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Kimber Super Carry Pro
- Thread starter tim4NH
- Start date
I don't own any, but Kimber is well known to be a top notch product.
I don't own one either.... from the ones I have held ( never fired) they seem like a well built over all nice gun however I'm not sure they are worth the price tag that comes with them. I think for less money you could find and equally nice gun.
My first post so take it easy on me. Looking for your experiences with Kimbers. The Super Carry Pro is really looking good to me and I just want to know your experiences with Kimber in general.
First, welcome to the forum, it's awesome you're already green.
I haven't fired a kimber in a while, but I recall it being pretty good. It was a full size gun, however. Some people don't like the MIM parts or the price on the gun. MIM isn't necessarily bad, but does have a reputation for failing more than forged stuff.
Be aware that the smaller 1911 style guns have more issues than the full size guns, I think most manufacturers have cleared this up with more recent designs.
If you buy the gun, you'll probably not run into any problems, at least after break in.
Looks like you are in a free state, so you'll actually be able to get one, unlike a lot of us here
With any luck, you'll be able to find one to try before you buy.
It stands for Metal Injection Molding.
It's a technology that allows manufacturers to quickly make near-net-shape small complex parts. In the right applications, and when properly manufactured, MIM parts are fine.
Kimber has been known to misapply MIM parts.
More reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Injection_Molding
caboose84
NES Member
Metal Injection Molding... the process how some of Kimber's part are made.
Not a stupid question. MIM is metal injection molding: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_injection_molding
Some folks have had failures with MIM parts.
As for Kimber quality, I have three Series I Kimbers and they have been reliable. They are good guns, but not as good as my Wilson.
But I would not buy a Series II Kimber. Kimber introduced two changes for the Series II, both of which have been problematic: 1) external extractor and 2) Swartz-style firing pin safety. Kimber has gone through at least three redesigns of the external extractor, trying to get it to work, before they finally gave up on it and went back to an internal extractor. The Swartz-style firing pin safety must be tuned carefully, or you can get a failure to go bang.
Since you are in a free state, you have access to many choices for a 1911, and there are better choices than a Kimber Series II. Get an Ed Brown Kobra Carry, or a Wilson CQB Compact, or a Springfield Custom Carry Compact, etc.
MIM, this forum is awesome. Thanks for the info, I would have never known what MIM meant. I've owned a SA Champion and loved everything about it except it didn't like hollow points. I should have kept track of the mags that gave me problems to see if it was the mags or the gun. I tried several hollow points and would always have a feeding issue. Ball ammo worked fine. I wrote that off as a 1911 issue, since I never experienced that with any other handgun I've own. I don't want this to get into a which brand is better, I realize the more I spend the better the product.
I've heard I need to replace the spring every 500 rounds or so? Any truth to that? Is that common with 1911s in general?
I've heard I need to replace the spring every 500 rounds or so? Any truth to that? Is that common with 1911s in general?
1911s with good mags should feed hollow points just fine. Either there was something wrong with the gun or there was something wrong with the magazines.
Well, you asked about the Kimber, so what better way to comment on it than to compare it to other brands?
You don't need to on a fullsize 1911. On the compact sized Kimbers, you do need to replace the spring regularly. This is an issue with the spring system unique to the compact sized Kimbers. If they had used a Commander sized slide and spring system, you wouldn't need to replace the spring that often.
Also, takedown on the compact Kimbers is a pain in the rear.
Not only that, but you have to pick your spots on where to use it. Kimber was using MIM extractors. An extractor is essentially a spring, and MIM does not make good springs.
