Kimber Leaves New York

[Chemist45]

About time.
Who's next?
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/kimbe ... re-hiring/

[03Lightningrocks]

I bet taxes had a lot to do with why they moved.

[crazy2medic]

I never understood why the gun manufacturing companies stayed in gun hostile States, plenty of gun friendly States that would welcome them with open arms and tax breaks!

[Ruark]

I never understood why the gun manufacturing companies stayed in gun hostile States, plenty of gun friendly States that would welcome them with open arms and tax breaks!

Obviously a good question. Among other things, it may have to do with the complexity of relocating an entire manufacturing plant. Not a trivial operation, I'm sure.

[jb2012]

Maybe with a new location, there will be a refreshment to their QC.

[Rafe]

Kimber actually started out in Clackamas, Oregon, in '79 or '80. After a change of ownership, it filed bankruptcy in 1989. In the mid-'90s one of the original founders, Greg Warne, tried to resurrect the company. He found financial backing from a businessman named Les Edelman who at the time owned a company called Nationwide Sports Distributors. At that same time, Edelman also invested in Yonkers-based Jerico Precision Manufacturing. Edelman gained majority interest in Kimber, forced Warne out, and brought all Kimber manufacturing to Yonkers and the Jerico Precision facility in, I think, 1997. It also owns, or owned, a separate manufacturing facility in Ridgefield, New Jersey.

I have a Kimber Classic Custom Target that was made in 1998 that's been a sweet shooter from the very first round. I think I paid around $700 for it. I have another Kimber 1911, won't specify the model, I bought in 2012 that needs to have an experienced gunsmith following it around all the time to keep it running. Nice looking gun and much more accurate than the gun's owner, but it's always been finicky even after a fluff & buff, a new extractor, different recoil springs, and deciding that the Wilson Elite Tactical was the only magazine it could be moderately happy with. Needless to say, this one never went into the carry rotation.

Let's hope the move to Alabama is a great move for Kimber, a great move for Alabama, and a great move for improved 1911 quality control. (I hear good things about some of their hunting rifles, so I'll leave them out of the quality discussion having no firsthand experience.)

[AdioSS]

Obviously a good question. Among other things, it may have to do with the complexity of relocating an entire manufacturing plant. Not a trivial operation, I'm sure.

Even Beretta had lots of issues when they moved from Maryland to Tennessee.

[John Galt]

Good move.

[K.Mooneyham]

I'd like to see more firearms manufacturers move south. I wish our state could attract a good firearms manufacturer. Plenty of land to build on, a large workforce available, a major port city in the state, centrally located on rail and highways, and energy prices should be reasonable. What's not to love?

[flechero]

What's not to love?

The fact that it's turning purple.

[Oldgringo]

I never understood why the gun manufacturing companies stayed in gun hostile States, plenty of gun friendly States that would welcome them with open arms and tax breaks!

They weren't always 'gun hostile' states, you think?

[K.Mooneyham]

I've said it before, but I will say it again, seems that some folks really do have a defeatist attitude. Demoralization of the opposition is a psyop technique employed to weaken an opposing force so that they will be easier to defeat in armed combat. If you listen to Grima Wormtongue long enough, you will end up like King Théoden.