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Kimber Disaster

2K views 17 replies 12 participants last post by  NoExpert 
#1 ·
Alright folks, this is my fault, not a Kimber issue per say.

I had cleaned and detail stripped the weapon and was reassembling it Now I cannot remove the slide because of the Swartz Safety pin sticking in the slightly up position.

I was reinstalling the MSH and 3 legged Spring when I depressed the Grip safety I felt a pop and discovered one leg of the Spring in the Mag well. Now I cannot pull the Grip safety out enough to Free up the Swartz pin to depress into the frame to remove the Slide so I can rotate the Ambi Right safety lever off of the Hammer pin to remove the Action parts and start over with reassembly.

Any Ideas??? I am really frustrated and out of ideas!
 
#5 ·
Yes, try that. The "pop" was probably the GSafety jumping behind its finger of the sear spring, which is why you can see it in the mag-well now.

Probably started because you did not have the sear spring in right. Remove MSH and sear spring and start over.

And do keep your mitt off the GSafety when putting the slide back on.
 
#4 · (Edited)
You can't squeeze the grip safety when putting the slide on, it pushes up the safety

There is no way any spring from the swartz safety can get into the mag well
Need a pic of this spring
Nevermind now I get it....I'm with above pull the main spring housing if you can
 
#6 ·
Your best bet is to watch the dozens of 1911/Kimber disassembly/reassembly videos on youtube... I find that whenever Im having a issue seeing it done generally is more helpful than someone saying what to do.. IMO But Eight is enough is correct I believe and that will fix your issue..
 
#7 ·
I got it resolved, A little punch to punch down the Swartz Activator arm. Judging by the marks on the grip Safety it looks like it rode to the Right of the GS and got jammed. I disassembled the weapon completely and reassembled it. When I reassembled it it was minus the Swartz assembly....Now it functions just like my other model 70's in the stable. I don't however need a lecture on disabling a safety feature that caused a failure in my weapon. I have two custom 1911's for EDC this one is my woods heavy loads gun.
 
#11 ·
It's fine to remove the Swartz parts if you don't want them (and easy), but they were not what "caused the failure in your weapon" -- reassembling it with the sear spring crooked was. My woods heavy loads Kimber shoots 230 gr. at 1,100 fps, with the Swartz parts intact. I've just never had any reason to remove them.
 
#16 ·
I have a TLE RL 2 where the lifter arm of the firing pin block broke off completely disabling my Kimber. I removed the firing pin block and filed down the lifter in the frame so that it doesn't hook the slide anymore. I'm not sure of the "legality" of doing this, but I'm REALLY uncomfortable trusting my life to an MIM part that has already failed me once.
 
#18 ·
I'm not sure of the "legality" of doing this, but I'm REALLY uncomfortable trusting my life to an MIM part that has already failed me once.
You make an excellent point.

Any legality would only come into question during an investigation and trial resulting from use of the firearm. You should consult an attorney well versed in firearm personal defense for your answers. You probably won't get many answers because attorneys worth their salt do not speculate past the written law (including case law). Jury trial outcome forecasts require the use of crystal balls.

It's basically the old question of preferrence between being tried by twelve or carried by six.
 
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