SAW45 Posted October 8, 2004 Share Posted October 8, 2004 Hello! My friend recently bought 3 Kimbers. A CDP II Ultra 3", a CDP II Compact 4" and a Eclipse II Target 5". The Ultra with about 200 rounds through it has experienced a few stovepipes and many failure to return to batterys. This is with factory ammo, from both PMC's and Winchester's 230 ball to Federal 230 Hydra-Shok. Returned it to the dealer who tested it and found the same situation. They sent it to Kimber who returned it announcing that it had no problems. At the range today, it still had failure to return to battery problems for 2 different shooters. The Compact had a series of failures where the slide stop engaged (barely) with a magazine that still had a rounds left in itl This also happened to a 2nd shooter on this gun. Took it to dealer. They tested it and returned it saying no problem found. They felt the shooter was possibly allowing his thumb to contact the slide stop during fireing, engaging it. When observing the shooter's hand position, his thumbs did not seem to be even close to contacting the slide stop. Seems to work now, but is this typical? The Target seems to be functioning best of the 3 guns, but today it seems to have doubled. It only happened once, but it happened. Is this always a mechanical problem, or can something the shooter did have caused this? The 2 shots came so close to each other, it seems hard for me to imagine that after firing the first round, he somehow reset and accidentally fired off the second round. Any advice out there except for not to buy Kimbers? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tri Burst Posted October 8, 2004 Share Posted October 8, 2004 First problem Clean and oil the gun and see what happens. Also try some good mags. Some times the mag spring can't push up the rounds fast enough on the short cycle 1911s. especially on the last round where the spring is near it's full extention. Second problem The slide stop needs to be cut/filed on the bump that hits the mag follower, not the bottom but the face of it. This is a common problem. The last round in the mag gets pushed forward slightly and has a more nose up position causing it to bump the slide stop up. Put one round in the mag and with the slide and barrel off the frame and the slide stop installed in the frame insert the mag and see if the bullet is touching the slide stop bump out. Also move the cartridge out just a bit. Third problem NO a 1911 that has the correct hammer/sear engagement surfaces and spring tension should NEVER double. If the trigger is very light you could have a problem with either the engagement of the hammer and sear, not at 90 degrees, or the 3 leaf spring is to light, I.E. not enough tension on the sear and disconnector sections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted October 8, 2004 Share Posted October 8, 2004 Second problemThe slide stop needs to be cut/filed on the bump that hits the mag follower, not the bottom but the face of it. This is a common problem. The last round in the mag gets pushed forward slightly and has a more nose up position causing it to bump the slide stop up. Put one round in the mag and with the slide and barrel off the frame and the slide stop installed in the frame insert the mag and see if the bullet is touching the slide stop bump out. Also move the cartridge out just a bit. This is very good advice. Oversized slide stops seem to be getting to epidemic proportions. If you have good mechanical skills, you can do it yourself. I chose to take it a smith who measured, saw that it was out of spec, then filed and polished accordingly. It had to be done to both of my Kimbers as well as my Springfield 9mm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted October 8, 2004 Share Posted October 8, 2004 The Ultra....that wouldn't run with two different brand of factory ball ammo...malfunctioned with two different shooters and the dealer...and, Kimber pronouced it "OK". It has got to go. I'd return it to the dealer if at all possible. There is no sense in owning that gun...unless you want a cool looking paper weight. Not to turn this into a debate, but both the mini Glocks in 45 (double and single stack) run well...and shoot amazingly well. The Compact...covered. The full-sized Target...should never double..with any shooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtypool40 Posted October 8, 2004 Share Posted October 8, 2004 not debating Flex's endorsement of Glock, I have an early Kimber Compact, and it has been flawless since day one. We regularly shoot (yes and hit) bowling pins from a paced off 35 yards. I have plenty of trouble doing that with a full on limited gun. bottom line I think that one is a lemon. Send it back, get them to set it right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tri Burst Posted October 8, 2004 Share Posted October 8, 2004 Not to turn this into a debate, but both the mini Glocks in 45 (double and single stack) run well...and shoot amazingly well.The Compact...covered. The full-sized Target...should never double..with any shooter BUT IT"S STILL A Glock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harmon Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 a buddy has a springfield micro compact with the 3.5 or however long barrel, i know its SHORT!!!, but he experienced the same problems as mentioned above.. turns out a burr had developed in the alloy frame causing extra friction on the slide.. dissassembly and inspection showed us the problem and a lick with the file and it was going again. just so flex isnt alone here, i too like the mini glocks in 45, both single and double stack. also i have always been drawn to these little guns, one of the neat things i noticed shooting at nite with montana gold JHPs(i guess BIG bullet and lower velocity is what makes this stand out more than my 1911) is that when shooting in front of the headlights of a car/truck(lights facing down range) you can easily see the bullet as it travels down range. other people can actually call your shots! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 I'll lay money on the new external extractors being 80+% of the problems with the new Kimbers. Both Smith and Kimber totally screwed the pooch when designing the external extractors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimel Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 I have a CDP II Compact (4") and it has been flawless with everything I have thrown at it other than some out of spec reloads that were my fault. However when I got it home and did ritual bath and lube I do with all new handguns I found mine to be BONE dry. The only sign any lube had ever touched the pistol was a wee tiny bit of oil in the grip housing under the grips. I promptly anointed it with Slide Glide and it was off to the range. Never missed a lick since. I won't carry a pistol until I have run 200 rounds through it without a stoppage and then at least 50 straight of the carry ammo I will use. Since I wanted to carry it immediately I ran all 250 through it that first day (BTW...50 rounds of Hydrashoks in fairly rapid fire makes one's hand a bit sore). Also, the mags that Kimber ships tend to be hit or miss. Mine turned out to be a hit but I know of two others that were total misses. Go get some good McCormick's. End of story. I think EricW may be on to something with the External Extractor bit. Everyone jumped on that bandwagon to fix a problem that didn't really exist and not everyone did the appropriate amount of R & D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celtman Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 I think EricW may be on to something with the External Extractor bit. Everyone jumped on that bandwagon to fix a problem that didn't really exist and not everyone did the appropriate amount of R & D. I read recently that Kimber plans to transition all their models to the external extractor at some point. Sounds like a mistake to me....true? Especially if, as is said here, that their design is lees than the best. Any opinions on SIG's design? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benny hill Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 send them to a good gunsmith , get them fixed, & let's start shooting more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBaneACP Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 And if Benny's busy, let me suggest Bruce Gray--who miraculously healed MY Kimber. grayguns@aol.com mb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harmon Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 what exactly was the problem with the conventional extractor that has worked for nearly 100 years? I was under the impression that if it were better, S_I would be using them, not LLama. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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