We had a Kimber Desert Warrior that had come in on trade some time ago. It’s been riding the shelf almost completely untouched for a couple months. I remember selling the gun to the fellow years ago. This was before Kimber took they QC Nose Dive. I examined the gun carefully. He carried the gun a lot, then let it ride his gun safe a lot. But he didn’t shoot it very much. There is only a little finish wear on the frame rails from cycling, which is nothing because we have new guns on the shelf with more. The breach face still looks new.
My cost on it was real good. So it went into the back on Layaway. I’ll take my time getting it payed off… I’m in no rush to take it home. It still has those weird yellow waffle-like grips. I hate those things. Those are going Bye-Bye as soon as I finish the 4473 on it.
I’ve had some emails where people think that I am disrespecting Kimber. Actually I feel that Kimber has disrespected the American Gun Culture. Taking us for granted.
Personally I have great respect for Kimber. They changed the 1911 Industry as a whole. Before Kimber, it was common to buy a new Colt or other 1911… and take it straight to a gunsmith so that they could make the gun simply run. Kimber comes out with the gun they called the “Custom”. And it worked right out of the box. They sold so well, that the other 1911 makers had to step up their games or they were out. It really kicked Colt in the Sweets hard.
I’m critical of Kimber because in my opinion they have let themselves down.. accepting lower standards and just expecting customers to just take it because they are Kimber and they know better. Well, that’s just not acceptable. Kimber needs to get back to building guns instead of making pretty. The need to take seriously the gun making responsibility. Guns are for Competition, for Law Enforcement, for Self Defense… These guns can Save Lives. They should take seriously a sacred responsibility to build guns right.
I’ve developed a love/hate thing on Kimber last couple of years. But lately it’s been more hating than loving. I have my reasons. So I have some serious criticisms for Kimber.
NC Alcohol Bureau has to ditch their unreliable weapons. This is an interesting article and needs to be read. To see what these guns are, take a look here. As you guys know, I am a huge fan of the 1911. It is a romance kind of thing. I can’t help myself. However I am also a huge fan of the Glock, because, well, Glocks take away doubt. Doubt about reliability. Doubt about reliabilty can really put a sour taste in my mouth about any gun.
As much as I love the 1911, one company has caused more than one raised eyebrow for me. And that company is Kimber. About two years ago I started seeing some Quality Control issues with Kimber. Some of them minor details, others glaringly obvious factory fumbles. I had to send two guns back to the factory that had just arrived. In my Defensive Pistol training classes, I had a couple Kimbers come through that didn’t want to run… one in particular, a full sized SIS, just about refused to function altogether. That thing jammed like a jazz band.
