OT - Kimber 1911 with pitted barrel - Update

[cnjarvis]

I picked up a Kimber 1911 pistol yesterday afternoon and brought it home. It's my first 1911 so I was a little excited about it. I field stripped it for cleaning and found that the bore had a large defect in one of the lands that was not visible when I looked it over in the shop.

I don't know if the photo will come out but here it is:



I called Kimber who told me to put 1-200 rounds thru it to check it for function issues and call for a return authorization - their nickel. Which I did.

No apologies, no empathy, just business.

In the meantime I'm !!!
I paid for a quality pistol and expected to get what I paid for. That barrel should never have made it to the assembly line.
To add insult to injury I was told that it would be a MINIMUM of 5 WEEKS to turn in around.

I can't say that I'm happy and I doubt that I'll ever buy another Kimber product.

[rjohns94]

that really sucked

[J Miller]

THAT ... is not a pit. THAT ... is a crater.
I'll bet that's a cast barrel and it's a air bubble in the casting. Regardless, it's a defective barrel.

Was that a new gun? If so I'd be rippin p.o.'d and I wouldn't take no for an answer.

I wouldn't put ammo through it either, and I'd take it back to where I bought it, show them and request either a refund or another gun.

MAKE A STINK, with some companies it's the only way they hear you.

Joe

[Tycer]

You're correct, that should have never made it off the line. However, to err is human. Sounds like they know their business, having you check it for function first. With the number of guns rolling off the line the past several months, neither the flaw nor five week turnaround surprise me. I had a friend have one go back to Kimber for a trigger job a couple of years ago and it took eight days.

Sorry you have to go without. Hopefullly they will send you back a cherry one faster than they said.

[Thunder50]

I would be worried that if it is a cast barrel and it is a casting flaw, that during the course of shooting the 1-200 rounds, you might have a catastrophic failure of the barrel and get yourself hurt.

[Kansas Ed]

I don't see any reason for anger. You got something with a visual problem. I doubt that it effects function or accuracy at all. Even the best gunmakers have returns occasionally for one reason or another. I ended up losing a Supergrade Model 70 for exactly the same reason. Problem was that there were no more Supergrade barrels when I bought mine at the demise of Winchester...so they refunded the purchase price, plus shipping and dealer costs to ship. $h** sometime happens, and it got missed in the Quality department. They are going to completely cover your purchase. I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it. Kimber has a great reputation, and their willingness to take care of the problem is much better than a lot of companies currently out there today. If this was standard fare in the Kimber line they wouldn't have the reputation they currently enjoy.

Ed

[cnjarvis]

If this were something I could simply exchange I wouldn't be so ticked off. The dealer won't exchange the gun. I don't blame them, it's not their fault. If it were something I could have fixed locally i.e. swap another barrel in I wouldn't be too ticked off either.

I have had to return an item to the factory for repair of something that should not have happened. I agree that sometimes "stuff" happens but when I'm paying that much $ for quality, I expect quality. No excuses.

Ed, sorry to hear about that Win. That REALLY sux.

[Charles]

Every maker lets a firearm with a defect slip through every so often. Nothing to get spun up about, they will make it good. The firearms maker who does not ship a bummer every once in a while does not exist.

[Kansas Ed]

If this were something I could simply exchange I wouldn't be so ticked off. The dealer won't exchange the gun. I don't blame them, it's not their fault. If it were something I could have fixed locally i.e. swap another barrel in I wouldn't be too ticked off either.

I have had to return an item to the factory for repair of something that should not have happened. I agree that sometimes "stuff" happens but when I'm paying that much $ for quality, I expect quality. No excuses.

I help build $20 million dollar airplanes...occasionally something gets by...that's just manufacturing. It happens, as long as its not life threatening it's an understandable result of human error. What makes it important is whether the company stands by it, no questions asked, and whether they adjust their inspection/manufacturing practices based upon that error.

Ed

[ceb]

I've owned a couple of Kimbers, my first was a Stainless TLE that shot 6" high at 25yds, I called and they told me to send them the slide. They sent it back it about a week with a new front sight installed at no charge.

The second I bought used, a Pro CDP, this a trade from a local deputy, I like it a lot.

Maybe I've just been lucky, but both have been very accurate and function has been 100%. I agree that barrel should have been caught, but things happen, give them a chance to make it right.

[FWiedner]

I understand your frustration, but your response is unreasonable.

Not everything new is perfect. Their QC inspector either missed it or didn't see the issue that you do, either way, the manufacturer offered to make it right when you contacted them.

A few weeks is no big deal to get exactly the firearm that you want, and sometimes it's a process and not just a purchase.

IMO, turning your back on a good company and a fine product for the reason you state is a poor choice on your part.

[cnjarvis]

We'll see how they handle it when it is recieved.

[JOHNNY WACKO]

I bought A RUGER 6MM ,had it for a year and never shot it.Had it for sale as new never shot.When it sold the guy came back and said he cant get the shell to go in.
Here it was never chambered in the factory!
I sent it in and they redid it for free and picked up all the shipping cost and it came back like mew,took a couple weeks but turned out well.

Bought a llama 1911 45 new,when it didnt jam up it tossed the empty and hit you in the face.Took 1 in the eye too!
They blew me off for 6 weeks till finaly had me send it to a gunsmith somewhere down south not the factory.a year and a half later I get it back after meny phone calls and its worse then before.I took it to where i got it and traded it for a Ruger mk 2 22 s/auto pistol and took a beating to boot.
Never went back to the gun shop+will never buy a Llama again.

[FWiedner]

I've got a Kimber Eclipse UCII. When I first got it, it had an issue where I'd get an intermittent failure to extract. I put about 600 rounds through it to see if it was some kind of break in thing, tight chamber or whatever, and the problem didn't go away.

I contacted Kimber and explained the problem. They had me send it to them and replaced the slide with a new one that has a tighter external extractor. Seemed like a known problem with the UCII's. Anyway, they did the work without complaint on their dime in about 2 1/2 weeks, and they were polite and professional through every step.

In spite of that problem, I feel like I got my money's worth. I gave them a chance to fix it and they did, so no problem.

I didn't consider it a bad experience.

[cnjarvis]

Friday 1/16 I called to verify that Kimber received my pistol. The CS rep I spoke with was the most pleasant person I've spoken to at Kimber. He physically went back to the receiving area to verify receipt and log it in to the system. After opening the box and marveling at the photo, he agreed that the barrel needed to be replaced. I asked if the 5 week turnaround was still accurate and was told that it was.

To my surprise, last Thursday afternoon 1/22, Kimber called to let me know it had been repaired and was on its way back. I picked it up Friday evening at the gun shop. They replaced the barrel, gave it a "custom shop check", replaced the ejector with a longer unit (not sure why), cleaned it, test fired and re-cleaned it.

I checked the new barrel before leaving the gunshop and it's GTG.

Happy now!

I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet

DSC05190 800x600.JPG

[SJPrice]

I would call that GREAT customer service. Kimber is and has always been high on my list of companies.

[kimwcook]

That's good news. Let us know how it shoots.

[horsesoldier03]

I am kind of shocked at a few of the responses that empathize with poor Quality Control. Most new firearms even have a tag which states which inspector conducted the final inspection, as a consumer, I expect them to find things I dont. While Kimber will stand by their product, it is certainly little comfort for a man that drops a grand for a new pistol and gets home only to find that it has such a nasty blemish and has to wait an additional time period before getting to enjoy your purchase. When things start out sour like that it tends to always leave a bitter taste in my mouth. I seriously doubt any of them would be so understanding if it were a gun they were about to place into their gun safe.

All that being said, my Springfield 1911 is awesome!

[Charles]

"I am kind of shocked at a few of the responses that empathize with poor Quality Control."

I didn't read any of the responses that "empathized" with poor quality control. I don't believe anybody believes that a shoddy firearm that slips through inspection is acceptable. Such a firearm needs to be sent back and the factory needs to make it right, which Kimber did in this case.

I think this jist of the responses you found shocking was that this kind of stuff happens on a regular basis.

It is annoying to be certain, but if a fellow gets spun up about it, he will spend most of his life spun up about something and miss much of the joy of living. Angst over the pretty stuff is a bigger drag on life than the occasional bad work that slips through the inspection process.

[Tycer]

Looking forward to range reports!!!

[Old Ironsights]

I am kind of shocked at a few of the responses that empathize with poor Quality Control. Most new firearms even have a tag which states which inspector conducted the final inspection, as a consumer, I expect them to find things I dont. ...

I personally configured/tested/inspected over 5000 Computer/Satellite Transciever units at a CTO facility back in '99 before sending them out to the Big Corporate end user.

100% worked when I sent them out. less than 3% came back DOA (about 110 units) - some with nastygrams about things I "should have caught".

110 out of 5000. 3%. Industry standard is over 5%. Stuff slips by.

[Hobie]

I've worked on production and inspection. I've got to say that EVERY company has a certain rate of returns. If you get an item that needs return, you need to return it. How many times have we read in this forum of somebody who got something defective and fixed it himself but swore to never buy from that company again? Lots. Didn't give the company an opportunity to make it right. Took it out of warranty (and gave himself another reason to complain). Used, in some cases, a non-standard part or repair method. ALWAYS RETURN DEFECTIVE ITEMS.

[Old Time Hunter]

I am kind of shocked at a few of the responses that empathize with poor Quality Control. Most new firearms even have a tag which states which inspector conducted the final inspection, as a consumer, I expect them to find things I dont. ...

I personally configured/tested/inspected over 5000 Computer/Satellite Transciever units at a CTO facility back in '99 before sending them out to the Big Corporate end user.

100% worked when I sent them out. less than 3% came back DOA (about 110 units) - some with nastygrams about things I "should have caught".

110 out of 5000. 3%. Industry standard is over 5%. Stuff slips by.

Industry standard of 50,000 PPM????

The manufactures I represent must maintain < 1% as a secondary source and < .1% for primary, or a PPM of 1k. Last year we maintained a .07 PPM on mission critical components or a quality failure rate of < .00001%. Failure does not necessarily mean non-functioning, could be visual too. If we accept that "oh, well stuff happens" attitude, we lower our standards and end up with the Japanese building the best cars. There is no excuse, yes it does happen, but do not patronize by saying "they" took care of it. They should give you a second one for free with it customized/jeweled as a one of kind to gain yours and the publics trust back.

[Old Ironsights]

I think that's what it was for this type of Configure to Order. I certainly wasn't given grief about my DOA rate. (The causes of which I was unable to test for, repair or otherwise deal with anyway... If I had a component die on ME, it was discarded/recycled to be rebuilt by others. I connected parts, installed/tested software, ran burn-ins and released functioning units...)

We weren't in the business of manufacturing, only in inspecting & configuring pre-assembled components. I duno what THEIR rate was before WE got the components, but from the CTO end - where failures could occur in any of multiple components for multitudes of reasons before and after we got done with them - we were doing fine.