Unlike the problems I had with my Sig P220 (see here for story), this one isn't my fault, I think.

Situation:

At the local indoor range, plinking away and trying to become a better shot.  I was out of the practice ammo I brought so I was about to pack up and go home, when I saw a box of Corbons in the bag.  I don't normally shoot Corbons at the range because they are expensive, but I do carry the 185 gr +P loads, so I figure, well, might as well shoot a few rounds with my chosen carry load just to make sure I'm used to it.

I fire three shots out of the mag and then on the 4th shot, bang, and the mag drops to the floor!  There was still a round in the chamber, so I fired that and tried to reinsert the mag, and it just falls out again.

After some fiddling around and having the gun store guys take a look at it, we find the problem - the magazine catch just broke in half!  My camera's batteries are recharging right now, but I'll post a picture later.

I will call Kimber customer service to see what they have to say.  I'm a little concerned about something like this breaking on a gun I occasionally carry concealed.  I would hope it could handle the random +P ammo.  I've put probably 100 of the high pressure +P Corbon ammo through my Sig with no problems whatsoever.

I was thinking of selling this gun anyway to upgrade to a Wilson TE or an Ed Brown Kobra Karry, and this experience might just push me more towards that end.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of failure in their 1911 of any brand?

Interesting, has me wondering about mine now.


BP Ten II here

How long have you had the pistol?

If I had to take a guess I'd say you probably haven't had the gun long, and you had a MIM part failure.  Most of the time if you're going to have a MIM failure it's going to be in the beginning.

On the upside Kimber is pretty well known for taking care of their customers.  Give 'em a call.

Just replace the mag release with a Ed Brown, it's very easy and pretty cheap actually.  $20 or so.
Brownells

Quoted: How long have you had the pistol? If I had to take a guess I'd say you probably haven't had the gun long, and you had a MIM part failure.  Most of the time if you're going to have a MIM failure it's going to be in the beginning. On the upside Kimber is pretty well known for taking care of their customers.  Give 'em a call.

Actually, I've had it for 4 1/2 years now.  Probably put 2000-3000 rounds through it, and I have shot Corbons in it in the past.  The part certainly looks cast (oh wait, I mean MIM), so maybe I'll just take the other posters' advice and buy a new one that isn't cast.  I'm still going to call Kimber to see what they say and will do about it.

Hmmm, with that ind of round count, I would have thought that a faulty MIM part would have failed earlier.

I agree, replace it with a part from one of the big parts companies.

Could very well be ammo related. CorBon is notorious for having wildly varying pressures from round-to-round. You probably had a badly over-pressure round that caused the damage.

Ask Troy about how inconsistent (and dangerous) CorBon is.

BTW, never had anything even remotely like this happen to my Kimber. Of course, it is a Series I with no MIM parts...

Wow.....

I have a Kimber 5" with at least ten thousand rounds thru it.  It is completely stock except for the sights.  Never had a parts failure.

So, who knows???  These things happen.  I would just buy a new mag catch and install it.  It's fairly simple.

Quoted: BTW, never had anything even remotely like this happen to my Kimber. Of course, it is a Series I with no MIM parts...

Is this something you replaced?  I wasn't aware that Kimber ever made 1911s with no MIM parts.

Quoted: Quoted: BTW, never had anything even remotely like this happen to my Kimber. Of course, it is a Series I with no MIM parts... Is this something you replaced?  I wasn't aware that Kimber ever made 1911s with no MIM parts.

Same here...inquiring minds want to know.

I'd just replace it with a new part. I have a Wilson Combat mag catch I really like.

What is MIM????

I seriously doubt that hot loads caused the mag catch to break.

It's just the nature of MIM (metal injection molded) parts. I put an extended Chip McCormick (MIM) in my Colt & had it break too. Just replace it with a good one from Brownell's. You might also want to replace the slide stop (it's MIM too & I saw a guy bring a new Kimber back with a broken one).

Other than these few junk parts Kimbers have excellent quality barrels, frames and slides. Don't give up on it yet.

P.S.: Kimbers have always had MIM parts.

Quoted: What is MIM????

Molten Injected Metal... kinda like cast.  As opposed to precision machined from a chunk of steel.  This is both a cheaper and inferior part.  However, many makers are going this route to keep costs down.

I would buy a Kimber (I'm actually looking at their page now...) but I'm big into changing out the parts of my 1911's and I'm solid on the series 70 type.  Don't know squat about the Kimbers and parts interchangeability.  Might stick with my Springfields...

A) It is Metal Injection Molding
www.mpif.org/design/metal_injection_molding.htm

B) It is not, by definition, an inferior part.
They do not hold up well to bending. In other words, you wouldn't want to make a spring out of it (i.e. the extractor on the old Series I Kimbers).  However they work just fine as things like hammers and such.  The problem comes when the metal does not entirely fill the mold, and an airpocket is left behind.  Obviously if the airpocket is on an edge it's easy to see and you can discard it.  If it's interior to the part, you won't see it until it breaks (and even then it may be a series of tiny airpockets that you can't really see).  Generally if they are flawed you will see them break in the first couple of hundred rounds because the part is weakened.  That's why I asked if the gun was new or old.  It's rare to see a MIM part fail later on in a firearms life, other than when it just wears out like any other part would.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: BTW, never had anything even remotely like this happen to my Kimber. Of course, it is a Series I with no MIM parts... Is this something you replaced?  I wasn't aware that Kimber ever made 1911s with no MIM parts. Same here...inquiring minds want to know.

R-e-p-l-a-c-e-m-e-n-t
P-a-r-t-s.

I finally called Kimber about my broken part.  I let the gun sit in the closet for a while because I was mad at it.  Talked to the custom shop guys, explained the problem and was told they would send the part right out free of charge.

I got it today, about 4 or 5 days after I talked to them.  So, I grab the gun out of the closet and try to install it.  Well, it's not as simple as I thought it was going to be.  I thought I could just stick the part in and twist the little hex head pin to lock it into place, but it doesn't quite work that way.

I logged onto 1911forum.com and they had a FAQ about removing and installing a mag catch.  Turns out what I was doing wrong was pushing the catch all the way in before trying to turn the pin.  Instead, I needed to push the catch in a little bit while slowly trying to turn the pin with a small allen wrench.  When I got the mag catch in at the right depth, the notch on the pin slid into a groove, and the whole thing just popped into place.

The gun now holds and releases a magazine! Yay!  I'll go to the range and try it out but there shouldn't be any problems with it.

I've dealt with Kimber twice now on broken parts (the first was completely my fault for banging on something I shouldn't have) and they have been excellent to work with.  Thanks Kimber!

Quoted: What is MIM????

A fancy way of saying it's cast.

Quoted: Quoted: What is MIM???? A fancy way of saying it's cast.

No, it's sintered. Think of an upgraded version of the old "pot metal". There was a link earlier in this thread that explained it well.

Bob

Quoted: Quoted: What is MIM???? A fancy way of saying it's cast.

Exactly.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: What is MIM???? A fancy way of saying it's cast. Exactly.

And your point is?    

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: What is MIM???? A fancy way of saying it's cast. Exactly. And your point is?

Is it that hard to figure out?

Quoted: I let the gun sit in the closet for a while because I was mad at it.

when my guns are bad, i take away their range time.