North Carolina's Alcohol Law Enforcement agency has replaced 150 handguns about a year after buying them because the weapons were defective. Agency director John Ledford told The News & Observer of Raleigh that the Kimber pistols originally cost $1,055. The agency swapped the more expensive defective weapons for a less pricey gun through a local firearms dealer and didn't have to spend any more money. <!-- $cms.websiteSection.disableStory -->The newspaper reported that a review of records show that the agency has bought all new weapons every few years. The old guns are frequently sold to agents and other agency staff, often at a discounted price. Kimber America chief operating officer Ralph Karanian would not discuss specific malfunctions with the newspaper. <!-- $cms.websiteSection.disableStory --> Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
It was their new-fangled extractor that was supposed to improve on John Browning's wonderful design but didn't work. I had to send my Kimber back to their custom shop and have the slide replaced with the old style Browning designed extractor. They didn't charge me anything though except shipping. BTW, Kimbers and Dan Wessons are both made in Isreal at IMI and shipped to their respective assembly points in the US to be put together. Both guns are identicle and made of exactly the same stuff but one costs three times what the other does; go figure?
