Posted: 5/27/2005 7:26:37 AM EDT
I recently purchased a new Kimber Tactical Custom II from Impactguns and wanted to share a few observations with everyone. For those of you not familiar with this model, it has an aluminum frame, external extractor, night sights, and an ambi safety. Here is a photo with a couple of Wilson mags. I have just finished the suggested break in period of 500 rounds, cleaning after every 100. I used Winchester white box fmj for the entire break in. My first trip to the range was a little concerning. The gun functioned fine for about the first 50 rounds, and then it would fail to feed on the second to last round for just about every mag. I had already read about the damage the metal Kimber followers can do to the aluminum frame, so I had the new Wilson 47D's on hand. I knew many people were very satisfied with these mags, and I was a little discouraged that they seemed not to be working for me. However, being overly anxious to get to the range and try out my first 1911, I had only field stripped, cleaned, and lubed the gun before setting off. I had a little more time after my first 100 rounds, so I took the time to detail strip and thoroughly clean the entire weapon. While I had it apart, I used a small cone shaped grinding bit for a Dremel tool to chamfer the edges around the trigger take down hole. It's sharp edges had given my trigger finger a blister after only 100 rounds. I then set about lubing and reassembly. It was all quite a learning process, but I managed to get it all back together with an extra hand here and there. I'm happy to say that for the last 400 rounds, the pistol has performed flawlessly with only field stripping between each 100 rounds. The action and trigger keep getting better and better too. Plus my bevel job on the trigger seamed to do the trick. I must say that this pistol is much more accurate than I am and I hope to get better soon! Still, I shoot it better than any of my smaller handguns. I know many of you always detail strip your new handguns, but I'd just like to say again that this really is needed for a new Kimber. Even though it didn't seem too dirty, after the detail cleaning and lubing the previous problems magically disappeared! Also, the external extractor seems to be working quite well. I wouldn't want to be standing to my right when shooting because it really slings those casings. Now that break-in is complete, the real test will come in a couple of weeks. I will be using this gun in a 2 day defensive handgun course in which I expect to fire about 800 rounds. I'll update afterwards, but so far so good. |
