I have a Kimber .380 that jams roughly one in four, has anyone else had a similar experience? Suggestions?

First thing to do is to have somebody else shoot it, and see if they get the same jams. This will quickly determine if it's the gun or your grip. If it's the gun, call the manufacturer and send it back. If it's the grip, that's easy to fix too.

Going to call BS on a 1000 rounds. Guns are now manufactured with .001" tolerances there is no "break in time" for modern guns. If they are recommending a break in time it may be time to look for another gun shop as they don't understand what they are selling.

There as several things you can look at to see what is going on. "Jamming" really doesn't help with describing what is going on with the gun.

If you can, describe what is happening. Is the fired shell clearing the chamber? Is the unfired round getting hung up as the slide goes into battery? Also, are you sure your hands are locked firmly when you fire. The stroke of a .380 is very short and they are prone to having some people limp wristing when the gun is fired. I have been in the gun business for a long time and I am sure we can find the cause then make sure that Kimber fixes it. They have a great customer service department, but from what I understand it takes a while to get your gun back.

Save some of the brass so, if needed, it can be sent into the manufacture. DON"T SEND LIVE AMMO! The shippers all get pissed when you do that. You can look at the brass and see if there is anything unusual happening.

.380 is know to jam - pay close attention to you hand positions and make sure your not interfering with the slide. As well make sure you are using the recommended ammo. .380's don’t have all that much power to run the slide in the first place so any interference could be the source.

PO3 Steven Sherrill
If it is failing to extract the casing the extractor itself is the possible problem. I just had to send my Sig Sauer M11A1 back to Sig for the that exact reason. I only had about two hundred rounds through the weapon. The Sig representative did tell me some are a little finicky when using winchester white box ammo. But I was using Magtech and Blazer. Last time I was at the range it failed to extract 11 of the 30 rounds I fired. Called Sig the very next day. I would suggest trying different ammo and see if you still have the same problem and if so I would be contacting the manufacturer.

I was the marksmanship Coordinator in my Guard unit and worked closely with the Armorer mostly in 1911 Colts .45ACP and later on with the M9 Beretta 9mm and when there were feed problems it was usually associated with the magazines. Does the firearm shoot ok with one magazine over the other? This could be your problem too. Try a different brand of ammunition too and determine if its the ammo that's causing the feed issue and /or jamming. A concealed carry piece does you no good at all if your trying to rack the slide in a dangerous situation to remove a round that didn't feed right. I am sure Kimber will want to hear about this and they should take care of it.

All new guns need to be detailed cleaned, then lubed, then broke in. Kimber calls for 500 rounds.
I strip, and put my new guns in my sonic tank for 30 min at 25 deg C, dry, lube.
That has always helped with fast, clean break in.
after 500 rounds or so, strip, clean, lube and test fire several mags of your carry ammo. If it has any hiccups its either just a plinking / practice gun or it goes to the gunsmith, and the process starts again.

No modern firearm should have a "break in period" of 1,000 rounds, PO3 Steven Sherrill. If you're using factory-fresh ammunition for that .380 ACP, it's not the ammo, either. Send it in to the manufacturer right away. And find a new gun store (I apologize for being an ass).

Send it back to the factory.

Either crappy ammo, crappy magazine, crappy grip or you got a crappy kimber.

Kimber has had a reputation for poor quality control for years. Sounds like the extractor wasn't tuned correctly and you need a new one, which is a easy repair. But first, check to make sure you are grasping the gun tightly each time you fire it; limp-wristing is a known problem with .380's. If that doesn't work, take it back to the gun store and call BS on the 1000 round break in and try to get them to take care of it. If they won't, contact Kimber for warranty service. Don't pay Kimber a dime for shipping since they caused the problem by letting a defective product get past their non-existent quality control. If Kimber gives you any crap, read this and hammer them:

http://starcraftcustombuilders.com/warranty.game.htm