Kimber, An Excersise in Marketing

With all the trouble I have had with my Kimber Ultra Carry II and the wonderful experience I have had with its replacement, the H&K USP Compact I knew it was time to think of parting ways with the Kimber. And as it is getting close to April15th, there is the matter of the Buy a Gun Day. Maybe it's time for a trade in to kill two birds with one stone.

Realizing I had put over 1500 rounds through the Kimber during its break in period, and being one to actually read a manual, I knew the recoil spring was due for replacement. But in the case of the ultra carry, this is not the case. Per the manual, it seems that the entire recoil spring assembly needs to be replaced. Instead of a $5 spring this is now a $30 assembly.

Wanting to be fair to the next owner of this firearm, Mad Oilman purchases the recoil spring assembly from the factory. This evening I attempted to install the new assembly in order to take the gun to the range tomorrow to determine if the recoil spring was the actual cause for so many failure to feed incidents.

I disassemble the gun and remove the recoil spring assembly and attempt to install the new recoil spring assembly. But a curious thing happens. It doesn't fit. Seems the recoil spring bushing will not fit into the slide. Its outside diameter is larger than the slide inside diameter. So much for quality control. Or vaunted CNC machining tolerances.

I compare the bushings from the new assembly and the old assembly. They are obviously different. (Mic report to follow). Luckily I can exchange them and install the recoil spring assembly.

At least the manual was correct about replacement times. The new spring was considerably stiffer than the used spring.

Off to the range tomorrow for a 100 round break in and future report. One misfeed, one jam and this turd is gone.