I've had two 1911's (the only ones I've ever shot"
the first was a taurus, it wasn't from when they first came out either, but I never did research the serial number so maybe it was from the first big run but probably not. It would NOT feed hollowpoints at all, hell it would stop short of closing up, about 1/8'' and then slowly go into battery or I'd have to bump it into battery. That's with Winchester USA/whitebox, not the most accurate but it's just what you need for feed reliability. I Throated the barrel A LOT and that got it feeding anything .45acp and maybe .45colt as carried away as I got. I'd probably have blown out cases if I ever tried reloading them after they went through that gun. I bet a real stout +P would have been a "blast" (I never tried). The trigger was so, so smooth though, and it felt good in the hand. I sold it to a guy for parts and he told me it was the slide to frame fit mainly. Slide to frame fit was garbage and that made it totally unreliable, but it shot REALLY accurate and felt REALLY good. For a range gun sure, but don't carry it because you might be killed (i liked the 24/7 pro so if you really want taurus, try that, also their snubs seem to be good, I carry one about every day and I could tell you stories about that that'll make it sound divine)
next I got a RIA basic/mil-spec... I put hogue grips on it because I have small effeminate hands and I have to on almost any gun I buy. anyways, it doesn't have a continental shelf sized safety to put your dominant hand thumb on or a beavertail grip safety for long range shooting comfort. I've found that if I really concentrate though it doesn't shoot any less accurate than the taurus, it's just harder to get that "perfect" grip. also the sights are horrible for ranged shooting but once again, they work fine it's just hard to get that good sight picture. if you just want to conceal it then oil the parkerized finish good and tuck it in your pants, no big sights to dig into you or snag your pants, no beavertail to print, the finish won't come off in two weeks of carry like the taurus, the lockup is really tight (if you've disassembled both completely you'll understand). I had to use picks and extremely delicate manipulation to put that sloppy fitting series 80 crap back in the taurus, on the RIA I can push the internals back into place and they stay there even if I move the gun, short of SHAKING it. oh yeah it won't jam up twice per magazine (taurus, mccormick, whatever) so you can get yourself through a bad situation with it, while not tearing up your thigh and printing. the only thing I didn't like was the internal tool marks but hey, it holds your oil just like the parkerizing, it just keeps the gun from going dry that much longer!!!!!! ps I still have those taurus mags and though they aren't GREAT, they aren't really bad either and I used them, mccormick and the factory one from my ria in it and they all work great, it's not picky. it's a good gun, i bought it a few months back for $425 from a dealer so if you know someone with an FFL it could be less than that even. I put about 500 rds though it with no problems (misfeeds from light handloads and that's it), nothing came loose, it's still tight. oh yeah RIA made 1911's for the great wars too, they aren't new they just aren't namebrand enough for the snobs to pay attention. they've been making 1911's almost as long as colt, look it up
last but not least, american made sounds good and all but really-- good workers with good work ethics make good guns oh and the phillipines is almost america, it's a protectorate, territory, something like that
