# Kimber Stainless Pro Carry II 9mm Jamming



## Raydog

My new Kimber jams repeatedly and virtually every shot results in a casing stuck in the chamber and the next round stuck 1/2 way in the ramp. Is there any cure for ejection problems aside from a 500 round break-in?

Kimber advises the slide may not be cycling completely to the rear but as the gun breaks in the spring will relax and eliminate this problem and to use 124 to 147 gr. ammo. This ammo is hard to find as well as expensive and clearing the dead casing every shot will take forever to break in the gun. By the time I get to 500 rounds the warranty period will be over! I live in Nashua NH and have to travel a distance for a range.

The gun is cleaned before and after use and the ramp is highly polished. The ejector hook (?) is internal on this gun and doesn't appear adjustable. The spring is admittedly tight.

Any suggestions? 
raydog


----------



## VAMarine

Save yourself the time and money and just send it back to Kimber and have them fix it.

There's a few things that may fix the issue, but that will mean parts and ammo for testing that you shouldn't have to be paying for.

Put the warranty to use.


----------



## Blunt

Hey, Raydog, I live in Concord. You probably shoot at the Firing Line in Manchester. I'm there every weekend (expensive hobby).

You can, of course, send it to Kimber for them to inspect and fix. You will be without your gun for a while, though. So, before you do that try these things yourself:
Load up a magazine and put it in with the slide forward. Work the slide with your hand stripping the magazine empty. If that worked well then I suspect it's not the extractor. It may be that your using cheap aluminium case ammo and its expanding into the chamber walls and getting stuck, even some brass loads may do this. Tula and Blazer non-brass are common aluminium cases. Yes, the gun should still cycle these, but that may be a problem until it's broken in.

If the rounds did NOT eject onto the floor when using your hand on the slide, then you need to do one slowly and analyse the situation. When you start pulling back, is the extractor grabbing the rim of the case securely - or just by a hair - or not at all (not securely - back to Kimber for a new extractor, assuming your not comfortable doing it yourself).

If it is secure and pulling the round out at first, is it then making it to the ejector or is it getting hung up on something like the top of the magazine? Is the ejector contacting the round in the bottom left of the case about an eighth inch before the slide is fully back? Kimber ejectors on my pro models only protrude about and eighth inch, so if the slide doesn't make it all the way to the rear, no ejector contact - then the round is pushed back into the chamber. You might want to try one box of defense loads (much hotter than typical target ammo), or even 10 rounds or so. If these all cycle perfectly, the problem is the slide not making it back to the point where the ejector can do its thing. Kimber wont fix this - breaking in the stiff recoil spring will fix this. Optionally you could buy a lighter aftermarket spring.

Hope this helped. I'm not a gunsmith, but I've fixed and customized many handguns for myself and others over the years. I don't suggest doing any gunsmith work to it while your under warranty, it will void it.


----------



## rex

Curing a stiff recoil spring is easy,you can lock the slide open a few days or sit there and cycle the slide a couple hundred times.That isn't your problem though,you aren't extracting the empty by the sounds of it.The extractor needs to be tuned or possibly it was fit more to 45 specs than 9mm.On a 9,the tip of the claw should burry into the cases groove,where the 45 only touches the flat to the case rim.Search extractor tuning or tension and you will find instructions on it's proper shape and how to tension it.

As mentioned,aluminum cases behave like steel cases,they don't contract after firing as fast as brass so sometimes the extractor slips off trying to pull it out.If tuning the extractor does nothing,or perhaps even a burr in the chamber (rare but happens),let Kimber fix it.My first guess without seeing it is weak tension,but.


----------



## Big_Blue

*Light behind the extractor?*

The attached picture was taken from my Taurus 24/7 G2C. 









You can see clearly that the extractor was not holding the casing tight against the breech. Yes, I know that your Kimber is an internal extractor, but you should be able to do the same test. Just remove your slide. Hold onto the base of the slide so the barrel opening points at the floor. Take a shell and slip it behind the extractor hook. It should hold tight. You should be able to move the barrel around without the shell coming out from the extractor.

If you see a gap like I did with mine and the gun is still under warranty I suggest sending it back. If it is no longer under warranty there are instructions on the web about removing the extractor from the back and placing a slight bend in it before reinserting it again.


----------



## Raydog

Hi Blunt
Tried your suggestion of manually cycling the slide and all the rounds ejected perfectly. I was using Blaze ammo that I got at Manchester Firing Line when the jams occured so I used the same for the test. I have some Fiocchi which I think is all brass and some Remington Defense (which is pretty expensive) but I think I'll try these this week.In the meantime, I think I'll lock the slide open for a while as rex suggested. I shoot during the week (retired) when it's not so busy. Might run into you some time there. By the way, I wanted to change sights on the Kimber but there was an infinite wait for the gunsmith. Seems they could use some more people!
Thanks for the help, I'll post the results when I shoot again.
raydog

QUOTE=Blunt;287606]Hey, Raydog, I live in Concord. You probably shoot at the Firing Line in Manchester. I'm there every weekend (expensive hobby). 
You can, of course, send it to Kimber for them to inspect and fix. You will be without your gun for a while, though. So, before you do that try these things yourself:
Load up a magazine and put it in with the slide forward. Work the slide with your hand stripping the magazine empty. If that worked well then I suspect it's not the extractor. It may be that your using cheap aluminium case ammo and its expanding into the chamber walls and getting stuck, even some brass loads may do this. Tula and Blazer non-brass are common aluminium cases. Yes, the gun should still cycle these, but that may be a problem until it's broken in.

If the rounds did NOT eject onto the floor when using your hand on the slide, then you need to do one slowly and analyse the situation. When you start pulling back, is the extractor grabbing the rim of the case securely - or just by a hair - or not at all (not securely - back to Kimber for a new extractor, assuming your not comfortable doing it yourself).

If it is secure and pulling the round out at first, is it then making it to the ejector or is it getting hung up on something like the top of the magazine? Is the ejector contacting the round in the bottom left of the case about an eighth inch before the slide is fully back? Kimber ejectors on my pro models only protrude about and eighth inch, so if the slide doesn't make it all the way to the rear, no ejector contact - then the round is pushed back into the chamber. You might want to try one box of defense loads (much hotter than typical target ammo), or even 10 rounds or so. If these all cycle perfectly, the problem is the slide not making it back to the point where the ejector can do its thing. Kimber wont fix this - breaking in the stiff recoil spring will fix this. Optionally you could buy a lighter aftermarket spring.

Hope this helped. I'm not a gunsmith, but I've fixed and customized many handguns for myself and others over the years. I don't suggest doing any gunsmith work to it while your under warranty, it will void it.[/QUOTE]


----------



## Raydog

Hi Blunt
Tried your suggestion of manually cycling the slide and all the rounds ejected perfectly. I was using Blaze ammo that I got at Manchester Firing Line when the jams occured so I used the same for the test. I have some Fiocchi which I think is all brass and some Remington Defense (which is pretty expensive) but I think I'll try these this week.In the meantime, I think I'll lock the slide open for a while as rex suggested. I shoot during the week (retired) when it's not so busy. Might run into you some time there. By the way, I wanted to change sights on the Kimber but there was an infinite wait for the gunsmith. Seems they could use some more people!
Thanks for the help, I'll post the results when I shoot again.
raydog

QUOTE=Blunt;287606]Hey, Raydog, I live in Concord. You probably shoot at the Firing Line in Manchester. I'm there every weekend (expensive hobby). 
You can, of course, send it to Kimber for them to inspect and fix. You will be without your gun for a while, though. So, before you do that try these things yourself:
Load up a magazine and put it in with the slide forward. Work the slide with your hand stripping the magazine empty. If that worked well then I suspect it's not the extractor. It may be that your using cheap aluminium case ammo and its expanding into the chamber walls and getting stuck, even some brass loads may do this. Tula and Blazer non-brass are common aluminium cases. Yes, the gun should still cycle these, but that may be a problem until it's broken in.

If the rounds did NOT eject onto the floor when using your hand on the slide, then you need to do one slowly and analyse the situation. When you start pulling back, is the extractor grabbing the rim of the case securely - or just by a hair - or not at all (not securely - back to Kimber for a new extractor, assuming your not comfortable doing it yourself).

If it is secure and pulling the round out at first, is it then making it to the ejector or is it getting hung up on something like the top of the magazine? Is the ejector contacting the round in the bottom left of the case about an eighth inch before the slide is fully back? Kimber ejectors on my pro models only protrude about and eighth inch, so if the slide doesn't make it all the way to the rear, no ejector contact - then the round is pushed back into the chamber. You might want to try one box of defense loads (much hotter than typical target ammo), or even 10 rounds or so. If these all cycle perfectly, the problem is the slide not making it back to the point where the ejector can do its thing. Kimber wont fix this - breaking in the stiff recoil spring will fix this. Optionally you could buy a lighter aftermarket spring.

Hope this helped. I'm not a gunsmith, but I've fixed and customized many handguns for myself and others over the years. I don't suggest doing any gunsmith work to it while your under warranty, it will void it.[/QUOTE]


----------



## Raydog

Hi Rex, Blunt and all..
Locked the slide open for a week then went to the range.. I shot 150 rounds of American Eagle (from the range stock) and
had 3 jams as compared to the previous trip's jamming about every other round. Thanks for the good advice, I'm really enjoying
my Kimber now!

Raydog


----------



## denner

Replace your stock spring with a Wolff recoil spring.


----------



## Tndlc

Had this problem with my Ultra Carry SS in 9mm. It was an ejector problem. Kimber sent a new one. Gunsmith at dealer tweaked the original and it works fine. I have a spare ejector.


----------



## Trekman

Just send it back to Kimber, don't waste a bunch of time and money trying to fix it. I can tell you from experience that Kimber customer service is top notch. You won't have to go without your pistol for long. I sent mine in and it got it back in less than 10 days. They will warranty their work for many years. I have had my Kimber stainless classic LE for 15 years and they didn't even ask when I bought it or proof of purchase when I called them to get an MRA number to send the gun in. The downside is you will have to send the gun UPS next day air and it will cost you about 80 bucks. Kimber will pick up the tab for the return trip.


----------

