Okay.....I have a small problem with my new pistol. I just bought a Kimber CDP II Compact today. I took it out and shot it this afternoon. I was shooting 5 rounds at a time, and on almost every clip (only 5 rounds in clip) after the 4th shot, the slide would not go forward all the way. I would have to lock the slide back, take the magazine out, and tilt the gun back so the round would come out of the chamber. I tried a 7 round clip and a 3 round clip and the exact same thing happened. It's only after it fires the second to last shot. Have any of you guys had this problem? Does it just need to be broken in?

Thanks,

ES

Did you do this with only one magazine ?? If so try another. Always number your magazines so you can separate magazine problems from gun problems.Most guns can improve after some 200 rounds of break in.

Hmm! A previous post said you had no problems with a Springfield XD .45 ACP.

Hmmmm!

What ammo are you shooting?

Yes.....I only tried this with one magazine. The gun only comes with one mag and I don't have any others yet.

I'm shooting Federal American Eagle 230 gr. FMJ ammo.

quote:

Originally posted by DaMan:
Hmm! A previous post said you had no problems with a Springfield XD .45 ACP.

Hmmmm!

Haha....yes you're right. I love shooting the XD. If I needed a gun strictly for fun shooting, I probably would have bought an XD. However, this is going to be the gun I carry. The XD is too fat.

Okay.....update:

I bought a Wilson Combat Magazine today and I also stripped my gun and cleaned it thoroughly. I put 20 more rounds through it and the problem happened once. So, it's not the magazine, but I'm not going to pursue the problem anymore until I shoot at least 300-400 rounds through the gun. What do y'all think? Any more advise?

Also.....I've noticed after a total of 65 rounds, that the Federal American Eagle ammo is VERY dirty.

Eland Slayer

You are on the right track.
I would contact kimber and get some extra magazines suited to your grip length.

As you know you can use regular Govt. Length Mags as well.
After you shoot 300 rounds or so, if you are still having problems then I would contact Kimber.

Also you need to test what ever "carry" ammo you intend to shoot at least 50 rounds, with no malfunctions.

There are Kimber magazines, and 1911 magazines. My 1911 Kimber Custom II, seriously tricked, works great with all of them.

I inserted my Kimber original magazine, in my Detonics Combatmaster, the only one I own, and, the upper lips of the magazine stopped the round from chambering, and, I had to pound the magazine out. I have, other then that magazine, no problems with Wilson, or Detonics magazines, in either gun. I am not the first person to have such problems. It has a special place in my collection: it's called TRASH.

AS for your Kimber, I'd find a great 1911 gunsmith in your area, and have him tune the gun.

The only problem with the gun you bought is you really shouldn't have any frame grinding done. The outside, or shell of the frame is pretty strong, under that outside layer, it's weaker. Break the gun in with about 500 rounds of ball ammo, clean it, and get back to us.

quote:

Originally posted by GS:
AS for your Kimber, I'd find a great 1911 gunsmith in your area, and have him tune the gun.

What does that cost, roughly?

Your in Texas. Should be some good guys down there. Jason, and Jack Huntington could go through your gun, and it wouldn't be expensive, but, the shipping would.

If it was me, I'd get the stiffest springs I could from Wolfe, install them myself, shoot the gun 500 rounds, and see what you have. American Eagle is great stuff to break in a gun, since it recoils like crazy, and, if you have stiff springs, no problems...

For what it's worth, I found a local guy to go through my Kimber for 50 bucks, prior to firing it, and, it was never a problem, after that.

ES

Lube the gun on the rails, barrel feet, barrel lugs and on the end of the bbl with Break Free and shoot 200 rounds through it with some different magazines.

I took my most recent 1911 to the range last Saturday. Tip Burns had redone an 80 series pistol for me. The pistol is tight and I had a few FTF at first. I've only put 100 rounds through the pistol and it needs to be shot a bunch more to lossen it up a bit.

email me your address and I will send you a sample bottle of some Militec that I have. great stuff! rkmojo@aol.com

Do the rounds drop freely into the removed bbl? If not, then you could have a tight chamber. It could just be it needs breaking in. The smaller 45s have stiffer springs & need shooting in. Clean it, make sure it is lubed properly & have at it.

you don't seem to be alone, i'm hearing several people complain about the compact kimbers dooing just what is happening to you. some have had wilson mags correct problems, some have had to be very particular with what ammo they are using. not good reports for a defense gun. the dan wesson you looked at has had (sad for you) good repor, as has the compact springfields.

Any update on your Kimber?

Hey guys.....I just put another 75 rounds thru my Kimber today and the problem seems to be going away. I only had one jam this time. Same scenario.....last round in the mag. I tried 3,5, and 7 rounds at a time. I shot my remaining 25 rounds of American Eagle junk.....25 rounds of Winchester USA (white box) 230 gr. FMJ's.....and 25 rounds of Winchester USA (white box) 230 gr. JHP's. The Winchesters are much cleaner.

This makes a total of 150 rounds thru this pistol. I'm pretty confident that with another 100-300 rounds, the problem will have disappeared. Thanks Rusty, and all the rest of you guys.

How often does it happen in the factory mag vs the Wilson mag?

I've had kimber mags but they never impressed me. Good for the range, but not completely reliable.
If the Kimber does it more than the Wilson then I would suspect the mag is the biggest problem. Last round jams are almost always caused by a worn out spring and/or a bad follower. You can just stick with Wilson mags or get new follower and spring for the Kimber.

If you've ruled out the mags, then the problem can be a few things.
Look at the throat of the barrel (bottom of the chamber where the cartridge slides up and into the chamber). Is there a sharp edge? If it's sharp then you can LIGHTY sand it down with 400 grit sandpaper then polish it with metal polish and a soft cloth. Sand it only enough to knock the hard edge off.

Then look at the extractor. The cartridges should easily be able to slip under it. The process of figuring out if the extractor is ok takes too long to post, so I'll leave it up to you and google.

Fumbler,

I haven't used the factory mag since I got the Wilson mag.

ES

Have you had a chance to shoot your Kimber again???

I am almost sure its his magazine follower

quote:

Originally posted by Eland Slayer:
Okay.....update:

I bought a Wilson Combat Magazine today and I also stripped my gun and cleaned it thoroughly. I put 20 more rounds through it and the problem happened once. So, it's not the magazine, but I'm not going to pursue the problem anymore until I shoot at least 300-400 rounds through the gun. What do y'all think? Any more advise?

Also.....I've noticed after a total of 65 rounds, that the Federal American Eagle ammo is VERY dirty.

Seems a little tight, either that or the recoil spring is a little weak. I wonder if it will chamber empties?

You can break it in a bit by cleaning it, assembling it dry, racking the slide back and forth a billion times (letting you hand follow it - don't let it drop), cleaning and lubing it.

I don't think the mag follower on a 47d can tip very easily - at least not on mine (but it may have changed).

I think it will break in. Might want go ahead an order replacement recoil spring from Wolfe.

One more thing, since I think the problem is that the slide is slowing way down too early, take a look at the underside of the slide where the disconnector rides. Kimber has a practice of engraving the serial number by hand there - maybe it is way too rough and seriously dragging on the disconnector. A few rubs with some 400grit might smooth the passage.

Rusty,

I believe my problem is gone now.....thanks to you. I've been so busy with school this semester that I really haven't found the time to shoot much. But I took my Kimber out yesterday and cleaned and lubed it with the militec oil and a little militec grease. I shot 75 rounds thru it.....perfect performance, no jams whatsoever. Thank you.

BTW, I also got my CHL in the mail this weekend. I'll probably be getting some Spear Gold Dot or Magtech First Defense ammo pretty soon for carrying.

Two questions.

Did this always/only happen with the last round in the magazine?

Do the Kimber factory magazines have the dimple on the follower that John Browning designed into the 1911 magazine design? I know that Wilson magazines don't but have never seen a Kimber mag.

David,

To answer your questions:

1. Yes, this problem always/only happened with the last round in the magazine.

2. I just looked at my Kimber mag and I don't see any dimple in the follower.

Eland Slayer,

Reading through this thread it seems that the problem has gone away. But... Next time you buy a magazine look for one that has the dimple on the follower. John Browning designed the dimple into the follower on the 1911 magazine to precisely prevent last round misfeeds. Unfortunately most of the name builders that I am aware of have eliminated this from there designed in favor of a follower designed for swc type ammo.

I bought a few Wilson magazines a few years back and started having last round mis-feeds occurring. This was in a thoroughly tuned Colt Series 70. Switching back to Colt/GI mags with a proper follower the problem didn't happened.

Let me know if you need a source for magazines and I can point you in the right direction.

all sound advise above. I would recommend checking your spring as well. These seem to be a problem lately in the Kimber mags I have seen.

Take it apart and tweak the top loop of the spring slightly upwards. If that doesnt work, your welcome to give me a call and I can just about talk you through most of it in less time than it took to write this...

Chuck Warner