This is generally what I look for, and if I can't find it I'll build it myself. I am NOT a gunsmith or certified armorer, but I did take shop in high school.
I want the equivalent of a first-class, functioning military M1911 or M1911A1, right out of war storage, like what the CMP guns are / were supposed to be when transferred from Army war stocks. It should shoot GI Ball or any commercial ammo you can possibly find in a gun or sporting goods store on the road. It should always feed, always fire, and shrug off reasonable amounts of dirt, dust, rain, snow, or mud. I should be able to see the sights, and the trigger should break clean at 4 pounds.
My pistols are generally like this. I assembled it myself, in my own garage, on my own work bench, with my own hand tools. This particular piece started out as a new, naked Springfield Armory frame. I found a refinished 1949 Colt slide with slight pitting. I found a commercial Colt barrel that someone re-crowned and had polished for hollow points and wadcutters. Everything else came from EGW, Brownells, Cylinder and Slide, and Harrison Custom.
If all the parts are close to mil or Colt commercial spec, everything should go together with a minimum of hand-fitting and cold-bluing to assemble and properly function. I am partial to Metalform Elite and Chip McCormick railed feed lip magazines.
Voila. It looks like millions of other M1911A1s -- and best of all,
I KNOW IT WORKS. I have absolutely no problem handing it to a pro to do something I can't (i.e., polishing a ramp, milling a slot, or parkerizing).
Unlike youngsters with a plastic striker-fired primary gun and wood-and-steel as curiosities in their collections, I like my 1911s and keep plastic-fantastics to stay proficient with what the student has. It helps to know what goes wrong with new guns.
"It served my country a long time."
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