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1/25/16 range report :-)

4K views 35 replies 11 participants last post by  BL1911 
#1 · (Edited)
Well my Micro made it back from Kimber last week, I was out of town so couldn't try her out till today. I had night sights installed as well as a good checking as there were various bugs, Kimber had her for about 2 1/2 weeks. I had ordered some ammo ( the Foicchi that has worked well) this must be a different series as it came in a red box. The pic on the website was the blue box ( said the pic may not be accurate ) but as it was listed at 95gr FMJ I presumed it was the same stuff I'd used. On the Kimber packing slip it states that they:
...replaced recoil spring and slide stop
...reamed and polished the barrel chamber
...refinished the barrel
...adjusted the extractor
...test fired 3 mags of Pierce 100gr RNHB and 1 mag of Winchester Train and Defend 95gr

Things went really well, the sights are well worth it for me. As far as shooting I ran 100 rounds of the red box FMJ with zero problems, 50 of the Fiocchi blue box basic hollow points, I think it was 90gr which shot well but did have 2 fail to feed the first round when dropping the slide. Chambered the round fine when using the slingshot method? This had happened previously with Winchester target ammo ( had a flat tip bullet as well )? The Fiocchi XTP ammo has never been a problem by the way. Did find that recoil spring bent afterwards.
Here's a few pics :)
 

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#4 ·
thanks Marshall



...Yup, I can live with ordering the ammo she likes, and Kimber seems to have given her the class A spa treatment. I guess she's not a stripper with an std after all :)
I had ordered an extra 3 pack of the springs, so I have a spare. I'll be watching to see how Spotley does with the Mustang spring he has? His factory recoil spring on a new Micro crapped out in the same area at about the same amount of rounds? For now I bent this one back into shape.
 
#5 ·
Very happy to hear the Micro is working well for you.
 
#7 ·
Excellent report. Looks nice with the new sights. Sounds like the Fiocchi is the way to go. Mine did well with the too. I'll let you know how the 12 pound spring and Sig ammo work out. Would REALLY like to know if that Sig flat spring and rod will fit...kinda pricey to order without knowing. Glad yours is performing better.
 
#9 ·
Did find that recoil spring bent afterwards.
This may be a dumb question, but is it possible the recoil spring was put in backwards? The reason I ask is the closed end is supposed to go into the guide rod. It seems unlikely that the spring could get bent like that when that end is kept straight by the rod. Where if the closed end was forward I could see it shifting to one side or the other when compressed and getting bent. Just a thought!

BL
 
#12 ·
Be sure to put the spring's "closed" end on the guide rod. Kimber says installing the spring backward could cause scarring of other internal parts while firing.
 
#13 ·
After getting my Micro refinished, I had all kinds of failures to feed. I hand cycled quite a bit until the new finish was nice and worked in. But like the OP, it still only fed with a slingshot, not with the slide release.

After a trip to the range and shooting 100 rds through it, I could feed a round by hitting the slide release. Except on a full magazine. Too much competing spring tension. Not only that, but I realized I could push the slide backwards a tiny bit and it would just stick there, out of battery, with the guide rod poking out like a little mocking silver turtle head.

So I bought a 12# Wolff spring. It's for the Colt Mustang, but it fits perfectly. In fact, the spring is a bit longer than the original 8# Kimber spring, but that's not an issue whatsoever. And you know what? Now my little Micro is 100% reliable. Slide release loads a round from a full mag. It doesn't get stuck out of battery. I've experienced zero failures of any kind. Did the extra 4# make the slide any more difficult to rack? Not even slightly.

Get a 12# Mustang spring from Wolff. It'll make you love your Micro all over again.
 
#16 ·
... there we go!

After getting my Micro refinished, I had all kinds of failures to feed. I hand cycled quite a bit until the new finish was nice and worked in. But like the OP, it still only fed with a slingshot, not with the slide release.

After a trip to the range and shooting 100 rds through it, I could feed a round by hitting the slide release. Except on a full magazine. Too much competing spring tension. Not only that, but I realized I could push the slide backwards a tiny bit and it would just stick there, out of battery, with the guide rod poking out like a little mocking silver turtle head.

So I bought a 12# Wolff spring. It's for the Colt Mustang, but it fits perfectly. In fact, the spring is a bit longer than the original 8# Kimber spring, but that's not an issue whatsoever. And you know what? Now my little Micro is 100% reliable. Slide release loads a round from a full mag. It doesn't get stuck out of battery. I've experienced zero failures of any kind. Did the extra 4# make the slide any more difficult to rack? Not even slightly.

Get a 12# Mustang spring from Wolff. It'll make you love your Micro all over again.
I'll be ordering one today :)
... a few questions?
... how many rounds have you had it in for?
... are you're sure it's the #12 and not the #11 that they offer you have?
Thanks for posting info :)
 
#23 ·
Ok, I ordered the Wolff :)

I had emailed Galloway Precision asking about if they knew if the flatwire spring they offer for the Colt Mustang XSP would work in a Micro. The reply,
" Honestly I don't know if it will, but I would say it probably won't since Kimber likes to change the tolerances enough in their pistols that a lot of universal parts won't fit their pistols. As of right now we don't have any plans to make or sell parts for the Kimber Micro either."

---
Brandyn Langston

Lead Gunsmith
 
#24 ·
I had emailed Galloway Precision ...
" Honestly I don't know if it will, but I would say it probably won't since Kimber likes to change the tolerances enough in their pistols that a lot of universal parts won't fit their pistols. As of right now we don't have any plans to make or sell parts for the Kimber Micro either."

---
Brandyn Langston

Lead Gunsmith
Rats, I sure didn't want to hear that response from them. :(

And, yes, I agree the corporate response from Kimber will probably not be encouraging and will end with "any other spring used will void the warranty"...assuming we have such a warranty.:confused:
 
#26 ·
Somewhere in one of these threads I took pictures of the guide rod from a P238 showing the dimensions of the rod. Someone with a Micro carry verified that the rods are nearly identical and we concluded that Sig recoil springs will work in a Kimber Micro Carry.

PS The only way Kimber will ever know you had a non factory spring in the gun is if you tell them. Always save your old original parts so if the gun ever has to be returned to the factory it goes back with factory parts.
 
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#35 · (Edited)
...thems the breaks



... for what it's worth Kimber has seemed to make every effort to correct the problems I had run into. So far it looks like they have "made it right". I'm cool with that, granted it will take a few more trips to the range for me to feel sure.
... I think Chuck mentioned that early on in the production of the Sig P238 there were similar problems. Ultimately resulting in a recall and the recoil system being redesigned? I guess that was a few years ago. I'm sure there are Sig owners who originally had one of those, had it updated, and have a fine little shooter now?
... I'm not trying to excuse the fact that there seem to have been glitches in quality control. I like the way the Micro feels in my hand over the Sig or other pocket guns I looked at. So for me, sending it in for a tuning or dropping $10 on a spring isn't a big deal? Earlier today I suggested to the Kimber sales rep for my area that he check out this forum as there have been several posters recently who've "gone Glock" or "Sigged out" :)
 
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