Dropped and Damaged my Kimber

[MikeDVB]

Wow, that sucks. And don't worry about people here chewing you up for a mistake, e-thugs tend to do that just to make themselves feel better. Good thing that the firearm didn't discharge. Might wanna start exploring striker fire type of firearm.

Or, don't drop your firearm .

Hammers suck when you drop them on your toes, but I also try to avoid that .

You would have to be pretty unlucky to drop a 1911 and have it go off unless you had a firing pin spring well past needing replacement - that said - the same thing could happen with any floating pin design without a block safety (say, your AR15 dropped on it's barrel hard enough).

If you want a 1911 that is considered 'drop safe' you'd want a series80 and not a series70 I imagine. I'm a purist, I prefer to just keep my firing pin spring well maintained.

 

[SERparacord]

Any suggestions for replacement part? I'm thinking that if it is plastic, maybe I can order a higher quality steel replacement from Wilson Combat.

I replaced my polymer Kimber back-strap w/an Ed Brown, dropped right in. I do have the polymer back-strap I took off if you want it. It is from a Kimber Eclipse.

 

[SERparacord]

Lol, I'll put my 1911's up against the tupperware guns any time. The part that broke on his Kimber was plastic. Guess what almost your entire tupperware gun is made of?

 

[rockhopper46038]

A dropped pistol is most likely to go off when someone makes an ill-advised attempt to grab it out of midair and catches it through the trigger guard. In this respect a cocked and locked 1911 is less likely to be discharged negligently than the "safe action" striker fired pistols. The best safety, as always, is between your ears.

 

[Ruffnek]

This is why I carry my Kel Tec.If I break it,I can replace it without saving for a year.

 

[Jarhead77]

May just have popped the mainspring out of alignment. When I pulled my kimber apart to replace the safety it took me forever to get it all back together and I couldn't get the hammer to stay locked until the mainspring was aligned exactly within the frame.

 

[CQB]

you should have the sear & hammer checked.. the gun has a firing pin block.. that is what kept the hammer from setting off the round..

+1 You read my mind.

 

[Joe G]

 

[stephen87]

So were all the Glock Fanbois posting to help the OP with his original question or just here for the Threadjacking?

Same reason you posted. To get our post count up.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Polymer used in a main spring housing =/= polymer used in constructing an entire firearm frame.

Things can break when you drop guns. It happens. It can happen to all makes and models of guns - regardless of construction materials.

It MAY be more likely to happen to certain parts on certain guns (Guess we all now know that a plastic mainspring housing on a Kimber 1911 is a weak spot).

A low-quality metal part could just as easily had failed (ever read any reports about Walther P22 slides breaking in half? Yeah, it happens to metal, too).

Carry what you want. The chances of your choice affecting me in any way, shape, or form are approaching zero.

-J-

 

[Mark 1911]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate all the feedback.

I fully dis-assembled the frame last night and much to my relief the damage to the pistol is relatively minor and easily fixed. Sorry, I didn't take any pics. I was pretty much out of gas when I got home from work and just wanted to determine the damage so I could order new parts.

The only part that really needs replacement is the mainspring housing - as several of you suggested yesterday. It was the OEM Kimber mainspring housing, and yes, it is plastic. I ordered a new steel mainspring housing from Wilson Combat this morning.

I closely inspected all of the parts. There is no damage whatsoever to the sear spring, disconnector, hammer assembly, etc. I thought the point of impact was on the hammer. On closer insepction, what I thought was an impact point was just a little dirt that cleaned up without a trace. The actual point of impact was on the thumb safety (not an ambi). There is a very minor, almost imperceptible scratch on the thumb safety. At first I was going to replace it because I could feel a sharp edge. A few strokes with some fine steel wool resolved that issue. There is a very small streak of bright metal showing on the edge of the safety, but again almost imperceptible. I will probably replace the safety anyway and keep this one as a spare.

There was no other damage to the pistol frame, grip safety, or slide. Luckily the pistol was in a holster as always. Otherwise it would have been beat up a lot worse.

 

[printcraft]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate all the feedback.

I fully dis-assembled the frame last night and much to my relief the damage to the pistol is relatively minor and easily fixed. Sorry, I didn't take any pics. I was pretty much out of gas when I got home from work and just wanted to determine the damage so I could order new parts.

The only part that really needs replacement is the mainspring housing - as several of you suggested yesterday. It was the OEM Kimber mainspring housing, and yes, it is plastic. I ordered a new steel mainspring housing from Wilson Combat this morning.

I closely inspected all of the parts. There is no damage whatsoever to the sear spring, disconnector, hammer assembly, etc. I thought the point of impact was on the hammer. On closer insepction, what I thought was an impact point was just a little dirt that cleaned up without a trace. The actual point of impact was on the thumb safety (not an ambi). There is a very minor, almost imperceptible scratch on the thumb safety. At first I was going to replace it because I could feel a sharp edge. A few strokes with some fine steel wool resolved that issue. There is a very small streak of bright metal showing on the edge of the safety, but again almost imperceptible. I will probably replace the safety anyway and keep this one as a spare.

There was no other damage to the pistol frame, grip safety, or slide. Luckily the pistol was in a holster as always. Otherwise it would have been beat up a lot worse.

I wouldn't take any chances with that.
You should get rid of it.

I'll buy it for $500 if it will help you out.

I'm here to help.

 

[Hornett]

But, was there a mark on the primer?
I just gotta know...

I never liked the plastic mainspring housing on my Kimber. but I finally decided that Kimber did it to reduce weight on the carry models with the aluminum frames. That is the only reason that I could possibly come up with for using the plastic on such a great gun.
Do the full size, steel frame models have the plastic housing also?



IMPORTANT NOTE

I will probably replace the safety anyway and keep this one as a spare.

That is typically not a drop in part. There is a lot of fitting to replacing a safety. If you don't have experience with it, take it to a gunsmith.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

But, was there a mark on the primer?
I just gotta know...

I never liked the plastic mainspring housing on my Kimber. but I finally decided that Kimber did it to reduce weight on the carry models with the aluminum frames. That is the only reason that I could possibly come up with for using the plastic on such a great gun.
Do the full size, steel frame models have the plastic housing also?

Pretty sure he said upthread that there wasn't a mark at all on the primer.

And you're forgetting the real reason for the plastic part: Maximizing profit

 

[printcraft]

........
Do the full size, steel frame models have the plastic housing also?
........

I had an Eclipse pro 4", all steel, that had a plastic MSH.
It had a steel one in place when I sold it.

 

[jgreiner]

Beyond the fact that this post made me cry, it really illustrated why I dearly love 1911s but carry a polymer. (XD)
1911s are for people who like to shoot.
Polymers are for people who need to shoot.

Now I'll probably feel the wrath of every 1911 guy out there.

If I NEED to shoot, I want to shoot the BEST gun i have. And that, hands down, is my S&W 1911. My life and my families is worth far more to me than my 1911 is.

 

[teddy12b]

I'm not trying to get into the whole 1911 vs plastic guns debate, but all I could think of when I first read this was that a pistol that costs over $1000 was dropped and broke right there. No other opinions really matter and the fact is that an expensive finely made pistol broke and was out of commission from being dropped.

I'm glad to hear that you're going to be getting your pistol back up and running soon, and as much as I try not to be one of those "glock guys" it's stories like this that turn me more towards that direction every day.

I'd also love to see & hear how the primer looks, but more importantly I want to know about how confident you feel in betting your life on this pistol now. I'm not trying to sound condescending, but I don't know if I'd feel that comfortable betting my life on it now. I'm curious about how your confidence is doing with that gun, and how many rounds you intend to put through it again before trusting it completely again. Any time I've ever changed/upgraded any working part in a gun I've always considered to be back to an unproven weapon until I use it enough again.

 

[teddy12b]

For the plastic vs metal debate, watch this video starting around 1:30.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biMkNYWAzIk

I think that debate is more of a generational arguement. I like metal, but the fact remains that there's something to be said for the flexibility of plastic in the right applications.

 

[Mark 1911]

I wouldn't take any chances with that.
You should get rid of it.

I'll buy it for $500 if it will help you out.

I'm here to help.

Your generosity and selflessness are inspirational indeed. But its just too risky, I would feel terrible to let a fellow INGOer take such a great risk for me.

 

[Mark 1911]

But, was there a mark on the primer?
I just gotta know...

No marks on the primer. Also determined later that the gun landed on the thumb safety, not on the hammer as I originally thought.