Buying parts for Kimber Compact. Help needed

[harlenm]

I'm buying a few replacement parts for my Kimber Compact because I've got quite a few rounds through it and thought I'd change them.

I'm buying them from brownells if that matters.

Anyway, my question is mainly on the extractor. They have series 70 and series 80 as different part numbers. I don't know which one to buy. I don't understand the difference between 70 and 80.

Also, firing pin and firing pin stops sometimes have different part numbers for 70 or 80.

All help is greatly apprecitated.

[Jim Watson]

Series 70 and Series 80 are Colt trademarks for THEIR guns with THEIR design mutations. A Series 70 Colt has the collet barrel bushing and no firing pin block. So the simpletons of the world now call any 1911 (and many other autopistols) without the complication of a firing pin block a "Series 70" even if it is not a Colt.

A Series 80 Colt has a firing pin block of distinctive design. There is the plunger and spring in the slide and two levers in the frame not found on earlier guns. The firing pin is grooved to let the plunger block it in the down position, the extractor is notched to clear the plunger and has a lip to retain it when the slide is off the gun, and the firing pin stop is machined to clear the frame levers.

Para Ordnance uses the same design, KIMBER DOES NOT. If your Kimber has a "II" in the model designation on the slide it is a "Series II" with their DIFFERENT design of firing pin block. I don't know which Colt designated pieces to use, if any. If your Kimber is an earlier gun without the "Series II" firing pin block, then "Series 70" parts are correct.

[harlenm]

I dont' have a series II, it's an older gun. Just got off the phone with someone from Wilson Combat and he told me that there are 2 different types of firing pin stops. If it has one notch on the left side, it's a series 70, if the notches are on both sides, buy parts for a series 80.

Anyway, I bought new springs direct from kimber. The only thing that I would need to buy would be a new extractor or a new firing pin.

[LeadStorm]

You want all series 70 parts for your Kimber. If you have a few tools and are used to working on your own guns, you might consider the EGW oversize firing pin stop that you can custom fit. Brownells part # 296-000-058. The Wilson bulletproof extractor would also be a good choice. You can use a series 80 extractor on series 70 and 80 guns but just order the series 70 for the Kimber.

[Ken Rainey]

Yep, like LeadStorm said, an EGW firing pin stop is good to have - you'll have to fit it and lightly break (radius) the bottom edge that pushes on the hammer - actually, the 1911 was designed like this to start with but then it was radiused even more to make it easier to rack the slide with the hammer down. Otherwise, a Briley is a good one for a factory shaped replacement.

I like the Cylinder and Slide extractors because they are made of spring steel like they're suppose to be...a little fitting will probably be required but then it should be good for a very, very long time (especially if you're using the right type of magazines - with the dimpled followers). You can order the extractor online from www.cylinder-slide.com.

Nowlin makes a good firing pin...or you can get another from Kimber (possibly free).

Edited to say that you can probably get all of your parts from Kimber - possibly free - unless you prefer the parts made of different material than Kimber uses??? If the parts are worn and you tell Kimber that, they may send you free replacement parts....'course, they may want you to send them the pistol and let them install them....worth a try..??? If you just want to replace the parts with factory parts and Kimber won't send them, Chip McCormick is the "brand" they use.

[harlenm]

After doing more research, it appears that everything is standard series 70 except for the firing pin stop, which is compeletly different than anything I see online for series 70 or series 80. It looks closer to a series 80, but still different.

I ordered replacement springs straight from Kimber, and a bullet proof extractor from brownells.

[harlenm]

Got my springs in the mail from Kimber, and my extractor will arrive next week.

Gun should be as good as new soon!

PS, Kimber recommends changing springs every 800 rounds. That seems really low. That would be once to twice a year changing springs.

[Ken Rainey]

Yep, the shorter slide 1911 pistols require more frequent recoil spring changes...the EGW firing pin stop would assist in delaying the slides reward travel due to it's square bottom and would probably increase your recoil springs life (and probably the pistols too).

Look up 1911Tuners threads on THR.org concerning this - he puts them in a lot of pistols. It requires a little fitting (sanding) but then you have a perfectly fit firing pin stop that eliminates any possible problem with extractor clocking or the stop itself being too loose and possibly falling out of it's slot when the firing pin spring got just a little weak.

I see that Brownells now lists two of these type stops, one says it has rounded corners, which is a good thing to prevent cracking. I know that the original has squared edges (I slightly rounded mine to help prevent cracking) - I guess thats the only difference in them but they are the same price - I'd go for the rounded corners if I needed another, the one that LeadStorm recommended. It may not require much, if any, additional radius on the bottom edge that hits the hammer. It's catalog # is 296-000-058 (the original one is 296-100-001).

If you prefer just to keep the factory style firing pin stop with the easier-to-rack-with-the-hammer-down radius, then any 70 series will do and will probably (hopefully) still require just a little fitting (which is good - you want it snug)....I have used the Briley FPS - it's # is 129-120-045 - all of these numbers are for blued parts - thats all the EGW comes in but the Briley is available in stainless steel just change the last three digits to 145. They are all the same price: $15.00

Another thing is that you really want to make sure your magazine springs are strong since the shorter slides give less time for the magazine to get the bullet in line for feeding. Just something to be aware of...I've seen people replace their recoil springs and then start having problems because the magazine spring was too weak to keep up with the new recoil spring. Of course this would depend on how much you have used your magazines and is why I always keep magazines just for carry and mags just for practice.

Good luck,
Ken

[harlenm]

I don't use the gun too often, but I do keep the mags loaded all the time.

I have 4 mags, 2 kimbers(mccormik) and 2 wilson's. I was having a lot of feeding problems when I first got the gun and the Wilson's helped with that. However, I have used the stock mags since and they work fine. I think it was just the crappy ammo that I was using at the time when I first bought the Kimber.

Will probably order a new firing pin and firing pin stop when I need to do another order with brownells for other misc. gun things.

[Kruzr]

A Kimber, either a pre-Series II or a Series II, can use either a Series 70 or Series 80 type extractor. The firing pin block does not intrude into the extractor channel like on a Series 80.