VictorLouis
New member
http://64.177.53.248/ubb/Forum5/HTML/000114.html
All thanks to craigz, below, for making this easier.
All thanks to craigz, below, for making this easier.
Last edited:
MIM parts?: This is worth a few clicks
- Thread starter VictorLouis
- Start date
Master Blaster
New member
This is a great advertisement for MD labs hard use guns.
I was tempted to send them my Kimber for a new hammer and sear. Then I got home and inspected mine.
With about 3500 rounds through it the hammer only has a couple of shiney spots, no dings or digs into the metal, the firing pin and stop are in perfect condition.
YMMV
I was tempted to send them my Kimber for a new hammer and sear. Then I got home and inspected mine.
With about 3500 rounds through it the hammer only has a couple of shiney spots, no dings or digs into the metal, the firing pin and stop are in perfect condition.
YMMV
Two things to remember. One is the term "properly made" as applied to MIM parts. The other is that there are places where MIM is entirely appropriate. Personally, I don't feel it appropriate where a part is severely stressed, which rules out slide stops, hammers and barrel bushings. In such parts as safety catches, main spring housings and grip safeties, MIM should be OK.
It is interesting about the slide stop. When I have mentioned stress on the slide stop, I have usually heard from someone who tells me that it only gets stress when it locks the slide back. In fact, the pin part of the slide stop takes one heckuva beating, as it is what brings the whole forward slide and barrel motion to a screeching halt.
Jim
It is interesting about the slide stop. When I have mentioned stress on the slide stop, I have usually heard from someone who tells me that it only gets stress when it locks the slide back. In fact, the pin part of the slide stop takes one heckuva beating, as it is what brings the whole forward slide and barrel motion to a screeching halt.
Jim
JMBrowning
Moderator
Actually the upper locking lugs split this duty with the slide stop...
Master Blaster
New member
Hmmm stress and MIM good topic. I can only relate my personal experience. I have several (25) router bits in my wood shop.
One of them is a sears 3/8 Corebox bit (a half round which makes a round bottom cut in the stock). I have used it for 10 years.
Last year I built a new set of front steps and six months after they were built I noticed a drainage problem so I cut 4 groves in each step to aid in traction and drain water. Well I misjudged where I had located the stainless steel screws and on one step one grove I cut went right through the heads of 4 stainless screws.
The router bit survived with no visible damage. Spinning at 15,000 rpm it cut through the screw heads. The bit is made entirely from MIM the body and the cutter wings which are carbide (a form of MIM) A tool steel router bit would have been broken. MIM can be very strong if made correctly.
Router bits undergo a considerable amount of stress.
One of them is a sears 3/8 Corebox bit (a half round which makes a round bottom cut in the stock). I have used it for 10 years.
Last year I built a new set of front steps and six months after they were built I noticed a drainage problem so I cut 4 groves in each step to aid in traction and drain water. Well I misjudged where I had located the stainless steel screws and on one step one grove I cut went right through the heads of 4 stainless screws.
The router bit survived with no visible damage. Spinning at 15,000 rpm it cut through the screw heads. The bit is made entirely from MIM the body and the cutter wings which are carbide (a form of MIM) A tool steel router bit would have been broken. MIM can be very strong if made correctly.
Router bits undergo a considerable amount of stress.
Some parts can be excellent and others that look like em can be crap. Regardless of forming process. The quality of every forging is dependant on the quality of the casting from whence it came.
Just like the difference tween 2,000 Bridgeport mill and a 200,000 Moriseki CNC mill. Tis the operator who determines the quality. The CNC just does more of em faster, for better or worse.
Sam
Just like the difference tween 2,000 Bridgeport mill and a 200,000 Moriseki CNC mill. Tis the operator who determines the quality. The CNC just does more of em faster, for better or worse.
Sam
Here's the link:
http://64.177.53.248/ubb/Forum5/HTML/000114.html
You have to bust out of the frames.
http://64.177.53.248/ubb/Forum5/HTML/000114.html
You have to bust out of the frames.
VictorLouis
New member
Thanks, craigz.
Though I don't understand how you did it.
There are enough Kimber owners here that I though this would get some more input. I don't 'see' any problems with them in Smith wheelguns, but 1911s are not my strong suit.
Though I don't understand how you did it.
There are enough Kimber owners here that I though this would get some more input.
I don't 'see' any problems with them in Smith wheelguns, but 1911s are not my strong suit.VictorLouis: I am a Kimber owner and I have listened to the MIM warnings over and over on this board. I can only think of one person at TFL actually reporting a slide stop failure, and I don't recall if he was even shooting a Kimber. One would think, with the tens of thousand of Kimbers out there, there would be many reports of simlar incidents. Perhaps MIM parts may be more prone to failure, but I'm not sure the risk is significant. I am concerned about it, but I'm not going to rush out and replace the parts. I WILL pay closer attention to wear however and after a few thousand rounds I might replace the slide stop. I don't think that Kimber management is naive, or careless enough, to put their customers or themselves at risk. I would imagine that replacingthe MIM parts would be a heck of a lot cheaper for them. But then, who knows.....look at Ford.
I have one Kimber, a Stainless Gold Match. I have shot about 25,000 rounds through it with no problems with the MIM parts.
For the first 15,000 rounds or so, I was shooting hardball through it. They were handloads, with 5.8 gr of Clays with 230 gr RN, both lead and jacketed.
For the last 10,000 rounds or so, it has been almost all bullseye loads as I shoot it in competition.
I also use an ultrasonic cleaner to clean the gun every 3000 to 4000 rounds, so I tear it down completely before putting it in the cleaner. Although some of the parts are showing a little wear, it's nothing unusual.
Casey
For the first 15,000 rounds or so, I was shooting hardball through it. They were handloads, with 5.8 gr of Clays with 230 gr RN, both lead and jacketed.
For the last 10,000 rounds or so, it has been almost all bullseye loads as I shoot it in competition.
I also use an ultrasonic cleaner to clean the gun every 3000 to 4000 rounds, so I tear it down completely before putting it in the cleaner. Although some of the parts are showing a little wear, it's nothing unusual.
Casey
Master Blaster
New member
Interesting that the part thet broke was the Barrel Bushing.
On my custom classis Target the bushing is not MIM, it is a forged and machined part. I can see milling marks faintly all over it. and there is no telltale mold line or casting mark, like on the MIM parts.
Maybe its an MIM part that was machined?????
On my custom classis Target the bushing is not MIM, it is a forged and machined part. I can see milling marks faintly all over it. and there is no telltale mold line or casting mark, like on the MIM parts.
Maybe its an MIM part that was machined?????