Kimbers and Warranty Work

[Jungle Work]

Kimbers and Warranty Work

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I bought a new Kimber Pro Carry II in the last part of June this year. It would FTF with about a 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch of the round sticking out of the chamber. It did this with every magazine I tried.

I sent it back to Kimber at a cost of $83.00 for FED Ex over night. Kimber got the gun and polished the breachface, adjusted the extractor, reamed the chamber and polished it, installed a long ejector and adjusted the slide stop. I took the gun shooting last night and it ran without any problem with FMJs and Gold Dots and Hydrosoks. So I guess its fixed.

I called Kimber this morning and told them that it runs and I was unhappy about the cost to send a gun that should have run out of the box back to them and the loss of the gun for a month and a half.
The gentlemen I talked with stated that the gun should have not left the factory needing those things done to it and he appologized. He said that he would send me two top of the line magazines and several new recoil springs for my trouble. He said that Kimber would stand behind it products.

And that's where it stands on my gun.

I read on this form where another Kimber owner is having the same problem. I explained to the fellow at Kimber that if Kimber is letting subquality guns out of the factory, that with the instant information avaliable on the internet, it would effect their sales. He agreed and stated that he would pass on my concerns to the OC People at the factory.

Not a bad guy and so far Kimber has fixed it, but I figure when you pay money for a product it sould work. I don't guess that's the opinion of American Industry this day and time. So far all of my new Rock Island 1911s that are made in the Phillipines run right out of the box.

Jungle Work
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[Commander Cody]

I own two Kimbers that work superbly and always have. I did have another brand of 1911 that had to be sent to the factory. The shop where I buy my guns took care of the shipping for me. I was without that gun for a couple of weeks, but at no expense to me. Customer satisfaction paid for it. Elite Sound and Security in Texas City… cause I know you will ask.

[ddcarter3]

Jungle Work....I had the same exact problem with my Pro CDP II. I called Kimber, they sent a call tag. They did the same to my gun as well. The only way for their QC Department to get better, is for us to complain (which we did). Mine took 5 weeks to get back. It has run 100% since returning from Kimber.
BTW...I only got the gun back. No extras for me!

[The Annoyed Man]

1911s in my family and their records:

1943 Ithaca that was my dad's sidearm in WW2: Runs like a champ. Digests everything. Guaranteed MOD (Minute of Door) accuracy. Worst sights in the world.

Sig GSR Carry Stainless: Beautiful pistol with the reliability of an AMF Harley - that is to say, none to speak of. Very accurate... ...when it would fire and cycle. I finally got rid of it.

Kimber UCII: "Defective" slide stop lever out of the box causing the slide to lock back on a half full magazine. Kimber sent new part at no charge, and it runs like a champ ever since. It's my daily carry piece.

2008 Taurus PT 1911: Runs great out of the box. At about 600 rounds, the slide stop lever pin breaks in half. Substitute the "defective" part that came off the Kimber, and the gun runs like a champ. Go figure.

That's the beauty of 1911s. You just never know for sure until you get them to the range. They've each got a personality of their own. Fortunately they're all fixable (except that blasted Sig).

This Rock Island Armory 1911 owner had some problems with his:

I was having a problem with my new RIA FS Tactical and the slide not closing completely, but a little tap on the slide and it would lock up. I couldn’t figure out what was causing it until I looked at my spent brass. I noticed that the extractor was deforming the case rim. I pulled the extractor to take a closer look at it and noticed that the bevel on it was pretty small. When held up to a fired case you could see where the flat end of the extractor was hitting the rim and not going over the rim. I filed a little more slope on the extractor and then polished it with a little jewlers rouge and I have not had any problems with the slide not closing since.

They're not all perfect either, apparently. But, that's OK. I think I want a Springfield Armory 1911 next - not because I don't like my Kimber, but because I want to try another flavor. If you want boring, get a Glock.

[bdickens]

I like the idea of boring. If, God forbid, I should ever have to use my pistol for its intended purpose I sure don't want any exiting surprises.

[gfmun]

Yeah, but on the flip side I had a Kimber that was a couple of years old with 20,000 plus rounds through it and it developed a problem. I sent it in ( paying Fed Ex and arguing with the Fed Ex rep that I could ship it ) and it came back in about 6 weeks with a new slide and a bunch of work done at no cost other than the shipping. I am happy.


thanks,
George

[drw]

I just posted my experience with Springfield Armory here:

http://texasshooting.com/TexasCHL_Forum ... 23&t=18352

[Winston33]

I had the same problems with my new CDP II Pro Carry . I did some research on 1911forum.com, and then bought a new "X" recoil spring from Wolff springs, and it has run perfect ever since. So to all those who buy a new pro carry - try a new recoil spring before you contact a gunsmith or Kimber.

[The Annoyed Man]

I like the idea of boring. If, God forbid, I should ever have to use my pistol for its intended purpose I sure don't want any exiting surprises.

Oh yeah, there is something to be said for boring. I was kind of teasing. The Glock is a great gun. Boring. But great. But the 1911s make my heart go pitter patter.

[ScubaSigGuy]

My expercience with Kimber's product out of the box has been good with the lone exception being my UCDPII when I first bought it. It took two trips to Kimber to be repaired properly, and the CS folks were pleasant to deal with even if the issue was pretty frustrating. The first trip to the factory was a 5 day turnaround from the day I shipped it until the day FedEx left it sitting at my front door . I did get some free goodies though.

Springfield's CS is awesome! I had an issue woth an EMP when they first came out and they handled it quickly and pleasantly while paying for shipping.

[Mike from Texas]

I had the same problems with my new CDP II Pro Carry . I did some research on 1911forum.com, and then bought a new "X" recoil spring from Wolff springs, and it has run perfect ever since. So to all those who buy a new pro carry - try a new recoil spring before you contact a gunsmith or Kimber.

I did the exact same thing with mine but my store that I bought my UC from did all the polishing work for free. Mine runs like a champ now.

[Liberty]

e]
They're not all perfect either, apparently. But, that's OK. I think I want a Springfield Armory 1911 next - not because I don't like my Kimber, but because I want to try another flavor. If you want boring, get a Glock.

Hmmm, I don't own a Glock, and while I don't particularly care for them. I believe youjust gave Glock the ultimate compliment.

[The Annoyed Man]

e]
They're not all perfect either, apparently. But, that's OK. I think I want a Springfield Armory 1911 next - not because I don't like my Kimber, but because I want to try another flavor. If you want boring, get a Glock.

Hmmm, I don't own a Glock, and while I don't particularly care for them. I believe you just gave Glock the ultimate compliment.

Truthfully, I've got nothing against Glock, except that I don't particularly care for the way they look. But that's just me. I've fired one once and found it to be easy to shoot and reasonably accurate. Apparently, they are pretty reliable as far as guns go - although like any other mechanical device, they can fail too. I just have a love affair going with the 1911 platform and the .45 ACP cartridge.

...but I still don't name my guns.

[bdickens]

Oh yeah, there is something to be said for boring. I was kind of teasing. The Glock is a great gun. Boring. But great. But the 1911s make my heart go pitter patter.

I know. I want to get a nice 1911, too. Just to have (and shoot) one.

[smyrna]

The problem with 1911's is not neccessarily by maker, it's by design. What I mean is this...
The 1911 has become the Harley Davidson of the pistol world. You can get extended slide stops, beavertails, custom fit bushings, adjustable triggers, guide rods, this barrel length, that barrel length, curb feelers, mud flaps, etc. to your hearts content, all of which deviate from the good ole John Moses Browning design. Modern manufacturing with tighter tolerances may in some cases contribute to lack of reliability. Compound this with the fact that maunfacturers have continually shortened or changed the original platform to accomodate easier concealed carry or provide new and improved features, and you are walking a fine line with reliability.

1943 Ithaca that was my dad's sidearm in WW2: Runs like a champ. Digests everything. Guaranteed MOD (Minute of Door) accuracy. Worst sights in the world.

No doubt this is the sloppiest of your collection with respect to fit, but probably the most reliable.

I have a Combat Commander that has the Colt rattle but it has yet to fail to function. It even has one or two of the Series 80 flaws but I wouldn't consider trading it. On the other hand, I recently fit a Colt slide to a Caspain frame. It slides like it is on ball bearings with absolutely no perceptable play. I haven't finished the pistol yet, but this one will have to prove itself before I consider carrying it.