Kimber Match Gun?

At my first match in 18 years I saw a shooter with an out-of-the-box Kimber.  He said it shot pretty good at 50 yards.  Any of you guys played with the Kimber slides and frames.  I read where the Kimber frames are really hard which I'd think would be a good thing for a paper puncher.    Any first hand experience out there?

I have two Kimbers . I have a Gold Match II that I practice with a lot and it shoots great groups.It is SS and I suppose that would make it kind of hard to compare with a blued frame. I also have a Kimber Target Match that I have made my go to hardball gun. I only have a couple 1000 rounds through it but it is holding up real nice. Both pistols have been tweeked with so don't know how out of box would have been. The KTM was ran through Kimbers custom shop and the GMII was tweeked by Roddy Toyota. I am happy with the performance of both of them.

Len

I'm building a Kimber Match right now for a shooter. The slide to frame fit was marginal (I'm tightening it) and the barrel fit was horrible (putting in a Kart). I'm not impressed with the quality and the finish of the Kimber for the money they charge. It wouldn't be my first choice.

Jon

According to Jim Clark of Clark Custom Guns, a Kimber 1911 is an excellent starting point for a bullseye or hardball gun as the out-of-the-box tolerances are better than most other stock guns. The Clark shop has been building bullseye guns for a long time and generally they prefer replacing the factory barrel.

Jon Eulette wrote:I'm building a Kimber Match right now for a shooter. The slide to frame fit was marginal (I'm tightening it) and the barrel fit was horrible (putting in a Kart). I'm not impressed with the quality and the finish of the Kimber for the money they charge. It wouldn't be my first choice.

Jon

+1 on what Jon said.  I'll work on a Kimber if that is the only pistol you can own do to your location.  I would much rather start with a SA GI than a Kimber any day of the week if I'm building on a customers platform.  Trigger work is another problem because of Kimbers firing pin block and how it is operated.  And as Jon said, for what you're paying for a Kimber (any of them) and getting rid of over 90% of the pistol to build a match gun, why?

Good points guys.  Thanks for the input.  I've made the same argument against Colt Gold Cups over the years.  Explains why my 45 wadcutter guns are all built on pre series 70 Colts and Springfield 1911s.  As a general rule I only trade for Kimber 1911s (Colts too) without the extra firing pin block hardware.   The driver for my question is 4 kart Barrel & bushing sets I ended up with in a trade.  May be time to borrrow a Ransom Rest and do some testing to see what a box stock Kimber Super Match will do.  Expectations should be high for a gun that retails for $2300 but I'm a show me kind of guy... 

Axehandle

    In 2006 Kimber made 1000 Kimber Target Match pistols.It was a one time run and they never did it again.They are series 70 and went through their custom shop and they did everything to them that they are doing to the super match today.If you go to google and type in "Kimber Target Match" you can see some nice articles on the pistol.If you want to save about 1100.00 check out this site.http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=421800039.
Len

 Or you can read his article.http://www.americanrifleman.org/article.php?id=14918&sub=0

As a dealer I have bought and sold many Kimber's, they  were great when they came out and for a few years after before going the route of profit over quality. A Springfield RO is by far a better platform to start with and the price is way better. If I was building from scratch id go Caspian parts.

That Target Match is just to pretty to haul around as a paper puncher!      Don't think I've ever fired mine.   Naturally I've got paper punchers built on pre series 70 Colts, Springfields, and even a Caspian or two.  The Kimber Super Match I'd consider rebarreling with a Kart barrel is a pre Series II gun.   Don't think I D&T the dust cover for the scope mount I prefer but I've got an old grip mount back in the parts box somewhere.

 

I never plan on drilling and taping mine either.I did set it up for hardball but the parts I took off are neatly stored and ready to go back on some day.I can't say I have never fired mine,it is just plain fun to shoot. I see I didn't have to tell you anything about the pistol.

Len

That Kimber Target Match in the link has a straight trigger. I have never seen a Kimber with a straight trigger. Is that a factory trigger?

The trigger on the pistol above is stock.The hammer isn't factory.

The trigger in the GunBroker Target Match Kimber is the straight one.  It is not the stock trigger.

I looked at the one on Gunbroker tonight in person.

The bushing fit is sloppy.Llooks like it has been well used.