Kimber vs STI?

If your STI sucks (rare) it gets fixed in Canada, all you need is a STATT to the post office - if your Kimber sucks, you need a STATT, an export permit, an import permit, an import permit and an export permit and a STATT.
 
No "hate" here for anything or any brand. But based on what I have personally experienced and what I feel is high round count (probably much higher than most), STI's will run and run because that's what they are built for. I have seen lots of other 1911's of various brands that loosen up significantly after moderate amounts of shooting. STI's generally just get smoother due to the higher attention to tolerances, surface finishes, etc at point of manufacture. "tight" is great as long as it stays tight
and just doesn't knock all the high spots off in 5000 rounds.
I know of lots of good Kimbers as well that shoot great and run great but will never hang with the STI when round count gets high.
 
Over the years I've had a number of 1911's or variations thereof. Three different Gold Cups, a couple of custom/accurized jobs, one of which I still have for nostalgia reasons as it was the personal firearm of an old gunsmith friend:).



And a while ago, I acquired a 1911 'variation' :(from the estate of an old shooting buddy, a S&W 4506.



Like them all, however, a short while back I lucked into a Kimber Super Match II and without a doubt, it's the sweetest of all I've ever had:D. Two quick shots of it.



 
And you believe this to be a good thing ? Kimber has flooded the market with their pistols. Walk into any LGS and there will be a ton of Kimbers in the case. Mass production can sometimes = Poor QC. The reports of their CS alone has me always buying another brand.

No, you actually only highlighted half of the sentence and completely ignored the other half which is where the point was.

And that point is: that many more guns automatically equals that many more complaints. If there's only 100 As and 200 Bs but 10,000 Cs... even if they all fail the same 1% of the time you'll only hear 1 or 2 bad things about A and B but hear about 100 Cs that are awful.

As someone with direct experience with both Kimber and STI, I would tend to recommend STI (Trojan or better) to anyone considering these 2 brands as well. For me, I wanted a rail, I can't afford any of the Big 4, I would have loved a Springfield but those are impossible to find in Canada so that left me with Kimber and Colt. Kimber was $1265 all in and the Colt rail guns are slightly more and don't have front strap checkering (pathetic on a $1300+ gun in my opinion) so Kimber won, especially considering I know my way around 1911s so I am able to remedy any issues myself.
 
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I have two kimbers and there both top notch.Having said that,i'm not a high volume shooter either.I have no experience with sti but i'm sure there great,i just don't care for there big logo's on the slide.Not crazy about the names sti chose for those models either.
 
first off all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder

seconds, kimbers are a NAME for folks that don't shoot them much (safe queens)...

case in point, ask ANY competitive shooter how many Kimbers' they have seen in actual competition vs STIs. Ratio is something like 99%:None.

let me say this for the slow witted again, kimbers DO NOT belong in the same conversation as STI, end thread.
 
And your point is..?
our wicked friend Google says this:

"kimber sucks" gives 2.3 million results
"sti sucks" gives 1.6 million results
"norinco sucks" gives 1.4 million results
"ruger sucks" gives 0.3 million results

and "1911 sucks" gives 1.9 million results

"glock sucks" only gets 1.0 million results

"woman sucks" gets 116 million results............................................... I didn't check details on this one, i'm at work. probably ###
 
Kimbers are over priced for what they are. Drop the price a few 100 and they become something to look at.

Just the fact that STI guns get fixed in canada is huge but I have the cheapest STI 1911 you can buy (spartan) and this weekend it will break 13 000 rounds and I can count on one hand the failures I've had; and I'm not one for maintenance or cleaning, I can tell you right now the recoil spring is shot but it keeps on going.
 
first off all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder

seconds, kimbers are a NAME for folks that don't shoot them much (safe queens)...

case in point, ask ANY competitive shooter how many Kimbers' they have seen in actual competition vs STIs. Ratio is something like 99%:None.

let me say this for the slow witted again, kimbers DO NOT belong in the same conversation as STI, end thread.

I hate when people like you enter a thread.

Have you even shot a kimber are you one of those sheep who bash on it after reading
Some guys negative experience with "a" gun, not all guns?

I have three kimbers; custom II, gold match and an eclipse.
They jammed during my first couple rounds, but now they run smooth and
Shoot very accurate(especially the eclipse). Try working with a gun before you even banish it.
I love me some sti as well but I won't say one gun is complete #### to the other.
 
I have an STI target master in 9mm. Got a broken extractor too. I don't really like the 6 inch slide as the balance between slide mass and spring weigth is too close. Shoots great though, it comes with a three way adjustable sight. I use it for PPC.

I have a kimber eclipse in 45. Works great and can't beat the looks. The adjustable sight sometimes hang and is hard to adjust (windage screw).

At this stage, I would choose the one who looks best for me when you have it down to two brands and the caracteristics you want.
 
Spartan comes in 45ACP and 9mm

Just curious, I would like to add a 1911 to my team and felt these two Kimber and STI were the favorites by folks who shoot them often.

Problem is are these designs prone to extractor et all failures etc.. I hate shooting a gun that is failure prone for any reason.
 
first off all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder

seconds, kimbers are a NAME for folks that don't shoot them much (safe queens)...

case in point, ask ANY competitive shooter how many Kimbers' they have seen in actual competition vs STIs. Ratio is something like 99%:None.

let me say this for the slow witted again, kimbers DO NOT belong in the same conversation as STI, end thread.

I have Kimbers and have had 1 STI, the Spartan. I know it is STI's entry 1911. Most of the STI line is great (like Kimber, IMHO) but I sold the Spartan within a week, I was not impressed with it at all.
 
first off all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder

seconds, kimbers are a NAME for folks that don't shoot them much (safe queens)...

case in point, ask ANY competitive shooter how many Kimbers' they have seen in actual competition vs STIs. Ratio is something like 99%:None.

let me say this for the slow witted again, kimbers DO NOT belong in the same conversation as STI, end thread.

Like LA SWAT and the other LEO/MIL units that carry them?
 
Like LA SWAT and the other LEO/MIL units that carry them?

A lot more units carry Glocks/M&Ps/M9s, by that logic. In any case you really think factory shipped pieces is what these guys carry rather than their own highly customized...

I hate when people like you enter a thread.

Have you even shot a kimber are you one of those sheep who bash on it after reading
Some guys negative experience with "a" gun, not all guns?

I have three kimbers; custom II, gold match and an eclipse.
They jammed during my first couple rounds, but now they run smooth and
Shoot very accurate(especially the eclipse). Try working with a gun before you even banish it.
I love me some sti as well but I won't say one gun is complete #### to the other.

I have shot Kimbers, no I have not owned them. If that is a prerequisite to judge then I stand corrected.

Just to be clear I do not think they are more prone to breakages BUT what they are is expensive and require much work for what I want to use them for, which does unfortunately knock them outside of my use case requirements. Again I support my argument with the observation in my post you quoted. Am I saying Kimbers are bad? NO! All I am saying is in Canada high volume shooting, given their warrantee, pricing, work required to bring them up to par - STI beats them hands down.

Kimbers are over priced for what they are. Drop the price a few 100 and they become something to look at.

Just the fact that STI guns get fixed in canada is huge but I have the cheapest STI 1911 you can buy (spartan) and this weekend it will break 13 000 rounds and I can count on one hand the failures I've had; and I'm not one for maintenance or cleaning, I can tell you right now the recoil spring is shot but it keeps on going.

Exactly.
 
A lot more units carry Glocks/M&Ps/M9s, by that logic. In any case you really think factory shipped pieces is what these guys carry rather than their own highly customized...



I have shot Kimbers, no I have not owned them. If that is a prerequisite to judge then I stand corrected.

Just to be clear I do not think they are more prone to breakages BUT what they are is expensive and require much work for what I want to use them for, which does unfortunately knock them outside of my use case requirements. Again I support my argument with the observation in my post you quoted. Am I saying Kimbers are bad? NO! All I am saying is in Canada high volume shooting, given their warrantee, pricing, work required to bring them up to par - STI beats them hands down.



Exactly.

Except you did say they were safe queens, A NAME for folks that don't shoot them much (safe queens)... which is silly. That is why I pointed out that there are units that carry them, whether customized or not (which I do not think they are, just not entry level models). And as far as carrying M&Ps, and M9s and the like, true but we were talking 1911s, that was my point.
Essentially, the Spartan and the Custom II are both entry level 1911s from their respective companies, priced within a $150 dollar range of each other. I know which one I still own and which one I got rid of.

You like STI, great, I am happy for you, but to say STI and Kimber are not even in the same conversation, really?
 
Except you did say they were safe queens, A NAME for folks that don't shoot them much (safe queens)... which is silly. That is why I pointed out that there are units that carry them, whether customized or not (which I do not think they are, just not entry level models). And as far as carrying M&Ps, and M9s and the like, true but we were talking 1911s, that was my point.
Essentially, the Spartan and the Custom II are both entry level 1911s from their respective companies, priced within a $150 dollar range of each other. I know which one I still own and which one I got rid of.

You like STI, great, I am happy for you, but to say STI and Kimber are not even in the same conversation, really?

He mentioned an interest in IPSC, in Canada, and yes in that conversation they do not both belong.

If you want to argue it, we can take it to PM rather than derail the thread :)
 
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