New Kimber SOLO Fail.

[alfsauve]

I wondered if they'll release all the parameters that make one round work and another not.   

Obviously lighter weight bullets  and round nose shape doesn't, since most SD ammo is truncated cone (hollow point).   I'd guess that the speed of the powder burning also has something to do with it.

[Ping]

For the cost of the Kimber Solo and then having to purchase premium ammo also, I would not be the least bit happy. Would suck to have a pistol in 9mm and if we ran into another ammo shortage and could not feed a Kimber Solo. Sad.

[justbill]

Meh. I'll buy a Beretta Nano, couple of holsters and a s******d of ammo for the price of one KImber. And be pretty sure it will work with whatever I choose to shoot.

[Ulmus]

I first heard of the Solo woes from "Average Joe" in his gun review segment on another GRRN sponsored podcast.

Glad to see this review backs up his.  (Sarcasm for Kimber)

Kimber needs to learn that a high price does not equal high quality.

[Ping]

Ok, I read the Kimber Solo article in American Rifleman. Kimber suggested you change the recoil spring every 1,000 rounds. It only holds six rounds. And with a sticker (Shock) price of $747? You have got to be kidding me. This is a firearm that you pay a great deal to shoot with premium ammo, hope you make it through "24 rounds before pressing into service", then you have the maintenance cost of the recoil spring. Really suprised that Kimber would put something like this on the market!?!?

[Sponsor]

[GEvens]

Nice concept, lousy execution.  Kimber should have just chambered it in .380 ACP and chopped the price to around $500, and they might just have something.  As is, it is not worth a second look.

[jnevis]

Somehow, I knew about this.   Don't know why as I haven't shot one yet.   Maybe on another forum.

Anyway, I looked at them when the ads first came out.   Too expensive and too finicky.   

One thing I learned the painful way was to check and see what everyone else shoots.  Especially the "winners" in any competition.   I've also added to my old-age-tricks to see what the losers shoot.   When I'm watching a match and there's a gun failure, I try to find out the details and add it to my mental list.   You start to get a picture of which make/models fail more than others.  Which ones to avoid. 

One of my friends HAD to get a Brazos Custom Limited gun, while another only buys STI 1911s.  Both have had nothing but trouble with them initially.  They had to dial in reloads, springs, and sights.  Any variation once dialed in, and FTF/FTE.  One guy has a Para that is "bulletproof" and with the price difference he got a stack of extra mags and gear.

I've never been really impressed with Kimbers, especially the non-basic 1911. 

[billt]

My plain Vanilla Kimber Stainless II runs fine, but I would never invest in a chopped 1911, regardless of make. It's not a design that accommodates downsizing very well without sacrificing reliability. More people have trouble with them then don't. A mini Glock runs half the price and has over double the reliability. The only "small" 1911 I would consider is the all Stainless Steel Springfield Champion. It is Commander sized without the Aluminum frame.

[PegLeg45]

My plain Vanilla Kimber Stainless II runs fine, but I would never invest in a chopped 1911, regardless of make. It's not a design that accommodates downsizing very well without sacrificing reliability. More people have trouble with them then don't. A mini Glock runs half the price and has over double the reliability. The only "small" 1911 I would consider is the all Stainless Steel Springfield Champion. It is Commander sized without the Aluminum frame.

The SA EMP is also a "scaled-down" 1911. Instead of putting a short slide on a full-sized frame, they scaled the whole frame and all components to fit shorter 9mm and .40 cal cartridges. I don't know the reliability track record, but I would still like to have one.

[tombogan03884]

JMO but if you want a caliber besides .45, or .38 super, why bother with the 1911 ?
In my opinion it's the only  choice in .45 acp, but for other calibers there are better choices, in 9MM or .40 I'd go either Sig or S&W M&P Pro.