I have heard various reports with regard to Kimber and their extractors. As far as Kimber guns are concerned, is the internal or external extractor better and why? Looking for opinions as well as past experiences. Thanks.
My TLE/II is back at Kimber right now... was an external, it'll come back home as an internal. The external was OK, then it was perfect, but it went down hill fast and it when back to Kimber. Their Customer Service is great.
I'd stick with the internal extractors, the gun smiths know how to work on them. The external was a good concept, but as you will hear, Kimber is replacing all the external extractored guns that come in for warranty on FTF, FTE issues, with internal extractors.
I'd stay away from any used Kimber that has an External Extractor, unless you can test fire at least a few mags before buying it.
Yeah, their external extractors didn't work out.
Find a model with an internal extractor and you should be okay.
I must say I have had two with a total of over 3000 rounds on each and both have external extractors and I dont think either has had a hick-up. I use reloads always.
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Well, let's be fair, and tell the whole story.
"In the beginning, Kimber had internal extractors in their 1911 pattern pistols, as the pistol was originally designed to have. But alas! These extractors were not made of appropriately tempered spring steel as JMB intended, and as a result they tended to lose tension quickly. Kimber took a lot of heat for the high rate of failures of their high-dollar 1911 pistoles to feed/extract reliably. Rather than switch construction materials, Kimber moved to a then-fashionable external extractor. Why? Marketing forces and cost. Nobody wanted to hear how a properly made internal extractor could be/might be/is/is not better than an external extractor - everybody was too busy being an expert and castigating Kimber for not moving the 1911 pattern pistol into modern times and making the extractor look just like every other pistol made in the last fifty years. At the same time, the manufacturing beancounters were busy whispering into Kimber's ear that external extractors could be made more cheaply (less fitting labor) than those antiquated and outdated internal extractors. So Kimber bowed to market pressure and cost (which is what Kimber does best) and redesigned their CCW line of pistols to use external extractors. Most everyone applauded this except the 1911 purists (who maintained that a simple internal extractor was all that was needed if it was made well). Kimber's fortunes, and the virtues of external extractors on 1911-pattern pistols, were extolled throughout the press and on every electronic forum.
Slowly, then more quickly, reports start coming in that there were a relatively high rate of breakages of the new Kimber gee-whiz external extractor. Seems that Kimber was having the external extractors made via a MIM process that was not too well sorted out on the QA/QC side of life, and they were getting a higher-than-expected failure rate on the new extractor. The failure mode was simple - a fracture of the extractor that caused the critical little hook part of the extractor to part company with the pistol and seek entropy. Moreover, the entry angle on the bottom of the extractor was a bit off sometimes, occasionally preventing the extractor from allowing the rim of the cartridge to easily slide up under the hook of the extractor. Tres horrible! This manufacturing gaffe on the part of Kimber allowed the 1911 purists come dashing from the sidelines, proclaiming their correctness and advocating a return to the glory days of yesteryear when internal extractors ruled the day and 'semi-custom' affordable 1911-pattern pistols were but a pipe dream. Kimber, sensing that the tides of fortune had swung the other way, did what Kimber does best and immediately abandoned the external extractor, proudly proclaiming their devout adherence to the spirit of JMB and his design in all its purity (nevermind the firing pin safety bit). And there is stands. Kimber still can't make an internal extractor worth a hoot, but they've learned their lesson - it's better to suffer from warranty claims for using bad materials in the original design than to deal with warranty claims on a design departure.
The End."
There is no doubt that an internal extractor design is a more elegant solution, but it also requires a specific material composition and proper setup to work well. External extractors are admittedly less elegant (three parts instead of one) but are brain-dead simple to set up and keep running so long as they parts themselves don't fracture and are properly shaped.
In my humble opinion - the Kimber external extractors in circulation on existing pistols that are shooting well are probably going to stay fine, in that if they were going to break it woulda happened by now. However, on the other hand Kimber STILL does not know how to make and install an internal extractor worth a hoot, and they STILL will lose tension and cease to work properly faster than they should.
Were it me in possession of a Kimber with an external extractor, I'd shoot the snot outta the pistol. If it works, be happy and trust it. If it's going to have issues, the issues would reveal themselves in short order. If there *are* issues, I'd not trust the Kimber internal extractor any more than I would their external. Oh, you can have Kimber install an internal extractor. But be prepared to find a good 1911 pistolsmith within the next year and have a decent spring steel extractor fitted.
Always good to get the whole story rather than trying to piece it together from little bits.
I prefer the asthetics of the internal extractor. The one on my Colt XSE has done nothing but work!
I say internal, especially on a Kimber. Smith and Sig at least seem to be able to make an external work right, even though a 1911 deserves an internal. BTW, for all of the Kimber fans who insist the Kimber external works just great, although I'm happy for you if yours runs right, if Kimber had such a great design extractor, how come they went thru 4 or 5 design changes, and now are going back to an internal?
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Oh, you can have Kimber install an internal extractor.
If you want a good replacement internal extractor (for a slide that already has an internal extractor) you can buy one from Wilson Combat for $30 and install it yourself. They're very easy to put in. Then when you don't like the way the brass is flyin outa yer gun you get on here and ask Tuner how to adjust the extractor since you now have a good one that can be tuned.