I compete in single stack division with my carry gun (Taurus PT1911). I carry all of the time. As far as reliability goes, the notion that 1911's are unrealiable is a relatively new notion. 1911's have enjoyed a reputation for reliabilty throughout their history. I can show you a Para .38 super with about 1 million rounds through it that is still reliable. My Taurus (.45) went literally 21000 rounds without a single malfunction. When it did malfunction, it was bad ammo. 3,000 rounds later, the trigger job went to crap and I replaced the sear and hammer. Other than hammer, sear, trigger, mainspring housing and mag release button, the gun is stock. Having shot lots of 1911's over the years, the only ones I ever had trouble with were the ones worked on by gunsmiths who didn't know what they were doing.