Kimber Revolvers, anyone have one?

[skipper]

I had the pleasure of handling one of these gems yesterday at Cabela's. My first impression was bewilderment. I've never even imagined Kimber producing revolvers, yet here it was. The trigger pull was firm yet smooth and the actual break was really very nice. The retail price is on par with the Smith and Wesson 686 Plus Deluxe. Some of the pistols had tritium sights and others didn't. I liked the polished model but the one I looked at didn't have tritium sights. I have seriously been considering buying the S&W 686. Does anyone have any experience with Kimber revolvers?

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[Bill K]

Skipper, can not comment on the Kimber revolver, but I can tell from personal experience, with their pistols, if it is anywhere near as good, then the revolver should be a hit and well worth having. Bill K

[skipper]

I have been a fan of Kimber firearms for years. I just haven't been exposed to Kimber revolvers. I probably would have bought the one I had in my hands if it had the single action option. I'm not a big fan of double action only. I love the feel of a Smith and Wesson revolver when I can pull the trigger back and take advantage of that clean, crisp break. Having double action for situations where speed is of the essence is important, but I still like to have options. Texas is an open carry state, so having a hammerless revolver is not that important to me.

All hail Kimber quality!!!

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[skipper]

This is the other revolver I'm considering. I can't make up my mind.

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[Bill K]

I too, like the double/single action modes in revolvers. As I said, not knowing or having seen and handled the new Kimber revolver and it having just the double action. I would tend to go with the S&W. Nothing wrong with them either. Carried S&W for a few years, in LE, along with a 1911. Bill K

[Rick in Oregon]

Skipper: I'm a fan of Kimbers too, and have a good selection of their 1911's in .45 ACP, even have a Kimber Micro 9.

All my revolvers are S&W, and they're well represented in my safe too, but that said, if you have interest in the Kimber K6, go over to the Kimbertalk forum and check out what others have said about that particular weapon:

http://www.kimbertalk.com/forums/kimber-revolver-forum/

If it's Kimber, you'll find it there. Mucho Kimber fans abound.

[skipper]

I ended up buying the Smith & Wesson 686 custom shop model. I love the way it feels. I haven't shot it yet, but I will write a report when I do.

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[skipper]

I took the new pistol to the range today to test it out. The closest range is an indoor range a few miles from the house. I would have gone to Hot Wells outdoor range but it still hasn't reopened since the shooting incident a couple of weeks ago. You might have seen a report on the news. A man was killed in a terrible accident. I've been shooting skeet there for years.

Well anyhow, the owner of the indoor range wouldn't let me shoot 357 magnums so I had to settle for shooting 38 Specials. The gun was very pleasing to shoot single action and the trigger was very crisp. I didn't have any incidents with the gun lock engaging while firing. I did have to make an adjustment to the sights cause the first group was 4 inches low and 2 inches left at 15 yards. Once I made the sight adjustment the gun held about a two inch grouping. I can't wait to see how it shoots with magnum loads.

Double action shooting was not so great. The best group I could shoot was about five inches at 15 yards. I'm either a single action only kind of guy or the trigger needs some work. I'll have to take someone who is used to double actions to test it out for me. The pull was insanely long and seemed to creep along in stages. Again, I don't normally shoot double action. I've got to get the hang of it or get a trigger job done if I'm ever going to carry this thing.

I also took my Kimber Ultra Carry II just for some practice. I sure am partial to the Ultra Carry II. It holds a nice tight group all the time and there's something comforting about having a .45 caliber strapped to your side. I like it even better with the Trijicon sights I installed about six months ago. Day or night, aquiring a sight picture is easy with these sights. Two thumbs up.

So, I still need to shoot this revolver with 357 magnum loads and determine if a trigger job is necessary before this revolver gets to become a carry pistol. The Kimber shoots too well to get bumped from that honor.

[Rick in Oregon]

Well there Skipper, congrats on the new Smith. I've got a safe full of 'em from 2" to 8-3/8" and in calibers from .22LR to .44 Mag.....good stuff!

Here's my J-Frame collection....can't fit my L and N frames in one pic.



BUT, I believe that after carrying that 686 for a while, you'll quickly revert to your Kimber .45 for both the weight factor and carry profile. I gave up carrying revolvers long ago when I bailed from even a M642 because of the cylinder bulk, and that's just a J-Frame, not an L Frame like your 686. For a very brief time I carried my 686 4", but soon went back to my 1911 .45, but in 3" Ultra configuration. Been carrying that or my Ultra CDP II 9mm in the same Milt Sparks IWB rig now for over 25 years.

And if you ever have to fire that .357 indoors, you'll soon wish you hadn't. And night firing? You'll be flash-blind for five minutes. Fun to dink about with .357's at the range or out in the outback on bunnies, deer or hogs, but these daze, not the best for EDC, when our autoloaders have more firepower, flatter/thinner lighter, and don't blind the shooter at night. JMO, JME.

[skipper]

Nice collection there, Rick. Do any of your revolvers have the new locking system? If so, have you ever had any problem with the lock engaging during live fire? After reading a review where the writer stated that happening I've been leery of that situation happening to me. BUT, you never know whether or not to believe a review on the "net". On my 686 the lock flag rises to full height during the locking process, however it slightly lowers when fully engaged making it hard to read.

I have older model S&W Model 627 revolver from 40 years ago. I also have Ruger Security Six and a couple of H&R and Ruger .22s. I've not bought a revolver in recent years for the very reasons you stated. However, I have had my Kimber fail to feed before and that was the reason to revisit the revolvers. The Plus model allows one extra, seventh shot but speed loaders are iffy at best.

[Rick in Oregon]

Thanks, Skipper. No, none of my revolvers in any frame size have the locking system, so I can't comment. I've avoided that feature, but in honesty, have not purchased a revolver since the early 90's.

But as to the FTF with one of your Kimbers, I understand your feelings. I usually do not carry any autoloader have has not gone at least 500 rounds without a failure of any kind. Which by the way, is the recommended break-in period in the Kimber manual. Most of my carry guns have much more that that through them through.

When I did carry revolvers 'way back', carrying speedloaders with their inherent bulk were another reason a slim 1911 magazine appealed much more to me. But with everything shooting, "there's something for everyone", right?

[skipper]

I agree with your process. I usually load a couple of magazines with every conceivable type of ammo in random order and rapid fire them back to back. If the pistol fails to feed, I won't trust it enough to carry it for protection. It also has caused me to sell many otherwise really nice pistols. That almost always brings me back to the ugliest but most reliable pistol I own, a Glock. It has never failed to feed, fire, cycle or anything else. They're just so darn ugly. But if I'm going somewhere I have hesitations about, I strap on my Glock.

[skipper]

Here's a couple of pictures of the pistol's locking mechanism flag. In the first picture you can see that the flag is completely raised with the key partially rotated. In the second picture you can see that when the key is fully rotated, the flag lowers slightly making it harder to see. I also wonder why they didn't make the flag red?? That would seem to make it more obvious that the revolver was locked.

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[skipper]

I got to shoot today in spite of the weather we've been having here lately. Shot both the Smith & Wesson 686 Plus and the Kimber Ultra Carry II. I am more pleased at the pistols performances than the shooter. I used to be able to group 'em quite nicely. Anyhow, both pistols fired without any failure whatsoever. I finally got the sights adjusted so that both print inside the bull's-eye so I'm pleased with that. Now I need to practice some more so that I can put them all in the bull's-eye like I used to be able to do. I guess I can't complain too much because I've aged 40 years since the Marines.

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[skipper]

I had better results today than the last couple of trips. I may move the sights a click to the right even though the very first shot was in the ten ring. If I can't hold them there I'm better off moving the whole group. You can see that as I start rushing things the shots start going wild.

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