Kimber Common Problems and Fixes...

[SlickLittle]

hi to all,

I have a Kimber CDP II (full size 5") and had multiple feeding problems when it was new. After about 100 rounds, I took it apart and worked it over with my dremel tool, polishing wheel and some good rouge only.
I polished the black oxide off the feed ramp to a high luster, gave a good shine to the extractor hook and breach face, smoothed down a machining "bump" on the back side of the slide right behind the extractor hook.
Also, "canned" the factory mags and replaced with Chip McCormick power mags and have had no issues whatsoever thus far. I'm up to approx. 1000 rounds through the gun so far.

[therealbrassmonkey]

Originally Posted by wrangler5191

Putting the "required" 500 break in rounds through my new carry gun. Multiple, multiple FTF and FTE.

Things are improving as I close in on 500..but it will be a long time before I "trust" this gun. This is downright frustrating after spending $1000. I have a "cheap" .40 SW Sigma that has never had a FTF or FTE.

If thats not enough....a weird and new problem has now cropped up. I put 8 rounds in the magazine...rack the slide to add one to the chamber...pop the magazine release to "top off" and the magazine falls out in addition to "one" loose round that was up in there somewhere. It is not the one that was heading for the chamber...it is already in the chamber.

Anybody have any ideas on what is going on? This has happened several times.

Mike

I got my first handgun a few months ago and I decided that the Kimber Warrior was the best fit for me. I also had a failure to feed so I went to a local gun shop, polished the ramp, it fired about 75 rounds then started acting up again. I called up Kimber, talked with them for a while, sent it in and they reamed and polished the barrel and chamber. They also cleaned and lubed it up for me. Apparently since Kimbers are match grade guns they a lot more lube then other guns. I am not saying that everything will be better if more lube is used BUT it is just something that is good for you to know.

[Rick46]

I purchased a Kimber Super Carry Pro last week along with 1000 rounds of PMC 230 gr ball ammo for the break-in. As soon as I loaded my first round I knew there was a problem. The slide would not go all the way forward. It stopped about a 1/4" from closing all the way. I tapped the rear of the slide and it closed.

I fired two rounds and it did it again. I tapped the back of the slide again and continued to fire. This occurred every two or three rounds. I shot 100 rounds and cleaned it. It still did the same thing. I figured it was still tight and I needed to continue with the break-in. Long story short, I fired 500 rounds within a 2 hour period, cleaning the gun every hundred rounds. The problem persisted.

I took the gun back to the dealer and left it with him. He called me the next morning and told me to come get my gun. The problem was fixed and he fired 100 rounds through the gun with zero problems.

The gunsmith at the dealer adjusted the extractor which fixed the problem.

[LariatBob]

Originally Posted by Lorance

Moral: According to this gunsmith. Only use lockthigh as a last resort you can set the screw by tighting it and then tapping it lightly in place. No lock tight needed.

I'm off to the range for a test fire. So happy my Kimber is back working.

Anyone know what to use for lockthigh remover? I need to get some for my wife......

[OC1911]

Originally Posted by LariatBob

Anyone know what to use for lockthigh remover? I need to get some for my wife......

let me know when you figure it out.

[wmccurdy]

Originally Posted by LariatBob

Anyone know what to use for lockthigh remover? I need to get some for my wife......

I've always heard Southern Comfort called liquid panty remover, maybe it works as lockthigh remover as well.

[Tommy Kelly]

Aftre all this reading I kind of feel left out. I own 2 kimbers the cheaper ones I have a custom and a customII. I have had them for over 10 yrs and have shot both a good bit. The only problem I ever experienced was on the custom one time I had a ftf. The problem was the little tip of the slide stop broke off and caused the problem. After clearing it out of the action it worked fine just wouldn't lock back after last shot. I finished shooting that day with it broken and found a friend who had a spare part at his house when I came home. I put his part in my pistol and ordered a new part from kimber. to replace his. Kimber sent me 2 new ones one for replacement of his and a spare for myself. I have shot every type of ammo made in my guns with zero problems. From cheap wolf ammo to every type of reloads. My son had a high dollar colt gold cup and we went out shooting together. The colt wouldn't work with several different types of ammo we took but my kimbers would shoot anything we put in it. I may just be lucky but in my opinion the kimbers are cadillac's. I went yesterday and bought a rock island armory 1911 its bare bones 1911 but it shot fine yesterday. It's not a kimber but about 1/2 the price. A good knock around gun.

[REDTAIL]

Need some advise or help here I am seriously considering buying a Kimber Pro Raptor 2 pistol, but I am reading all over the web some reviews about today's Kimber guns & the company's not solving problems of complaint's on new Kimber guns & not responding to them etc & these $1,000 + guns are suppose to be the best 1911's out there & that LAPD & their SWAT carry & use them every day on duty etc,To tell you the truth I am confused,Should I lay out that kind of $$$$$ & not get a gun that I have to bet my life on while CC, Sure I see some good reviews from gun writer's who get paid from Kimber to say they are great etc etc, Yet there are guy's on this & other forums who swear that their Kimber's are the best thing since slice bread, I guess it's like anything machine or mechanical it has floor's in them, but these floor's can get you killed, if it fail's at the wrong time, I would like some reasuring feedback from anyone & everyone on this decision to buy a Kimber Pro raptor 2 so please send me your messages & I will read each one of them & hopefully they can sway my decision to go & spend the $$$$ on the Kimber gun. Thanks guy's

[REDTAIL]

I see where some guy's with brand new gun's from Kimber are having parts break when breaking in the gun etc, Question ? the word ( CUSTOM ) does Kimber have a quality control & suppose to test fire each & every gun leaving their factory against defect's etc ? & a brief report inside the new gun case that this was done on your new gun would be nice for the $$$$$$$ your are shelling out for their product. ?

[P_Dizzle]

I bought a Custom II SS last month. It started to jam on the first 10 rounds and much more after, it wouldn't even lock back after the last round. A week later I placed a synthetic lubricant for pistols and fixed the jamming issues but at times it wouldnt lock back after the last round. I am going again tomorrow to see if it will happen again. Have you guys experienced the same? I'm a bit pissed off has I spent over $1K on this pistol and didnt expect this type of issues. My Springfield XD has over 3000 rounds and it jammed once while shooting in the rain.

[Don Q]

I own a Kimber Ultra Stainless and my problem is failure to extract, this started after shooting 500 plus rounds, right now I've fired a total of 775 rounds.
The problem persisted so I call Kimber and it's in the shop. The FTE starts on the fist mag. usually the 4th to 5th shot but would stop after shooting at least 7 mags. (49) rounds.

Will post after I get my gun from Kimber, I hope they can fix the problem, I really like that gun, for CC is magnificent, my opinion.

[Angrychair]

Originally Posted by P_Dizzle

I bought a Custom II SS last month. It started to jam on the first 10 rounds and much more after, it wouldn't even lock back after the last round. A week later I placed a synthetic lubricant for pistols and fixed the jamming issues but at times it wouldnt lock back after the last round. I am going again tomorrow to see if it will happen again. Have you guys experienced the same? I'm a bit pissed off has I spent over $1K on this pistol and didnt expect this type of issues. My Springfield XD has over 3000 rounds and it jammed once while shooting in the rain.

the slide stop is not getting bumped by the follower in the magazine, could be one or the other i suppose.

[jms45cal]

Hello all I'm new here but have been reading many of your post's on Kimbers I have found them very helpful and would like to thank everyone for thier input .
I'd like to share my experience with 1 of my kimbers the pro cdp ii:
I bought a kimber 1911 pro cdp ii 45 cal a few months ago keep in mind i'm not new to 1911 pistols as I have several others and have bought and sold quite a few in the past years anyway on to the cdp ii I took it home stripped it down cleaned it ,oiled it and put it back together pretty easy to do if your familar with 1911's .
I took it to the range with 500 rds of all different kinds of ammo the first mag I didn't get threw without 3 failure to feeds and only got worse as I continued I got though about 100 rounds of fmj and hollow points leaving very frustrated.
went home cleaned my gun and called kimber explained the problem they wanted it back to polish the feedramp and got it back in about 3 weeks took it back to the range and the same thing every other round failure to feed to make a long story shot I ended up replacing the slide stop,extractor and firing pin with all wilson bullet proof parts, added a SS mainspring housing and magwell for the plastic one that came from the factory and a nice set of black ergo grips , took the gun back to the range and this gun fired everything I put threw the gun with 2 inch grouping at 25 yards I now have approx 800 rounds down the pipe and now its a gun I carry everyday and would never sell it ,the extra money I spent on wilson parts was well worth it to me I'm also using the 8 rd wilson combat mags

[Ticeman]

Originally Posted by jms45cal

Hello all I'm new here but have been reading many of your post's on Kimbers I have found them very helpful and would like to thank everyone for thier input .
I'd like to share my experience with 1 of my kimbers the pro cdp ii:
I bought a kimber 1911 pro cdp ii 45 cal a few months ago keep in mind i'm not new to 1911 pistols as I have several others and have bought and sold quite a few in the past years anyway on to the cdp ii I took it home stripped it down cleaned it ,oiled it and put it back together pretty easy to do if your familar with 1911's .
I took it to the range with 500 rds of all different kinds of ammo the first mag I didn't get threw without 3 failure to feeds and only got worse as I continued I got though about 100 rounds of fmj and hollow points leaving very frustrated.
went home cleaned my gun and called kimber explained the problem they wanted it back to polish the feedramp and got it back in about 3 weeks took it back to the range and the same thing every other round failure to feed to make a long story shot I ended up replacing the slide stop,extractor and firing pin with all wilson bullet proof parts, added a SS mainspring housing and magwell for the plastic one that came from the factory and a nice set of black ergo grips , took the gun back to the range and this gun fired everything I put threw the gun with 2 inch grouping at 25 yards I now have approx 800 rounds down the pipe and now its a gun I carry everyday and would never sell it ,the extra money I spent on wilson parts was well worth it to me I'm also using the 8 rd wilson combat mags

You sound happy about this??

[jms45cal]

I was tired of sending it back and not being fixed so I did what I thought was best, I am happy with the gun now but not happy with the money I spent to make this gun work .

[Ticeman]

You are much more patient that I am, I don't tolerate finicky, tempermental guns, life is too short, they go down the road, glad you're happy with it though.

[jms45cal]

my next 1911 will be a wilson combat commander or a nighthawk no more messing around with quality and changing out weak parts but that might be my last 1911 if my wife see's that bill

[jms45cal]

I was at EGW 2 days ago they no longer do gun smithing the gun smith moved to Altoona PA but they do have new 1911 barrels for 149.00 and all there parts are high quality products that are made on site and the service is second to non I really like using EGW the only problem is if you go there you could be there for a while , its very easy to sit and talk to the guys and gals as they like to get as much feedback as possible so they know what the new trends are and what kind of problems people are having so they can offer new products all the time don't get me wrong they are super busy but always ready to listen and stay on top of making what you need great people over there good luck

[CobraFreak]

I have a old first Generation Kimber Tactical II with external extractor. I bought it used. It was not used very much by the original owner as the finish was still on the aluminum frame slide area. Legendary ejection problems from the start. Would not reliably eject a round. After lots of research I came to the conclusion that the mass of the ejection claw under load from the speed of the slide is too much for the external extractor spring. Basically very under sprung. Wolf springs sells 25% stiffer extractor springs for these. It did help but it still was not sprung stiff enough. This is what I did to finally fix it. I took two 25% stiffer Wolf external extractor springs and shortened each of them approximately 1/3. Then I made a small fitting that held both springs together. I took a very small screw and cut the head off of it and lock tighted a nut in the middle. The finished product looked like this: /////////////-[]-//////////////.
It was very stiff and harder to fit into the spring hole than the stock spring, but it fixed the ejection problem for good. I never have had a failure to eject after my stiffer spring mod. I should have been an engineer.

[robot]

Problem : Press too hard on mag release, magazine doesn't fall freely.

Fix : Dremel 1mm off the left side of the mag release, test for fit, polish to bright shine.

For more pics, checkout http://gunbot.wordpress.com/2010/08/...-hangup-fixed/

[Angrychair]

Originally Posted by jms45cal

my next 1911 will be a wilson combat commander or a nighthawk no more messing around with quality and changing out weak parts but that might be my last 1911 if my wife see's that bill

lol i hear that

[jms45cal]

My Kimber pro cdp ii is now part wilson combat part Ed Brown part wolff and part hogue exotic wood grips I guess what I have now is a mutt lol not really funny but thats all you can do is laugh and move on .

[jms45cal]

Fimally done but I think Im gonna change the grips to a smokey gray take a look and let me know what ya think

[Dave Waits]

I have a Kimber Pro Carry II still going through it's infancy(Breakin). It feeds FMJs fairly well with only an occasional FTf(Feed). However, when I used my reloads with cast bullets it became a Jamomatic. Gun would either jam halfway to battery or almost go but stop short.
Cure; Got it out the other day and tore it down. That's when I noticed the feed-ramp on the frame. At the top of this well-polished factory ramp job, the transition was a sharp edge. I put the gun back together and grabbed some of my cast bullet reloads. Put a couple in a mag and started cycling. On the second round it jammed halfway open. I took the round out and examined it. Halfway to the nose was a very distinct notch cut in the bullet. I tore the gun back down and got out the Dremel tool. Loaded a felt bullet-point and some Flitz and blended the top of the ramp just using the weight of the tool to polish. Put it back together grabbed two boxes of my reloads and went to a nearby range. In short, it ran all 100 rounds of cast-bullet reloads without a hiccup.

[jms45cal]

Thats the same thing I did I polished the ramp with flintz and the bullet nose felt but FJH still had problems feeding thats when I changed to Wilson bullet proof parts above is everything I did to get this kimber shooting consistant