Now that i've cooled off

[BACKTOSHOOTING]

So i had a few problems with my Kimber conversion with a lot of FTF even with CCI [about a 50% rate] and FTE [about 75% - 85%] and would not feed HP at all so after great frustration i contacted Kimber and they sent a RGA and i shipped it off 3 1/2 weeks ago, got it back yesterday but couldnt get to the range to check it out and enjoy my toy so i decided to at least see if it would feed and eject a full 10 rd, mag. first rack round goes in smooth and rack it again and jams, FTE, WTH, so tried severl times to rack and eject and never even got thru a full mag.

When i sent it Kimber i exsplained all the problems and also that if you put an empty shell in the slide only the shell would just fall right out, no tension at all from the extractor.

The repair invoice states they adjusted the fireing pin stop and ran 20rds each of CCI 40gn and 20 rds of HP with no problems.

So how would you handle this with Kimber ? I feel like calling and screaming at them to fix this or send me a new kit.

[ojisan]

Is there any extractor tension now?

[Ackrite]

How many total rounds do you have through it? I had the same type of frustration and struggles with my Sig Mosquito when I first bought it but somewhere between the 800-1k round mark all the problems just disappeared and now it's one of my funnest pistols to shoot. I also have to make sure it is well lubed up.

[redcliff]

Probably worth trying it with live fire before you chew them out: while I don't have a Kimber conversion unit I would imagine the length of the loaded round may make it harder to eject than a fired case.

[BACKTOSHOOTING]

Is there any extractor tension now?

No, the shells just fall out

[BACKTOSHOOTING]

How many total rounds do you have through it? I had the same type of frustration and struggles with my Sig Mosquito when I first bought it but somewhere between the 800-1k round mark all the problems just disappeared and now it's one of my funnest pistols to shoot. I also have to make sure it is well lubed up.

I'm right at 150 and to put 800-1000 would take me into retirement and yes it cleaned and kubed after each use with slick 2000

[WoodenGun]

800-1000 to take you into retirement!?


I'd be retiring after my next range visit.

Like someone else, wait 'til you go to the range and try the gun with live ammunition. You have to rack the slide quickly and forcibly to mimic live fire.

[BACKTOSHOOTING]

Probably worth trying it with live fire before you chew them out: while I don't have a Kimber conversion unit I would imagine the length of the loaded round may make it harder to eject than a fired case.

I am planning on shooting it to double check but shoudn't it load and eject all rounds from the mag regardless if they have been fired, and i dont see how the length would affect the tension on the extractor as compared to the width of the rim, the extractor is not catching the rim , Am i wrong there ?

[redcliff]

You're right, the length of an unfired cartridge doesn't affect the tension, but it can affect ejection, sorry I wasn't more clear.

I've read that the nose of the extractor can contact the extractor cutout in the barrel, preventing the extractor from grabbing the rim while in battery, which can make unfired rounds hard to extract (the blowback operation helps extract the case partially when it's fired). However the lack of tension is disturbing and certainly is a problem if you want to unload an unfired round.

Still, it seems strange that Kimber would say it ran with two different types of ammunition if it didn't; of course they may not of tried to extract a loaded round.

Although I'm not a huge Kimber fan (I've sent too many back for warranty work), they do usually manage to fix the problem the second time back; so contact them and have them handle it.

I've done a search on the internet about failure to extract issues and for extractor tension adjustment on these units and the only results I find are for filing the extractor head to increase extractor tension in battery, and one where the owner modified the external extractor by filing to allow it to pivot more and have more tension. Neither are fixes you should be required to perform.

[sholling]

When i sent it Kimber i exsplained all the problems and also that if you put an empty shell in the slide only the shell would just fall right out, no tension at all from the extractor.

The repair invoice states they adjusted the fireing pin stop and ran 20rds each of CCI 40gn and 20 rds of HP with no problems.

So how would you handle this with Kimber ? I feel like calling and screaming at them to fix this or send me a new kit.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Kimber's customer service. The standard answer seems to be to tell customers run a bazillion more break-in rounds through whatever they have and then to call them back the day after the warranty has expired.

About all you can do is take a video of the failures and burn a DVD to prove your point and then sweet talk them into taking another whack at fixing it.