Question: Why does Kimber have a bad reputation?

[MidniteFlame]

So yea I have always seen how they have a bad rap on here BUT,, I had a Grand Raptor that I put several hundred rounds through over a couple years and just flat out loved it. Guy I bought it from said he had around 1500 rounds through it. I wound up getting a new one unfired and have left it that way cause they are so damn beautiful and I collect good looking stuff that I don't shoot. Gave my Grandaughter the old one for her 16th birthday and she is pretty dang good with it and says she will keep it forever. I had 5 or 6 more that I put my traditional 8 rounds through but sold them later on when I swapped my 1911's over to Colts. They were all smooth slick machines. My normal disclaimer " I am in no way an expert".

 

[Winterborne]

For me:

Customer service.
Over priced for the quality.

They are pretty...I'll give them that.

Years ago Kimber was putting a hurting on Colt.

Then as time went by they got into the cost cutting game, materials and build quality.

Then when you had a problem it was,

"There is a 500 round break in period" then when you still had a problem it was,
"The springs are only good for 600-700 rounds and need to be replaced regularly'.

This was the third Kimber I owned and they never fixed the issue.
I sold it cheap and later gifted the two other guns away.

If I get another Kimber it will most likely be a Custom Shop gun or a revolver.

I am more likely to buy a: Magnum Research
Bul Armory
Tisas
Rock Island
Springfield
Dan Wesson
Palmetto State Arms
Glock~I dislike Glocks
Canik
FN
Beretta
Ruger
CZ
Tangfolio

 

[SE7702]

I used to hang out with one of their QA guys back when they were based up in New York, he had what I thought was a good rundown on the business, and some of the metrics.

Some models were definitely more reliable and robust than others. For the last 7-10 years of operation in Yonkers, they were spending a lot of money on marketing and less on QC. He saw quite rapid staff turnover and (in his opinion) very poor morale across manufacturing.

Again, his opinion, but it seemed to him that the target audience were people who wanted a 'nice' 1911 derivitive that they could keep in their bedside drawer or in the safe rather than a gun to actually - you know - shoot.

He offered to recommend models to me that had significantly better reliability and were more capable as EDCs if I wanted, but given that I'm not really into 1911's or close variants, I never took him up on the offer.

Edit: There is a counterpoint - Kimber makes a LOT of guns, and we share a talkative hobby. When it happens, a duff production run that exposes a reduced MTBF can utterly ruin a manufacturers' reputation. I suspect that's also a factor in this case.

What is MTBF???

 

[Eggmanmja01]

I expect my purchase to come with working magazines

 

[BHPSteel]

What is MTBF???

Mean Time Between Failures

 

[SE7702]

Mean Time Between Failures

TY

 

[Ken Ford]

Question: Why does Kimber have a bad reputation?

I don't know. The first that I heard of Kimber was in the 90's. Their stock 1911's had features only seen prior on custom pistols such as decent sights and beavertail grip safety. Their reputation was stellar. At the time they only made two models. Both models could be had in blued or SS.

Years later they seem to have over a dozen different 1911's and also a few rifles.

I know they had a hiccup when they tried to implement the external extractor on their 1911's.

Was it the external extractor that caused the damage to their reputation?

Most guns function right out of the box. Kimber wants a break in period before they will discuss issues.

For the price they should work fine out of the box.

 

[WyldeDime]

kimber tle-tb in 9mm .
All steel no aluminum or plastic crap on it and accurate.

Including the Main spring housing? Cause all the Kimber's I've owned have had plastic Main Spring Housings.

 

[Dan Muk]

Kimbers effin rule once you fill them with Wilson parts and refinish them! So in other words buy the Turkish or Philippine made gun and fill it with Wilson parts and refinish it and you will be hundreds and hundreds of dollars ahead of the curve that you can spend on ammo and actually know how to shoot..

 

[GFB]

Kimbers effin rule once you fill them with Wilson parts and refinish them! So in other words buy the Turkish or Philippine made gun and fill it with Wilson parts and refinish it and you will be hundreds and hundreds of dollars ahead of the curve that you can spend on ammo and actually know how to shoot..

I remember in the early 90s the cover of a gun rag was a Norinco 1911 that had literally everything but the frame and slide replaced by a custom gunsmith. At some point, the pistol ceases to be what it once was.