Kimber and Springfield 1911s…
- Thread starter Philmo11
- Start date
Looks like 12, unless one of the 4 I sent to auction comes back. Need at least 8 more. 7 if my Colt ever comes in.I still say you got way to many 1911’s, you need help, I’m here…..
Well, I got to test the Kimber Stainless II 10mm I gave to little brother. It came back from Kimber a little while back but he immediately left on vacation. I picked it up this evening and only had to run one magazine through it to assess it.
There were 3 times the slide locked back mid magazine. It was literally, fire two rounds, slide would lock, rinse and repeat. Rounds 3,5 & 7.
Awesome right?
Good news is that it doesn’t ftf in the traditional sense anymore.
After fiddle farting around with it for a little while, I called little brother and got his permission to just fix it and get it over with. Problem was, if the rounds were forward in the mag, i.e. load your mag in a hurry, drop it or in this case, just the friction of stripping the round above it will send the next round forward to the front of the mag. The rounds would then engage the slide stop and lock it open.
Fix was to file the slide stop. You can see the two side in this pic that had to be filed.
I can now tap the mag on the table, sending all the rounds forward in the mag and it operates as it should. Why this wasn’t addressed, or addressed in the previous one I sent in twice, I have no idea.
Just makes me sad.
There were 3 times the slide locked back mid magazine. It was literally, fire two rounds, slide would lock, rinse and repeat. Rounds 3,5 & 7.
Awesome right?
Good news is that it doesn’t ftf in the traditional sense anymore.
After fiddle farting around with it for a little while, I called little brother and got his permission to just fix it and get it over with. Problem was, if the rounds were forward in the mag, i.e. load your mag in a hurry, drop it or in this case, just the friction of stripping the round above it will send the next round forward to the front of the mag. The rounds would then engage the slide stop and lock it open.
Fix was to file the slide stop. You can see the two side in this pic that had to be filed.
I can now tap the mag on the table, sending all the rounds forward in the mag and it operates as it should. Why this wasn’t addressed, or addressed in the previous one I sent in twice, I have no idea.
Just makes me sad.
Attachments
I never knew that was even possible. One weekend my wife walked into the bedroom and asked what I was doing. I told her I was trying to decide which guns I was going to shoot. She said I had too many .. Next morning I walked in on her standing where I had been the day before and asked what she was doing. She replied Im trying to decide which dress to wear to work. Turns out she didnt think it was very funny when I told her she had too many dresses.I got too many revolvers, just getting started with 1911s
Sooo. The Springfield Loaded I was waiting on wasn’t up to my standards. Was obviously used quite a bit in one if those kydex holsters. Wore the crap out of it. Some pretty deep abrasions that I could probably fix but for what I paid, we’ll see what the auction brings, so I left it with them.
So for the final (and unexpected) entry into the Kimber vs Springfield saga, I received the Kimber Stainless Raptor II in 45 ACP. Wow that’s a nice gun. I’ve handled on in the gun shop before but not to the extent I did today. This one was used, however, not by much. It did have a hairline idiot scratch which probably won’t even show in the pics. Has two hairline scratches in the slide which are very light. It’s otherwise immaculate.
While I did not get to take the very first shots, I can say with complete confidence, the mag I just ran through it wasn’t far from the first. The feed ramp hadn’t even been scuffed yet. 230gr PPU range line ammo ran perfectly. The fit and finish are perfect. Trigger is light and crisp. In fact, the only downside to this gun that I can tell is the plastic main spring housing, which is a $35 fix off eBay.
The proprietary scale serrations on the slide and front strap are surprisingly very crisp and give you a very good grasp. That’s good because drawing the slide on this one is probably the heaviest draw of any 1911 I own, but it’s smooth. The scaled top of the slide is a nice touch. Does look cool.
The final note on the finish, no paint! That puts it at least 1 tier above the Rapide. Yeah, the Rapide has cool slide cutouts, colored barrels and flared magwell, but it’s 50% painted with Kimber’s Kimpro finish. It will fail at some point. The Raptor appears to be all stainless (except the MSH).
In my opinion, this is the nicest of the 11 1911’s reviewed so far. I just wish Kimber had a warranty service that matched it.
Edit: I did forget to mention that the Raptor II does have tritium inserts in the sights, which is also a nice touch.
So for the final (and unexpected) entry into the Kimber vs Springfield saga, I received the Kimber Stainless Raptor II in 45 ACP. Wow that’s a nice gun. I’ve handled on in the gun shop before but not to the extent I did today. This one was used, however, not by much. It did have a hairline idiot scratch which probably won’t even show in the pics. Has two hairline scratches in the slide which are very light. It’s otherwise immaculate.
While I did not get to take the very first shots, I can say with complete confidence, the mag I just ran through it wasn’t far from the first. The feed ramp hadn’t even been scuffed yet. 230gr PPU range line ammo ran perfectly. The fit and finish are perfect. Trigger is light and crisp. In fact, the only downside to this gun that I can tell is the plastic main spring housing, which is a $35 fix off eBay.
The proprietary scale serrations on the slide and front strap are surprisingly very crisp and give you a very good grasp. That’s good because drawing the slide on this one is probably the heaviest draw of any 1911 I own, but it’s smooth. The scaled top of the slide is a nice touch. Does look cool.
The final note on the finish, no paint! That puts it at least 1 tier above the Rapide. Yeah, the Rapide has cool slide cutouts, colored barrels and flared magwell, but it’s 50% painted with Kimber’s Kimpro finish. It will fail at some point. The Raptor appears to be all stainless (except the MSH).
In my opinion, this is the nicest of the 11 1911’s reviewed so far. I just wish Kimber had a warranty service that matched it.
Edit: I did forget to mention that the Raptor II does have tritium inserts in the sights, which is also a nice touch.
Old_Me
SAINT
yeah, i said something like that to the Mrs , ONCE.....
that was like over 50 years ago........
i nearly forgot it, but you reminded me....
but she reminds me CONSTANTLY, when she and our daughters go out "shopping"........
damn elephant's memory...........
billt
Operator
I believe Wilson Combat sells 1911 slide stops that are ground like that.
Oh come on OLD-ME. An elephants memory cant begin to compete with a wifes. I know that for a fact.
Old_Me
SAINT
at my age, i dare not question either's memory
if it ain't gonna be one stomping, it's the other i'll be agetting.....
I am a complete novice with guns. I have enjoyed reading this tread and learning. Rookie question.... I thought that all the Kimber 1911's are made with the same guts, and process. Differences are more cosmetic save the sights. If that's true then are you saying that Kimber has improved their quality? You seem very impressed with the Rapide and the Raptor two. I would think the Stainless two would be just as good, if the quality has improved, for about $600 less. Thoughts?
billt
Operator
1911's in general are difficult guns to build properly. One of the reasons is they are very susceptible to a condition known as, tolerance stacking. The design is such that a lot of things have to be right, but very few things can be wrong, or else there will be operational issues because of it.
It also requires a proper magazine. A lot of 1911 magazines out there cause trouble in certain 1911's. Even high end 1911's. Once you find a brand of magazine that runs well in your 1911, stick with it.
Generally speaking the better magazines like Wilson Combat or Chip McCormick, are the ones to stick with, because of their better build quality. Also, I have never had a Springfield Armory magazine cause feeding issues in a Springfield Armory 1911.
It takes time, along with knowledge of the platform to build a 1911 to close tolerances, and still have it run dependably. That is what separates the $550.00 1911's from the $3,000.00 models. Machining to closer tolerances, and at the same time not run into tolerance interference, and have a much better fit and overall finish.
A Rock Island Armory 1911 can and will run acceptably. But they're built looser in critical areas so they will. Where as a Les Baer or Ed Brown, which costs several times more, are all hand fit in these areas, as tight as possible for better accuracy.
And even Les Baer suggests in their manual, that the gun requires as much as 200 to 300 rounds be run through it, before it can be expected to run with 100% reliability.
Very good info Thank You