When Series 1 Kimbers came out I bought the first used one I ever saw ($500)Originally Posted by vcdgrips
We put it in the barrel tester at the range and the barrel shot 95% as good as a Kart. If the chamber had been match tight and the crown better it may have shot better than the Kart.
My series 1 Kimber was purchased in 1999. The gun was well over 99% reliable from the factory, but achieving 100% reliability required switching the extractor and firing pin stop, both from Wilson Combat. I tensioned the extractor myslef, bending it a little at a time until reliability was very close to 100%. A gunsmith then fitted the oversize firing pin stop to prevent any possible rotation of the extractor, taking reliability to 100%.
I have several thousand rounds through the gun. At one point, the barrel link had worn a channel in the slide stop, which was replaced with a drop-in Wilson slide stop. The barrel bushing also wore out, and was replaced by an EGW angled bushing, fitted by a gunsmith. MIM parts do not concern me, but as they wore out, I figured that replacing them with higher grade parts would eventually get me a better pistol than the one I originally purchased.
The full length, one-piece guide rod has never been an issue, and I have never seen any reason to change it.
The gun came with a 16 lb. recoil spring, but I currently run 18.5 lb. I also use a titanium firing pin with an extra power firing pin spring, which has never caused any ignition issues in thousands of rounds.
The gun has always been very accurate, except when I wore out the barrel bushing.
I question the wisdom of the decision to stop selling frames and slides to others. Not only would that provide a good revenue stream, but producing frames and slides deemed good enough for higher end guns makes a very nice selling point for an entry level 1911, even if that entry level gun is not the equivalent of a gun that has received a higher level of attention. I doubt someone looking to buy a Wilson would be lured away by a Kimber, and I doubt someone whose budget allows a Kimber will buy the Wilson instead.
Some gun magazines at the time described "custom" gun makers who would buy a Kimber, replace all the MIM parts with machined metal, fitted parts, and then sell the gun as a higher grade gun.
Have you ever shot a Clackamas-marked Kimber? They were/are shockingly well put together guns sharing most of their components with Chip McCormick's line at the time. Their slides, frames AND barrels were quite good. For the $600 or so they were charging for them they were an absolute steal. Their 4" guns also worked really well, not a waste of time in the slightest.
My Yonkers-marked pre-Series II Custom Classic was great. I tried to improve upon it and the first "gunsmith" that had it didn't do it any favors. Dave Berryhill (RIP) later sorted it out.
Were they the equivalent of a modern Wilson CQB? No way, but they changed the game and truly led to the 1911 renaissance in the late 1990's and 2000's.
Jerry Keefer had said that STI single stack frames/slides were excellent to build off of. This coming from one a handful of people that could make a gun out of a piece of billet.
The Clackamas guns were actually also built in Yonkers. They didn't use CMC parts per se, -Chip and Locke (the engineer) designed all the parts for Kimber and they were made by a variety of vendors. The original MIM vendor was in Spain. That shifted to Israel (Why Bul parts look very similar) then back to the USA. You will probably remember that Chip sold a lot of these MIM Parts as "value plus" or something like that in yellow baggies. Hammer, sear, disco, barrel bushing, sights, slide stop and thumb safety. Even the grips that came from Costa Rica.
That ended after a few years.
Own and run a Series 1 45ACP Kimber (manufactured in 2000) Custom Target with non-adjustable sights along with a 2018 procured Dan Wesson Specialist in 9MM.
Had a chance to shoot an Stacatto P and I will say this. If I knew about the Stacatto P at the time, the Dan Wesson would not have been purchased.
Plenty of good info from users here. The one thing I will throw out there is that I actually see more 1911 usage in 2021 than I did in 2011. That's just my 10 cent view from a line guys perspective.
Oh my god someone is still crying about MIM!
LMAO!
somebody get that guy a woobie!
(just make sure it's cast/milled/machined/knitted...!)
Kimber MIM.
Some people know the difference.
I have disremembered, with extreme prejudice, where my early Kimbers (Two early 1997 “Classic Customs” and a very early Stainless Gold Match) were made, but they were certainly very, very accurate, in a time when my accuracy potential, with 1911 pistols, was good enough to enable me to tell the difference.
Retar’d LE. Kinesthetic dufus.
Don’t tread on volcanos!
This. As my previous post indicated, my three Kimbers were so very accurate. It was other things about them that were so very aggravating. Magazines and small parts.
Retar’d LE. Kinesthetic dufus.
Don’t tread on volcanos!
My experience as well on a smaller scale. I haven't had my Colt super as long and probably not as many rounds [close to 10,000]. It has slowly changed over the years, razor edges removed, refinished once, standard grip safety tuned for 1/2 way disengagement, new sights, Harrison thumb safety and a Brown drop in 9mm barrel. It looks like heck right now and I detected a little surface rust on the bare metal spots worn by use and a kydex holster. The thing just runs and runs..
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