Question for Kimber owners.

[draconianruler]

I still have occasional FTF with my eclipse 10mm however its mainly when I use the Chip McCormick Shooting Star mags. The Kimber mag works much better. Try different mags and see if that helps.

[CSACANNONEER]

.

Please share with us the ammo you had both good and bad experiences with.

Thanks.

I just don't use Wilson mags anymore. I had purchased 5000 185 grain SWC before I started casting and with the load I was using (I forgot what it was) they shot flawlessly though my guns unless I was using a Wilson mag. Then, the 5th or 6th round would never feed right. It took me a long time to figure out it was a mag problem. So, now I only use the mags that have never failed me.

[rabbitstew]

I still have occasional FTF with my eclipse 10mm however its mainly when I use the Chip McCormick Shooting Star mags. The Kimber mag works much better. Try different mags and see if that helps.

Its the strangest thing.... everyone I have spoken to about kimbers say, "first thing to do with your new kimber is throw out the kimber mags and buy a chip or wilson. Today at the range I shot 150 rounds with the kimber mag with only 1 FTF. I have so many FTF with the chips that I don't even want to shoot. Looking at the mags side by side they are identical, the only difference that I can tell is spring tension. What could be the cause of the eclipses only liking the kimber mags???? Thanks for all your help and links.

[vandal]

Did you check your extractor tension yet?

[M1A Rifleman]

I have not read through the replys, however from my experience on this same issue, I offer the following:

1. My TLE seemed the need to be very clean and not much oil to run right. Yea the manual tells you 4 drops of oil etc, but this did not work and Kimber repair mentioned he thought I over oiled it.

2. The need for good quality factory ammo was needed. 20+ year old box of fatory PMC ammo = won't run right.

3. My other guns ran perfect with my reloads, however, the Kimber would start FTF and FTE after about 70 rounds without cleaning. Clean it up and it would run fine for another 70- rnds of reloads and then start to have problems again. After getting back from Kimber service the third time I tried a Walmart box of Factory Winchester white box and shot 100+ rnds without cleaning and I never had a problem - sI assumed they fixed the problem. Kimber says their guns have tight match quality chambers. I have read that this tends to make Kimbers and other high quality 1911's picky about the ammo and being clean. My other 1911's have been a true Army issue, and an 1980's Colt. These I could do anything with and they would shoot.

4. Try a different mag, however this did not work for me. I used both Kimber and Colt std 7 rnd mags.

5. Send it back. For me, it took three returns before it finally came back working. After the second return, I got to speak/complain to the Head of the Service Dept. and he listened and said he'd fix it up.

[DIG]

I'm in the process of breaking in my Eclipse Target II. So far im at 500 rounds, and still having feeding problems ever 20 shots or so. How long did it take you guys to fully break in your 1911 to the point of very reliable results? Thanks

Experienced some feeding issues during the first 300rounds in my Eclipse. It's been running fine ever since. However, I always use factory new ammo through it.
Maybe call Kimber and see if they can offer you some advice.


-

[rabbitstew]

Did you check your extractor tension yet?

I did check the tension. I took the slide off a slipped a round under the extractor, it held the bullet with no problem. I was also able to slip it out with a slight push. I'm guessing that the tension is correct.?

[vandal]

Could be right, depending on how much of a push it took. If your problems are due to extractor tension it is having too much! Follow the instructions in the links provided above. There is a "should release it if shaken lightly" criteria IIRC.

[Prowler]

I have eight Les Baer mags for my Kimber and everyone works perfect. I never had a problem with the Kimber mags, I just learned to use Les Baer mags and never looked back. They're probably about $30+ each, but they work well...