Kimber is the company that made a fancy 1911 something a normal person could actually buy. Through the late 1990s and 2000s the Custom II, the Eclipse and the tiny Micro and Ultra Carry pistols put a feature-loaded, good-looking 1911 in a lot of holsters that would otherwise have held something plainer. Kimber also builds the K6s revolver and the striker-fired R7 Mako, but the 1911 is the heart of it — and once you own one, you end up shopping for the magazines, barrels, sights and grips that keep it running and make it yours. Here is who they are, what they make, and what is worth buying.
Who Kimber is
Kimber is an American pistol maker best known as the largest manufacturer of 1911 pistols in the world. It was founded in 1979 as Kimber of Oregon by Australian Jack Warne and his son Greg, and after a mid-1990s revival it pivoted from rimfire rifles to premium 1911s. It is now headquartered in Troy, Alabama.
The name has a story. Jack Warne was an Australian who had run the firearms maker Sportco in Adelaide before moving to Oregon, and he named the new company after Kimba, a small Australian town, Americanizing the spelling to “Kimber.” The original Kimber of Oregon built a reputation for beautifully made .22 rimfire rifles, not pistols at all. When the company hit financial trouble at the end of the 1980s, Jack Warne left in 1991 to start a scope-mount company — Warne Manufacturing, the same Warne whose rings you will still find on rifles today.
Kimber as we know it was reborn in the mid-1990s when Greg Warne and a financial backer, Les Edelman, bought the old tooling and retooled the operation in Yonkers, New York to build high-quality 1911 pistols. That bet paid off enormously — Kimber grew into the biggest 1911 maker on earth and, in 2020, moved its headquarters to a large modern plant in Troy, Alabama. You can read the company’s own account on Kimber’s official site.
The honest part: Kimber’s quality control has a mixed reputation. Plenty of Kimbers run flawlessly for decades, but the brand has also drawn real criticism for out-of-the-box reliability on some guns — the compact Micro 9 and certain 1911s in particular — and the Series II firing-pin safety is polarizing among 1911 purists. It is a real brand with real fans and real critics, and both are right some of the time.
What Kimber makes
1911 magazines
The single most-reordered Kimber part. Factory magazines in .45 ACP, 9mm and .38 Super, in 7-, 8-, 9- and 10-round capacities and in compact, Commander and full-size lengths. If your Kimber is getting picky, fresh factory mags are the first and cheapest fix.
Barrels and bushings
Replacement and match-grade 1911 barrels, barrel bushings and recoil-system parts for Government, Commander and the compact Micro/Ultra frames. This is where you go to restore accuracy or service a high-round-count gun.
Sights and night sights
Kimber’s adjustable target sights and tritium night sights are a strong point — clean, usable, and cut for Kimber’s own front and rear dovetails. A sight swap is one of the highest-value upgrades on any carry 1911.
Grips, springs and small parts
The Team Match G10 grips, recoil spring plugs, slide stops, extractors and firing-pin parts let you refresh the feel and the internals. These are the affordable, satisfying tweaks that make a used Kimber feel new again.
Build quality and the Kimber approach
Kimber pistols are built in the United States, now primarily in Troy, Alabama, and the brand’s whole pitch has always been “custom-shop features at a production price” — front-strap checkering, ambidextrous safeties, match barrels, good sights and attractive finishes on guns that cost less than a true custom. The trade-off is consistency: a hand-fitted feel at production volume means the good ones are very good and the occasional one needs a trip back. Buy from a dealer who will let you function-check it, and you tilt the odds in your favor.
How Kimber compares
Against Colt, Kimber offers more features and checkering for the money but less of the “original” pedigree — Colt is the reference 1911, Kimber is the feature-rich modern take. Against custom and semi-custom houses like Wilson Combat and Ed Brown, Kimber is far more affordable but not in the same tier for hand-fitting or reliability guarantees. Against Springfield Armory, it is a close fight — both sell loaded 1911s in the same price band, and it comes down to the specific model and which one feels right in your hand. Kimber’s edge is the sheer breadth of the catalog and the value; its weakness is the QC variance the others are less prone to.
Who should buy what
- Kimber owner with feeding trouble: a set of fresh factory magazines — start here before anything else.
- Restoring accuracy on a worn gun: a match barrel and bushing.
- Carrying at night: Kimber tritium night sights.
- Personalizing the feel: Team Match G10 grips.
- Servicing the internals: a recoil spring plug, slide stop and extractor.
- Compact Micro/Ultra owner: the correct short-frame magazines and recoil parts for that specific model.
Look elsewhere if you want a guaranteed-reliable, hand-fitted 1911 out of the box and money is no object — that is custom-shop territory. For a well-featured, good-looking 1911 at a real-world price, Kimber earns its place.
The Kimber philosophy
Kimber democratized the loaded 1911. The idea, from the mid-1990s on, was to take the features that used to require a gunsmith — checkering, a match barrel, good sights, a crisp trigger, an ambi safety — and build them into a production gun most shooters could afford. That ambition is exactly why Kimber became the world’s biggest 1911 maker, and also why quality can vary: doing custom-style work at production scale is genuinely hard. When it comes together, a Kimber punches well above its price.
How to choose your Kimber setup
Start by identifying your exact model and frame size, because Micro, Ultra, Commander and Government parts are not interchangeable. If the gun is new to you, buy two or three factory magazines and run it — most Kimber “problems” are magazine or ammo problems. If accuracy has fallen off, look at the barrel and bushing next. Sights are the upgrade with the biggest real-world payoff, especially night sights on a carry gun. Save grips and cosmetic spring plugs for last — they are the fun part, not the functional part. And whatever you buy, match it to your specific series and caliber; a 9mm Government mag will not save a .45 Micro.
From Oregon rimfires to LAPD SWAT
Kimber’s journey is one of the odder ones in American gunmaking — a company that started building fine .22 rifles in Oregon, went broke, and came back as the biggest 1911 maker in the world. The high-water mark of credibility came in 2002, when the LAPD SWAT team adopted a specially marked “LAPD SWAT Custom II” as its issued sidearm, a genuine vote of confidence from one of the most demanding tactical units in the country. Kimber pistols have also been carried by members of the USA Shooting Team and by some Marine special-operations personnel. That pedigree, plus the enormous catalog of models, is what keeps Kimber near the top of the 1911 conversation two decades on.
Shop Kimber Parts & Prices
Live Kimber products and current prices, organized by department and updated automatically.
1911 Magazines
Barrels & Bushings
Sights & Night Sights
Recoil Springs & Small Parts
1911 Grips
Holsters
Where Kimber Fits in Our Buying Guides
- Best Kimber 1911 Pistols: Every Model Ranked
- Kimber K6s Review: The Premium Carry Revolver
- Best 1911 Upgrade Parts
- Best 1911 Pistols Under $2,000
- Best Concealed Carry Handguns
Kimber FAQ
Where is Kimber made?
Kimber pistols are made in the United States, now primarily at the company’s plant in Troy, Alabama, where it relocated its headquarters in 2020 from Yonkers, New York.
Are Kimber 1911s reliable?
It varies. Many Kimbers run flawlessly for years, but the brand has a mixed quality-control reputation — some guns, especially the compact Micro 9, have needed break-in or warranty work out of the box. Fresh factory magazines fix the majority of complaints.
Do Kimber magazines fit other 1911s?
Full-size and Commander Kimber magazines follow the standard 1911 pattern and generally work in other 1911s of the same caliber. The Micro and Ultra compact magazines are frame-specific and do not interchange with full-size guns.
What is the difference between Kimber Series I and Series II?
Series II adds a grip-activated firing-pin safety (the Schwartz safety) for extra drop safety. Series I has no firing-pin block. Some purists prefer Series I for a simpler trigger; Series II is the common modern configuration.
What does the name Kimber mean?
It comes from Kimba, a town in Australia, chosen by Australian founder Jack Warne and Americanized in spelling when he started Kimber of Oregon in 1979.
Is Kimber a good value?
Yes, on features per dollar — Kimber pioneered building custom-style features like checkering, match barrels and good sights into production-price 1911s. The caveat is consistency, so function-check before you rely on one.
What handguns besides 1911s does Kimber make?
The K6s double-action revolver, the striker-fired R7 Mako micro-compact 9mm, and the small Micro and Micro 9 carry pistols, alongside the core 1911 lineup.
What tier is Kimber?
Upper-mid, premium-value tier: U.S.-made loaded 1911s priced below true custom shops, competing head-to-head with Colt and Springfield Armory on features and value.
Related Firearm Manufacturers Brands
- BCM (Bravo Company) Parts
- Wilson Combat Parts
- Ed Brown Parts
- Fusion Firearms Parts
- Sig Sauer Parts
- Glock Parts
USA Gun Shop may earn a commission on purchases made through the links on this page, at no extra cost to you. We list products on merit; prices and availability are pulled live and can change.
10,718+ Gun & Ammo Deals
Updated daily from 200+ top retailers. Filter by category, caliber, action type, and price.