Howard 538 Posted May 5, 2014 I have shot thousand of rounds of that ammo, and have a huge amount of it sitting around, so that would be a "very" good guess Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RS1200XL 4 Posted May 5, 2014 Such a sad sight for a beautiful gun. Glad to hear you're okay! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alec.mc 180 Posted May 5, 2014 friends dont let friends by kimbers http://njgunforums.com/forum/index.php/topic/68437-kimbers/ didnt you read that thread? Duh! glad you didnt get hurt howard. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PK90 3,573 Posted May 5, 2014 friends dont let friends by kimbers Freedom Munitions Ammo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Howard 538 Posted May 5, 2014 friends dont let friends by kimbers http://njgunforums.com/forum/index.php/topic/68437-kimbers/ didnt you read that thread? Duh! glad you didnt get hurt howard. Yea I know people like to hate Kimbers. It could have been worse, I could have been shooting a Block - then who knows what would have happened. At least this was a solid metal gun with metal magazine. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Barms 98 Posted May 5, 2014 About how and was the impact of shrap to your face? Like do you think if someone was wearing reading glasses as eye protection they would have broke? Was is that hard? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Old Dog 19 Posted May 5, 2014 Last week I bought and used reloaded .380 ammo to break in a new pocket gun. This is the first time I bought ammo other than new. I had three hang fires. The first time it happened, I tilted the gun so that the barrel was pointed towards the ceiling of the range so that I could better see if there was a double feed. It was then that it fired and put a bullet into the ceiling tiles. I will never buy reloaded or even hand loaded ammo again. Every gun I ever saw that blew up was shooting reloaded or hand loaded ammo. I am sure that some new factory ammo can do the same but not in my experience. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Howard 538 Posted May 5, 2014 I think reading glasses probably would have been ok. It was mostly dust and smoke but could have been worse. The only hard thing that hit me was the external extractor which broke and hit me in the cheek. Got a tiny cut that was not as bad as cutting yourself shaving. As for someone else's hand reloads I would be concerned as well. But this stuff came from a big outfit and the only difference between this stuff and factory new is that the casings have been used, other than that it is made on the same production equipment as new ammo. You can have new casings fail just as well as used ones, I really don't see much difference. This stuff looks pristine. Just this Saturday someone saw me loading my mags and commented on how bright and shiny this ammo was. Here are two pictures of the ammo: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alec.mc 180 Posted May 5, 2014 With wet tumbling you can make the grimiest oldest cases that have been fired 20 times look brand new. how shiny it is has nothing to do with the structural integrity of the brass Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jvheitz 5 Posted May 5, 2014 Starting??? What do you know about commercial ammo -- reloads or not I trust my reloads way more than anything made in bulk My reloads have a hand inspected case, a new properly seated primer, the correct amount of powder, a bullet seated to the proper depth and crimped properly Every one of my reloads is handled and inspected by me -- more than once Can anyone say that for any factory ammo? Howard -- glad your OK -- Factory don't mean squat for reliability THIS Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Barms 98 Posted May 5, 2014 He even makes ammo pictures beautiful!! Only Howard would be thinking about aperture and lighting for taking a picture of rounds. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Howard 538 Posted May 5, 2014 With wet tumbling you can make the grimiest oldest cases that have been fired 20 times look brand new. how shiny it is has nothing to do with the structural integrity of the brass That is a good point Alec. Besides being shiny the stuff has no visible nicks, dents, chips, cracks, etc.... The flip side of it is you can have structural problems with brand new casings too. At least something that is used once has proven itself in the real world I guess the bottom line is each person has to do whatever they feel comfortable with. Fortunately they said they will stand behind their product and cover any expenses I incur to fix the gun. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Howard 538 Posted May 5, 2014 He even makes ammo pictures beautiful!! Only Howard would be thinking about aperture and lighting for taking a picture of rounds. Thanks, but they are really just quick and dirty snap shots. I even did them with just the pop-up flash! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gunguy1960 2 Posted May 5, 2014 Fun hobby, saves money vs. Expensive explosions, to each his/her own. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cache 0 Posted May 5, 2014 That sucks but I'm glad you're ok. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pbkid6974 1 Posted May 6, 2014 Glad you're ok. But this is why I stay away from external extractors on 1911s. The design was not meant for it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Howard 538 Posted May 6, 2014 Glad you're ok. But this is why I stay away from external extractors on 1911s. The design was not meant for it. Curious, what do you mean that the design was not meant for it? What is the issue between internal and external? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silverado427 10,759 Posted May 6, 2014 My guess is Freedom Munitions that would be my guess also. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bry@n 195 Posted May 6, 2014 S&W makes an external extractor 1911 and I have never heard of problems with the gun. Their 9mm 1911 is a sweet gun. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Howard 538 Posted May 6, 2014 S&W makes an external extractor 1911 and I have never heard of problems with the gun. Their 9mm 1911 is a sweet gun. Yup here is my other .45 1911, its a S&W performance center and it too has an external extractor. Note - not my photo just hot linked to one I saw on the web Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steve_G 51 Posted May 6, 2014 Kimber has had problems with external extractors. Mostly extraction issues, not any safety problems. S&W went with an oversized external extractor and they seem to work quite well. I have not had any issues with my 9mm 1911 with well over 5k through the gun. Glad you're ok Howard. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
T Bill 649 Posted May 6, 2014 External extractors are a perfect example of a solution looking for a problem. External extractors are difficult to get to work, either they do or they don't. No real way to tinker to fine tune their performance. Internals can be worked to perform better. Kimber externals are known to be a problem. Glad your safe. I would make sure that firearm does not have a problem with out of battery firing. I know of two Kimbers that did. Both with similar results. Seems they may have a "sweet" spot where they are not quite in battery, but firing pin still drops. Both that I know where returned to Kimber for repair. One more than once. I would get a max case gauge and use it often. If you were rolling your own you would, so checking somebody else's work, just makes sense to me. A commercial reloader that takes brass from anybody and reloads it is just not on my goto list. I do use their sister's bullets and like them however. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pbkid6974 1 Posted May 7, 2014 Curious, what do you mean that the design was not meant for it? What is the issue between internal and external? I mean JMB did not design the 1911 with an external extractor for a reason. It is an inherently weak design and not as strong as the original intrenal extractor. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Howard 538 Posted May 20, 2014 Well I got the word today from Kimber that the gun is toast, a total loss. The frame is cracked and the slide is bulged. They offered me a new one for 30% off which I passed along to the ammo manufacturer. Here are the picture of the damage that they sent me: Frame crack Slide damage: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gunnz 49 Posted May 20, 2014 Does kimber have the "authority" to make you the same model with the same serial number , so you wouldn't need to go through the permit process? I would think they could.... But then again, logic isn't always lawful.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Howard 538 Posted May 20, 2014 Don't know, but my guess is they will give me something off the shelf. Even if they could give me that serial I would think it would take a long time to do that. Just so happens I went in this morning to renew two permission slips that were to expire tomorrow. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vlad G 345 Posted May 21, 2014 Well it did its job. It kept the rapidly accelerating bits from becoming rapidly decelerating bits in your flesh. I call it a success even if the gun is a total loss. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Howard 538 Posted May 21, 2014 I'm with you on that for sure ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bry@n 195 Posted May 21, 2014 Vlad's right. Could have been worse Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wolfy 51 Posted May 21, 2014 Anytime a gun goes kaboom and you didn't require a trip to the ER you should consider yourself lucky. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites