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Just Have to Rave about Kimber

2K views 18 replies 17 participants last post by  dpetteys 
Yo

I have to say that your Gold Match story is the worst tale I have read in quite a while. It is much worse than mine, and I have had the same feeding problems you have told about.

Since you have sold your pistol I will bring up the following for the benefit of other readers.

Your pistol not feeding FMJ ammo reliably was an ammuntion and barrel issue. The basic issue is most FMJ ammo is considered bargain practice ammo, and depending on the brand, the crimp may not be very tight. The barrel part of this is the Gold Match generally has a very tight chamber with a sharp corner between the barrel hood and the barrel throat. This combination of tight chamber, sharp corner, and improper crimp means the case mouth can catch on the barrel shoulder during feeding. The fix is either always shoot match FMJ ammo, or have the barrel throated and polished. The latter is the better fix.

The story the smith told you about the shavings is just that, a story. A bad story at that. Your pistol was improperly machined and they did not want to admit it. I am glad you did not let them get away with that. On the Gold Match the slide and the frame are fit together, and this may be done on a machine. But it should be done before the slide and frame are blued. Besides the fitting should have also taken place before the trigger parts were installed. So the pistol should have arrived to you without any shavings inside. The fact it did, and it had a sharp edge inside says that someone really dropped the ball in inspecting your pistol.

Your situation with the adjustable sights has been noted before. Kimber is actually on their third supplier of adjustable sights, and the reports still come it. I do not have a clue why this is happening, unless kimber spec'ed the sight thinking all of their buyers would be shooting low power IPSC loads and not standard loads. As you have mentioned Kimber will replace the sights, but the replacements may not be any better. Some followers of this board are recommending using a Bomar adjustable sight which are reportedly the best sights made. Bomar does make a replacement sight with the Kimber dovetails for about $80 which will not break.

Though I think your sight picture was about right for a target pistol at 25 yds. In target match shooting, it is normal to place the target bullseye on top of the front sight (this is called floating the ball), which means the point of impact is supposed to be about 3 inches high at 25 yds. This is also how most fixed sights are regulated, as being 3 inches high at 25 yds means the sights are right on at 50 yds due to the flight path of the bullet. Floating the ball is a little different than most defensive shooting schools teach, because in a defensive situation the distance is typically under 10 feet and the bullet does not have a chance to move very far up its arc.

Str8_Shot

[This message has been edited by Str8_Shot (edited 11-11-2001).]
 
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