The colt must be “more forgiving” and don’t worry bout sounding condescending. Im here to take in and learn. While dry firing it, I did have a slight pull/push to left but concentrated to try and squeeze correctly while on the range.
Also I do use the top of the front blade as my sight picture. That could be a big issue right there.
I sent the gun back to the factory. So it’s a wait and see. And yeah I’ll take my son back to the range w me. Cause he already told me it’s the operator and not the gun. Appreciate your input.
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I do use the top of the blade as my zero or sight picture/alignment. That’s gonna be a process to change that old habit. Good to know. Appreciate your input.
Expert?! I wish. Novice at best. Honestly I just thought I would have better groups at 10yds. I don’t even try and shoot out to 25yds. What I’m hearing is the aluminum frame is less forgiving. And the tight Kimber tolerances will show any bad habits I probably have. I appreciate your input.
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And also 4" and 3" guns are tougher on the shooter if there are any imperfections on the trigger pull or grip. One of my best friends was just about to sell a beautiful Colt Stainless Commander that he was been having exactly the same issues you describe.
We went to the range together one day and he was showing me how “off” the sights on his gun were and his big groups all hitting low and left (he is right handed). I watched him for 5 shots and stopped him. I adjusted his grip and asked him to put pressure on the frame in a certain way and BINGO. All his shots where going to a nice tight group dead center. This was about 5 years ago and to this day he will bring that up n conversation ANYTIME anyone talks about a gun delivering bad groups to a low left POI.
Glad you took my comment in the light given. We are only here to help!
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I’ve had a Kimber for 15+ years, but haven’t put many rounds through it… got back into it recently but with the ammo crunch it’s back on the backburner. Only issue I had was user related (I’m pretty sure).
In regards to your issues, how tight were the groups?
As others mentioned, the combat hold (front sight dot directly in the middle of the target) is right on with mine. On my revolvers and my target USP, I have adjustable sights and use a center hold. This is highly likely the issue with yours shooting low.
Assuming the sights are correct (they might not be), does your Gold Cup have a short trigger, medium, or long? If your Gold Cup’s trigger is short, you might need to change your finger position compared to newer 1911’s.
With the FTF, was it the first round of every mag or randomly throughout each mag? Did you try different mags? Did you check the extractor tension? What ammo were you using?
Pics related to above discussion…
Combat Hold:
Center Hold:
Long trigger vs short trigger:
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So…I have to ask, do you recall what, how, or where the adjustment was made? It’s worth a shot…pun intended.
Imma have to wait for the kimber to come back from shop. But “I think”, could be wrong, the kimber is a shorter pull than my colt.
My best group (if ya call it that) was 4 shots in a straight 12 to 6 line bout 4” top to bottom. Otherwise I was destroying the 9 o’clock up and down the target.
And it always FTF and the first round of the next mag. Seems my old colt mags did better than the new kimber. Not once while shooting same mag and not a single FTE.
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Yeah I pay $50 bucks for a box 230fmj. And that’s if I can find any. So my range sessions are expensive and limited. Needless to say my first experience w my new kimber was a let down. No way I can carry it till I get this figured out. And I will!
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Of course but it might or might not help you though I suspect it will. Keep in mind, everyone is different and I gave him information pertinent to HIS issue that I observed, I guess in his case it pays to have an instructor that can’t help himself as a buddy 
.
I moved his supporting hand higher up on the grip and bent his wrist forward to orient it more towards the front of the frame. Then I asked him to put constant pressure on the frame with his supporting hand thumb.
Basically from this:
To this:
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Going from top of this page to the bottom I would have to say your beloved Colt Gold Cup has different grips. A consistent 4" drop and 2" left indicates to me that your grip is solid but the mechanical grip on the pistol is changed. Slab scales on most modern pistols are NOT the same as the scales on an old Colt. 10 yards is 30’ which is where you will see things like a difference in grip thickness or shape. Back strap is another issue that most folks overlook, straight or curved? Extended or bobbed all have an effect with how the gun handles in our hands when it goes bang. Further in the weeds is the drop of the beaver tail if it has one.
Personally I would not piss on a Kimber if the shooter was on fire but that is me. They do make a good piece most of the time now’a days but I remember them when they came out. My recent experiences with my son’s custom shop pistol has re enforced that. I stated my observations of the issue prior to my persona bias to make sure they were separate.
Cheers,
Craig6
Like almost all 1911s of that era including Colts and such, most (all?) of the issues with early Kimbers were caused by crappy factory mags with old style feed lips unsuitable for Hollow Points and with crappy old style followers. I’m currently CCing an original Compact from before the firing pin safety and with Chip McCormick Match mags it’s a flawless and stupid accurate performer. The new Kimbers are also flawless performers with premium mags, all of mine run like Swiss watches on their premium Pro Tac mags.
Looking forward to an update on whether the trip to Kimber fixed things or not… also with your sighting picture change.
I guess I might add, besides the grip differences and MSH differences that Craig mentioned, did you check the trigger stop adjustment? I notice on some of my DA/SA pistols, that some with a LOT of overtravel tend to pull my shots left… I don’t know if the short pull on a 1911 would make a difference, but it’s easy enough to check with a snap cap and dry firing while aiming.
My main concern is if they can fix the FTF issue.
Interesting. I was kinda hoping that that might be the case. Heres the thing. I took the pachmayr gribs off my beloved colt and put them on the kimber. Without ever shooting it. So I was thinking bout going back to the stock gribs. Any way. While at the range the cup accuracy didn’t change w stock grips.
Gotta a lot good feedback tho, lots to digest.
Yeah dude, that colt has never mis-feed, always ejects. Just an absolute trooper. Can’t make it my everyday carry, would be afraid to loose, case I ever had to use it. Appreciate your input.
Me too bro, thanks.
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Hate to sound like Capt Obvious, kimber needs to step up their mag game. I was aware of the mag issue, during my small amount of research. But was hoping to to avoid that bug-a-boo. Once I figure out the accuracy issue, I’ll have to invest in some mags. Thanks Enzo
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Their newer mags are pretty good nowadays but for so many years I’ve been buying premium mags for my 1911s that I just automatically put factory mags of any 1911 I buy into the “range” mag box and carry with my Premium mags in the gun. As the years go by and older mags fail I just crush them and dispose of them. Frankly I can’t remember a mag induced failure on any of my Kimber’s or any other 1911 in probably over 10 years now. Technology and QC have caught up with that crucial part of the pistol and many manufacturers have realized the my stupidly got a reputation for unreliable guns because of their use of cheap mags.
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@Enzo_T I’m glad the Kimber’s you have have worked for you. I worked as a smith in a shop when Kimber’s first came out in 1911 (I guess 1988 ish) and it wasn’t the mags. We generally reserved the title “Ronco Gun in a Box” for the Marlin 66 and Remmy 1100’s with the funny o-rings since they were easy to get apart but a bear to put back together. That was overtaken by Kimber 1911’s in a matter of about 6 mos. The number of broken internals (pins mostly as well as sheered off hammers) I fixed kept me in scotch and gun parts money for some time.
Fast forward to 5 - 6 mos ago and my oldest bought a Kimber Custom SS 1911. Funny thing was it wouldn’t chamber any ammo. The boy brought it over and I stripped it down, told him I would look at it but wouldn’t work on it because I told him previously “Never buy a Kimber”. Looked down the barrel, it was shiny and smooth from one end to the other. The only problem was they left out the lands, grooves and chamber. I’m not kidding it was a smooth bore. The boy gets it back with a real barrel in it and goes to the range, fires 3 rounds and the thumb safety falls off the gun (broken pin) and because the hammer pin (thumb safety) broke it kicked out the hammer and sheared it off at the base. Back to Kimber it went and when he got it back he sold it for what he paid for it (thankfully).
Mebby it’s just dumb bad luck. I’ve heard great things and seen less than great things, I tend to go with my eyes.
Cheers,
Craig6
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Absolutely understandable. There have been other “dark periods” in Kimber’s 1911 history like when they decided to do external extractors and double stack mags which obviously both hurt their reputation tremendously. Thank God they saw the error of their ways and stopped those two ideas, but not in time since there are still many bad Kimbers out there being passed from one hand to another soiling a solid company’s name.
Just like you I go with my personal experiences and the first Kimber product I owned was an original UltraCarry that has a low 3 digit serial number which my wife stole immediately and still carries. It’s an aluminum frames 3” gun that many folks told me was never going to last and would be unreliable. Not only has the gun operated flawlessly from the first mag of target wadcutters (just about the toughest ammo for any 1911 to digest) but my wife used it for years to compete in IDPA so I’ve lost track of how many rounds have been put through it and still the gun is tight and probably one of the most accurate 1911s we own.
I’ve been lucky that thought my decades long personal relationship with the company, which includes also many of their rifles, I have never had one bad gun in the bunch, actually all of them have been exceptional performers. But as a trainer I also get to play with many of my folks guns too and being associated with so many shooters I also get exposed to a lot of firearms and I can tell you that your experience with this later gun is exceptional. I could try to make an excuse for the company and say that maybe they are operating on overload as many of them are nowadays, but really I don’t want to because that is bad QC. And there are lemons out there and every company will put out a dud every so many units. That’s just an undeniable fact.
The good news is that for anyone looking for a 1911 there are a lot of great high quality choices out there so we can all afford to skip past one maker for whatever reason we choose and happily mosey along to the next one. It’s all good sir 
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