Disclaimer: We have put this guide together to help others who have or may encounter problems field stripping a 3-inch barreled Kimber 1911. Use of this guide is the sole responsibility of the person/persons using it. We are not professional gunsmiths and assume no responsibility for damage caused to your weapon or injury caused to you or anyone resulting from the use of this guide.

Use at your own risk!

Contributors:
warmrain, SMMAssociates, Sandman1967, Kruzr,
Thanks to all who assisted with/contributed to this guide!

The baby Kimbers can be a real pain to field strip. They are not like other bull barrel Kimbers due to their length. The hole in the recoil spring assembly for the provided take-down tool is located too far forward to allow the slide stop to align with the disassembly notch in the slide when the spring’s compression is released against the tool (as occurs with other Kimbers). We have come up with a way to perform this operation with a minimum of time, effort and red, swollen fingers/thumbs. The procedure is similar to the “alternate procedure” described in the owner’s manual, which is the way Kimber takes down the weapon in-house.

Simply stated, do not install the take-down tool until after the slide is removed from the frame. At that point the tool is used to remove the guide rod assembly from the slide. The guide rod assembly cannot come off the slide until the springs are compressed; therefore, there is no danger of the assembly coming out unexpectedly.

We discovered it’s easiest if you grasp the gun and slide in a manner popularly used among Glock owners for field stripping. This accomplishes 2 things. It puts your hand in a position that allows you to pull the slide back against the guide rod spring pressure in a one-handed fashion. Second, for II (Schwartz) equipped pistols, it prevents the grip safety from being engaged during slide removal, which could damage the firing pin block push rod, resulting in the gun failing to fire.

To continue, ensure the weapon is not loaded!
Before proceeding, remove the magazine and clear the weapon! Check 3 times!

Grasp the gun with your right hand as shown in the picture below:


With thumb pressure upwards on the grip safety tang, pull the slide back with the fingers until the disassembly notch is lined up with the hammer end of the slide stop. Simultaneously push the slide stop pin on the right side of the frame with your left index finger. As the disassembly notch lines up with the hammer end of the slide stop, you will feel the slide stop begin to move out of its hole in the frame.


When the applied finger pressure overcomes the pressure from the slide stop plunger spring, the slide stop will release and be free floating in the frame hole. Now you can grab the slide stop with your left hand fingers and completely remove it from the frame.


Once the slide stop is removed, care must be taken to let up the guide rod spring pressure with your right hand until the guide rod assembly springs are completely relaxed as far as the assembly allows. At this point you simply pull the slide towards the muzzle end of the frame with your left hand until it is clear of the frame rails. Note that it is helpful to push on the hammer end of the slide with your right thumb to help the slide overcome disconnector spring pressure. Once you do this, the slide will still be on the frame rails. From there the slide can be completely removed from the frame without further resistance.


Once the slide is removed, grasp it in your strong hand. Using the thumb, apply pressure to the guide rod head guide, compressing the spring until the hole for the take-down tool, located near the muzzle end of the inner guide rod, is accessible/visible.


Install the take-down tool in the hole in the inner rod and release the pressure, allowing the spring to stack against the take-down tool which is now in the hole.


Note: it is important to ensure the tool is centered about the guide rod! Due to the length of the short end of the tool, if it is not centered about the guide rod end, it will interfere with the easy removal of the guide rod assembly from the slide. This is easy to adjust by applying slight pressure to the head guide and re-centering the tool. Alternately, you can shorten the length of the supplied tool’s short leg, which eliminates this potential problem.


You can now safely remove the guide rod assembly from the slide by pulling it towards the barrel link and upwards, clearing the link.

To remove the barrel, simply pivot the barrel link forward and remove the barrel from the muzzle end of the slide.

You have successfully completed the field strip of the baby Kimber!

Thanks for this guide, we appreciate it.

I've closed this thread, since I won't like it being used for discussion on this subject. If you want to discuss this issue, please use this thread:

http://forum.m1911.org/showthread.php?p=89716#post89716

__________________
John Caradimas SV1CEC
The M1911 Pistols Organization
http://www.m1911.org