Kimber Micro 9? Not so fine.

[rintinglen]

Recently, Midway had a sale on the Laser Sighted Desert Tan Black version of the Micro 9. I ordered one and promptly received it at my LGS, where for a $35.00 fee, It was transferred to me. Hot Dog! A new toy to take to the range and run some rounds through to see if it would be the replacement for my Colt Mustang in my EDC battery. Ain't happening, folks.

Out of the first 72 rounds, factory Acquila FMJ's and Winchester Silver Box Hollow points, I had 5 light primer strikes. I called Kimber to inquire if there was a known problem with an easy fix--sadly, no soap. I took the gun down, removed the Firing pin and the firing pin spring to thoroughly clean the firing pin channel, flushing it out with carburetor cleaner and scrubbing it with a pipe cleaner. Yesterday, I went back to the range. In 5 magazines, I had one more light primer strike, but now it is dropping the mag, at least once every 7 shots, sometimes more often. In 107 rounds, 6 light primer strikes and at least 8 mag drops. I'm calling Kimber to send this back to Yonkers, but I am very disappointed. This not the standard my other Kimbers led me to expect.

Having a bit of trouble getting my camera to work, but I'll post a picture later.

288795

[Thumbcocker]

Sig P365

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[rintinglen]

Sig P365? Too small for my hands.

[ryanmattes]

Sig P365XL


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[lawdog941]

Sad to hear. Kimber is top quality.

[FergusonTO35]

My Micro .380 had problems with the mag dropping. Sent it back and they replaced the mag release, it's been fine ever since. Check your back plate on the slide, make sure it's not binding on the firing pin and/or the hole is not lined up. I think 9mm is too much for this design, honestly I wouldn't even put too many .380 +p's through it either. I feed mine the Lee 356-102-2R over 3 grains Bullseye, pretty much duplicating factory ball.

[Daekar]

The mag dropping issue was the primary reason I sold my Sig P238 HD. Maybe it was fine for right handed people, but I couldn't get past it. I didn't realize it was a thing on other guns too.

[anothernewb]

Sig P938. nearing 3k trouble free rounds for me. feeds 115 and 124 HP with ease, 115 and 124 rn and TC cast as well. I have the SAS model.

[DougGuy]

Also take the barrel out and make sure your rounds plunk and spin freely. If not, what you could be experiencing is the firing pin seating the round farther into the throat rather than the primer absorbing all the energy and it can appear like random light strikes when in fact it is something else.

[Tar Heel]

Years ago while working in a large national Sporting Goods store, we had a LOT of Kimber customers bringing their guns back for refunds - some in pieces they could not figure out how to reassemble. It was a disaster and I often wonder why we did not drop Kimber from the lineup. Our store policy was no refunds on firearms but I heard tell of several law suits filed regarding that mess. I avowed then to not become a Kimber customer. I hope that now, 7 years later, Kimber has improved things.

[rintinglen]

If factory ammo that works in several other 9's doesn't plunk, that's an issue with the gun. But I'll let Kimber deal with it.

My Kimber Custom II has been outstanding from the get go, and my Bel Air Micro 9 has likewise run well. I don't get why this one is such a pile. Well, nobody hit a homerun every time. Now we'll see how Kimber's customer service measures up. I am supposed to get an RMA from them today. I'll ck when I get home.

[rancher1913]

my wifes kimber micro 9 has been fine as far as shooting, no misfires or dud's like you describe but man that thing is a pita to disassemble for cleaning

[badguybuster]

Kimber quality has been hit and miss for quite a number of years. Sorry you got a lemon

[rintinglen]

Kimber can't be any worse than Ruger, or for that matter S&W. Out of 8 Rugers I bought between 2010 and 2018, 3 went back to the factory, and a 4th should have. The last two new S&W's had serious defects and the poor customer service response has determined that those are going to be the LAST two S&W new revolvers I buy. It seems as though nobody makes a consistent effort at quality control these days.

[Thumbcocker]

I have completely given up on new guns in general. QC is a joke. The last S&W I had came with that chicken scratch rifling and wouldn't shoot boolits for beans.


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[alfadan]

My micro9 was dropping the mag too when I was breaking it in. I think it was me having too much finger through the trigger hitting the release. After getting used to to it, I dont have the issue anymore.
I do have an issue with the 7 round mag loaded with a full 7 jamming on the second round. Works fine with 6.

[rintinglen]

Well, it's off to Alabama. Here's hoping they can fix its troubles.

[oldhenry]

I almost bought one about 3 or 4 years ago. The dealer had about 12 or 15 in the show case and 1 Ruger SR1911 OM. The Ruger SR1911 OM was priced $100.00 higher than the Kimber so naturally I asked to see the Kimber (also the Kimber looked better than the Ruger). The 1st. one I tried had a terrible trigger. The 2nd.one was no better & the same for the 3rd..

I have a Marvel 1911 trigger stoning jig, but at that time did not know for sure if the Micro-9 was a true 1911 or just similar to a 1911. When I asked to see the SR1911 OM it was no contest. That Ruger trigger was (and is) perfect. I paid the $100.00 extra and have never regretted the decision. I've had zero issues with that gun.

A grandson-in-law shot the Ruger on one occasion & the next time they visited he had a SR1911 OM.

[rintinglen]

Reportedly, in the hands of UPS, returning Tuesday afternoon.

[rintinglen]

Well, UPS left it lying on my front porch--so much for adult signature required. The packing slip says they replaced the magazine catch, firing pin, and firing pin block, polished the feed ramp, refinished the barrel and reamed the chamber. They fired 4 magazines of Federal 147 grn. ammo through it and call it good. Well, tomorrow we shall see.

[dverna]

Hope it works out. A gun for defense has to function flawlessly.

[rintinglen]

Well, that's better.

I ran 6 magazines, 43 shots of FMJ without a flaw, today. I'll run some more down range next week, maybe including some Hollow-Point ammo, if the FMJ's still work well. I don't have that many factory 9mm HP's, so I didn't take any with me, but overall, I was favorably impressed. The accuracy was acceptable, though the trigger is pretty stout. What I thought was pretty neat was that the laser sight was very well regulated at 10 yards with the Iron sights. With the 6 shot mag, the gun carries pretty well in a pocket, but is harder to hang on to when fired. The 7 & 8 round mags are much more comfortable to shoot.

[Half Dog]

+1 on DougGuy’s recommendation.

[Thumbcocker]

Glad they fixed it for you.

[rintinglen]

I have to give Kimber's customer service an A. I sent it to them Monday a week ago and it was back, REPAIRED, in my hands Tuesday. I was able to run another three magazines through it last night, including Remington FMJ's and one of Federal HP's without fault. I will say that the recoil is a bit sharp and I would not care to shoot an extended training session with it, (old hands and wrists that don't handle recoil well) but for what it's designed for, it seems to be pretty decent. I have not handled the Sig Variant (938?) but it is a bit better feeling in my hand than the Bel Air which does not have the Crimson trace grips. They really help reduce the twisting in the hand of the gun as it recoils.

[Lefty Red]

I have had a few Kimbers, a couple went back and CS was top notch.

You go to the 238/938 section of Sig Talk and it’s thread after thread of complaints. Like it’s been said before, the 9mm is just too much for it IMHO. Too many problems in the design across three or four companies. I’m sticking to Ultra/Defender size for my 1911 9mm fix.

Lefty

[rintinglen]

With the Ultra or its Colt derivative, You're going a half pound heavier, nearly 3/4" longer and taller, and a 1/4" thicker. Basically going out of the 9mm pocket category, unless you have pretty big pockets.

My hope is that this gun will be reliable enough to replace my Colt Mustang Pocketlite 380, with a slightly larger but more powerful 9mm. We shall see. I plan on running another 70 rounds through it Wednesday, 48 rounds of 115 FMJ's and 21 rounds of JHP's. If all goes well, I'll start running some of my reloads through it, including some boolits.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Kimber can't be any worse than Ruger, or for that matter S&W. Out of 8 Rugers I bought between 2010 and 2018, 3 went back to the factory, and a 4th should have. The last two new S&W's had serious defects and the poor customer service response has determined that those are going to be the LAST two S&W new revolvers I buy. It seems as though nobody makes a consistent effort at quality control these days.

Buying a new revolver should not be a crap shoot. Our Lgs has not had a good selection of them for sometime. I took a chance and got my last two Smith's off GB. 686+ and a Model 60 pro series. No problems with either of them.

[Lefty Red]

Right, the 9mm needs a larger pistol. This micro “1911ish” pistol started off as a 380. Nothing good happens when you try to scale up a pistol not designed around those pressures.

But maybe yours will work where others have failed.
Good luck,
Lefty

[FergusonTO35]

There are so many micro pistols today designed from the ground up for this cartridge that I don't see any advantage to the Micro 9/938, unless you just really like the gun. A Glock 43, Sig 365, or Hellcat is about the same size and will do anything the former can do.

[rintinglen]

Well the FMJ's went through the gun with zero problems, but I did get one FTF with a JHP reload that hung up on the feed ramp. I think that was due to the overall length being too long. It did run through 15 rounds of NOE 130 grain hollowpoints--all I had with me--without a stutter.

[rintinglen]

Still not having much joy with HP Ammo. Frequently, the first round will jam on the feed ramp and FTF. With factory HP very hard to find and costly if one does, It is pretty dismal. I wish I could find some Hornady Critical Defense loads, or at least some of those bullets.

[alfadan]

Critical defense does work great in mine. Finally found some at a gunshow and cost dearly.

[rintinglen]

I have taken the advice given on another board and lightly polished the feed lips of all 7 of my magazines. We shall see if this corrects the problem. I have found that cartridges >1.06" work better, much better, than those 1,10" or longer.

One fellow suggested I give it a 500 round break in. With 9mm running 2-3x more than it did B.C. (Before Covid), that can get pretty costly.