Kimber's dedication to their customers and devotion to craftsmanship makes them one of the more noted gun manufacturers in the world.
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The company is based out of Yonkers, New York, with an additional location in Ridgefield, New Jersey. Kimber was originally founded in Oregon in 1979 by Jack Warne and his son, Greg. Previous to starting Kimber, Jack Warne worked for Sporting Arms, an Australian-based gun manufacturer, according to
Gunocracy.com.
Kimber faced hard times in the 1980s and was sold to Bruce Engel in 1989. According to RC-Trucks, Engel had trouble managing the company and its assets were liquidated after declaring bankruptcy and shuttered in 1991.
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That allowed Greg Warne to acquire some of the tooling used by the company and resume making firearms under the Kimber name. Sporting goods businessman Les Edelman invested and took on a leadership role, and the company's initial run of 5,000 1911 pistols sold out,
according to a history of the gunmaker on Handgunsmag.com According to Kimber, the company is now the one of the world’s largest manufacturers of 1911 pistols.
The company lists the U.S.A. Shooting Team, the Los Angeles Police Department’s SWAT Team and the U.S. Marines assigned to the Central Command as Kimber customers.
From a video on the company’s YouTube channel comes the story that the police department from Tacoma, Washington, compared the Kimber 1911 against every pistol, rifle and shotgun tested over a 20-year period. The results determined that Kimber was the most reliable firearm on record.
Today, Kimber is considered a leader in top-quality firearms. They continue to grow through innovation and expanding into new types of firearms and other personal self-defense equipment.
Kimber's 2015 catalog introduces 12 new pistol models and one new rifle model.
This article does not constitute legal advice. Check the current gun laws before purchasing or traveling with a firearm.
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