about 5 weeks ago.  Taken it to the range twice and have gotten to put a total of 5 magazines through it.  Both times the right grip has come loose and started to juggle, so I took it out of service.

Have ordered some vibratite that I hope will solve that.

With what little I have gotten to shoot it, I like the pistol, and am looking forward to sometimes carrying it if I ever go somewhere half nice.

But, I would have to get through at least 1 range trip where I get to put as much ammo through it as I want and do not have to stop due to something going on with the gun.  

I am new to 1911's and chose a Kimber since I had read that for the money they were nice.  I am hoping that once I get the issue with the grip sorted that will be the case.

My personal believe is that Kimber's quality returned to normal about 2 years after Cohen left to screw with Sig's QC

I ended up with this:
Attached File

I have 3 Kimbers which were purchased about 17 years ago and they have all worked reliably with some minor problems.

First one I purchase was the Kimber Target Stainless in 45 ACP.  It came with a decent 4 lb. trigger and has proven to be very accurate.  I have shot several targets at 25 yard with 2" or smaller groups for 8 rounds and I'm sure better shooter than I can get even smaller groups.  My only problem was the rear adjustable sight...the elevation screw tends to break after between 3,000- 5,000 rounds.  Each time I sent it to Kimber they replaced it but they continued to break.  After 4 or 5 times I just ordered a Bomar adjustable sight for Kimber models and I never had any problem.  Only changes I made to the pistol other than the rear sight is to replace the FLGR with GI type, replaced all springs with Wolff (21 lb. hammer, 16 lb. recoil), small radius firing pin stop, short reach trigger and grips (double diamond cocobolo).  It's very rare to see this pistol have any FTF/FTE problem while using 8 round CMC Power Mag...maybe a dozen times and usually related to my reloads.  I've fired this pistol about 30k rounds now and everything is still good.  It's now in the process of being converted to 45Super.

Second Kimber I purchased was the TLE 2 when they came out.  It came with a great feeling 3 1/2 lb. trigger and very reliable.  I think it's slightly less accurate than the Target model but still a great shooter. One thing I didn't like about this pistol was the finish...the surface finish wore very easily and within a year it had developed uneven wear on the slide.  I refinished the pistol with the Norell's bake on moly finish and it looked good.  Only changes I made to the pistol other than the finish was to replace the FLGR with GI type, replaced all springs with Wolff (21 lb. hammer, 16 lb. recoil), small radius firing pin stop, short reach trigger and grips (double diamond cocobolo).   This is the most reliable 1911 pistol I've owned (I also have few others including Colts, SA and S&W) and I don't ever remember a failure of any kind with good ammo and CMC Power Mags.  I've fired this pistol about 50k rounds now and everything is still good and is by far my favorite 1911 pistol.

The last Kimber pistol I purchased is the Ultra Carry 2 which I purchased when they first came out.  It came with a good 4 lb. trigger and is very accurate for such small pistol.  On several occasions I have hit 8" steel plate from 100 yards 7 out of 7 times and on may occasional 6 out of 7 times.  Despite the short grip this pistol feels good in my hand.  Only issue I have with this pistol is that it require regular maintenance to remain reliable with most issues related to springs.  I have to replace the dual recoil springs and magazine springs regularly.  I changed the larger outer spring every 1,500 rounds and the smaller inner spring every 3,000 round.  In addition it's most reliable with Wilson Officer mags and I replace the mags springs on my 5 mags every 3,000 rounds.  As long as I keep up with this spring changes and use Wilson mags the pistol is very reliable...reliable enough for me to carry it for self-defense.  Only changes I made to the pistol other than springs is small radius firing pin stop, short reach trigger and grips (double diamond cocobolo).  I've fired this pistol about 15k rounds now and despite the frequent spring changes I like it and carry it frequently.

I used to hear a lot of complaints about Kimber 1911 style pistols but I think a lot of it was due to lack of maintenance and lack of knowledge.  I also heard there were some issues with the external extractors they used for a while but I have no experience with them.  Overall at least Kimbers from 15-17 years ago were very good pistols...much better than Colts of that time and just as good if not better than SA while looking better.