I have a Kimber Crimson Ultra Carry II along with my original 70 series Colt. I have been reading and tinkering with the Colt based upon information in the two books by Kuleck. My most recent work on the Colt was to install an oversized firing pin stop as the original had some play. That worked quite well.
My question relates to the Kimber. I took a look at it and the FPS is terribly loose and will rotate around the FP easily. The extractor is quite easy to rotate as well because of this. Functionally the psitol works fine - no feed or ejection problems. Should I leave well enough alone or should I get an oversized FPS for this one too. By the way, this is my carry piece.
I would fit an oversize FPS in the Kimber also.
Quote:
I took a look at it and the FPS is terribly loose and will rotate around
the FP easily. The extractor is quite easy to rotate as well because of this.
Functionally the psitol works fine - no feed or ejection problems. Should I
leave well enough alone or should I get an oversized FPS for this one too. By
the way, this is my carry piece.
Man, that's a tough decision. On the one hand, I'm a firm believer in the old New Englander dictum: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
On the other hand, if the extractor can rotate, it has the potential to one day rotate just the right way to cause a malfunction.
Since this is a carry gun, I'd go ahead and fit the FPS. If, after extensive trials, the pistol does not function as well with the new FPS, you can always go back.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is the slogan of the complacent, the arrogant or the scared. It's an excuse for inaction, a call to non-arms. - Colin Powell
Please change the Kimber firing pin stop as the one Kimber uses is actually a Series 80 type stop and the clearance cut on the right side meant for the Series 80 plunger lever creates a square hole directly inline with the push rod. This can really damage the push rod or tie up the slide when assembling or field stripping. Use the Series 70 style stop and the hole will be blocked and flush in the slide. This is in addition to the improved extractor holding, and added slide resistance.
Cawalter, I removed the series 80 style FPS as you suggested. I tried the series 70 FPS that I had removed from my Colt. This one fit snug in the Kimber and took care of the slop in the FPS and the rotation of the extractor. I will give it a try at the range within the next week.
Using this series 70 FPS made reassembly a bit more tricky as it wanted to hang up on the FP saftety plunger. I needed "to hold my mouth right" to get it back together.
Quote:
Cawalter, I removed the series 80 style FPS as you suggested. I tried the
series 70 FPS that I had removed from my Colt. This one fit snug in the Kimber
and took care of the slop in the FPS and the rotation of the extractor. I will
give it a try at the range within the next week.
Using this series 70 FPS made reassembly a bit more tricky as it wanted to hang up on the FP saftety plunger. I needed "to hold my mouth right" to get it back together.
I believe you may be referring to the push rod, the firing pin safety plunger is in the slide. Here's a picture of the EGW square bottom stop next to the one Kimber uses in two Kimber slides. If the stop you have substituted hangs below the slide it should be fitted to be flush.
CAWalter, Ah ha! You have caught me and exposed my inexperience with the Kimber. It has extra safety parts that my Colt does not and I'm unfamiliar with the terminology. Your photos helped.
I checked the FPS and it was proud of the slide so I stoned it to be flush as you directed. That should be fixed properly now. Everything reassembled smoothly. Thanks for your help on this and your patience with a newbie.
The thing I originally thought the slide was hanging on is a protruding pin just to the side of the disconnector in the frame. I presume it is part of the safety system and again I don't know what it is called.
Quote:
CAWalter, Ah ha! You have caught me and exposed my inexperience with the
Kimber. It has extra safety parts that my Colt does not and I'm unfamiliar
with the terminology. Your photos helped.
I checked the FPS and it was proud of the slide so I stoned it to be flush as you directed. That should be fixed properly now. Everything reassembled smoothly. Thanks for your help on this and your patience with a newbie.
The thing I originally thought the slide was hanging on is a protruding pin just to the side of the disconnector in the frame. I presume it is part of the safety system and again I don't know what it is called.
The term for that part is the "push rod" and is activated by the grip safety, hence the warning to not depress the grip safety when removing, or installing the slide.
If a FPS isn't flush (specifically, if it's under-flush) what type of a problem can it cause? I can see stoning it down if it is standing proud but if it's a little shy the other way what harm can it cause?
But that's just a guess on my part. Maybe CAW or someone else knows for sure.
I have just returned from the range to try out the installation of the series 70 style FPS to my Kimber.
I put 100 rounds through and everything functioned perfectly. I did note one change though - no dinged case mouths. The last time I shot I had some case mouth dings similar to the ones I get on my unmodified series 70 Colt. The Kimber has the lowered and flared ejection port so I didn't think I would get that kind of case damage. Apparently, fixing the loose FPS and preventing clocking of the extractor has made this improvement.
It could also be (if you only broke the bottom edge of the FPS instead of the heavy radius usually found on most guns) that it slowed the slide momentum down a bit. Maybe the dings were caused by short-stroking? Just a thought.