Problems loading for new kimber 1911 9mm

To learn and introduce new loaders. Tips and tricks from old timers.

Moderators: Chuck, Mustang380gal, Coordinators, Moderators

Post Reply
suedenflames68
Posts: 117
Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2012 10:22 pm
Location: east columbus

Problems loading for new kimber 1911 9mm

Post by suedenflames68 »

So when I first started reloading few years ago I came up with my 9mm load and never messed with it. Focused of getting other loads figured out and dont shoot it much. Did a work up with power pistol, stepping up .2 gr each step from min to max. Ended up using 6.4gr , 115 jhp zero bullets, 1.150 OAL.

I came down to that overall length by seating bullet back slowly to tell when it quit hitting the lands in my g17. I was thinking it was longer than normal but recent events had me rechecking factory ammo I had for comparison and finding out that's about what most OAL on 9mm 115gr is.

This load worked in my ria 1911 and my baby glock I got later. I always pluck test new pistols before shooting my ammo. Found out it doesnt fit my p38 or my cz85.

I just got a kimber aegis elite custom oi 1911 9mm. Plunk tested at the range and saw my ammo wouldn't work, so plunked a factory pmc 115 through the ejection port and seemed free so shot a box of those. Nothing bad happened and had an ES of 33fps for the whole box. Average of 1150fps

So today I'm prepping brass for new test loads with several powders since I have a chrono now and can really dive deep on getting some consistent rounds. I checked the pmc oal and was surprised some were as long as 1.158" so I pull barrel and plunk test properly this time and find that tho they do plunk , they cant turn in the chamber due to hitting the rifling.

I also have federal and blazer 115 9mm factory ammo. Federal passes plunk and turn. Blazer mostly pass but can feel one or two that seem to drag ever so slightly turning. Both of those brands ranged from 1.140-1.150 oal.

I recheck my other 9mm pistols and all factory passes in those until I get to my wife's kimber sapphire ultra carry . Pmc will stick in the barrel on it also.

I plunk an empty prepped and expanded case in my kimber barrel and measure how much is sticking out to know what I need to get to when measuring to make sure bullet is off the rifling. I start a dummy round with my zero bullets dropping OAL in steps. Finaly full plunk at 1.075 but wont turn free. 1.070 let's it turn free. ....so looking at 1.065 or maybe even 1.060 to be safe.

Apparently the zero bullets are a fairly fat ogive.

Shortest min seating depth I've found for 115 gr in books is hornadys book with xtps at 1.075. Not quite short enough with these bullets. And their info doesnt cover all the powders I wanted to try.

So not sure where to go at this point. I have 2000 of these bullets still cause I thought I liked em so I bought bulk.

Do I load em short at 1.060 and stay off max to make em work in everything?

I really dont want to have to have multiple 9mm loads for different guns. Really like this kimber . Was planning on optimizing a new loading for it and making sure it functioned in everything else.

Throat the chambers or whatever? Not really educated up on that.

Is that something Kimber should do since some brands of well known, mainstream factory ammo don't fit in the chambers properly on both kimber 1911s we own. Would like to think our $1200 and $1500 kimbers would be good to go from the factory.

No matter what I'm not modifying the p38, just dont really care to shoot it anyway and is fine with factory stuff. Maybe I'd do the cz , but I think it could be good with an OAL within what books have. It didnt look too bad on the plunk.

I seriously debated not reloading 9mm anymore until prices and availability problems for factory ammo came up again recently. That still may be the end result for 9mm for me, but since I have the component and everything I want to use them up at least and use this as a learning experience for in depth load development with the chronograph even if I decide to not continue loading it after these 2000 bullets are gone.

Any input on throating the barrels on the kimbers, extra short OAL 9mm, bullets on the lands, experience with the zero bullets etc is appreciated.

Seems like the best course of action would be to hopefully get kimber barrels done since they have problems with factory ammo, and then load shorter than I was at 1.150" (but still within book values) to make the shape of the zero bullets work in the other guns that fit factory ammo just fine.

But then if I do that and get another kimber ....may have problem again.


James
User avatar
jeep45238
Posts: 5925
Joined: Sun Feb 18, 2007 10:29 am
Location: SW Ohio
Contact:

Re: Problems loading for new kimber 1911 9mm

Post by jeep45238 »

It's not the ammo. Likely the chamber reamer was worn and it needs a finish reaming. They really need to up their QC.

I wouldn't buy a Kimber - their marketing budget is bigger than their gun making budget, and there's one in the case at work where the slide stop can't be removed for disassembly, and another with a slide so sluggish I'd be shocked it if loads a single round from the magazine.
http://shootingfordollars.org Where Firearms and Finances meet.

You can't truly call yourself peaceful unless you are capable of great violence. If you're not capable of violence, you're not peaceful, you're harmless.
-Important distinction
suedenflames68
Posts: 117
Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2012 10:22 pm
Location: east columbus

Re: Problems loading for new kimber 1911 9mm

Post by suedenflames68 »

That's kinda the conclusion I've drawn . Lots of people online with problems with kimbers and their customer service . Not really sure what to do.

If they would chamber factory stuff right I'd just load short I guess. But I shouldn't have to worry about some generic 115 factory ammo fitting.

Got a recommendation for a guy that throats em on facebook on another forum. But looked at brownells and looks like I can buy a reamer for same or less money than sending em out.

Some of these stories I read makes me not want to send in my guns to kimber to fix. But the unhappy people always yell the loudest. Plus my wife's is technically out of warranty, but I would hope they would fix it still.

Both the guns ran fine and seemed pretty accurate with the pmc ammo, eventhough they were apparently wedging the bullets into the rifling ....
Brian D.
Posts: 16229
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 8:42 pm
Location: SW Ohio

Re: Problems loading for new kimber 1911 9mm

Post by Brian D. »

Think I'd go with a little chamber reaming. A lot of Kimber 1911s have been sent out since day one with various tolerances that are just too tight. And/Or like jeep said, they used a reamer that was past its service life.
Quit worrying, hide your gun well, shut up, and CARRY that handgun!

********************************************************************************
1911 and Browning Hi Power Enthusianado.
suedenflames68
Posts: 117
Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2012 10:22 pm
Location: east columbus

Re: Problems loading for new kimber 1911 9mm

Post by suedenflames68 »

Well I sent a detailed email off to kimber and will see what they say. I've read that they usually make folks pay for shipping, but there have been exceptions to that. I feel this would be exception worthy. If I have to pay shipping probably cheaper and easier to either buy a throat reamer or send the barrels off to get done on my own. I like tools and doing stuff myself so I'll do some more research on that. Quick look at it , it appears easy and I'd have it for any future use.

James
User avatar
jeep45238
Posts: 5925
Joined: Sun Feb 18, 2007 10:29 am
Location: SW Ohio
Contact:

Re: Problems loading for new kimber 1911 9mm

Post by jeep45238 »

suedenflames68 wrote:Well I sent a detailed email off to kimber and will see what they say. I've read that they usually make folks pay for shipping, but there have been exceptions to that. I feel this would be exception worthy. If I have to pay shipping probably cheaper and easier to either buy a throat reamer or send the barrels off to get done on my own. I like tools and doing stuff myself so I'll do some more research on that. Quick look at it , it appears easy and I'd have it for any future use.

James

Personal opinion, having done a fair bit of 9mm 1911 over the last year - sell it when it gets back. Springfield commanders were the best bang-for-buck I personally put my hands on, and they passed the 10-8 extractor test like a champ right out of the box. Dan Wessons needed the extractor pad fitted out of the box to do the same.
http://shootingfordollars.org Where Firearms and Finances meet.

You can't truly call yourself peaceful unless you are capable of great violence. If you're not capable of violence, you're not peaceful, you're harmless.
-Important distinction
suedenflames68
Posts: 117
Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2012 10:22 pm
Location: east columbus

Re: Problems loading for new kimber 1911 9mm

Post by suedenflames68 »

Had to look up that extractor test. Interesting stuff. I've basically sworn off springfield after a bad experience with with an xds that wouldn't function and they way it was handled by them. Maybe one day I'll give em another chance
User avatar
jeep45238
Posts: 5925
Joined: Sun Feb 18, 2007 10:29 am
Location: SW Ohio
Contact:

Re: Problems loading for new kimber 1911 9mm

Post by jeep45238 »

suedenflames68 wrote:Had to look up that extractor test. Interesting stuff. I've basically sworn off springfield after a bad experience with with an xds that wouldn't function and they way it was handled by them. Maybe one day I'll give em another chance
XD's are guns designed and made in Croatia, and only brought in by Springfield because of a business opportunity (cheap gun nobody recognized, HS200 I think?). It's a totally different beast than their 1911 lineup. I don't refuse to do business based off one-off deals, but I do based off of patterns. Just a thought.
http://shootingfordollars.org Where Firearms and Finances meet.

You can't truly call yourself peaceful unless you are capable of great violence. If you're not capable of violence, you're not peaceful, you're harmless.
-Important distinction
suedenflames68
Posts: 117
Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2012 10:22 pm
Location: east columbus

Re: Problems loading for new kimber 1911 9mm

Post by suedenflames68 »

Problems with any product happens... repeated problems with their customer service and never being made fully right was the pattern for me. Might add one of their 1911s to the collection one day though.

James
Brian D.
Posts: 16229
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 8:42 pm
Location: SW Ohio

Re: Problems loading for new kimber 1911 9mm

Post by Brian D. »

That early gun from Croatia was the HS2000. I bought one because it was so inexpensive. Nothing wrong with it and someday those pre-Springfield Armory guns may be collectibles. (Don't laugh, priced a first generation Glock 17 (or ultra rare 19) with original box/accessories lately?)

Anyway, the 1911 in 9mm can be a fickle beast compared to the originals in .45 acp.
Quit worrying, hide your gun well, shut up, and CARRY that handgun!

********************************************************************************
1911 and Browning Hi Power Enthusianado.
User avatar
jeep45238
Posts: 5925
Joined: Sun Feb 18, 2007 10:29 am
Location: SW Ohio
Contact:

Re: Problems loading for new kimber 1911 9mm

Post by jeep45238 »

Brian D. wrote:Anyway, the 1911 in 9mm can be a fickle beast compared to the originals in .45 acp.
Very much so. The easy button 1911 answer is a 5" 45 government model, steel frame - they tend to have the most leeway for error in the build process.
http://shootingfordollars.org Where Firearms and Finances meet.

You can't truly call yourself peaceful unless you are capable of great violence. If you're not capable of violence, you're not peaceful, you're harmless.
-Important distinction
Post Reply