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kimber

weeevr

bought a Kimber micro 9 while upstate last month, took a bunch of my reloads that have been working like clockwork in my ruger p89 for 20 years, this thing choked on all of it.
found thru research that this thing only likes factory ammo & after 1k rounds or so settled on pmc or cci as the the only thing this thing shoots dependably.
Wondering if anyone has a starting point for reloading before I get going to figure out a load that will work or if I,m dreaming that there is such a load.
actually went as far as to pull bullets from new cci stuff , since i bought a lot of it, reused the brass, still no luck.
already upgraded the spring in this unit & just seems to be a tempermental gun that only eats certain ammo.
never had an issue like this with any firearm ever & seems like for this amount of $$ i shouldn't be dealing with that but the kimber people said 'not unusual ' for that gun.
thanks in advance.
 
Hard to tease out what the specific issues are from the story.

I understand the rig is working with two examples of factory ammo, your PMC and CCI.

Is there anything really special about this particular factory PMC or CCI?
What ones are we talking about? Really light or heavy? High energy or low energy?

Can you shed some light into the particular type of failures your seeing? "Choked on all of it" isn't understandable in a way that is clear.

Failed to ignite, failed to eject, failed to cycle, etc. is more useful and starts a gunsmith down a more organized debugging path.

Frankly, I would have a hard time with any defensive concealed carry handgun that was unreliable with any good common ammo. It should be very clear up front if the gun is designed for something more narrow or specific and won't work with common ammo. This model isn't shown as a "wadcutter" or subsonic, so I'm not sure what they mean. A defensive CC gun should work with practice ball ammo on one day, and feed 100% with defensive hollow points the next.

Their own add work makes it sound like it should take a wide range of ammo. Here is the quote.

..."Ideal for shooters with small hands as well as those who insist on mild recoil combined with enough power for concealed carry or home protection, Micro 9 pistols are the right choice for many applications. Best of all, they offer unequaled Kimber quality, dependability and performance."....

On one end of the spectrum they say small hands and mild recoil, on the other end they say enough power for CC or home protection. That doesn't spell narrow application to me.

If the ammo passes the "plunk test" and then the gun fails, are the magazines to blame or are we talking something in the chamber or slide? Got to be more specific in a reloading forum.
 
Between all my Kimbers ,rifles and pistols the only thing I could trust is the 1911. Solos are and have been a real problem. Have owned Kimbers for years but never again, especially if your life is on the line. 1911 being an exception.
 
a jamb here or there but mostly either the round didn't fire and /or didn't return to battery.
things got better, as the kimber people replied, after about a thousand round "break in period" & this thing is now a reliable firearm with the cci ammo (115gr fmj round nose). works every time, even rapid fire.
the reloads that didn't fire had very little impact dent on the primer.
the owners manual states that they want a new spring in it after 1k rounds, which is a new one on me also & also states not to shoot reloaded ammo in it, but i figured that to be a disclaimer for morons who load too hot and possibly damage the gun.
just trying to see if anyone had one, had the same issues & could enlighten me a little.
the spring i mentioned was an aftermarket unit stated @ 22 lb.
factory one is supposed to be 11.5 but the aftermarket people said most of the stock springs they tested came in @ 15 0r 16. this improved performance and seemed to lighten the recoil.
went thru this with my cz50 (built in 1950, 32acp) jamming factory ammo & my loads & worked with it for a few months, garnering info from here & straightened it out.
was told by the gurus to try different powder, try makin' the rounds longer & a host of other remedies.
streched 'em out til they didn't fit in the mag to no avail.
went the other way, cured the problem.
factory stuff was all about .955 & up to almost .970 ".
solved everything by pushin' them in to .920, works great. rapid fire doesn't skip a beat.
so there went from a problem child to a reliable piece.
took the 3 boxes of factory stuff i still had (s & b , 2 boxes & a box of pmc), pushed the bullet in to .920, & it ate all them without a hitch.
so with time & patience i will eventually figure out this thing, just lookin' for info.
thanks again in advance.
btw, this micro is a 1911 in design
 
I had 2 Taurus pistols (a 40 and a 45) that were very finicky with reloaded ammo. I could run the reloaded rounds that jammed them up through a Glock 40 and 45 1911 lickety-split. I ended up running all the brass through a "bulge buster" die to resize the entire case which helped immensely. Also checking each round in an ammo gauge helped. I use these dies for all of my semi auto reloads since range brass gets mixed in with mine. I use a 9mm Makarov for the 9x19 brass as Lee does not make a 9x19 BB die. Its worth a try.
 
weeevr said:
a jamb here or there but mostly either the round didn't fire and /or didn't return to battery.
things got better, as the kimber people replied, after about a thousand round "break in period" & this thing is now a reliable firearm with the cci ammo (115gr fmj round nose). works every time, even rapid fire.
the reloads that didn't fire had very little impact dent on the primer.
the owners manual states that they want a new spring in it after 1k rounds, which is a new one on me also & also states not to shoot reloaded ammo in it, but i figured that to be a disclaimer for morons who load too hot and possibly damage the gun.
just trying to see if anyone had one, had the same issues & could enlighten me a little.
the spring i mentioned was an aftermarket unit stated @ 22 lb.
factory one is supposed to be 11.5 but the aftermarket people said most of the stock springs they tested came in @ 15 0r 16. this improved performance and seemed to lighten the recoil.
went thru this with my cz50 (built in 1950, 32acp) jamming factory ammo & my loads & worked with it for a few months, garnering info from here & straightened it out.
was told by the gurus to try different powder, try makin' the rounds longer & a host of other remedies.
streched 'em out til they didn't fit in the mag to no avail.
went the other way, cured the problem.
factory stuff was all about .955 & up to almost .970 ".
solved everything by pushin' them in to .920, works great. rapid fire doesn't skip a beat.
so there went from a problem child to a reliable piece.
took the 3 boxes of factory stuff i still had (s & b , 2 boxes & a box of pmc), pushed the bullet in to .920, & it ate all them without a hitch.
so with time & patience i will eventually figure out this thing, just lookin' for info.
thanks again in advance.
btw, this micro is a 1911 in design
Click to expand...
I've got a Micro 9 and I've never had a problem with my reloads in it. After hundreds of rounds never had a jam and fantastic accuracy. That problem that you mentioned with faint primer strike or no fire, sounds like a case length problem. Remember the 9mm headspaces on the mouth of the case so case length is very critical to great reloads. Case length also produces consistent crimps and consistent belling of the case mouth so you get good bullet entry into the case without shaving copper or lead off the bullet while seating. My reloads work best with Universal powder and 115 gr. XTPs. By the way I own a Carry ll in 45 acp. never had a jam with it either.
 
LCazador said:
I've got a Micro 9 and I've never had a problem with my reloads in it. After hundreds of rounds never had a jam and fantastic accuracy. That problem that you mentioned with faint primer strike or no fire, sounds like a case length problem. Remember the 9mm headspaces on the mouth of the case so case length is very critical to great reloads. Case length also produces consistent crimps and consistent belling of the case mouth so you get good bullet entry into the case without shaving copper or lead off the bullet while seating. My reloads work best with Universal powder and 115 gr. XTPs. By the way I own a Carry ll in 45 acp. never had a jam with it either.
Click to expand...
I'll echo these statements.
Wifes micro 380 and my pro carry ll eats up hand loads like a fat kid eats cake.
Ball, hard cast, XTP never a hiccup.
Only issue I've had was on a TLE ll
Seems they thought extending the slide release was a good idea, it locked the slide back on almost every shot. 1 call to Kimber I had a new slide lock within the week. Sold to my BIL it's now his daily carry with no issues.
 
Just picked up the all new Kimber R7 Mako polymer frame striker fire pistol. Will test it against my Sig P365 and Springfield Hellcat since they are all in the same compact carry category. My Sig has a nicer trigger and is more accurate than the Hellcat. The Kimber Mako has a really nice break on the trigger as well and feels the best in hand since it has palm swells. Will see how accuracy and reliability pan out this weekend.

I have a Kimber 1911 in 10mm auto as well and it’s crazy accurate, but not really a gun I would depend on with my life. Nice and tight 1911s built for great accuracy don’t run very good when they get dirt and dust in them. Just the nature of the beast.
 
Ledd Slinger said:
Their 1911s are pretty amazing. Doubt you can get anything else more accurate, custom or not.
Click to expand...
Maybe but I already have pistols with a proven record. Colts, Sigs, S&W, Beretta. Heck, I even own a couple Glocks. Why would I chance trouble?
The second time I saw a Kimber problem was at my LGS. A guy was ranting at the counter about his week old new Kimber. It broke and he was ticked.
 
LCazador said:
I've got a Micro 9 and I've never had a problem with my reloads in it. After hundreds of rounds never had a jam and fantastic accuracy. That problem that you mentioned with faint primer strike or no fire, sounds like a case length problem. Remember the 9mm headspaces on the mouth of the case so case length is very critical to great reloads. Case length also produces consistent crimps and consistent belling of the case mouth so you get good bullet entry into the case without shaving copper or lead off the bullet while seating. My reloads work best with Universal powder and 115 gr. XTPs. By the way I own a Carry ll in 45 acp. never had a jam with it either.
Click to expand...
cases sized to length, champhored, inside sized when priming.
looks like your powder is close in spec with what i have (hp38/w231) velocity & pressures line up pretty close.
was usin' 124 grain, so guess i'll play with some 115s.
thanks
,
 
Have owned 3 Kimbers in the past, 2 1911s and a rifle. All went back to the factory for various reasons. Would never own another.
 
weeevr said:
cases sized to length, champhored, inside sized when priming.
looks like your powder is close in spec with what i have (hp38/w231) velocity & pressures line up pretty close.
was usin' 124 grain, so guess i'll play with some 115s.
thanks
,
Click to expand...
Try seating bullet a lil bit deeper into case.
 
weeevr said:
cases sized to length, champhored, inside sized when priming.
looks like your powder is close in spec with what i have (hp38/w231) velocity & pressures line up pretty close.
was usin' 124 grain, so guess i'll play with some 115s.
thanks
,
Click to expand...
What does 'sized to length' mean? You mean full length sized? I referred to case length as measured from base to mouth of case. I assume you mean chamfered or deburred above, that's necessary to do as well.
 
joshb said:
Maybe but I already have pistols with a proven record. Colts, Sigs, S&W, Beretta. Heck, I even own a couple Glocks. Why would I chance trouble?
The second time I saw a Kimber problem was at my LGS. A guy was ranting at the counter about his week old new Kimber. It broke and he was ticked.
Click to expand...
Yeah that would suck. I had issues with my Kimber 1911 10mm jamming at first and the fix was a stronger slide spring. If something is wrong I usually just upgrade parts to make the gun better rather than send it back.

I just picked up a Glock 43x with 15 round mags to complete my compact carry collection. Now have Sig 365 SAS, Springfield Hellcat, Kimber R7 Mako, and Glock 43x. Will be shooting all 4 of them a lot together to compare over the coming months. Hopefully there won’t be any issues with the Kimber
 
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