I have several kimbers and love them. 100% reliable for me except the 3" CDP with certain ammo types. It prefers a very rounded nose bullet because of the short feed ramp. As long as that's what you feed it, it runs fine. I had a friend show me his new rock island 45. It's a great value i think but i could tell a substantial difference in the fit, finish and tightness of the weapon. The trigger was a very long pull as well. It's just like a car though, a toyota camry and a mercedes s430 are both great, reliable cars. One costs more for a reason. I dont knock anyone that has a rock island and wouldnt mind owning one myself.
The thing with Rock Islands is they can be improved very much with the money saved. Plus the 1911 was never meant to be a tight gun. I built my 1911 with A1 milsurp parts it is loose, or appears loose but shoots fantastic. And that is with a original military barrel, link, and slide. The only thing that really counts for accuracy in a 1911 is the three locking points. Two must be tight the slide stop, and the locking lugs. The third is tight by pressure from the recoil spring on the bushing.
The spring pushes the bushing forward at the bottom, locking it on the barrel and in the slide, it must be somewhat loose to do this. Where companies like Kimber make a mistake is over powered recoil spring, and a fitted bushing that is fitted NOT to tilt. It cause the barrel to bind in the bushing and makes the gun unreliable until it breaks in. There is no need for this for a accurate gun, there is no need for the slide to be gripping the frame tightly. This is why Rock Islands have become so popular, because they are looser fitted and they work, much like Glocks only less expensive. Same for the Remington copy of their original A1, they just perform.
People do not understand they do not have to spend thousands on a combat 1911. Almost any gun can be redone to make it pretty if that is the case. While Kimber is a excellent gun AFTER it breaks in. RI, and Remmies will always run straight from the box, with a few exceptions.
I have shot bullseye with a Colt Sistema, the only modifications needed were the addition of adjustable target sights. I paid $100 dollars for that gun, and the sights installed cost $50. I had offers of 500 dollars for it shooting beside shooters with thousand dollar guns. I finally broke down for $600.
I used to buy these guns ten at a time, refinish them and sell them for double, because at the range I proved they were reliable, and they were accurate. And after the teflon industrial gear treatment they looked tactical back then. It helped feed the 5 children I was raising. Unfortunately there are very little deals on imported surplus guns these days, except for the Rock. If I did not have my home built A1 I would buy a Rock in an instant, like Glocks which were on the low end originally, the Rocks popularity and value will increase. Just like S&W M&Ps are now, right now used M&Ps are going for about 10 bucks less than a new one. As the new value of M&Ps go up, so will the used value, but if I get one, I will get a new one.
The same goes for the SRs and the SDs, they both are getting harder to come by in the LGS for reasonable. The only deals on them are online, and mostly only new ones. Gun Broker and Armslist have become jokes, for essentially unlicensed firearm dealers. Nothing wrong with that though, I used to do it, but then later I got my FFL, because I did not want to lose my liberty. I don't sell guns for extra income no more so I did not want the hassle of having BATFE breathing down my neck.
Forgot to add there was a time the Rocks were going for $200 a piece in shotgun news from SARCO. That was a good many years ago. But just shows that inexpensive quality and value guns are still a good investment. To give you a idea, I payed around $250 for my A1 when done, I probably could get $400 or more for it now. That is still a good profit, and a good investment.
Sent it back to Glock, Glock investigated and decided to issue a new replacement instead of repairing it. No complaints from this house about Glock service! 
