Kimber Gold Match For Warrior?

[DArBad]

Hey Kimber gang,

I was looking and evaluating the " beauty " of my blued Gold Match II and per chance, I opened up my Kimber catalog and the Warrior II caught my eye.

Suddenly I had the urge to trade in the GM II for a Warrior. Would YOU do it??

Before you think I am crazy, let me say..........I am

[kens]

No I would buy the Warrior and keep the Gold match

[Kruzr]

I wouldn't trade down.

[SmurfHunter]

If it was a desert warrior yes.

The standard warrior is also nice but I used my desert warrior grips to make a sig warrior.

[Vermilion]

The Sig TacOps is basically the same gun. It has front strap checkering while the Kimber does not and the Sig is about 300 bucks cheaper. While I love my Kimber SCHD but the Warrior just doesn't seem worth it to me.

[SmurfHunter]

Originally Posted by Vermilion

The Sig TacOps is basically the same gun. It has front strap checkering while the Kimber does not and the Sig is about 300 bucks cheaper. While I love my Kimber SCHD but the Warrior just doesn't seem worth it to me.

The sig comes with 4 mags the kimber 2. The sig has Magwell the kimber doesn't. The sig is series 80 while my desert warrior is not. The standard warrior comes in both. The sig comes with an option to be bought with the threaded barrel the kimber does not i picked up that tacops for $755 I got my desert warrior for $1200. All in all I love my desert warrior. A LOT but for the money my sig tacops/warrior looking for the money is far better.

[Horoscope Fish]

Originally Posted by DArBad

Suddenly I had the urge to trade in the GM II for a Warrior. Would YOU do it??

I wouldn't even consider it.

[glider]

I have a G.M. and it would be the last one to go. To tell ya the truth I don't really like the D.W. anyway but even if I did I wouldn't give up a G.M. for one. The whole idea of a defense pistol is all well and good however 95% of our shooting is at the range. What's better for that than a Gold Match ? You can always use it for defense to.

[BYJO4]

I would keep the Gold Match.

[USMC0321]

I have both guns. I wouldn't step down to a Warrior. Not that the Warrior is a bad gun, but the Gold Match is better in most respects (except maybe the low rise Novaks). I bought my Warrior first, then bought the Gold Match next. I say keep the Gold Match and then buy the Warrior if you want.

Also my Warrior also gave me alot of headaches at first. I believe I have enough rounds through it now and I followed almost every piece of advice on this Forum and the M1911 Forum to get it working properly. I had FTRB's, FTF's, and FTE's with no particular rhyme or reason to it. I have to use Wilson Combat magazines (No Kimber, Kimber Pro Tacs, or McCormicks, etc.), polished the slide stop, polished the feed ramp, and cycled several hundred to thousands of rounds to make it work reliably. For me, the Warrior is only a range gun now, due to the initial unreliability I experienced with my particular sample. It will never be my CCW or HD.

My experience with the Warrior almost soured me to Kimber brand completely. However, my later experience with the Gold Match helped Kimber redeem itself IMO.

[DArBad]

Kimber gang,

To all who responded, thank you. Sometimes, temporary insanity can be cured by consulting other people.

My sincere thanks again!

[monadh]

Isn't this analogous to what Tiger Woods did?

"Yeah, my wife is beautiful, but I wonder what that Waffle House waitress would be like."

[DArBad]

Originally Posted by monadh

Isn't this analogous to what Tiger Woods did?

"Yeah, my wife is beautiful, but I wonder what that Waffle House waitress would be like."

I guess so. A moment of insanity, I suppose.

[f4t9r]

keep the Gold Match and save up for the other

[USMC0321]

Just realized that you were looking at the Warrior II. I might be wary of the II since most people want the Warrior for the lack of the Swartz safety. That's why I bought mine. [Not that I've ever had a Swartz problem with any Kimber I've owned]

I see you're in the People's Republic of Komifornia so you probably have to have a Swartz. I might recommend the Custom TLE RL II for the frontstrap checkering and the lack of the lanyard loop if you've gotta have the Swartz. Apart from the Kimpro finish and "Novak style" sights, I think they're essentially the same gun.

[Grunt33]

Just to throw gas on the flames....

I recently rid myself of a Desert Warrior (Warrior with a paintjob). The grip safety rattled in the frame. Not just a little, it rattled constantly. The grips sucked. Magwell grips on a non-magwell pistol leads to them getting caught on everything, something I wasn't aware of til I owned the thing. Trigger was full of sand, or felt like it. Even a quick stoning didn't help much. Overall, the Desert warrior was a big green (not tan) disappointment. Especially for a pistol with a $1400 MSRP.

Swapped it for a Custom Classic in good shape, along with a complete AR lower, and haven't looked back. My only gripe about the Custom Classic is it hates every magazine I own except one. Now I either need to buy new mags, or replace followers in existing mags, or have the pistol checked. Not sure which way to roll yet.

In my honest opinion, the Desert Warrior plays on a gimmick, without living up to it's pricetag. It's non-painted brother I would imagine to be very similar.

[Onegoodshot]

Originally Posted by monadh

Isn't this analogous to what Tiger Woods did?

"Yeah, my wife is beautiful, but I wonder what that Waffle House waitress would be like."

So far the most expensive kitty in the entire worlds history of some really dumb men.

[Onegoodshot]

Originally Posted by Grunt33

Just to throw gas on the flames....

I recently rid myself of a Desert Warrior (Warrior with a paintjob). The grip safety rattled in the frame. Not just a little, it rattled constantly. The grips sucked. Magwell grips on a non-magwell pistol leads to them getting caught on everything, something I wasn't aware of til I owned the thing. Trigger was full of sand, or felt like it. Even a quick stoning didn't help much. Overall, the Desert warrior was a big green (not tan) disappointment. Especially for a pistol with a $1400 MSRP.

Swapped it for a Custom Classic in good shape, along with a complete AR lower, and haven't looked back. My only gripe about the Custom Classic is it hates every magazine I own except one. Now I either need to buy new mags, or replace followers in existing mags, or have the pistol checked. Not sure which way to roll yet.

In my honest opinion, the Desert Warrior plays on a gimmick, without living up to it's pricetag. It's non-painted brother I would imagine to be very similar.

I had EXACTLY opposite experiance with one of the early Desert Warriors.
Mine was not tight until lock up, but then beautiful. Ran thousands of rounds through it, everything 100% reliable. (when BRAND NEW, I swapped in a Wilson slide stop, and cleaned Kimpro from the feed ramp) Pistol could hit a dime at 10 yards if I did my job. I think you got a Friday quitting time pistol, sorry. I still think OP should stand on his GM.

[SmurfHunter]

Originally Posted by Grunt33

Just to throw gas on the flames....

I recently rid myself of a Desert Warrior (Warrior with a paintjob). The grip safety rattled in the frame. Not just a little, it rattled constantly. The grips sucked. Magwell grips on a non-magwell pistol leads to them getting caught on everything, something I wasn't aware of til I owned the thing. Trigger was full of sand, or felt like it. Even a quick stoning didn't help much. Overall, the Desert warrior was a big green (not tan) disappointment. Especially for a pistol with a $1400 MSRP.

Swapped it for a Custom Classic in good shape, along with a complete AR lower, and haven't looked back. My only gripe about the Custom Classic is it hates every magazine I own except one. Now I either need to buy new mags, or replace followers in existing mags, or have the pistol checked. Not sure which way to roll yet.

In my honest opinion, the Desert Warrior plays on a gimmick, without living up to it's pricetag. It's non-painted brother I would imagine to be very similar.

First off you didn't have a desert warrior. You had a so called warrior. As noted below a lot of people have perfect desert warriors. I am another. I have had zero issues with mine. Again a real desert warrior. The color is not green. It's dark tan. Simple. Your painted gun may have been green which is exactly why you shouldn't call it a desert warrior. Secondly You claim the grips are Magwell grips that suck? Well again. You don't have desert warrior or warrior grips for that matter as they are not Magwell grips. They are standard grips.

Originally Posted by Onegoodshot

I had EXACTLY opposite experiance with one of the early Desert Warriors.
Mine was not tight until lock up, but then beautiful. Ran thousands of rounds through it, everything 100% reliable. (when BRAND NEW, I swapped in a Wilson slide stop, and cleaned Kimpro from the feed ramp) Pistol could hit a dime at 10 yards if I did my job. I think you got a Friday quitting time pistol, sorry. I still think OP should stand on his GM.

[Onegoodshot]

Originally Posted by SmurfHunter

First off you didn't have a desert warrior. You had a so called warrior. As noted below a lot of people have perfect desert warriors. I am another. I have had zero issues with mine. Again a real desert warrior. The color is not green. It's dark tan. Simple. Your painted gun may have been green which is exactly why you shouldn't call it a desert warrior. Secondly You claim the grips are Magwell grips that suck? Well again. You don't have desert warrior or warrior grips for that matter as they are not Magwell grips. They are standard grips.

I'm not sure what anybody else had or has... but to confuse issue. As stated mine was very early issue. And VERY MUCH, O.D. Green, not the least tan. i have seen the tan ones. Mine had a great service melt, de-horn. The grips were "Mr Peanut", square bottom, and MSH was metal with a lanyard loop.
I believe mine was KimPro finish and NOT KimPro II, because it was extremely slick smooth, very hard, and very durable. Nothing like the later issue apparently. It was a fantastic weapon.

[SmurfHunter]

Originally Posted by Onegoodshot

I'm not sure what anybody else had or has... but to confuse issue. As stated mine was very early issue. And VERY MUCH, O.D. Green, not the least tan. i have seen the tan ones. Mine had a great service melt, de-horn. The grips were "Mr Peanut", square bottom, and MSH was metal with a lanyard loop.
I believe mine was KimPro finish and NOT KimPro II, because it was extremely slick smooth, very hard, and very durable. Nothing like the later issue apparently. It was a fantastic weapon.

This is an original run desert warrior. Mine is extremely tan. Not green. And none I have held or seen in person were green.

To compare to my sig scorpion which more green then the desert warrior.

And the grips over a black gun. Again clearly tan.

[Onegoodshot]

[QUOTE=SmurfHunter;3844046]This is an original run desert warrior. Mine is extremely tan. Not green. And none I have held or seen in person were green.


Well, ok.. I have seen them in very O.D. and very tan. I have owned three Desert Warriors, all brand new in box from Kimber Master Dealer. The last two were about same color as yours, near as I can tell from the pic. I'll see if I can find a pic of mine. I'm confident there are many things in this life I have not seen, and may never see. I'm equally confident that truth is not exclusive to me.

[DARKEHORSE]

Originally Posted by Onegoodshot

I'm not sure what anybody else had or has... but to confuse issue. As stated mine was very early issue. And VERY MUCH, O.D. Green, not the least tan. i have seen the tan ones. Mine had a great service melt, de-horn. The grips were "Mr Peanut", square bottom, and MSH was metal with a lanyard loop.
I believe mine was KimPro finish and NOT KimPro II, because it was extremely slick smooth, very hard, and very durable. Nothing like the later issue apparently. It was a fantastic weapon.

I have to concur with you... I have an early model Kimber Warrior with the rounded base on M1913 rails instead of the sharper ones on the later model and the last four digits of the serial numbers on my slide to match the frame. It is an outstanding weapon without the problems some of the others mentioned. I switch between it, a SIS Pro and a Super Carry Pro HD. I did not care for the grips so I replaced mine with VZ Operator II Black Desert Sand with a flat base for the Kimber magazine well I installed.

[Rick McC.]

Well, my friend, once again; I'd hold on to what you have!

Take care,

Rick

[Onegoodshot]

Originally Posted by Rick McC.

Well, my friend, once again; I'd hold on to what you have!

Take care,

Rick

Too late, the dumb ___ in me showed up one day, and I let 'er go. And that early Desert Warrior, was really one of the ones I should have kept.
I have a few keepers though.


I could probably post a thread on the ones I used to have, and make some question my sanity.
I love them all, but not "in love" with any. And sometimes you have to say good bye to one to say hello to another. 1911's, are they cool or what!