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Thread: Questions about defective 1911's

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  1. #1
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    20th October 2015
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    Questions about defective 1911's

    Hello everyone, new here. Looking to purchase a 1911 again since I ended up selling all my pistols back in 2008. Had some nice ones too but due to a financial crisis I was going thru, I had no choice. Now, I am buying a few handguns again. Just picked up a SA XD-4" service and runs like a champ. I have always liked SA products. I also had back then a Kimber Custom II that I ran probably around 600 rounds thru it, so when I sold it the gun was just broken in. Had no problems with it at all. Fired great and really loved the way it performed.

    I was really thinking about getting a Colt government this time around, but the salesman at the range where I shoot says that Colt with all it's problems going on right now were using sub standard parts and workmanship on some of there guns. This isn't confirmed of course, so I decided to go back with another Kimber Custom II again. The range was having a Black Friday sale so I got a pretty good price on the pistol. But now I have been thumbing thru all the threads here and on the internet, and the consensus seems to be more unhappy customers with Kimbers vs Colt's. I also like the idea of Kimber having a match grade barrel over the Colt's and the shorter trigger pull. I have not yet started paper work on the gun, just have a deposit down right now to hold the sale price until I can get a updated auto registration as a second form of ID to get this gun. I don't know if this is just CA or State wide but it's kind of a pain in the to get done for this.

    But what my main concern is that I am going to be planning on reloading for my ammo once I get my Dillon press set up. With the tight tolerances of a Kimber, I am concerned that I am going to have some jam problems with the Kimber. Now I'm leaning towards the colt again, since I really haven't seen much negative feedback on there 1991 models. I know it's really a shoot here. Any manufacture is going to be producing a lemon during building them so what's clearly a better choice here for my needs? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
    thanks,
    martinbr
    Last edited by martinbr; 30th November 2015 at 12:17.


  2. #2
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    So your question is which is better Kimber or Colt? That's easy: Rock Island Armory.
    "Make yourselves sheep and the wolves will eat you." --Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

  3. #3
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    25th September 2015
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    Quote Originally Posted by 11 Bravo View Post
    So your question is which is better Kimber or Colt? That's easy: Rock Island Armory.
    I agree but I'm a cheapskate who loves accuracy and reliability at a modest price.

  4. #4
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    I think that salesman is full of nonsense....substandard parts and workmanship...really?
    On this forum, I have not heard a single member mention that they purchased a bad pistol when buying a Colt.
    Whereas, over the years, I've had good luck with Colt and Kimber....if I had to chose one or the other...it would be Colt.
    And Kimber's tolerances are no tighter than Colt's.

    Just my .02
    Beauty is skin deep but ugly goes right to the bone.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by ncviking View Post
    I think that salesman is full of nonsense....substandard parts and workmanship...really?
    That's putting it nicely. When a salesman badmouths a product, there's generally a financially motivated reason; i.e., they don't have what you want in stock but do have the one they want to sell you. Or, the markup on the another brand is larger.

    Precious few salesmen are gun people who truly know firearms. Do your own research and take what they say with a grain of salt.

  6. #6
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    What you probably don't know is that Kimber has a "Master Dealer" program. Dealers who buy more than 'X' guns a year get a better discount, so they do their best to push Kimbers because they can make more on each gun they sell. Also, even if that doesn't apply, a gun shop will almost always try to push what they have in stock rather than order something, because they don't like to have money tied up in inventory that isn't moving. Let's say it is not unheard of for them to lie in order to sell what they have in stock.

    Fact: The overall consensus among 1911 people is that Colt's current production guns are possibly the best they have ever made. Colt uses far fewer MIM parts than anyone other than semi-custom and custom makers. Conversely, there's a reason why Kimber is oftem referred to as "MIMber.'

    Just about every 1911 maker today claims their barrels are "match grade." There is no standard for what "match grade" is, so the term is meaningless. I think it is to Colt's credit that they DON'T try to fool their customers by using made-up terminology to describe their guns. A new Colt is going to be more accurate than 99% of shooters -- that's plenty good enough for me. I have never heard of a Colt with a chamber too tight to accept factory ammunition. I do know of one gun writer who had a Kimber that was too tight -- it wouldn't allow a standard gunsmith's GO-NOGO guage to drop into the chamber.

    That said, if your reloading press is set up correctly, the ammo you load should come out within SAAMI specs, and any pistol in the world should shoot it with no problems. If not, I would look at your reloading setup before blaming the gun.

    What's this about a shorter trigger pull on the Kimber? If one 1911 has a shorter trigger pull than another, one of them (or both) is out of spec. The parts can only fit together one way. Even if two guns are at opposite ends of the tolerance range, the likelihood that a shooter will notice a couple of thousandths as a "shorter trigger pull" is unlikely. Do you really mean a shorter trigger pull, or do you just mean a short trigger?
    Likes (1) :
    John (29th October 2016)

    Last edited by Greywolf; 2nd December 2015 at 12:04.


  7. #7
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    I bought a new Colt last year and it's excellent. I have several other 1911s though most are the lesser priced versions. They too are excellent. Based on my few years experience with the lesser priced models, I feel the Colt is over priced when I base it on bang for the buck. I can say the finish of the Colt is noticeably nicer than the others, however, the superior finish doesn't mean much to me. I find the Colt parts and workmanship to be excellent. I must say folks who I have great respect for say the Colt 1911s have never been better as a collective, mass produced firearm. Not to be ugly; I believe the guy at the range is either being disingenuous or is simply ignorant of the quality of the Colt 1911s.

  8. #8
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    Colts are very nice right now. They are my favorite in the $1K plus or minus $200 area. I think Kimbers are generally overpriced for what you get although they now seem to have a few more economical models. Still have the Kimber Grand Raptor II that I paid $1.2K for back in 2005. Nice but not that nice.
    NRA Life Member

  9. #9
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    You can't buy a colt in Ca anymore. There off the roster list...

  10. #10
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    The rumors of Colt's demise have been flying since the late '40s. I have not heard a single peep about Colt's quality suffering a recent drop. The stories about untrained labor date to the '80s, I think?
    "Match grade barrel" means nothing, except perhaps relative to the same maker's non-match grade barrels? One maker's match-grade could be another's reject.
    What does "shorter trigger pull" mean? The trigger itself is shorter, or ?
    "A grip safety is just another excess moving part. I have never known one to prevent an accident, and moreover, it is difficult to postulate a circumstance in which it might." Jeff Cooper

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