A few months back I purchased a Kimber Custom II pistol. Out of the box it is one of the most accurate .45s I've ever fired.

But after about 350 rds put thru the gun it still continues to jam now and then. Always about "mid-clip," i.e. 4 round or more.

At first I thought it was a clip problem and tried a genuine Colt clip. Same results. Genuine Wilson clip. Same result. A couple of generic .45 clips.......same results.

Gun is jamming on the LOAD cycle...not ejection. And it is jamming with factory hard ball ammo as well as a couple of different reloads.

Finally, I called Kimber today and asked them, "What the hell?" I had a couple of suggestions, stouter recoil spring, etc. But after listening to me, their gunsmith asked me how I was lubricating the gun.

After hearing my answer, he basically said BAD DOG. And he proceeded with about a ten minute lecture on how a new Kimber pistol SHOULD be lubricated.

I listened with horror as he basically described what I call "Slathering on good gun lube here, there and EVERYWHERE" until I can only imagine a pistol virtually dripping with oil.

But Dennis went on to tell me that "90% of the pistols returned to Kimber for feeding problems are UNDER OILED."

I certainly had to admit that by HIS definition I was grossly under-oiling my pistol.

Bottom line is I'm going to assume Dennis knows a lot more about Kimber pistols than I do and the next time I take my .45 out to shoot.....it's going to be dripping oil like a radial aircraft engine. We will see.

Any of you experiencing some sort of feeding problems with your auto pistols may wish to INCREASE your application of gun oil to every moving or contacting part along the barrel, slide and frame. Could probably help some of us.

Good hunting. Pecos45

PS - Kimber advised that this HEAVY OILING routine should be maintained at least beyond 1,000+ rounds of ammo. By that time he says the gun should be worn in and loosened up enough that it will feed anything you throw at it.

I'm assuming that this applies to ALL Kimber autos, right?

I have a Classic Target bought about 4 years ago - basically their bottom of the line gun but with adjustable sights, if one can refer to any Kimber as "bottom of the line". Have not shot it much, probably less than 250 rounds, but so far no jamming at all with Winchester white box 230 gr. hardball and commerical cast 200 gr. wadcutters.

However, thanks for the info. When I take it out I'll be sure to dab a wee bit more Tetra gun grease on the moving surfaces.

All of my center fire semi automatics have had the slide/frame tightened and on all of them I use RIG on the rails,the top of the barrel and the barrel bushing or whatever replaces the bushing. It just seems to me that moving metal on metal parts should be lubricated. I most certainly lubricate my Kimber 38 Super in the same way.
Peter.

Yes, sir.......all Kimber autos. And I took his comments to actually be good advice for most any auto. There's a lot of moving metal in any auto pistol and none of it going anywhere very gently.
My "light film of WD-40 and a dab of LSA here and there" obviously just doesn't cut it.

Kimber told me WD-40 was basically worthless for lubing a firing gun as it quickly burns off from heat...then you got nothing.

It will obviously be a little harder to clean a gun after firing if you goo it up with gun oil, but apparently it's necessary with a good tight pistol...and Kimbers are MIGHTY TIGHT.

The lubrication failure is called "stick slip". When the parts are at rest they have pressed out the oil and a boundry condition exists. Thus they stick.

Even a synthetic oil of high viscosity may be pressed out and an EP additive may not help all that much.

This is an application for a solid lube to be added to the oil or grease. Moly is the best solid for that purpose.

When I bought my Kimber a year and a half ago, the first thing the salesman told me was to oil the thing up as much as you can, and then add more! Everytime I shoot it now, I add a small film of oil after every 100 rounds and clean and reoil after every session.

I have never had a feed problem, and have often wondered if I oil to much. After reading what you have gone through, I might just through an extra coat on when I get back to NE.

WD-40 leaves behind a waxy residue once it evaporates or whatever it is that makes it dissapear. The wax can clog things up and that could have been part of your trouble.

I'm not sure of the brand name or anything like that but I have a can of Chain saw bar penetrating oil. Its an aresol can but just a generic version. Its desinged to lub the bar of a chain saw. And if anything generates heat and friction its a chain spinning around a bar. Maybe that would work for what you have.