Kimber Pistols

[C7AR15]

Are Kimber Semi- auto pistols all that they are made up to be??

They advertise incessantly on the outside and inside covers of the major magazines. Where as most of the BIG players do not really advertise all that much.

Is Kimber just trying to buy a reputation through slick ads ????

 

[Mike_Fontenot]

My 10mm Kimber Eclipse Custom II is the only semi-auto I've ever owned, and ever expect or want to own. I've come to feel that Kimber made ALL the right design choices when they designed that gun, bar none. But Kimber's customer support has been very poor, at least in the recent past.

 

[KyJim]

People either love Kimber 1911s or pretty much hate them. I owned one, had a problem, and Kimber failed to address it. That was a number of years ago and a number of 1911s ago. I've had a couple of issues with 1911s manufactured by other companies but the other companies resolved the problems.

That said, Kimbers are generally accurate and have good out-of-box triggers. The Kimber "Custom" guns are really just production guns.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

Are Kimber Semi- auto pistols all that they are made up to be??

No.

Is Kimber just trying to buy a reputation through slick ads ????

Yes.

 

[Smoke Jensen]

Yes without a doubt. My Kimber Eclipse Target II is very well made, feeds everything I feed it. It loves my reloads. The gun is more accurate than I will ever be. If you want quality it's not cheap. Shop around for a price. You will find you won't have to pay the Kimber asking price in all shops. My guns listed for $1300.00 on the Kimber site. I got mine NIB for $850.00 (plus the obnoxious NYS tax)

 

[BigJimP]

I look at Kimber as production guns...some are good / some really suck...--- and their guns out of their so called "custom shop"...are not really much better than their other models.

I've had decent luck with my Kimbers ...one a "custom shop" gun Gold Combat Stainless II ...is nowhere near the gun that my Wilson's are....but its a gun I'm going to give to my older son as soon as he gets his gun safe -- and its a very serviceable gun.

I have a Kimber Tactical Pro II model - alloy frame, 4" barrel 9mm...and it came out of factory with a terrible trigger in it ...so I had a local gunsmith take all the trigger components out and replace with Wilson parts...and its a nice gun now.

Kimber would be in my top 10 of 1911 mfg's...but not the top 5 ( Wilson, Ed Brown are #1 and #2 ...Cabot is #3 ... and a distant 4th is Nighthawk and a very distant 5th is Les Baer .... 6-10 for me ...include Kimber, Springfield, Colt, Sig and S&W....and while Kimber does a lot of advertising, they aren't great guns - they're decent guns.

 

[mikejonestkd]

IMO Kimber is OK, not the best, but not the worst.
Their CS dept has had issues, according to friends that had issues with their 1911s.

The company is very good at advertising.....

 

[orsogato]

I had a Kimber Eclipse Pro that was just a total lemon in terms of reliability. Having said that, I do think they are well made guns. I think all of their 1911's are series 80 types, however.

I personally prefer the series 70 firing system, and have not bought a Kimber since that eclipse pro.

 

[C7AR15]

Thanks

Thanks Aquila Blanca,

I love your answers - brief and concise.

 

[rtpzwms]

I have a Kimber TLE RL and an Aegis, they are quality firearms in there own right. But when you hold them up to my Dan Wesson or Fusion they come up on the short end. But its all about the budget and expectation's you have for your choice. I would buy another Kimber if it came at a good price and it fit some need I had at that time. From what I can tell they are working on the firearm for everyone's taste, just a ton of choices. Price range from 500 to 1500+ so something for every budget. I picked up my Dan Wesson as NOS for a little over 800 dollars cheaper than my TLE and a better pistol IMO. So the best advice is look around find a quality MFG that fits your needs, quality and price.

Good Luck

 

[K_Mac]

I recently shot with a woman who was shooting a brand new SA Kimber 380 with wood grips and laser sight. Beautiful little pistol that shot great. I really liked it. I liked it less when I checked to see what they sell for. I have seen a couple of others and they seem like fine pistols. There are way too many fine guns that can had for far less for me to consider them though. Based on the slick advertising they must sell a bunch...

 

[WIL TERRY]

It is sorta the luck of the draw. I've owned two KIMBER pistols, a 45 GOLD MATCH, and a 22 RIMFIRE TARGET. Both were ****s of the first water !!
IMNHO, the owner of KIMBER, Leslie Edelman, is the Bernie Madoff the gun business.
And so it goes...

 

[P71pilot]

Kimber makes nice products, but they can be hit or miss on reliability and parts durability. My dad has a kimber custom 2 (one of their cheapest models) and loves it. But it is really tight and absolutely does not function dry. Completely unlike my Springfield. I would like to one day try one of their 10mms but would honsetly rather go with Colt or Dan Wesson or others. Believe kimber frames and slide are cast, which I do not like.

I would say take your pic they are all similar on quality level. I myself am a Springfield fanboy and would buy one of them before I bought a sig, kimber, or even Colt.

 

[TMD]

Glocks seem to have a dominating lead when it comes to bashing on this forum and Kimber's a distant 2nd.

 

[jmr40]

They tried to incorporate an external extractor on some of their higher end 1911's several years ago. They've since dropped the idea. Done right there is nothing wrong with that. I have a couple of S&W 1911's with external extractors that run perfectly. But for some reason those Kimbers gave problems.

Their basic Custom II kept the internal extractor. Mine has been perfect and I can't ever recall of anyone ever complaining about that model. The issues always seem to be with the more expensive versions.

 

[Old Stony]

I've owned three of their 45's and had no major problem with any of them. My latest is the master pro carry, and it's a real shooter and very reliable so far. I would have no problem buying another of their products....but then again I have never had to deal with their CS yet.

 

[Doyle]

I won't buy one. WAAAY too many people reporting issues - some handled by warranty work, others never corrected right. If it were a low-dollar gun then I'd gamble. They are premium priced but apparently without the match in premium quality

 

[RECTIFIER]

I own only one Kimber..the 'Ultra Carry' it's a mini 1911 with 3'' barrel and a steel frame. The newer UC's are aluminum.

I bought it about 20 years ago, & it runs fine with any ammo I load it with, I have no complains with my Ultra Carry .45. Accurate.!

Maybe the quality has slipped in the last 20 years.? I don't know.

 

[idriller]

I own two Kimbers. A Crimson Carry ultra and a Eclipse. Ive had both a few years and have fired close to 500 rounds through each and have never had any issues. I have fired reloads and factory with out hiccups. But I can say that as far as feel and firing my buddy`s Ruger SR 1911s are very close and a lot cheaper.

 

[James K]

The early guns had problems, some due to inappropriate use and poor quality of MIM parts, and some posters kept saying how good the guns were, even though their guns had been back to the factory so often they were on a first name basis with the Kimber CS people.

As of late, there have been very few complaints and local shops say they rarely have comebacks. I am inclined to think their teething troubles are over, or at least I hope so.

Jim