18 May 04

Good marks for Kimber, from a friend and colleague:

"Yesterday was the first running of our Action Pistol Match. Mostly Glocks and SIGs that worked and 'custom' 1911s that didn't, except for an e xcellent Kimber.

One guy managed to jam the cylinder of his S&W L-frame using his own too-lon g reloads. Amateur hour!

An inexperienced shooter with a Beretta 92F attempted three runs at the course of fire, without ever figuring out what to do with the safety/decocki ng lever. He tried to use it as a 'safety,' and, over and over, ended up frantically (and unsuccessfully) trying to fire his pistol with the lever down. He also , several times, tried to holster the pistol with the hammer cocked. We stopped him just in time, each time. Slow learner!

You might want to know that the night sights on my Kimber 1911 started to fade. The pistol is three years old. The right dot on the rear sight went dead, and the front sight was dim. I contacted their rep (Chris Corino) and was instructed to send the slide to slide to Dennis at the Custom Shop. It did as instructed on 4 May 04. It was returned to me, with new sights, on 6 May 04 . No charge!

Kimber has a friend here!"

Comment: I like companies, like Kimber, who don't quibble with customers ove r product serviceability issues. They just fix them, quickly and quietly, and drive on. I have scant patience with companies whose reps are whiners and excuse makers and who don't return calls. Good show, Chris!

/John