Kimber Solo

[pleiades]

Now that it's been on the market for a while, what to you who have owned/own or have shot a Kimber Solo think about it? How's the recoil...is it worth the money...problems... general review

thanks!

 

[HoughMade]

Not me, but this guy has some thoughts:

[video=youtube;SHjox9mW4Aw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHjox9mW4Aw[/video]

 

[JetGirl]

The two I shot were both dead on accurate and flawless. But I have an acquaintance who had one that would not extract nor return full battery about 30% of the time... But when it did, he said it was super accurate, too.

 

[venenoindy]

The feedback that i have come across is that they are ammo sensitive, the manual itself says that you should use only a certain type of ammo and that itself is a big turnoff for me (carry gun should be very reliable not ammo sensitive), for that kind of money you can buy two carry guns.

 

[mammynun]

Mine has not been ammo sensitive, it fires 115gr WWB without any issues. It did go back to Kimber (at no cost to me) for a new mag release as the original one would drop the mag during firing for both my wife and I. No problems since.

 

[TheDoaner]

As an overall Kimber fan, I've tried to like the Solo with it's sleek ergonomics and I've never been afraid to spend extra to get something better. However, the recoil is way sharper than a S&W M&P Shield in the same caliber and even the owner's manual states that the Solo is only designed to cycle reliably with 124gr and 147gr premium self defense ammo. The market just has too many better options at the Solo's price point.

 

[rdgflex]

My experience with the Solo is very limited, but might be helpful. I just picked on up this past week, and ran a 50 rd box of 147 grain FMJ through it. Not a single FTF or FTE. My take on some of the common complaints:

1) Too "snappy" or too much kick:
I really don't get this one. I sit at a desk 8hrs/day for the last 30 years, doing nothing but developing software. I found the recoil not worth even mentioning.

2) Too many FTF problems:
Again, not a single one for me. Two thoughts on this. First use the recommended grain (124-147), and even at that I would use the higher end for the first couple hundred rounds. The springs are very tight and can use the extra recoil to fully cycle the gun. Also, I suspect that, due to the smallness of the gun, some may not have found the proper grip and are unknowingly limp wristing it, causing failure to fully cycle. Just guesses, but may account for some of the complaints.

3) Magazine falls out:
Happened only once to me, and then I learned to really smack it in hard. After that, not a problem. Again, everything is really tight on this at first. Don't baby it just because it's small.

4) Magazine is too hard to load:
True. For the first few magazine loads, I resorted to just putting in 3 or 4 rounds. By the end of the box, I was able to fully load the magazine. Not sure if it loosened up or I got more adept at it. Nevertheless, ordered an Uplula for easier and faster loading in the future. Along these lines, I ordered 4 extended magazines (8 rd capacity) just for a little nicer shooting range experience. Obviously, won't use them for EDC.

The other thing I don't get is the folks who whine about it only taking a certain specification of ammo. Why? Would you buy a Mercedes and then gripe that it says "Premium Unleaded only"? Give me a break! I never hear a guy with a diesel truck griping that he can only put the more expensive (than unleaded) diesel in it. But, for some reason, you have a certain group of people that think they ought to be able to feed anything into the barrel of a gun and it should work.

For me, the Solo felt perfect in terms of grip, recoil, accuracy, and feel as a concealed carry. Hopefully, I'll still be of the same opinion after a few hundred more rounds.

 

[88E30M50]

My experience with the Solo is very limited, but might be helpful. I just picked on up this past week, and ran a 50 rd box of 147 grain FMJ through it. Not a single FTF or FTE. My take on some of the common complaints:

1) Too "snappy" or too much kick:
I really don't get this one. I sit at a desk 8hrs/day for the last 30 years, doing nothing but developing software. I found the recoil not worth even mentioning.

2) Too many FTF problems:
Again, not a single one for me. Two thoughts on this. First use the recommended grain (124-147), and even at that I would use the higher end for the first couple hundred rounds. The springs are very tight and can use the extra recoil to fully cycle the gun. Also, I suspect that, due to the smallness of the gun, some may not have found the proper grip and are unknowingly limp wristing it, causing failure to fully cycle. Just guesses, but may account for some of the complaints.

3) Magazine falls out:
Happened only once to me, and then I learned to really smack it in hard. After that, not a problem. Again, everything is really tight on this at first. Don't baby it just because it's small.

4) Magazine is too hard to load:
True. For the first few magazine loads, I resorted to just putting in 3 or 4 rounds. By the end of the box, I was able to fully load the magazine. Not sure if it loosened up or I got more adept at it. Nevertheless, ordered an Uplula for easier and faster loading in the future. Along these lines, I ordered 4 extended magazines (8 rd capacity) just for a little nicer shooting range experience. Obviously, won't use them for EDC.

The other thing I don't get is the folks who whine about it only taking a certain specification of ammo. Why? Would you buy a Mercedes and then gripe that it says "Premium Unleaded only"? Give me a break! I never hear a guy with a diesel truck griping that he can only put the more expensive (than unleaded) diesel in it. But, for some reason, you have a certain group of people that think they ought to be able to feed anything into the barrel of a gun and it should work.

For me, the Solo felt perfect in terms of grip, recoil, accuracy, and feel as a concealed carry. Hopefully, I'll still be of the same opinion after a few hundred more rounds.

Welcome to INGO. To a point, I agree with you regarding ammo sensitivity. I'm guessing the Solo was never intended to be a general plinking gun for range fun, so designing it to function best with SD ammo can be considered an acceptable choice. The downside to that is that it will limit practice with the gun which is what most folks need a lot of. Many cannot afford to practice with SD ammo and sometimes, 115g is all that can be found. I wonder if a lighter recoil spring would help with that. If you can purchase and swap in a lighter spring for range work with target ammo, then the choice they made for tuning it to SD ammo is not a bad one. If you cannot, for some reason, go with a lighter spring, then the range time will be limited and effectiveness with the gun may be impacted by having less practice. Just my .

 

[sbnewsom]

Any local gun shops have the solo? What's the going price for it?