[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Kimber haters unite!!! (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 7/25/2004 12:20:54 PM EDT
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Seriously though...I have a Tactical ProII, and Have had nothing but problems with it. I also know of 2 other friends who have other Kimbers,(all with the external extractor, series2) and they have had the same problems with their pistols. What gives? I find it hard to believe that all of these high-speed units(LAPD SWAT,etc.) that carry Kimbers dont have any problems with theirs. I know that they probably have a support armorer that could keep anything up & runnin' but does anyone know of any documented problems they have had with their Kimbers. I see alot of coconut heads say "well, if the Kimber is good enough for LAPD SWAT, SOP-DARKOPs Delta4 blah,blah,blah, then you know they are great pistols." I dont think a Government contract should be a indication of a pistols quality. The ARMY switched to the Berreta 92FS from the 1911 right? Does that mean the Beretta is a better all-around weapon?FUCK NO!!! 
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Any documented problems that these specialized units may or may not be experiencing is what in looking for. My problems are...Failure to extract spent casings. *The external extractor holds the spent casings horizontally against the breechface, locking the pistol up. In order to clear this one, you have to pry the casing out from the extractor by hand, you cannot rack the slide to clear it because of how the casing is positioned. Failure to feed...The usual. Slide locking back with rounds still remaining in magazine. I know this is a common problem with many 1911 slide release levers, and I fixed it by replacing the factory lever with a Wlson "Bullet-proof" lever. But come on guys!!! Haters & Lovers alike, for what you pay for a Kimber, dont you expect it to be free of these type of quality control problems?!? The factory finish on my Kimber lasted one trip to the range (about 250rds.) before it looked like shit. Lets try to keep this thread about repoted problems that the specialized units that are using these pistols may, or may-not have with theirs. I know many love their Kimbers, and have not had any roblems with theirs. But the fact remains that many members here, and people I personally know, have alot of problems with theirs. |
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Yes lumpy, I did call the factory. They offered no explanation as to "what was wrong with it" they just said send it in. After explaining all of my issues to him, and recieving an attitude in return, along with him trying to lead me to believe that I was somehow at fault, I in return, Hung up on the rude prick on the other end. Yeah, yeah, yeah...Iknow "send it to kimber, and they will take care of any problems" Some here may be full of shit, but I shoot alot, and I carry a pistol everyday on and off duty to defend myself and others. Obviously I am not the only one here that has had problems with his Kimber lump, You know that . Im glad yours have worked for you, but that doesnt seem to be the case for many others here and elsewhere. I think one is justified in being pissed off after paying $900-$1200 on a Kimber and taking it to the range only to have problems. Is it too much to ask that a $1000 pistol actually work? |
I think alot of this is BS. How did the finish on your Kimber get messed up with 250 rounds? Did you try cleaning it?  Why exactly are you bitching? You already stated Kimber offered to fix any problems. As far as "Specialized Units" and their problems. Pat Rogers has posted several times on different forums that the USMC has had zero problems with their ICQB pistols.
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I dunno, from the looks of the response you're getting it looks like you are. I've owned 4 Kimbers and all have worked perfectly from the get go. I currently carry a Kimber Ultra 10 everyday and it too works 100%. Maybe you just had some bad luck. |
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Va-dinger, do you own the model I am talking about? Kimber recently changed the finish on the frame of all Tactical series pistols because it was shit.(green/grey anodized alloy frame) I bought mine when the Tactical II's first came out. When I asked kimber if they would refinish it with a more durable finish, they said NO, we can only refinish it with the same finish it came with. Quite an option huh? Why am I bitching? I bought a $900 Kimber that doesnt work. |
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Because I hate the fact that I had to spend an extra $500+ to get it to work like a $1000 pistol should. Perhaps you sir are the liberal democrat, supporting a candidate(kimber/kerry) that you know is seriously flawed, but refuse to admit it. Be sure to get in all of your comments/posts before the dem. convention comes on though, Im sure you will not be able to pull yourself away from your TV once it starts. Or perhaps you will be watching a bootleg copy of farenheit 911 . SHOTS FIRED!!! BTW, Im voting for Al Sharpton 
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Nick I agree with you. I don't care how many Kimner's work there are still a significant number that don't. I had a Pro Eclipse 2 that I finally got right by getting rid of the damn thing. Yes I sent it back to kimber three times as a matter of fact and three times it came back and after 50 rounds the front night sight would be faded. When it really started to jam up I didn't even bother calling the prick's at Kimber again I simply got rid of it. I do not tolerate poor customer service and Kimber has some of the poorest attitudes of any I've ever dealt with. Anyone who wants to can tell me I'm full of shit Kimbers are great but I know what happened and I know after 3 front sights the only way I got it to work right was to pay to have a local gunsmith put a set of Novack's on it. I also no that gun never ran right and only got worse after a 1000 round break in. Kimber can bite my ass and I will continue to tell people why I will never buy one again. If they then elect to get one oh well I tried. |
| Kimber - the KMart of tricked out guns. Don't get me wrong, they are okay for the money though prices are going up. I have the Super Match and CDP Compact but they don't hold a candle to my Wilson, nor to my next acquisition - an Ed Brown. I personally consider Kimbers to be the poor man's custom gun - or simply for those that can't afford a nicer brand. |
My Kimber runs 100%. The two Kimbers with external extractors that I've witnessed having FTE problems took me about 20 minutes to Fix. You should have sent it back to Kimber instead of bitching at them about it. They would have taken care of it and you would have had it back by know. This "Ishouldn'thavetogothroughthisforthemoneyIpaid" is crap. Anything mass produced is going to have some get through QC with defects. That's why companies warranty such things, and Kimbers warranty service is top knotch. 
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Good for you sir! Now, instead of being a self serving ego-maniac,as your sig. implies, how about you serve up some helpful info on how to correct the external extractor problem in 20min. Why should I have to send my pistol away, if it is such a simple fix like you say? I am a police officer who survives on a modest salary. For you to say that my argument of expecting a pistol to work after paying $1000 is "crap"...Is well,...CRAP! You say your Kimbers work 100% did it always? It sounds like you are a qualified armorer who can work on his own pistols to keep them running. Unfortunately most of us here are not gunsmiths and come to forums like this to get info on what pistols to buy, how to fix them after we buy them and they dont work 100% out of the box. Now, GIVE UP THE INFO!!! |
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Nick, since you live in IL, come shoot my Kimber. Its a TLE RL2, external extractor and all. Bet you wont have one problem with it whatsoever. My buddy Jay also brought 3 of his Kimbers last time at the range. One 10mm, one .45, and one .22LR. Between those 4 guns, not one failure to do anything. Shoots like a dream. Guess we all got lucky... |
You ain't gonna be (mypotcallingthekettleblack) friend talking to me like that  The SEARCH function will be most usefull in the hunt for relative information. Yes my INTERNAL extractor KIMBER has always been %100. As have all My Colts. Yes I've been carrying a 1911 for 30 or so years. Yes I was on PATROL carrying a 1911 when you were a thought in you Daddies pants. As it appears that YOU are not a qualified [or even good hobiest] armorer then you NEED TO SEND IT BACK TO KIMBER! ...............OR BUY A GLOCK!
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SGB, Gee wiz, thanks for all the helpful info! I own and carry 2 Glocks. Speaking of mass produced! There are likely 10 Glocks for every 1 Kimber out there in the hands of gun owners. If your "massproducedboundtohappenqualitycontrolproblem" theory is true, then why do you hear only a fraction of the complaints about Glock reliabilty/Quality control as opposed to Kimber 
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I reserve my HOLY-ER THA you should feel gratefull that I bothered to use it. HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE ..............ALL manufacturers have QC issues from time to time to deal with.  |
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I can show you "significant problems" with every make and model firearm make. The 6 Kimbers I have owned all ran fine. The 4-5 people I personally know who have them, have had no problems with theirs. For some reason, every time I call KImber, I always reach some very nice people. Strange how I keep missing all the rude ones. |
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Mine works great! Well over 10,000 rounds through it. Just bought another 5000 slugs to load some more ammo. I'll let you know when it's gone if I have any problems. As to Kimber's customer service, I've never had to deal with them. But. growing up in a lakeside town in western Michigan I did have to deal with a lot of F.I.P.'s. And I think that could be part of the problem. I dated a few few FIP's too.... Yeah, it could really have something to do with the problem! No offense Marksman14 there are exceptions.  Personally, I would have sent it back and given Kimber a chance to make it right. Everybody has QC issues, especially on new products. Ever buy an american car the first model year, or the first year of a redesign? Ever see the yearly maintenance bill on a Bimmer? The real test is whether or not they make it right. You didn't give them that chance. |
| You are correct, all manufacturers will have QC problems from time to time. But the number of problems with Kimber pistols when compared to the total number of Kimbers out there, compared to Glock, and other mass-produced manufacturers problem to pistol ratio, is alarming. |
Please post some links to QUALIFIED INFORMATION that backs up your allegations. |
--------------------------------- Not to be a stone in the shoe Lumpy but, Conversely, "every" Kimber that I've shot or know of that friends own IS or has been problematic and it wasn't an ammo issue. Tests were done with several different brands of factory ammo and several different mags. They all had failures to feed, extract, eject. One gun was so temperature sensitive, it would feed and fire in 75 degree indoors but not at 45 degrees outdoors using the same box of ammo. Truthfully I wouldn't own one or trust my life to one after the sheer number of problems with the ones I've come in contact with. I don't care how many agencies or governments were using them. Personal experience guides me in a different direction. I actually carry a RIA .45 and trust it implicitly. In 3k rds fired, it has never failed once. I use a variety of magazines, from Chip McCormicks to standard military issue and they all function perfectly. I also fire a lot of Wolf ammo and never once had a malfunction. There's two sides to every story. There's mine. |
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Alright, would you disagree that there likely 10x the number of Glocks in gunowner hands than Kimbers? 10x is probably a under-estimate. Alot of Kimber owners who say they love their pistols on this forum, do say that they had extractor problems that were repaired by Kimber. You also related that you"fixed" 2 kimbers that had extractor problems. Aside from that, my personal experience, along with others that I know personally have had problems. Many others here and elsewhere have reported similar extractor problems with the external extractor equipped pistols. Could I produce verified statistical studies to back this up? Other than my problems and the others I personally know of ...NO! Im not gonna waste my time. Im glad that you guys are happy with your Kimber pistols, and I hope they continue to please. But the original question I posed was if any one knows of any problems that the Marines or LAPD SWAT have had. And please dont refer to some b.s. "article" from "Guns&Weapons for Law enforcement" all of these rags are nothing but advertisements for these gunmakers. And if you dont think these so called experts are paid to say positive things about these pistols, you are an easy sale. I think I should have used a different Topic Name, it was meant to get attention, but c'mon! |
Why did you have to go there man? I was just having fun and you had bring this up  So what happened? What model was that, how many rounds did you have through it, where you shooting reloads or factory ammo, what type of ammo? Maybe I should buy a 1911 so that I'll have the peace of mind that it will never fail
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Did I miss something? I've always heard good things about Bushy? What's the story? I've got an A2 style that I put together mostly Bushmaster parts. The trigger is the leftover I had from my RRA build when I put a NM trigger in that. It's worked very well. |
I was just screwing around. It was starting to look like the old Bushmaster .vs <fill in your favorite AR here> type of thread so I had to do it
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My Kimber Rimfire Target took 4 trips to the factory to get running, and even then I had to live with it being VERY ammo picky. Only 3 types will run in it. The finish is also very poor, it's back at Kimber right now (the 5th time) because it's wearing away from very light holster use...and a cloth holster at that. Mag issues, then supposedly an out of spec barrel, then the last time the entire slide was replaced. My Kimber Eclipse Target II also had a lot of issues. Took about 500 rounds until it would run, and it still doesn't eat hollow points at all. Has been back to Kimber once for an unrelated failure. BTW, their customer service folks were very curt and rude. I am easy going and never lost my temper, but they twice insisted I was expecting too much out of my guns, when in both instances the gun would not run, with any ammo, at all. Explain that kind of optimism. I was actually told to give my Rimfire Target about 2,000 rounds to "smooth out" (start working). HAHAHAHAHA! I will never own another Kimber. Some guys have good luck, but between me and the 5 or 6 people I know who have owned them, we all have experienced failures or disappointment in the guns. For what they cost, it's wholly unacceptable. To contrast this, my lowly Ruger P89 and P90 pistols have a combined 15,000 rounds on them, without a SINGLE FAILURE OF ANY KIND. They required no trip to the factory, no "break-in", and still run like new. Same goes for my Sigs, and my 2 Taurus auto pistols, tho they're not quite as used as the Rugers. I'm sure Kimber has made some 100% runners, but I've never put my hands on one. So, for me, personally, I will never buy anything else with their name on it. Fool me twice, never. |