I did some trading yesterday and picked up one of these. I read some reviews and some were good, some not so good. All you Kimber 1911 guys give me some tips on do's and don'ts please. This one came from an estate sale and looks to be unfired or fired very little. Any tips will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
Kimber Tactical Custom II
- Thread starter pyscodog
- Start date
GC
Well-known member
Mine was a piece of crap. First it came with the wrong height front sight. It shot 24" low at 25 yards with standard 230 gr. ball ammo. I contacted Kimber and they said send it back and we will rebarrel and fit your gun. My barrel was accurate and there was nothing wrong with the fitting of that barrel. Plus Kimber wanted me to ship the gun to them on my dime. Most importantly it wasn't the barrel at all. I had done some research and realized Kimber had front sights for their 3", 4" and 5" guns. My Tac Model simply had the wrong front sight. Jeezus trying to get them to understand that was like teaching Chinese math to my beagle. I finally convinced them to just send me a new front sight of the correct height and after I fit that in the slide point of impact was perfect.
I experienced an MIM parts breakage of the mag catch at around 750 rounds. The MIM part simply crumbled into small pieces and dust dumping the magazine on the ground while I was firing it. Kimber wanted me to send the gun in. Screw it, I ordered an Ed Brown heat treated tool steel part and installed that on my own dime.
My gun was one of their experiments with an external extractor. What cluster phouc that mess was. Extraction was inconsistent and Kimber wanted me to send the gun in so they could swap out hooks and springs and widgets and bullcrap to try to make it work consistently. I swapped that mouse trap back to the dealer I bought it from with full disclosure on a Sig P226 .40 S&W.
I experienced an MIM parts breakage of the mag catch at around 750 rounds. The MIM part simply crumbled into small pieces and dust dumping the magazine on the ground while I was firing it. Kimber wanted me to send the gun in. Screw it, I ordered an Ed Brown heat treated tool steel part and installed that on my own dime.
My gun was one of their experiments with an external extractor. What cluster phouc that mess was. Extraction was inconsistent and Kimber wanted me to send the gun in so they could swap out hooks and springs and widgets and bullcrap to try to make it work consistently. I swapped that mouse trap back to the dealer I bought it from with full disclosure on a Sig P226 .40 S&W.
Winny Fan
New member
Originally Posted By: pyscodogHate to sound so stupid, but I don't know. My first 1911 Kimber. If what I'm looking at is the extractor, its on the right hand side of the slide.
Some good descriptive words that I found:
A 1911 with an internal extractor will have a smooth surface on the slide behind the ejection port. Like this.
A gun with an external extractor will have a piece at the end of the ejection port that is visible. That is the external extractor. Like this.
Kimber 1911's built after the early 2000's all have internal extractors.
Some good descriptive words that I found:
A 1911 with an internal extractor will have a smooth surface on the slide behind the ejection port. Like this.
A gun with an external extractor will have a piece at the end of the ejection port that is visible. That is the external extractor. Like this.
Kimber 1911's built after the early 2000's all have internal extractors.
Winny Fan
New member
Originally Posted By: pyscodogMines internal. Did some checking myself and got educated somewhat. I'm told the external is more desirable. Can they be converted to the external extractor?
It's not a matter of one being better than another. A lot of very reliable hand guns have external extractors.
External extractors are not bad per say, it's just that Kimber couldn't seem to get an external extractor to work right the first time (or the second, or...)
If you have a Kimber, an external extractor is NOT the better answer. Note my comment about Kimber quitting the external extractor in the early 2000's? It was because of bad experiences by owners of external extractor Kimber 1911's and bad press about the same. Stick with what you have.
It's not a matter of one being better than another. A lot of very reliable hand guns have external extractors.
External extractors are not bad per say, it's just that Kimber couldn't seem to get an external extractor to work right the first time (or the second, or...)
If you have a Kimber, an external extractor is NOT the better answer. Note my comment about Kimber quitting the external extractor in the early 2000's? It was because of bad experiences by owners of external extractor Kimber 1911's and bad press about the same. Stick with what you have.
GC
Well-known member
The internal is from the original design and John Moses Browning seldom got things wrong. Most 1911 enthusiasts prefer the original internal extractor. Other semi auto designs usually have an external extractor. And those work fine on the Sig, Glock, Beretta, S&W and the like. Some modern 1911 manufacturers depart from the original Browning 1911 internal design and have incorporated an external extractor on their 1911's. While that makes a purist cringe a properly designed external extractor might have certain advantages and they do work well. The problem is the Kimber external extractor was a complete failure. Kimber used a series of small springs and small over lapping plastic levers to pressure the extractor hook. In the process of trying to make this mess work Kimber had three different size hooks. Essentially it was all trial and error until you found a combination that worked... kinda worked. It was so bad Kimber eventually offered to retro fit those pistols cursed with their external extractor with a completely new slide and internal extractor. While a Sig 1911 with external extractor wouldn't bother me, I wouldn't have a Kimber like that.