TexasCHLforum.com

danpaw wrote:How about Colt Defender? Anyone have any pros and cons on them?

I have little or no experience with Colts, except with a Colt Government .380 that I own. It is quite tight, and the appearance is of high quality, but it is like a lot of .380 pistols in that it isn't the most reliable thing around. But I have no experience with Colt 1911s, so I'm not qualified to comment.

danpaw wrote:From what I have been hearing and reading about Kimbers lately I think I would get something else. I was close to buying one myself but now I am leaning toward just getting a Springfield. I understand all brands have some problems but Kimber seems to be having a lot lately. Something has happened over there. Where there's smoke there's fire.

I love my Springfield Loaded 1911, and I would not steer you away from that brand. But read my comments above about the Springfield rifle I bought, and resist the temptation to drink the "bash Kimber" coolaid, or the "bash [insert name here] coolaid." Pay no attention to what a bunch of us mooks on the web say, and go handle some of these different guns for yourself. Rent the ones you like if you can, or borrow from a friend who has one like it.

HotLeadSolutions wrote:Sig produces as many if not more weapons than Kimber does annually, and you do not hear of such things with Sig.

I used to own a Sig GSR Stainless Carry 1911 that would inexplicable jam on every 3rd round or so. Upon performing a little bit of Google Fu, I found plenty of references to unreliable Sig 1911s. After multiple attempts to track down the problem and trips to a gunsmith, I sold the weapon back to the store I bought it from and used the money to buy a Kimber Stainless Ultra Carry II which has run flawlessly and never broken.

I don't argue that STI makes nice 1911s, but even their guns don't have a perfect record. Again, a little Google Fu will bear that out. There isn't a gun manufacturer in existence that doesn't have it's share of detractors. Apparently, you've had a bad experience with Kimber and will never buy another, while other Kimber owners, who outnumber you thousands to one but whom you never hear from because their guns, like mine, keep chugging along, are perfectly happy with their ownership experience. I would likely not buy another Sig 1911 based on my own personal experience, but I'm not going to bash the brand because I bought a lemon.

I like how the OP asked a simple question about two Kimber choices, not some other manufacturer, and you jumped on RIA and STI like that was his question. I have yet to see a factory that makes ANY kind of product with a 100% record of perfection. That's not really a viable answer. What I expect is that, if I am unlucky enough to buy a quality product from a reputable manufacturer and the product fails to perform and/or breaks, the manufacturer will make the problem right.

Case in point... About 15 months ago, I bought a Springfield M1A Loaded for around $1,700. After shooting 100 rounds, the hammer broke. I sent the fire control group back to Springfield for a warranty repair. They replaced the hammer with a forged unit instead of the OEM MIM unit, and I had the repaired fire control group back in my hands 10 days later. Because their customer support and service was so good, I would not hesitate to recommend their rifles to someone else. Now, if you Google "broken M1A hammer," you'll find lots of references; but those references are a drop in the bucket compared to the thousands of satisfied M1A owners, and I'm not going to be so precipitate as to post pictures of broken hammers that aren't even mine and make the foolish claim that this typical Springfield quality.

HotLeadSolutions wrote:Althought these are not pictures of my weapon, there are hundreds of photos just like these of other Kimber pistols out there.

There are also hundreds of pictures on the 'net of Glock kabooms. Don't mean a thing.

To the OP, we own two Kimbers in our family, and they are flawless and accurate performers. Of the two, you'll probably be happier with the CDP. There's nothing wrong with RIA pistols. They make a perfectly decent gun, and I've been favorably impressed with their tactical model at that price point. But I've handled a number of them, and they just aren't in the same league as Kimber pistols. Kimber is also by far the largest seller of 1911 pistols in the nation. The number of defective pistols as a percentage of their total production is probably no more than any other reputable manufacturer, but in sheer numbers, that is going to be more pistols than that same percentage of a smaller manufacturer's production. Just keep things in perspective.

BTW, good luck finding aftermarket sights that will fit the RIA dovetails. That's OK if you're happy with the stock sights, but it's a huge hassle if you're not.