Analysis of Dawn of the Dead - by Armchair Commando

Dawn of the Dead

My Kimber Story

I used to be a die-hard 1911 lover. Loved the style, loved the design and loved how it felt in my hands.

My first gun ever was a brand new Colt 1991A1 Commander Stainless and I loved it, well mostly because I did not know better. The gun was a jammo-maniac, but I thought that was normal from some old/obsolete reading I did. My enthusiasm died quickly because I spent so much time doing malfunction drills at range.

Much later in life, I bought a Beretta 92FS out of many considerations, one of which was that i wanted to try a different platform. I had so much fun shooting that pistol! Yes, it's big and bulky, but I was shocked by its out-of-box accuracy AND there's not a single failure. In fact, it has never failed even once ever!

What a joy!!!

The Beretta 92FS showed me how a fine firearm should perform. Since then, I acquired many other handguns but none of them was 1911 style, and none of them ever malfunctioned.

Fast forward to 2005 when Hurricane Rita was looming around Texas coast. It was the first time I loaded all my guns at home getting ready for evacuation. To my horror, I had no concealed handgun license (CHL), and Texas laws back then prohibited car-carry. As a law-abiding citizen, I had to lock all my guns in their cases and put them in my trunk. It was truly a fun time driving in 100+ degree weather at 1 mile per hour traffic jam with people's temper getting even hotter. Needless to say, I promptly joined CHL class after that and now wanted a carry weapon.

I did a lot of research on what to carry. I was not so keen on carrying a loaded gun without any external safety - my own personal preference/comfort level. I was also a slim built person who weighed 170 lbs; therefore size of the gun was my main consideration.

I finally narrowed them down to:

Beretta 92FS - too thick
HK USP - I boycott HK, another story, and they are too thick
Kimber Ultra CDP II

The Kimber Ultra CDP II was a fab and was a sleazy looking pistol, designed specifically for concealed carry with its slim size and melt design (no edges.)

I was very leery about getting a 1911 style pistol. I spent quite a bit of time reading and researching this particular gun, and the general consensus seemed to be:

1. don't expect it to be problem free out-of-box
2. run through 500 rounds of full metal jacket bullets to break in before it becomes reliable
3. may need to be sent back to the manufacturer a few times
4. some did report that theirs worked since day one

Unfortunately, mine didn't.

The gun was pretty, and there was a lot of attention to details!!! Before I took on a range trip, I hand-cycled about 500 times using full metal jacket ammo - wouldn't do this again because I actually used live ammo. Bad idea on safety!

My first trip was a disaster. The gun kept on jamming!!! Mostly stovepipe. After about 50 shots, I quit shooting, called Kimber the next day and sent them some pictures too. Kimber service was great and they told me to send the gun back. Because I couldn't take time off work to wait for Kimber's free UPS pick-up, they promised to give me 2 Tac-mags to cover my shipping cost.

My second trip was not so great either. Upon advice from some forum member, I bought a few "premium" magazines to see if they worked better. Well, not really. After a few tries, I found that Kimber magazines worked the best because they really tilted the bullets up to feed into the barrel and their springs were stronger. I made a few more trips to the range, and somehow, the Kimber started to spitting ejected brass back to me. One time it hit my head so hard that I started to bleed profusely. After that, I started to fire a shot and dodge the brass right after. This quickly tripled the fun at the range: practicing clearing malfunctions, dodging brass and wondering if next round would fire or not!


(Note the feed ramp became shiny due to the bullets hitting on it. Actually, the bullets shaved metal off the feed ramp. To me this is a design problem. The feed ramp should have proper curvature but it didn't.)

Again, I called Kimber and again it went and came back.

After the second trip back to the factory, it started to behave much better. I now stuck to Kimber Tac-mags exclusively and malfunctions became very little. It still had occasional FTF and failure to chamber a round, meaning the slide returned but there's no round inside the chamber even though the mag was full. By then, I had put more than 1000 rounds of FMJ through it but hadn't really shot enough Hollow Points.

I just came back from another range trip (Jan 2009). This time I fired about 100 rd of lead round nose handloads with my Kimber. I had 1 failure due to the slide stopper was pushed slightly up for some reason - I didn't think that was my thumbs hitting it but it's very likely a cause.

I must say that I knew what I might get into when I bought the gun and the experience was not pleasant. For a $1000 gun, it should have worked right out of the box but it did not. For the amount of money and effort (original purchase, break-in ammo cost, trips back to the factory, and taking time off work to wait for UPS pickup&delivery), it was totally not worth it. On the other hand, Kimber does stand behind their products and I must give them credit for that!!!

Yes, I still carry and shoot my Kimber Ultra CDP II.

Update on August 2, 2009

I just came back from a pistol training class where we fired about 100 rounds in various conditions and scenarios. There were 11 people in the class with HK USP, Beretta 92F, Glock, S&W etc.; almost everybody's gun, including the instructor's, malfunctioned in one way or another except for my Kimber.

I guess it finally starts to run well from now on.

the Right to Keep and Bear Arms

I guess i am too stupid to understand why there's any argument.

Besides the self-defense part of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, the single most important issue as most of us have conveniently ignored is ..., right, the right to keep and bear arms ensures the political power resides in the hands of firearm owners, in this case, the people, nor the politicians, nor the governors, nor the president, but the people.

As the most famous, successful and greatest "communist," Chairman Mao, eloquently and literally said:" Only gun barrels produce political power." Go figure why after he took over the whole China, he immediately banned all firearms except for his military, and since then the communist party has had full control of the military. Nobody understand the importance of guns better than Chairman Mao.

Well, nobody except for the founding fathers of the United State. The United States is a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people. The political power must always remain with its people. The only way for that to be true and stay true is to ensure that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. Those great men had an ideal to build an ideal country, but sadly the followers, us, are far from being so wise.

You want to call yourself American? Go get a gun, and better yet, get an AR15 with EOTech.

Is HK416 the greatest since humanity?

A simple answer. Hell no!

HK is great in advertising and promotion. Every little thing, they can gold-plate it so well that everybody think only HK products are worth buying. No matter what they do, many would think logical mind should always prevail; however, the world is filled with emotionally charged people where reasons and logic rarely exist.

Sticking a piston into an AR15 does not make it instantly superior. Firstly, piston design is even older than the AR15's direct impingement design. Countless manufacturers have produced pistons for AR including Colt - the army rejected such design change many times, but when HK finally did it and called it HK416, it's suddenly the greatest in the world? Anybody claims so is very dishonest to say the least. Why?

1.The 416 has NOT seen any major battle - compared to M16's 40 years combats in countless wars (note the plural)

2. The 416 has NOT not been properly tested by any major military/LE agency compared to M16/AR15 which is widely tested and accepted by many major armies in the world (note the plural)

3. The 416 has NOT been produced in any meaningful number to generate much statistics on reliability and usability - compared to M16/AR15 which is made into the millions (note the plural).

A weapon is just like everything else in the world. Adding any new feature, there's always a possibility that it causes more failures. It takes time and money to work out the bugs. When one compares HK 416 with M16 (AR15), there's no comparison - one must not make such comparison. Not because HK 416 is so much better, but it's mostly because there's hardly anything that can be used to compare.

Chick Little - The economic crisis?

The incoming economic crisis? I am not going to cry as Chick Little.

Now, here's what I believe, in the next 2-3 years - I am not psychic, nor can I predict the future, so it's just my stupid opinion, and the rest you can read from the Internet:


1. I believe the sky is NOT falling, nor will the world come to an end.
2. I believe there will NOT be mass chaos in the United States, but increase in crime rate, probably
3. I believe the economic crisis has just began and there's more lying ahead of us.
4. I believe the US dollar will be significantly devaluated to probably 50-75% of what is worth now.
5. I believe the housing market will continue to drop till a medium average single family house is about $160K compared to the current $218K.
6. I believe gold will go over $1500/oz and stay there for a period of more than 1 year.
7. I believe stock market will fall and stay low in the next 1-2 years
8. I believe we will all pull out of this mess in about 5 years.
9. I believe most of us will be poorer after this mess and many will get their saving wiped out and must work for more years before retiring.
10. I believe Brittney Spears is getting too fat and ugly for my taste.

I actually hope I am wrong because I want to live in a peaceful time; on the other hand, i look forward to it as economy downturn is also a great opportunity for those who are prepared.

Money comes from savings

The best ever book to read is "The Millionaire Next Door." Read it and it WILL change your life. Pay attention to how most millionaires accumulated enormous wealth throughout their life and how they unwisely spoiled their children (most of the time) and the wealth was gone within a generation or two.

Wealth is defined as "net worth," not "net income!" To accumulate net worth, you must have a positive number between "net income" and "net spending."

I am not going to burden anybody with all the statistics. The basic rule of wealth is that money comes from savings.

1. Be confident and secure about yourself - DO NOT TRY TO IMPRESS ANYBODY with material things!!! Actually avoid people who are easily impressed by material things because they are shallow and superficial.
2. live below your means - be frugal
3. spend your money wisely - mostly on things that hold long term value and/or generate income/dividend.
4. work hard
5. continue to educate yourself, especially on finances
6. get out of debt as soon as you can

For most people, 1 and 2 are very difficult. I am going to tell you this. Detach yourself from all the material stuff. You, firstly, need to be confident and secure. You must understand and demonstrate that you DO NOT NEED to impress anybody!!! Why do you need flashy cars, boats, fancy cloth etc.? The only thing those things can tell me is that you are unsure about yourself. You package yourself in those superficial stuff in hope that nobody would see the real you - the weak, the insecure, the boring and the empty.

Whom do we try to impress? I may be stupid, but I do not need to impress anybody. Girls? I need to judge if they are good enough for me before they judge me, and I get all the girls I want. Other people? What do I care about whether they think I am successful or not? I am successful. Period. :-)

Does it mean I am stingy? No, I am actually quite generous. I donate money to support the causes that I believe in. Does it mean I have no fun? Well, one of my hobbies cost me about $5000/year, and the other one costs even more. Go figure. Does it mean I make half million in a year? No, I am just a working class person just like many of you.

I don't drink, don't smoke, don't gamble, don't do drugs. My only vice is that I love women - the kind that is psychologically mature, knowledgeable, and beautiful. I detest shallow women who only know cloth, shoes, cosmetics, spending money, and partying. No matter how beautiful they are, if they have nothing to offer except for being pretty they do not deserve my attention!

Why do I not own a house?

A house is a liability until:
1. you collect rent that covers all expenses and some extra after tax.
2. you sold it

Owning a house does not make much of a financial sense if you can rent cheaper. Buying a house is more a lifestyle change rather than a financial investment. Bear in mind that you must not buy a house and automatically assume it would appreciate - that's not investment, but wishful thinking.

On average, American live in their houses for 3-5 years. This is a very short period of time to allow the house to appreciate - if it appreciates. In fact, house does not appreciate; it actually depreciates. The land/lot/location it sits on appreciates.


Strictly speaking - financially, owning a house means the following are money-down-the-drain:

1. property tax
2. HOA fee
3. interest payment
4. insurance
5. electricity
6. water and other utilities
7. general maintenance and upkeep - garden, lawn, housekeeping, fix-up
8. commute cost
9. lost interest due to money tied into house equity

Many often miss Point 9. Let's say you put $40,000 down and build equity through monthly payment. The $40,000+ could be generating interest just sitting in your bank - hassle free. On a 5% interest, that's $2000+ a year. If you have paid off your house, say, $400,000, that would cost you $20,000/year on lost interest.

If you add up 1-9 and it equals your rent, you are better off renting - financially speaking.

The biggest problem from owning a house is it's a liability that you cannot liquidize quickly. You often hear the term "house poor," meaning people get a house but cannot afford much of anything else. After you pay off your house, you still need to pay 1-9 above. When you need money-cash, you would be like sitting on a pile of cash that you cannot use.

It only makes sense that:
1. you go in at a market low
2. you can live there for a long time, 5-10 years minimum
3. you can rent it out
4. you wouldn't need the cash any time soon