Kimber break in period question

[WillametteWill]

So is stumbled across a new Kimber 1911 that I've wanted for a while but was discontinued. Pulled the trigger and picked it up last week. My wife bought a different Kimber about the same time and both the manual and the seemingly knowledgeable sales person noted Kimbers like to be broken in properly (about 500 rounds, about 100 at a time, with a cleaning in between). Makes sense.

About 200 rounds into this getting a lot of failure to feeds with the recommended 230 gr ball (Win and Fed). Mostly, almost all actually, are with the first round. This Kimber is a tight gun compared with my amazing Remington with a Nowlin barrel and some work and my 70 year old Colt 38 Super. Can anyone comfort me that this will get better after the 500 round mark?

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[orygun]

No. But I would try a different magazine.

 

[Greenbug]

Could also have something to do with your technique for chambering the first round as well...
Try a different mag, and also a mag that is not fully loaded to capacity while breaking it in.

 

[Alexx1401]

If by now it's still not working I doubt more ammo will fix it. Normally with a 1911 this is a simple fix. Of course it's all but impossible to fix without seeing. As mentioned have you tried another mag? If not that is the first place to try. If that fails to help often it's the extractor but, again not being able to see it makes it all guess work. Any competent Smith should be able to make it hum easily. Kimber has a reputation for this. They make a LOT of 1911's. This means there is always a few that get out and need to be tweaked to make them work. Once you find what needs tweaking though it should be a fine pistol.

 

[MannyGlocks]

1911's are beautiful, but function is hit or miss...

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

sounds like the feed ramp/frame right under the feed ramp needs polished or cleaned up a bit

 

[156256Hunter]

Try different magazines. Maybe try some +p. Be careful doing anything to the feed ramp if it is an aluminum frame. You may also want to try Wilson Combat's flat wire recoil spring set up, though that ditches the FLGR and maybe give you more recoil. Good luck

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

what about calling kimber and seeing if they'd take care of it for you?

 

[WillametteWill]

Thanks all. Different magazines did not help. It really seems to be mostly with the first round but have had a few mid-magazine as well. I'm suspecting something related to the ramp is the culprit. It is quite polished from the factory (don't know if "custom shop" guns are better this way or not). One of my wife's Kimbers had to go back to factory when new (failure to eject problem) and it seems to be fine now. Going to try some different ammo and magazines again next trip.

 

[No_Regerts]

Internal or external extractor?

 

[Dreadi]

You could try a number of things and possibly find a solution but, there's not enough information here to work with. It's possible that it's your mags. It's possible that you barrel needs work. It's possible that your feed ramp needs work. It's possible that your rounds are out of spec.

Let's see your barrel and feed ramp.

 

[WillametteWill]

Internal extractor. If it doesn't decide to play nice after a few more range visits I'll call Kimber. At this stage I'm seeking to see if anyone else has experienced a finicky break in period with tight spec 1911's? This is the first gun ever purchased that has such a formal break in regiment.

 

[156256Hunter]

I had one of the earlier versions of the Sig 1911 before they started making 500 different variants like bedazzled rainbow and tyrannosaurus rex. I'd bought the Sig used but it was super tight, a good quality gun. It had failure to feed issues -- turned out to be the magazines and ammo. Any issues I've had with Kimbers I've owned related to the mags. But some Kimbers had no problems. I had an old external extractor 5" Kimber tactical that for some reason ran perfectly and was an absolute tack driver.

 

[Alexx1401]

Internal extractor. If it doesn't decide to play nice after a few more range visits I'll call Kimber. At this stage I'm seeking to see if anyone else has experienced a finicky break in period with tight spec 1911's? This is the first gun ever purchased that has such a formal break in regiment.

Virtually any 1911 (and many others) will benefit from some usage to smooth out parts but, at a couple hundred rounds it should not still be a problem normally. As I mentioned the big problem here is all anyone can do is make fairly wild guess's since we can't see the pistol. If Kimber will send an RMA and pay to get it back that would be great. If they will not and it was me, I would try to find a Smith first. The cost and hassle of sending it back would be worth it to me to pay a pro to have a look. Normally its a VERY simple fix, if you know what you are doing and looking at. It is not at all uncommon for a Kimber to have this problem. They sell a hell of a lot of them. So ever since they got popular there has always been some bad mouthing of them. It's not that they are not great, it's that there is a hell of a lot of them sold. So a few problems slip past. Problem is no two may be the same thing. Mags and extractor are 2 VERY common problems in a 1911 but this is far from all that can be wrong. VERY often people start working on and or replacing things and never hit what is actually wrong then of course get frustrated. By the time you burn several hundred rounds of ammo you could pay a pro to take a quick look cheaper. So could not hurt to call Kimber. If they will not pay to get it back I would see if you can find a REAL Smith locally. Careful here as sadly many claim to be and know nothing. So find one you can get some good recommendations on. Chances are VERY good a simple fix will have a pistol that never fails again in your lifetime.

 

[WillametteWill]

Thanks for the sage advice Alexx,
Going to try some different ammo and mags this week just to rule that out. My Remington 1911 was nice before some smithing, and is amazing with a custom barrel and just a little bit of work from a good smith now so I agree with all you said. Kimber was very good with my wife's return (her gun, not her) and was quick as well.
Thanks!

 

[snarlingdog]

After owning 3 kimbers I have never needed a 500 round break in. Check the mag and feed ramp. 1911s are simple to trouble shoot.

 

[WillametteWill]

After another trip to the range (after a good cleaning and with new mags) still no change. Called Kimber and they said send it back. They sent me an overnight label. Let them know I was trying to take the gun to Gunsite in a week but understood if they could not have it back in time.

One day turnaround!

Going to try and get out with it this weekend but they did ramp and barrel work as expected, along with a few other things. Presuming it is fixed (I'll be an optimist) pretty fancy customer service.

 

[Alexx1401]

After another trip to the range (after a good cleaning and with new mags) still no change. Called Kimber and they said send it back. They sent me an overnight label. Let them know I was trying to take the gun to Gunsite in a week but understood if they could not have it back in time.

One day turnaround!

Going to try and get out with it this weekend but they did ramp and barrel work as expected, along with a few other things. Presuming it is fixed (I'll be an optimist) pretty fancy customer service.

This is the kind of thing I love to hear. Manufacturers who will try to do right by the customer. Glad to hear they did and hope they got it clicking along for you now!!

 

[Ops]

kimbers are in breaking in stage until they get melted down

 

[MannyGlocks]

There's a great article in the latest issue of "Guns and Ammo" with their various brands/models of 1911 recommendations.