Feeding / firing issues with Kimber Custom II

View · by **Malamore** on Mon Oct 10, 2011 11:04 am

I've been having feeding / firing issues with my Kimber Custom II Stainless. Any thoughts on where I should start?

Background: The gun has about 800 rounds though it. I clean it after every trip to the range. I've had this issue with Magtech and American Eagle ammo. The magazines are Kimbers and it's happened on different magazines.

Here's what's been happening:

Issue A - Shoot 1 round, 2nd rnd chambers but the hammer is down (not cocked).

Issue B - Round doesn't feed properly and gets stuck on barrel ramp. Racked the slide and the remaining rounds feed / shoot fine.

Issue C - Unintentional Double tap: 1 trigger pull / 2 shots. I pulled the trigger once and the gun fires twice.

Anything thoughts on where to start?

Thanks.

View · by **JoeH** on Mon Oct 10, 2011 11:35 am

Are you the original owner?

If yes, call Kimber and tell them, especially about the doubles.

If they tell you to ship it in on your dime, ask for a prepaid shipping label. They should say yes.

If you are not the original owner, bring it to a gunsmith. Something is wrong with the firing system.

Sent from my phone using Tapatalk

View · by **WelcomeD** on Mon Oct 10, 2011 11:42 am

First of my questions.

Did you buy this used?
Has there been any trigger Mods?

Sounds like you have few different issues. I'll start with easy one. Kimber not so Quality for the $

. Anyway if your having any sort of hang up on feed ramp. Polish it or have it polished.

You can try some higher end Mags as well, like Wilson or mcormicks.

On the issue of the double fire. I would stop using the gun until it's figured out can cause seriuos injuries to oneself or others.Take it to a smith see whats going on.

I know someone else will be coming along with more info that what I can offer on the double fires.

View · by **onebohemian** on Mon Oct 10, 2011 11:51 am

As for the failures to feed and re-cock, by chance is it old enough to have an external extractor? (I'm not sure Kimber had a stainless external extractor custom II.)

As for the double-tap, I agree with the earlier poster that someone's either had the fingers into the fire control system parts, or you've got some defect and she needs to go back to Kimber.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

Mark

View · by **bstrawse** on Mon Oct 10, 2011 12:22 pm

I own several Kimbers and have had some of these issues - though never the double fire.

First, if this is new and you're the original owner. Call Kimber and ask them to fix it.

Even if you're not the original owner, I would recommend calling Kimber.

Here are some of the things I do with my Kimbers:

Change mags (I use Wilson's - the Kimber mags never fed right for me.
In all of my Kimbers, I've replaced the recoil spring with an "extra power" one from Wolf Springs
I run my Kimbers with more lube (FP-01 in my case) than I my other 1911s

Whatever you do, don't take a dremel to your feed ramp!

Inconsistent issues with some of my Kimbers have led me to only carry my SIS Pro. Too many issues with the others. I got a Springfield TRP instead for a fullsize pistol.

Good luck!
b

View · by **bstrawse** on Mon Oct 10, 2011 12:23 pm

Also -- if this is an older one with the external extractor, I would call Kimber - they will generate exchange it for a new slide with the proper internal extractor

b

View · by **Malamore** on Mon Oct 10, 2011 12:25 pm

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not the original owner but it work flawlessly for 2years. Territorial Gunsmiths went through it when I first got it.

Any suggestions on a good gun smith in the northern suburbs? I live in Shoreview, about 10min south of Bills north.

Thanks.

View · by **bstrawse** on Mon Oct 10, 2011 1:31 pm

Goto Ryan at Bill's South... I wouldn't let anyone else around here touch one of my 1911s...
b

View · by **plblark** on Mon Oct 10, 2011 1:53 pm

I've never had Ryan do work for me but he's honest as the day is long. He's also one of those rare honest guys that will tell you when he can't, or won't do something for you.

View · by **1911fan** on Mon Oct 10, 2011 5:12 pm

If it worked for a long time and suddenly started this, there is really only one place to start, and thats replacing the recoil spring, and the sear spring(that flat fingered spring under the mainspring housing). To test it for function, load one round off a mag and then drop the mag, and fire the one shot at a time. if the hammer follows, you probably need to have a good smith reset the hooks and angles on the sear and hammer. They can wear, and they can go south if they are getting beat on hard by a soft recoil spring.