Question: Why does Kimber have a bad reputation?

[Leveraction44]

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?

 

[JBWJr]

Just from casual observations, I would say the resale market for Kimbers suffers.
It's hard to swallow paying a premium price then settling for much less at resale.
JMHO

 

[steviesterno]

Because they spend a lot more on advertising than making a quality gun?

Most of them won’t hold up to serious use. Some of the old ones are fine but they don’t last in high round count situations. Sitting and looking pretty in a sales counter? Sure. But actually running hard not so much.

I’ve owned a few. The small carry one I got could not run on anything except ball ammo under a full moon. Even after going back more than once.

Sold at a loss, won’t buy them again.

 

[chopps]

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

 

[CTS Tactical]

I have only owned a few but none of them functioned as they should. The best thing I can say is that they make pretty guns.

 

[Rougarou]

My observation is unless you spend over $1000 for a new one the finish is like Walmart spray paint and not as refined, I have had some really nice Kimbers but they were MSRP $1500 and above.

 

[November Sierra]

Poor MIM what I hear. That and them banking on people not shooting their guns

 

[Ex313]

I got a Custom Classic in the 90's. I've got at least a couple thousand rounds through it. I've never had a problem or a malfunction with it. I can't speak to any of the later models.

 

[Blue bio balls]

My micro would not feed hollow points.

 

[BHPSteel]

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.