Kimber 1911 Instructions Manual

							
of the frame immediately below the hammer and is

automatically engaged through spring pressure. It

prevents the rearward movement of the trigger. To

disengage, grip the pistol grip firmly. This will allow

grip safety to move out of contact with rear of

trigger, allowing the gun to fire.

DISCONNECTOR

The disconnector prevents a round from being

fired prior to being properly seated in the chamber

with the slide and barrel locked. If the slide is not

fully forward, the disconnector is depressed and

disengages the sear so that the hammer cannot

drop if the trigger is pulled. With the slide fully

forward and the barrel locked, a spring pushes the

disconnector into a recess in the bottom of the

slide. The disconnector now engages the sear so

that the hammer can move forward when the

trigger is pulled.

HAMMER SAFETY STOP

The hammer safety stop is a notch on the hammer

which prevents it from falling fully forward in the

event of primary sear notch failure. It also prevents

the hammer from hitting the firing pin should your

fingers slip from the slide or hammer while cocking

the pistol, provided the hammer has been moved

past the stop. The safety stop is not a manual

safety! Do not under any circumstances use the

safety stop as a half cock position. This misuse

can result in damage to the sear, and/or

unintentional discharge of the pistol. The safety

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stop position is an automatically engaging safety

feature and should never be engaged by hand!

INERTIA FIRING PIN

The firing pin is held in a rearward position by

spring tension. Being shorter than the housing, it

cannot protrude through the face of the slide until

the spring tension and inertia of the pin itself is

overcome by the force of the falling hammer.

SERIES II MODELS

Safety Mech.

(Shown in Fire Position) 
Safety Mech.

(Shown in Fire Position)

If your Kimber is a Series II firearm, then it is

supplied with an integral firing pin block. This

feature does not allow the firing pin to be active

until the Grip Safety is depressed. THIS ADDED

SAFETY DOES NOT ELIMINATE THE NEED

FOR SAFE AND PROPER GUN HANDLING.

READ THIS OWNERS MANUAL THOROUGHLY.

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Please follow the simple procedures below for

disassembly of the slide.

1. Visually inspect chamber to make sure firearm

is unloaded.

2. Follow standard disassembly procedures found

in your Owners Manual, with the exception that

special observation should be given that the

grip safety is not to be engaged when removing

the slide.

If the Grip Safety is depressed while attempting

to remove the slide, the push rod for the firing pin

stop will be activated. Activating the Grip Safety

will not allow the slide to be removed, if forced,

damage could occur to the firearm, which will not

be covered under Warranty.

AMMUNITION

1. Use only high quality, original factory-

manufactured ammunition. Dont oil cartridges.

Dont spray aerosol type lubricants, preser-

vatives, or cleaners directly onto cartridges

or where excess spray may flow into contact

with cartridges. Lubricant or other foreign

matter on cartridges can cause potentially

dangerous ammunition malfunctions. Use only

ammunition of the caliber for which your

firearm is chambered. The proper caliber is

permanently engraved on the barrel of your

firearm; never attempt to use ammunition of

any other caliber.

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2. The use of reloaded, remanufactured, hand-

loaded or other non-standard ammunition

voids all warranties. Reloading is a science

and improperly loaded ammunition can be

extremely dangerous. Severe damage to the

firearm and serious injury to the shooter or to

others may result. Always use ammunition

that complies with the industry performance

standards established by the Sporting Arms

and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute, Inc.

of the United States (SAAMI). For best results,

we recommend the use of jacketed round

nose BALL ammunition.

3. Firearms may be severely damaged, and

serious injury to the shooter or others may

result from any condition causing excessive

pressure inside the chamber or barrel during

firing. Excessive pressure can be caused by

obstruction in the barrel, propellant powder

overloads, or by the use of incorrect or

defectively assembled cartridges. In addition,

the use of a dirty, corroded or damaged

cartridge can lead to a burst cartridge case

and consequent damage to the firearm and

personal injury from the sudden escape of

high-pressure propellant gas within the

firearms mechanism.

4. Immediately stop shooting and check the

barrel for a possible obstruction whenever:

- You have difficulty in, or feel unusual

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resistance in chambering a cartridge, or

- A cartridge misfires (does not go off), or

- The mechanism fails to extract a fired

cartridge case, or

- Unburned grains of propellant powder are

discovered spilled in the mechanism, or

- A shot sounds weak or abnormal.

- In such cases it is possible that a bullet is

lodged part way down the barrel. Firing a

subsequent bullet into the obstructed barrel

can damage the firearm and cause serious

injury to the shooter or bystanders.

5. Bullets can become lodged in the barrel:

- If the cartridge has been improperly loaded

without propellant powder, or if the powder

fails to ignite. (Ignition of the cartridge primer

alone will push the bullet out of the cartridge

case, but usually does not generate sufficient

energy to expel the bullet completely from the

barrel), or

- If the bullet is not properly seated tightly in the

cartridge case. When such a cartridge is

extracted from the chamber without being

fired, the bullet may be left behind in the bore

at the point where the rifling begins.

Subsequent chambering of another cartridge

may push the first bullet further into the bore.

6. If there is any reason to suspect that a bullet is

obstructing the barrel, immediately unload the

firearm and look through the bore. It is not

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sufficient to merely look in the chamber. A

bullet may be lodged some distance down the

barrel where it cannot easily be seen. If a bullet

is in the bore, do not attempt to shoot it out by

using another cartridge, or by blowing it out

with a blank or one from which the bullet has

been removed. Such techniques can generate

excessive pressure, damage the firearm and

cause serious personal injury.

If the bullet can be easily removed with a wood

or brass dowel, (using hand pressure only, never

hammer a bullet lodged in the bore) clean

any unburned powder grains from the bore,

chamber and mechanism before resuming

shooting. If the bullet cannot be dislodged by

tapping it with a cleaning rod, take the firearm

to a gunsmith.

Dirt, corrosion, or other foreign matter on a

cartridge can impede complete chambering

and may cause the cartridge case to burst

upon firing. The same is true of cartridges

which are damaged or deformed.

Dont oil cartridges, and be sure to wipe the

chamber clean of any oil preservative before

commencing to shoot. Oil interferes with the

friction between cartridge case and chamber

wall that is necessary for safe functioning, and

subjects the firearm to stress similar to that

imposed by excessive pressure.

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9. Use lubricants liberally on the moving parts of

your firearm. Avoid excessive spraying of any

aerosol gun care product, especially where it

may get on ammunition. All lubricants, and

aerosol spray lubricants in particular, can

penetrate cartridge primers and cause misfires.

Some highly penetrative lubricants can also

migrate inside cartridge cases and cause

deterioration of the propellant powder; on

firing, the powder may not ignite. If only the

primer ignites, there is a danger that the bullet

may become lodged in the barrel.

LOADING

Keep muzzle pointed in safe direction and follow

all safety procedures at all times.

Practice these steps with an unloaded pistol or

dummy ammo until you are completely familiar and

comfortable with the procedures. Use live ammo

only when you are prepared to shoot. Always

use clean, dry, high quality ammunition (of the

proper caliber) that meets industry performance

standards.

1. To release the empty magazine from the frame,

hold hand under magazine and push the magazine

catch which is located on the left side of the

frame behind the trigger. This will cause the

magazine to fall free of the magazine well.

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2. To load the magazine, place the round at

the top (open end), push down and back

making sure that the back of the cartridge is

facing the rear of the magazine. Repeat this

procedure until magazine is fully loaded.

3. Place the magazine in the magazine well in the

frame, with the rounds facing forward, and

push up until magazine is fully seated. A click

will be heard when this is done properly as the

magazine catch engages.

4. To chamber a round, hold the pistol in the

shooting hand without touching the trigger.

Make sure it is pointed in a safe direction. With

the thumb and forefinger of the opposite hand,

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grab the serrated finger grips on both sides of

the rear of the slide and pull it fully rearward,

then release. Do not ride the slide down to

the forward position. Fully release the slide

allowing the recoil spring to move the slide

unhindered. Keeping your hand on the slide

may cause a misfeed, or stop the slide from

fully closing. Racking the slide will cock the

hammer, strip off the top round from the

magazine and chamber it. The pistol is now

fully loaded and ready to fire. Keep muzzle

pointed in a safe direction and engage slide

lock safety until ready to shoot.

Always unload pistol immediately after use

and before storage.

NOTE: 1911 style handguns were designed to

function best with bullets that have a smooth

contoured nose.

When cartridges fail to feed, check the following:

A. Substandard ammunition.

B. Cartridge overall length too short or too long.

C. Bullet nose too blunt.

D. Slide is short stroking. Ammo charge is not

to SAAMI specs for 40 S&W or 45 ACP.

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UNLOADING

1. To unload, first remove magazine as in step 1

of previous section.

2. If all of the rounds from the magazine have

been fired, slide will automatically lock in the

open position. If not, repeat step 4.

If magazine is not removed prior to this

procedure, any rounds left in it will be

chambered, which could lead to an unintentional

discharge. The pistol will fire with a round

chambered and the magazine removed.

3. If slide has not automatically locked in the rear-

ward position as a result of firing the last round

from the magazine, do it manually and visually

inspect the chamber to ensure that it is clear.

4. Release slide forward onto the empty

chamber by pulling slide fully rearward and

releasing or by manually rotating the slide stop

downward past the slide stop notch.

Repeatedly allowing the slide to slam closed

on an empty chamber will cause premature

wear and loosening on a match grade 1911

such as the Kimber. Ease the slide closed.

5. Pull the trigger allowing the hammer to free fall

forward on the empty chamber. Do not ease

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