Kimber Solo Carry Review

[rson63]

I got tired of waiting for mine and went with the Sig P290 that has been flawless after 450 rounds. My LGS has sent there Solo back a fews times for feeding issues and excessive wear on the inside of the slide, their waiting to get the gun back now ?......Hope they get ya fixed up ?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[USPnTX]

Hope they get the bugs all worked out for you. When the Kahr 380 came out, I bought one. I really wanted to love the gun but ended up taking it back and exchanging it for a Rohrbaugh. Unlike the Kahr, I have never had a problem with the Rohrbaugh. Its now my go-to pocket pistol.

[painterace]

I will admit I love the look of the stainless solo and had to have one when I saw it until I read thru this forum, but now I am not so sure. My dilema is I have carried a CW9 iwb ffor about 3 years now and love the gun. I added the crimson laser grip and couldn't have been happier with any other carry gun until the last time I took it out to put a few rounds through it and clean and lube it up.
It has gotten hot here in cincy and it seems that the iwb carry (I am a slim guy and carry at 1 oclock very comfortably) has caused my body sweat to all but ruin the gun (for lifesaving purposes). i put the gun thru its paces at least every 6 weeks and clean and lube it, but this last time I went to do this the trigger spring was so rusted that the trigger wouldnt return. upon further inspection after breaking it down, the slide spring was rusted to the point that the end coil was broken off, the guide rod and barrel showed excessive rust and a couple other little springs were shot also.
A call to Kahr said none of it was under warranty and due to the complicated trigger system I should send it back to them to have it repaired. I am no stranger to to the workings of my Kahr so I orderedd the the parts and am going to put itt back together myself.
I had decided that when I got it back togther I would sell it and get a solo. Now I am not so sure thats what I want to do. I truly love the size and comfort of my Kahr but dont want to be constantly concerned about the rust issue. I don't want to change my carry position so I guess I am left with either a better iwb holster or if any of you know of a comparable in size/reliability/cost compact cc pistol with all stainless parts I would greatly appreciate any feedback. thanks in advance for any help, and its a pleasure being a part of this group.

[sig225]

I was thinking of a new Solo as a CCW, but as mentioned, it's not always wise to pick up a new design when it first arrives. All of us pistol fanciers get excited, you know .... Plus, for the price Kimber is asking for a Solo, there are many other options.
A G36 .... comes to mind ...

(you can make a barrel only so short)

[Skeeter64]

The more I learn, the more I think I need to adopt a Glock!

[TSiWRX]

painterace, I wonder - you said that you put your carry Kahr through its paces once every 6 weeks, and clean and lube it....I wonder if during the summer months, you may need to step-up your cleaning/lubrication schedule to be more frequent, given your activity level and perspiration.

BTW, I'm saying this because I sweat like crazy. Always have, always will.

[9mmtimes3]

I’ve only been shooting for about 2 years now and this is my first post. I own a 9mm Springfield XDm, 9mm Beretta 9000S and just bought the Kimber Solo this weekend. Here’s my review:

PRO’s:
Absolutely beautiful gun
Pocket carry is easy with little or no printing
Gun is just heavy enough to keep recoil under control (in fact, felt like less kick than the Ruger LCP to me)
Very happy with trigger pull
Safety is a little big, but I actually like how easy it is to engage with one hand.
Had zero jams during 100 rounds fired
Gun is very comfortable to shoot as compared to smallest of .380. (Feels like a real gun)

CON’s:
Nearly impossible to get 6th round in mag. Gun won’t load if you do.
Hard to get first round chambered. Had to pull slide as many as 5 times to chamber a round
Slide is hard to pull, but maybe it just needs broken in?
Price is high
After dropping $670 + tax, I got a gun in a cardboard box with one mag. Oh yeah, it has a cheap soft zipper case too. Worthless!!! Maybe I’ve just been spoiled by the XDm program???

Overall, I’m very happy with my purchase so far, but only time will tell. I still may get a .380 S&W Bodyguard just because it’s lighter, but I really like the 9mm in this footprint. Also, for what it’s worth, my wife joined me for the first shoot of her life and was very good with the Solo from 25 ft. She’s 130 lbs and it didn’t kick her around at all, so that speaks well of the recoil.

[Toorop]

It looks like a nice gun. I have been wanting to handle one but the local store has been out. I am a Glock fan but this does look promising.

[HP]

What a disaster! First two magazines, the slide locked back after each round. Went to the in house gunsmith at the range and he said it was a slide lock spring issue. He fixed it and I went back to firing. I then had at least one failure to eject and as many as 4 per magazine for the next 4 magazines. Everything from stove pipes to double feeds in between. I disassembled it myself to make sure everything looked correct, reassembled and continued. Got 3 magazines through no problem, then the trigger spring wouldn't reset. Cocking the weapon would feed the next round, but pulling the trigger would result in nothing.

I ran only approved ammo off of Kimber's site.
Hydra-shock 124gr 9mm
And Winchester 124 gr 9mm

I had countless failure to fires, failure to ejects, and the slide locking after each round. This is a brand new, unfired, pistol. I bought it for my wife, and she wants nothing to do with it now. I left it with the gunsmith to fix the trigger spring. I've never had this many issues with a gun in my life. The amount of money that kimber requires to purchase a firearm should equate to a gun that works when you pull the trigger, especially one marketed for carry purposes.

I will update once I speak to the gunsmith.

[imthduke]

Yikes!!!!!!! Mine is still at Kimber CS for the 2nd time. If there is one more anything with it after this it goes bye bye and back to Mr Dependable.

[HP]

What issues caused you to send you Solo back twice? Why wasn't it fixed the first time? I'm not a patient man to begin with, and sending back a gun and waiting for it to be improperly repaired sounds like my nightmare!

[imthduke]

First time I sent it back was because the mag release spring was so tight on a full mag it could not be ejected. Also, rubbing off the finish on inside of dust cover.

They sent it back after almost 2 months and supposed to fix it. Took it to the range and after one mag, it would not even go into battery. Would not feed anything. This is quickly becoming a nightmare.... I too am not patient when it comes to high dollar guns that don't work.

I will keep you posted, but at this point I think my options are slim with getting Kimber to re fund money if they can't fix it. It's been at Kimber repair more than in my possession.

[Guns and more]

Yikes!!!!!!! Mine is still at Kimber CS for the 2nd time. If there is one more anything with it after this it goes bye bye and back to Mr Dependable.

Is your mag extension from Jeffsig?

[HP]

That's what I fear, that I will be sending the firearm back to Kimber numerous times, which means I wasted a whole lot of money. I doubt a refund is in my future unless I go through a few returns and a few fits with customer service. All I want is for the gun to work, but I don't see that being a likely scenario after reading others similar situations. I spent too much money for these problems. I didn't buy a hi-point or a used gun. And on top of all that, I now have a pissed off wife. At least I don't have to worry about her shooting me since the gun doesn't work!

[imthduke]

Is your mag extension from Jeffsig?

Yep