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I am considering purchasing a Kimber Solo carry. Saw this gun for the 1st time last week at Academy Sports and almost bought it right then. It's pricey, and I liked the look and feel of it, however, the next day I thought I'd look online and read some reviews and have seen that there have been problems with this particular gun, namely that one must use certain ammo with it or it has problems. A lot of these reviews though are a couple years old and I wanted more info.

So, my question is: does anyone know if these issues have been corrected, or does Kimber still suggest only certain types of ammo, etc? (I realize that I could just go to the Kimber web site but I'd rather hear feedback from those who have first hand experience with this gun.

My youngest son has one and likes it. It will not reliably feed 115 gr ammo and the manual even states to use 124 gr. (or perhaps heavier, but I'm not sure).

Chas.

dwsintxs wrote:I am considering purchasing a Kimber Solo carry. Saw this gun for the 1st time last week at Academy Sports and almost bought it right then. It's pricey, and I liked the look and feel of it, however, the next day I thought I'd look online and read some reviews and have seen that there have been problems with this particular gun, namely that one must use certain ammo with it or it has problems. A lot of these reviews though are a couple years old and I wanted more info.

So, my question is: does anyone know if these issues have been corrected, or does Kimber still suggest only certain types of ammo, etc? (I realize that I could just go to the Kimber web site but I'd rather hear feedback from those who have first hand experience with this gun.

I went through the same process and decided against the Solo. I love the way it feels in my hand but I need Glock level reliability and durability.

I had a solo for about a week before i sold it. I got it for my wife and she could barely rack the slide and i myself had a little trouble. other than that it was small, light, and a beautiful gun. If it would have been then stainless version or the cdp i would have kept it. a dealer told me that the stainless and cdp are made with better internal parts as well, YMMV. didn't have trouble with 115 but i imagine 115 + limp wrist = malfunctions.

well, I am now backing off of my intent to get one. Too many problems, and they're fairly pricey. I just thought it looked good, was small, and I had always thought, and heard, that Kimber made high-end products . . .

dwsintxs wrote:well, I am now backing off of my intent to get one. Too many problems, and they're fairly pricey. I just thought it looked good, was small, and I had always thought, and heard, that Kimber made high-end products . . .

They actually made the gun too well and that's why it has problems.... the tolerances are very small on those guns and that's why they are hard to rack and why you need more powder to really smack that slide back when firing.

Not to change the subject slightly, but what Academy did you see the Kimber at? I haven't seen any Kimbers at Houston area Academys - sure would be nice if they started carrying them.

I also was thinking about a Solo a while back, after the negative reviews back then I decided on a Springfield EMP in 9mm, glad I did as it has been perfect and points naturally...

I was in the same boat as a lot of you guys. I like Kimber products and often carry a Crimson Carry which functions flawlessly. I love the look, size and weight of the Solo and came within a hair of buying one for my wife. I had just heard too much negative stuff about that gun and the price was really high so I passed on it and ended up getting an M&P shield and later an XDs, both of which shoot great. I think if the Kimber cost a little less I would just get it and try it out and let it be a range gun if I did not trust it. All that said, I really have had excellent experience with Kimber products so I may have let the negative stuff influence me too much.

My wife wanted a new gun for purse carry, as she would not carry her G19.
We went and looked at a number of smaller guns with manual safeties for her to purse carry.
She fell in love with the Kimber Solo Stainless about 2 years ago.

We bought it.

We have shot 124grain hollow points (only a few)
We have shot many 115 grain target rounds of various brands and from brass to steel casings.

Have had no feed or fire issues, except my mistake in reassembly and not having something proper.

Once I figured that out, no issues with any ammo.

In another forum a guy has been talking about his new Solo and for him it's been handgun perfection having tested it for many 100s of rounds. So I get interested myself and surf on it, and of course find another posting where someone's new Solo (in January) doesn't reliably shoot anything! Maybe that January situation was with a Solo that was "new old stock" or something, but in any case I think that once again if you look hard enough at anything you will find detractors.

I bought a Sig P938 myself and at the LGS they advised (or warned me, if you prefer) to shoot it and "break it in" before carrying. As mentioned already, some of these pieces are built to fine tolerances and need to be exercised a bit.

Pete92FS - The Kimber I saw was at the Academy in Plano TX, it's just a mile or two from where I live so I shop there often. They did have several Kimbers in their display case, although the Solo was the only 9mm, the others were the .45's.

I guess I will just keep carrying my new M&P Shield 9mm. It shoots very well and is my EDC now.

Pete92FS wrote:Not to change the subject slightly, but what Academy did you see the Kimber at? I haven't seen any Kimbers at Houston area Academys - sure would be nice if they started carrying them.

The one in Pasadena - just south of Fairmont on Beltway 8 had one last weekend

From everything I have read it seems they are hit or miss and that's enough for me to never want to waste my time with one. My wife liked it when she was shopping for a compact 9mm but she ended up with a Kahr PM9, based on reading about all the problems encountered by Solo owners. There are enough high quality, reliable 9mms out there to bother with a problem child.

Big Bronze Rim wrote:From everything I have read it seems they are hit or miss and that's enough for me to never want to waste my time with one. My wife liked it when she was shopping for a compact 9mm but she ended up with a Kahr PM9, based on reading about all the problems encountered by Solo owners. There are enough high quality, reliable 9mms out there to bother with a problem child.

Agree 100%. "Hit or miss" doesn't cut it at that price level. As a whole, Kimber is overhyped, IMHO.