Kimber was founded as "Kimber of Oregon" in 1979 by Jack Warne and his son Greg Warne in the small town of
Clackamas, Oregon. An Australian, Jack Warne founded the Australian firearms manufacturer, Sporting Arms or Sportco, in Adelaide, South Australia, following
World War II. Following its founding, Kimber of Oregon quickly built a reputation for accurate
.22 long rifle caliber rifles. Subsequently, it began to expand its product line and eventually acquired a second manufacturing plant in nearby
Colton. Jack Warne acquired the Brownell quick-detachable rifle
scope mounting system for Kimber. In the late 1980s, the company began to struggle after a private stock offering fell short of covering the costs of developing the M89 BG (Big Game) Rifle. In 1989, Kimber of Oregon was sold to Oregon timber baron Bruce Engel, who founded WTD Industries, Inc. Engel had difficulty running Kimber and soon the company sought bankruptcy protection. In 1990, several Kimber employees, including Dan Cooper, left to found
Cooper Firearms of Montana. Jack Warne left to open the Warne Manufacturing Company in February 1991, which began manufacture of a new rifle scope mounting system. In the mid-1990s, Greg Warne tried to revive Kimber, but much of Kimber of Oregon's original tooling had ended up in a junkyard north of
Portland. Warne soon found a financial backer in Les Edelman, who owned Nationwide Sports Distributors. The two purchased the original tooling and partnered to found Kimber of America. The company grew quickly, but Edelman forced Greg Warne out after acquiring a
majority interest in the company. While Edelman was partnering with Greg Warne, he had also invested in Yonkers-based Jerico Precision Manufacturing, which manufactured hand tools and mechanical components for the defense industry, which was adjusting to cuts in defense spending. Edelman decided to connect Jerico Precision's existing infrastructure and manufacturing capabilities and Kimber's reputation and extensive network of dealers to build a line of M1911-style handguns. He eventually moved Kimber's production line to Jerico's facilities in New York, ending Kimber's presence in Oregon. The company now has locations in New York and New Jersey. On 9 December 2004, a federal
grand jury indicted former CFO Denis Shusterman for embezzling $10 million from Kimber Manufacturing and Nationwide Sports Distributors. He was later convicted after pleading guilty, ordered to pay damages and back taxes, and sentenced to 14 years in federal prison. After leaving Kimber, Greg Warne operated Armas Deportivas S.A. in Granadilla, San Pedro, Costa Rica, where he made custom gun grips from locally sourced hardwoods. Greg Warne died in 2006. Kimber is planning to expand manufacturing capacity from its manufacturing facility in
Ridgefield, New Jersey (Aero Molding). A proposal to add more space to its Yonkers site had been approved as a "regionally significant project" but Kimber appears to have withdrawn its application following concerns raised by worried neighbors. Faced with political opposition in New York and New Jersey, Kimber explored other locations for their operations. The company announced intention to open a manufacturing facility in
Troy, Alabama, in January 2018 On October 21, 2020, Kimber Arms management announced the corporate headquarters is being relocated to Troy. ==Products==