Hello I'm a new member and wanted to share my experience with the Kimber community. I made this post on another forum and decides to share it with the forum. Hopefully this might help anyone that has similar experiences to mine.
My Kimber was born in early March 2014 and I bought it literally 4-5 days after it was made at my local gun shop.
First would like to state this is one of my favorite handguns and the ergonomics of this little 1911 feels really nice. I was looking for a lightweight .45 for a carry option that could hold at least 7 rounds/single stack. This Kimber Ultra seemed just right. Love the look, the grip, the impressive tightness of the gun, and the 3" bull barrel is gorgeous.
So to make a long story short, I had done the 500 round break-in gambit as suggested by Kimber. I used 100 rounds of winchester white box, 200 rounds of PMC, 100 rounds of blazer brass, 50 rounds of blazer aluminum, and 50 rounds of winchester ranger. All were 230gr FMJs and I experienced the following issues:
Breaking in the new kimber (500 rounds):
43 FTFs [failure to feed] - (a lot of it was using Winchester white box)
8 FTEs [failure to extract]
3 misfires (could be ammo these were on the blazers)
5 times the slide not locking back
FTB (failure to go into battery) every time you used the slide stop/release
During the breaking in of the gun, I ran it wet. I also oiled it every 100 rounds at the range over two day break-in period. I am using the Wilson Combat oil lube which is really impressive stuff just in case anyone was wondering.
I ran 4 magazines, the one that came with the gun and three wilson combat OCXDs. All magazines had the same types of failures note above. And my buddy and I replicated every issue to rule out if it was the shooter.
After the 500 round break in, I shot the gun another 50 rounds of PMC (seems that my kimber like these rounds the most). I had 2 FTFs and decided to contact Kimber and sent in my firearm.
First, I wanted to say that Kimber's customer service was excellent. They were courteous, apologetic, and completely understood my situation. The representative was a bit surprised with my amount of issues I had and told me with confidence they will fix my problems. I sent the gun in and it was returned to me in 2 weeks. I was originally told that it was a 4 week turnaround so I was really surprised on how fast it came back to me.
Kimber did two things:
1) Polished the feed ramp to a mirror shine!
2) Tuned the extractor
Kimber's gunsmiths test fired the following rounds using my stock Kimber mag:
2 x mag of American Eagle 230gr FMJ
1 x mag of 230gr Federal Hydrashock JHP
1 x mag of 185 gr Remmington Golden Saber JHP
As soon as I got it back, I took it a class (getting a CCW license) and I shot 100 rounds of Winchester white box 230gr FMJ. I figure I should test the gun with the ammo my gun did not like during break in. Not a single issue. I also had a new shooter (shot 3 times in his life) shoot a couple of mags through it and again no issues. It was reliable using the stock kimber and wilson combat mags.
I am really happy with my purchase so far- what a relief! I will report back when I shoot some hollow points and different types of rounds. Btw, I keep a log book and it was nice putting 100% error free this time around.
Cliffnotes:
500 round break in - I hated the gun
50 rounds after recommended break in - I had buyers remorse
100 rounds after getting it back from Kimber - Extremely satisfied
Btw, I recently changed out the stock grips for thinner ones from VZ Grips.
I would love to hear other owners experiences with their Ultras.
Also here is my carry system for a 3" 1911 if anyone is interested:
http://www.kimbertalk.com/forums/kimber-concealed-carry/1810-my-conceal-carry-setup.html
Thanks for reading!
-Shin0bi1
My Kimber was born in early March 2014 and I bought it literally 4-5 days after it was made at my local gun shop.
First would like to state this is one of my favorite handguns and the ergonomics of this little 1911 feels really nice. I was looking for a lightweight .45 for a carry option that could hold at least 7 rounds/single stack. This Kimber Ultra seemed just right. Love the look, the grip, the impressive tightness of the gun, and the 3" bull barrel is gorgeous.
So to make a long story short, I had done the 500 round break-in gambit as suggested by Kimber. I used 100 rounds of winchester white box, 200 rounds of PMC, 100 rounds of blazer brass, 50 rounds of blazer aluminum, and 50 rounds of winchester ranger. All were 230gr FMJs and I experienced the following issues:
Breaking in the new kimber (500 rounds):
43 FTFs [failure to feed] - (a lot of it was using Winchester white box)
8 FTEs [failure to extract]
3 misfires (could be ammo these were on the blazers)
5 times the slide not locking back
FTB (failure to go into battery) every time you used the slide stop/release
During the breaking in of the gun, I ran it wet. I also oiled it every 100 rounds at the range over two day break-in period. I am using the Wilson Combat oil lube which is really impressive stuff just in case anyone was wondering.
I ran 4 magazines, the one that came with the gun and three wilson combat OCXDs. All magazines had the same types of failures note above. And my buddy and I replicated every issue to rule out if it was the shooter.
After the 500 round break in, I shot the gun another 50 rounds of PMC (seems that my kimber like these rounds the most). I had 2 FTFs and decided to contact Kimber and sent in my firearm.
First, I wanted to say that Kimber's customer service was excellent. They were courteous, apologetic, and completely understood my situation. The representative was a bit surprised with my amount of issues I had and told me with confidence they will fix my problems. I sent the gun in and it was returned to me in 2 weeks. I was originally told that it was a 4 week turnaround so I was really surprised on how fast it came back to me.
Kimber did two things:
1) Polished the feed ramp to a mirror shine!
2) Tuned the extractor
Kimber's gunsmiths test fired the following rounds using my stock Kimber mag:
2 x mag of American Eagle 230gr FMJ
1 x mag of 230gr Federal Hydrashock JHP
1 x mag of 185 gr Remmington Golden Saber JHP
As soon as I got it back, I took it a class (getting a CCW license) and I shot 100 rounds of Winchester white box 230gr FMJ. I figure I should test the gun with the ammo my gun did not like during break in. Not a single issue. I also had a new shooter (shot 3 times in his life) shoot a couple of mags through it and again no issues. It was reliable using the stock kimber and wilson combat mags.
I am really happy with my purchase so far- what a relief! I will report back when I shoot some hollow points and different types of rounds. Btw, I keep a log book and it was nice putting 100% error free this time around.
Cliffnotes:
500 round break in - I hated the gun
50 rounds after recommended break in - I had buyers remorse
100 rounds after getting it back from Kimber - Extremely satisfied
Btw, I recently changed out the stock grips for thinner ones from VZ Grips.
I would love to hear other owners experiences with their Ultras.
Also here is my carry system for a 3" 1911 if anyone is interested:
http://www.kimbertalk.com/forums/kimber-concealed-carry/1810-my-conceal-carry-setup.html
Thanks for reading!
-Shin0bi1
