Posted: 2/22/2013 12:10:42 AM EDT
|
Been floating around the site a while now, gonna be building up an AR, but that's not why I'm posting tonight...
A number of years ago, this would be 2005, my father traded in a jam 'o matic .357 Desert Eagle on a Kimber Team Match II. From what I remember he made out pretty good on the deal. I was in college at the time and remember being quite surprised, coming home for spring break and seeing it on the kitchen table. We took it to the range a few days later and I was really impressed by the accuracy. I want to say we put maybe 100 rounds through it. When I went to clean it I was fumbling a bit. Wasn't familiar with 1911 takedown as I'd been spoiled by years of Beretta 92 shooting. In fact I was so off put by the field strip I really didn't give the thing much more thought. Soon after I got shipped to California for professional reasons and more or less got out of the shooting sports entirly because of the laws out there. So now that I'm out of the People's Republick I've been getting back into shooting. Visited my parents and my father handed me the 1911. Said it hadn't been shot since that one day we took it out and said he wanted me to have it and shoot it. What can I say, awesome, right? Excitement aside I know Kimber makes good guns but I think all manufacturers probably have their quirks. Is there anything about this particular gun I should be aware of? In particular I was looking at some pictures and didn't see a Team Match II with the external extractor like mine has. Some reading led me to see Kimber was having problems with external extractors but for whatever reason the Team Match had some sort of different external extractor that worked fine...but they changed it to internal anyway? That aside can you guys recommend mags? Also is there some sort of spring cap for a full length guide rod that doesn't have the thumb-killing knife-edged recess the stock one has? This picture shows what I mean. Not my picture but the first one I found that showed the spring cap: http://m3.digital7.com/gun/gun5.jpg Any other factiods/information or tips greatly appeciated. |
|
I've been doing some research and I read in one forum the design for the Team Match II external extractor was significanly different when compared to the other EE pistols and generally functioned quite well. There was a side by side showing the team match extractors with the others and the TM was indeed quite different.
Man, I remember back when my father bought this pistol Kimber could do no wrong but just doing some casual research it looks like the company has fallen off in a big way. I hope this one turns out decent...has 100 rounds through it so can't really say at this point but no FTF/FTE in those 100. |
|
You'll find mixed reviews on Kimber's customer services. Some rave about it while others rant about it. I've only shot Kimbers. Never owned one and never had to call their customer service for anything. As far as reliability, the one I've spent the most range time with is a buddy's Desert Warrior. We've shot the hell out of that gun too. Probably 5k+ rounds of 45 through it, and he has a 22LR conversion kit that we've probably ran 20k rds plus through.
As far as mags, Chip McCormack mags are good, and so are Wilson Combat. Those are the only ones I have experience with though. Look forward to seeing more pics and a range report |
|
Quoted:
I've been doing some research and I read in one forum the design for the Team Match II external extractor was significanly different when compared to the other EE pistols and generally functioned quite well. There was a side by side showing the team match extractors with the others and the TM was indeed quite different. Man, I remember back when my father bought this pistol Kimber could do no wrong but just doing some casual research it looks like the company has fallen off in a big way. I hope this one turns out decent...has 100 rounds through it so can't really say at this point but no FTF/FTE in those 100. This extra power extractor spring will cure Kimber's issues, if you have any. I replaced the spring every 3k rounds fired, mine never skipped a beat. Sold it with just over 12k rounds fired. Had a few issues in the first 300-400 but after that $& the spring up grade it was good to go! Wolf Gun Springs |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Also is there some sort of spring cap for a full length guide rod that doesn't have the thumb-killing knife-edged recess the stock one has? Just use a bushing wrench to disassemble instead of your thumb, problem solved. You can also use the baseplate of a mag to hold the plug down while you rotate the bushing. |
|
Quoted:
Hey final question guys and thanks for your help already. Is there an idiot's slide stop out there I can get pre-modified or should I just take my brain vitamins and learn to do it the proper way? Kimbers are pretty good about letting you pop the slide stop in the "correct" way, in my experience. Just hold both ends of the slide stop and apply pressure. |
|
Hey you know practice makes perfect I can pop that thing in an out pretty easy now without marring anything. You wanna hear some junk though? I was doing a thorough cleaning on the gun tonight and notice there's rust and pitting inside the barrel. What's going on with that, I thought these were stainless? Even though it hasn't been shot my father cleaned it real good before putting it away and religiously runs an oiled patch down all his guns once a month whether or not they're being shot.
I guess it is what it is although I really can't believe it. I thought there was some stubborn fowling I couldn't get out, shine a light down there and its rusted and pitted up toward the muzzle, probably the worst place to be corroded. Since I got the thing for free I'm not going to lose sleep on it but do you guys recommend a replacement barrel? Are there any drop in ones that don't require gunsmithing or do you recommend a fitted one and if so what does that run for the work? I'd like to find something that is as accurate as this thing was off the shelf, which was pretty darn good. Don't have the heart to tell my father the barrel rusted. He's really proud of this gun, just want to do good by him and get a good stainless barrel put in it. |
|
Quoted:
Hey you know practice makes perfect I can pop that thing in an out pretty easy now without marring anything. You wanna hear some junk though? I was doing a thorough cleaning on the gun tonight and notice there's rust and pitting inside the barrel. What's going on with that, I thought these were stainless? Even though it hasn't been shot my father cleaned it real good before putting it away and religiously runs an oiled patch down all his guns once a month whether or not they're being shot. I guess it is what it is although I really can't believe it. I thought there was some stubborn fowling I couldn't get out, shine a light down there and its rusted and pitted up toward the muzzle, probably the worst place to be corroded. Since I got the thing for free I'm not going to lose sleep on it but do you guys recommend a replacement barrel? Are there any drop in ones that don't require gunsmithing or do you recommend a fitted one and if so what does that run for the work? I'd like to find something that is as accurate as this thing was off the shelf, which was pretty darn good. Don't have the heart to tell my father the barrel rusted. He's really proud of this gun, just want to do good by him and get a good stainless barrel put in it. 
|