The North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement division has apparently been having trouble with their Kimbers! According to their report, they collectively experienced 289 malfunctions in less than 18 months of training exercises and drills. Malfunctions included "rounds jamming, sights breaking, and the weapons’ safety buttons sometimes falling off".



These are some serious accusations, and to be honest it first led me to think that maybe some agents were claiming these issues in order to somehow finagle the weapons into their personal collections. However, the agency director claims to have struck a deal with a local firearms dealer who is (get this) exchanging Sig P220s for the defunct Kimbers, one-to-one (150 in all). So it sounds like each handgun will be accounted for, and the claims are legitimate.



While the Kimber malfunctions are, in my limited experience, very uncharacteristic of that brand...it's yet another testament to the quality of Sig Sauer that another federal agency is willing to fall back on Sig when their experimental sidearm programs go awry.



Tip credit goes to Jim Bob for posting in the forum.



UPDATE: As an interesting side note, the Charlotte Observer also reported that the Sig P220 was the carry choice previously, and that those service weapons were sold to ALE agents as surplus. Which means that a number of North Carolina ACE agents are in possession of two Sig P220s each! It doesn't get any better than that!