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Thread: Kimber 5 inch lightweight 9mm?

  1. #1
    Member feudist's Avatar
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    Jan 2012
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    Murderham, the Tragic City

    Kimber 5 inch lightweight 9mm?

    629.00 at the LGS.

    Reading about these online, the consensus seems to be that these are Type 1 -no Swartz safety.

    Handling it, very good trigger and the 5 inch lightweight form factor was quite nice.

    Is this just a totally bad idea? Are Kimbers irredeemable paper weights?

    This would be a carry gun once vetted.

    I've been wanting a 9mm 1911 for over a year, even Rock Islands are going for close to 600.

    I'd need to add an ambi safety(accursed lefty here) but the sights were great.

    This brings together 3 iffy propositions: Kimber, 9mm 1911 and not a 4 inch 9mm 1911, which has the Bill Wilson Seal of Approval.

    Fish or cut bait?

  2. #2
    A Kimber TLE II was my first pistol. It was my last Kimber, last 1911 even. This was circa 2006, and in less than 300 rounds the slide severely rattled on the frame, the barrel rusted, and the sear spring gave out. Customer service was an angry man in Yonkers who thought this was just bitching. Never again for me.
    IDPA : A454752
    USPSA : TY91150

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by feudist View Post
    Fish or cut bait?
    You might get a decently built pistol.

    It might feed 9mm reliably.

    You might get lucky with the supplied magazine(s) and not have to embark on a lengthy and expensive quest to find the combination of mags and ammo that works best in that particular gun.

    or...

  4. #4
    If I was in the market for a 9mm 1911, Kimber would not even be in consideration.

    I doubt I’ll ever own another Kimber, but if I did, it would be old, a gov’t model, and in .45.

  5. #5
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    If it runs right off the bat or if it will run by using a Tier 1 mag (Wilson/Chip McCormick/Tripp) and quality ammo with the recoil spring that came in it or will do so by moving up/down a few pounds, sounds like it could be a great pistol value.

    So long as this is an eyes wide open kind of thing and you are good with selling the pistol on the back end for 450ish, rock on and let us know what happens.

    Edited to add: Kimberly peaked imho with the basic custom classic in series 1 in .45 for an all steel gun and in their pro carry 5 inch .45 in a lightweight gun. Most early Warriors that were series 1 were gtg as well. As soon as they went Series 2 and external extractor across the line, they were never the same company imho.

    Anytime/anywhere, I look in the used gun case re series 1 guns. I have been lucky 2x and regret selling them both.
    Last edited by vcdgrips; 10-26-2020 at 06:04 PM.

  6. #6
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    Nov 2013
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    Illinois
    A 5" 9mm 1911 can run very well, if you set it up correctly.

    One of my least reliable 1911s was a 9mm Commander, one of my most reliable, a 5" Kimber 9mm (with the firing pin safety no less).

    The problem I ran into with both was that they both required me to make them reliable after purchase...which wasn't a big deal because I'm comfortable doing that. This is common with factory purchased 1911s of any flavor. In fact, the only 1911 that I never needed to do anything to was....well none of them.

    I've even taken a file to my Alchemy Prime because the grip safety wasn't always deactivating. That's a personal touch though.

    The answer for at least my journeyman purposes (which is an annual ammo consumption of 10-15k rounds annually depending on match schedules and classes) feedway reliability is as follows:

    -Well fit barrel. Or at least serviceable.

    -Extractor must have the right shape, tension and deflection

    -Magazines should be good quality.

    -Correct recoil springs and hammer springs.

    -Staked plunger tube

    If it can pass the 10-8 extractor test it's probably good to go, assuming none of the small parts are loose.

    Kimber doesn't always do all of these things right. Usually barrels are their weak point, but then that was the problem with the Colt I had so much trouble with. So you might want to account for an extra 200 bucks for a proper barrel just in case.

    I'd still pick it over a Rock Island. I've had only one experience with them and it was enough to sour me on them for a while. Although that hasn't been the case for many people and I've been reconsidering.

    Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

  7. #7
    A friend has one that does very well, with one particular magazine.
    Code Name: JET STREAM

  8. #8
    I don't think there's any kimbers in the LGS's around here. (Won't carry)

    Are they somehow now better?

  9. #9
    Glock Collective Assimile Suvorov's Avatar
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    Escapee from the SF Bay Area now living on the Front Range of Colorado.
    My Custom Target has been a very good gun the past 20+ years. Apparently it forgot it was supposed to be a POS. That said, I have less than 2000 rounds through it so maybe it will blow up on me next time I shoot it.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Suvorov View Post
    My Custom Target has been a very good gun the past 20+ years. Apparently it forgot it was supposed to be a POS. That said, I have less than 2000 rounds through it so maybe it will blow up on me next time I shoot it.
    The 20+ year old Kimbers aren’t the problem, and it’s rare to have anyone badmouth them.

    There’s no denying the Kimbers of the last 10-12 years have had issues.

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