Thanks, Kimber!

[Lifeon2whls]

Definitely your fault and not Kimber's. The gun can probably be polished, etc to new but like others have said, its a tough lesson to learn. A light coat of oil goes a LONG way.

[polo.45]

R.I.P kimber. Not a kimber problem... Firearms need care and love....

[RazzB7]

I'll take it. I'm in east county too. That is an unfortunate but salvageable mistake. (Not Kimber's)

[Grumpyoldretiredcop]

Unfortunately, eight months of improper storage and neglect aren't the factory's problem. While the Kimber barrels tend to flash rust in my experience, the rust on the frame, slide and other parts indicate to me that you did not take proper care of your pistol.

Try some 0000 steel wool and oil, don't use pressure, let the steel wool do the work, change it frequently and check your work often. If that doesn't take the rust off, you're in for a refinishing job. An expensive lesson learned about firearm maintenance, I'm sorry to say.

[Merc1138]

You're done with Kimber after they told you it's not their fault, do you expect some other manufacturer to re-finish a gun for free because you let it get rusty?

[Cuda440]

I know that the sweat on my hands is made of acidic alien blood, any blued gun I touch will look like that within two days. I learned my lesson with my first nice pellet gun when I was 10.

Now I keep one of these sheepskin cloths sprayed with oil, sitting on the shelf in my safe. Every weapon I touch gets a quick wipe before being put away.

[SilverTauron]

I picked up a Kimber Customer TLE/RL II after months of penny pinching because, well, it's a ****ing Kimber. Eight months later, after very light use, I pull it out of my safe and see this **** all over it.

No machine is going to work well after 8 months of improper storage.

The Kimber sits in a safe on the second floor of my house in Eastern San Diego (see: dry climate) in a closet. The piece sits inside of a moisture-wicking "sock", and there are silica gel packets in the safe for good measure.

Dry climate or not the piece is still made out of metal.There's always moisture of some kind in the air. I went to a college where the law on campus mandated all firearms be kept only in the students' vehicles. Every week id check on the guns, and every week whether it was rain, sleet, or snow there was a light layer of rust on the outside. Had I left them there for 3 months my pistols would look like they were raised from the Titanic wreck.

I sent the gun back to Kimber (since it's under warranty) and they told me that it was neglect, and essentially told me to pound sand. I suppose this is a rant more than anything... but I'm done with Kimber.

Harsh, but true:Kimber is quite correct to reject the warranty claim for neglect. Life's lessons can hurt like this. I am actually quite suprised you didn't check on your expensive 1911 for *8 months*;at my university I owned a beat up Beretta 92 and a Reagan-era Taurus 9mm , and every week I checked on my pieces like a doting parent.Had I owned a Kimber I'd be hard pressed not to check it daily!

[Anti-Hero]

On a quiet night you can hear a 1911 rust.

[Ron-Solo]

Hard to blame the manufacturer for that one.

I agree. You should really take better care of your guns.


If I were you I would clean and lube all my firearms and install 1 or 2 mini dehumidifiers in your safe and get rid of any gun sock type sleeves.

I would then take the opportunity to robar my rusty Kimber.

Don't thank Kimber, thank yourself. That gun is a rust bucket do to your neglect. Instead of leaving it in your safe in a sock, try shooting it, clean it and leave a lite film of oil on it. They tend to last a life time when you do that.

Definitely your fault and not Kimber's. The gun can probably be polished, etc to new but like others have said, its a tough lesson to learn. A light coat of oil goes a LONG way.

R.I.P kimber. Not a kimber problem... Firearms need care and love....

Time to take responsibility for your lack of care.

[Supertac916]

Definitely get yourself a dehumidifier for your safe. I keep several of my guns in silicone socks. I do keep my guns pretty clean though and make sure if I'm planning to store one for longer than a month without shooting to add some extra oil and wipe it down with a silicone gun and rod cloth.

[ripcurlksm]

Take responsibility for your sheit.

2 + 2 = 4

[Citadelgrad87]

First off, I hate to see rust on a firearm. Sorry for your loss of a nice finish.

But this Saturday, i pulled every blued firearm out of my safe and ran an oily rag over them all, because Friday I had showed some to a friend, and I wanted to ensure that there was no issue. I actually had a bit of trouble sleeping Friday night because I wanted to do it before I went to bed.

Bluing is a very fragile finish, I have seen fingerprints etch bluing overnight.

Silicon socks are great, but they won't wipe prints and acidic residue from fingering your firearms.

Chalk this up to live and learn, and get that pistol bead blasted and hard chromed.

[Cheep]

That's too bad. Sounds like you need a dehumidifier instead of a sock, what do your other guns look like, any rust on them? If no rust on the other guns then the sock had moisture or acidic oil from your hands. If it's no good anymore then I'll dispose of it for you...
BTW I live in inland SD county and don't have this problem...

[GunSleenger]

AARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!! I think I cried when I opened the picture I have a Kimber in SS and I've learned to wipe her down every time I TOUCH it else, it will rust.

[ElDub1950]

I've seen a couple of posts about guns rusting quickly in 'moisture absorbing socks'.

Makes me wonder if those socks don't absorb moisture from the air and hold it against the gun.