My "New" Kimber Custom II

[TheTman]

A friend wanted to trade this Kimber Custom II for my Dan Wesson Model 14 with 2 inch barrel and $200. He really wanted the Dan Wesson, It was just one of my hideaway guns so I did the deal. He paid $500, someone needed to pay their taxes or something like that. It's not stolen, he saw the receipt for it.
I got the pistol, the original case and manual, and about 120 WWB rounds.
Here are some pics. There is some rust pitting on the left side of slide from the former owner letting it rust, but it shoots great. I'm thinking about seeing what Robar can do with it. Probably go with the NP3 finish.

[TheTman]

Here is the pitting, my camera didn't focus too well but I think you can see it.
It's a shame that someone would neglect this pistol and let it rust,
especially after paying Gander Mtn's inflated price for it.
I hope Robar can sand it down or fill it in or something.

[Bawanna]

Nice. I'll bet Robar can fix that up in fine fashion. Looks like its all in the top end so you might get away with doing just the slide although it might be tempting to do the whole gun. Bet it would'nt be all that much more money.

[wyntrout]

I'm sure that's a minor thing that will disappear with a new finish.

Yeah, it IS a shame that people can't take a minute to wipe the guns down. Once the rust starts, all you can do is keep after it with good oil to keep it from progressing or refinish it. That's why I like stainless, it's a LITTLE bit more forgiving, but can still rust... especially around the salt water down here.

We're about 130 yards from brackish water in the St. John's River... about 10 miles from the ocean, and the corrosive air here really eats up metal... even galvanized screws in my fence in just a few years. I use stainless fasteners for a lot of stuff.

I really need to check on my stainless Walther .22 TPH. While checking my depthfinder transponder, I slipped headfirst off the back of my boat, while carrying that and climbed back out of the water so fast my wallet wasn't even soaked. I broke down the pistol and rinsed it with fresh water and let it dry until we needed to get off the boat. When I got home I cleaned and oiled it, but I haven't carried it or used it since I got my PM9 January last year and the other polymer Kahrs soon after, so I hope it's okay.

Wynn

[mr surveyor]

nice trade. if it's a "shooter", I wouldn't lose a whole lot of sleep over a couple of "character marks".

you got a good deal

[Bawanna]

I like Kimbers just fine but I don't think I'd give up my Cbob for one. Adding one to go with it would be ok. I'm kind of partial to my Cbob.

[Bawanna]

Me too! It's really hard to find a way to "yank your chain", but every now and then we have to try.

Failed, huh?!

Maybe so but you get an A+ for effort.

[TheTman]

Thanks for the info on the external extractor Tuscon, I'd heard about some problems with those, but haven't studied the issue, I'll look into it. I wonder if you call and say you're worried it will fail when you need it most, if you can trade it in on a newer version. I'd order night sights while they had it if that would help them cut me a deal.
My buddy called in a panic this morning saying there was a crack in the frame of the Dan Wesson, I said I've oiled and cleaned it many times, and never saw a crack. And certainly wouldn't give a friend an unsafe gun. It turns out there is an access panel to the trigger workings, and he was seeing the line where the panel meets the frame.
I guess it being at an odd angle made him think it was a crack, I figured it was something like that when he said it was a straight line, and not zig zag like a crack would be. He said he thought he put around 400 rounds through the Kimber, with no extraction issues, so perhaps I got a good one, or else it hasn't had enough rounds through it to fail.
Tuscon, do you have any idea how many rounds had gone throuh your pistol. Did your problems begin right after you bought it?

Now I'm feeling funny about not having a .357. That was my first major caliber revolver, and seems strange not having one. Guess it's my chance to look for a pre-Clinton-sellout S&W 686. Always wanted one to go along with my 629

[Bawanna]

Agreed and I shared much the same thoughts in a PM to thetmanski.

When my dept Kimber started acting up I had heard of the issue and knew that many folks had sent their Kimbers back numerous times without successful repairs.
I sent a very polite email to Kimber and explained that I was aware of the issues involved but I did not have time or inclination to ship the gun back and forth. It was a detectives gun and it had to run 100%. If they promised a for sure fix in one trip I would send it in, if not, I would just moth ball it and get another gun.

To their credit and this was just about the time they started admitting the external extractor had issues they replaced the top end first time out. The detective took it to the range and shot 500 rounds without a hiccup and let the range officer keep the brass much to his delight of course.
I never could figure out why Smith could make the external extractor work just fine and Kimber couldn't, or why Kimber tried it in the first place.

The gun involved here ran for alot of rounds without issue before it started having issues so I guess theres no set time frame and I suspect the ones that work as yours apparently does will work for a long time.

[mr surveyor]

I have a real simple solution to the whole problem, and the issue will forever disappear from discussion......

I'll cough up $300 for the rusting p.o.s. and endure the pain and agonony of owning yet another handgun from a manufacturer who's name starts with "K".

Deal??????


surv

[jocko]

kimgber is a good american company, I would hope they will take care of their customers without hassle. Alot of money for kimber 1911 models so if they do't work, kimber should make them work on their dime not yours. I guess it is not nice to know but also nice to know that kahr is not the only company where a gun has to go back more than once or twice to get right.

But I think I might be second with the record of sending 3 kel tec back for a total of 17 times but one of the kt moderators has sent his back 26 times last count and that was over 2 years ago

[TheTman]

Mr. Suveyor, I just couldn't rip you off like that and take your money for a junk pistol that may not even eject the spent cases.

It will probably prove perfectly reliable until such a time as I had it refinished, at which point it would then start with the extractor problem. I really can't stand rust pitting on a gun, I'd hate to think that someone would think me responsible for such neglect of an expensive (to me) firearm.
I can picture this happening. stranger: "Nice gun, too bad you let it rust"
me: "it was that way when I bought it" stranger: "oh, sure".

[mr surveyor]

well.... I tried

Personally, I wouldn't consider spending any money on the external extractor style slide until I had 500-600 trouble free rounds through it. Then, I'm not sure I would opt for any type of heavy coating finish considering the tolerances and operational fit of the external extractor. If Kimber is still replacing the slides on those guns that prove to be "defective", you may luck out and get a new slide from them... maybe.

I hope it works out for you. Like Tuscon, I love my Kimber.


surv

[hpg]

Last week I was the luckiest man in my area. The local chapter of Friends of the NRA raffled off a Kimber Custom II. Guess who held the winning ticket. Yep ole hpg won that sucker. 1st time I've ever won a firearm in over 20 years of buying chances. They are a great 1911......

[CJB]

Just getting into reading this...

The pitting can be easily removed, with very little or no sign of modification.

In the past, I've seen my old pal Kenny remove the barrel inscription (cartridge, other marks) on a Remington 700 that was rechambered, you simply could not tell. He used a soft stone, about 3/8 square... from his mold making biz. The key is blending it to surrounding area. Refinish needed of course, after removing the unsightly area. My Remington Rand slide was really bad with tool marks on both sides. I was able to get those out, without screwing up the wartime marks, and keeping it nice and flat, not wavy on the sides (that you could tell by holding up to light at least). Combination of draw file and soft stone and a lot of elbow grease.