Kimber 1911 Custom Target II

[The Outlaw]

Last Nov. I bought an S&W .357 mag resolver. One of the reasons for buying a revolver was the cleaning process was simple following, of course, reliability and NO JAMMING. I decided to add to my collection and a few weeks ago I bought my second gun a Kimber 1911 Customer Target II .45 ACP. The salesman oiled it up for me and I fired it immediately. It is now my new best friend and my love affair with this gun is "criminal." Before I attempt to take it apart, how many rounds can I fire before I have to take it apart. The manual for taking it apart makes it look complicated. I hate manuals. They remind me of Christmas Eve where you are up until 3 AM putting the kids toys together. I'm just delaying the cleaning process. Please bear with me, I'm new at this handgun stuff.

[Rickhem]

How many rounds you can go depends a lot upon what you are feeding it. If you do absolutely nothing to your pistol, you'll still go hundreds of rounds before any stoppages, but it's best to keep the rails and the barrel hood and bushing area oiled to prevent wear. Even after shooting lots and lots, some fresh oil will help displace some of the crud that builds up, and keep the rest loose and flowing. To field strip the 1911, which is all you really have to do to keep it functioning, it only takes a few seconds, and it goes back together just as easily. Rather that detail that for you, just take the time to read the manual. Either that, or have someone show you on theirs how they do it. Then you can find your own techniques for your pistol.

Nice pistol BTW, good luck with it.

[The Outlaw]

Thanks for the info. I shot a couple boxes of ammo today and the salesman at the gun shop gave me a demo on taking it apart. I was surprised to see the quick build up. I did read the manual, but I'll take a demo anyday especially for safety reasons. When I got home, I took it apart to cleaned it. I was careful when putting the cap on the spring and snapping the barrel bushing in place. The disassembling and assembling process was not as bad as I thought. Thanks again.

[Rickhem]

If your barrel bushing is really tight, then a bushing wrench is a nice little tool to have. I have a plastic one and it works fine. Of course you can always retract the slide a bit to get the bushing away from the end of the barrel before turning it, but you get to where you'll need three hands, and sometimes that cap will gl flying. The wrench makes it a breeze. They have them at gun shows for $1 sometimes.