OP, if you have moved on- I'm sorry for being late.
I understand your interest in another .45.
I have to quit thinking of them like pringles- where I want 'just one more'.
You said you have a 1911. Good. My opinion is that all who own a 1911 should have one in 4.25" AND one in 5"- but that is my opinion. Which one? That is too hard to call without knowing a lot about you.
At the range once, as I was packing up, two guys at another lane saw my target and asked what I was shooting. "RIA 1911 Tactical" was my response [factory condition]. They were shooting a Colt Gold Cup and a Kimber Gold Match. They said I should be in a commercial for RIA.
My target had about 47 rounds in half the X ring on a B29 target, with the flyers in the 10 ring around it. Their target had a grouping of about 70% of their shots in a pattern about 17-18" across. Both of us were shooting at 10 yards.
[quality guys- I also have a full custom Caspian build with all EGW parts and KART barrel. It IS more accurate- but both are fun.]
around 2010 I was at a point that I decided to do a 'shootout' to see which .45s to keep and which to sell.
The contenders at the time:
- DGFM Sistema Modelo 1927 [argentine colt 1911], full custom build with only frame and MSH stock.
- SA Loaded Target Blackened Stainless 1911.
- HK 45 USP Compact [with trigger work done]
- Sig P220 Combat
- S&W M&P 45
- Ruger P97.
In the 3 months before the shootout, I put about 200 rounds through each gun to get a sense of its' quirks- except the Ruger P97 [which I hadn't fired in 6 years].
On the day of the test, I shot 7 rounds at the same size target, at 7 yards.
This was two handed slow fire.
When done I measured group sizes.
My results, from worst group to best, to the best of my memory [but this is NOT the order in which I shot them]:
- Sig P220 Combat [around 7" group]
- HK USP 45 Compact [around 6" group]
- SA 1911 [Around 5" group]
- M&P 45 [around 4.5" group.
- Sistema [Around 3" group]
- Ruger P97 [around 2.2" group]
A week later I tried it again, but changed the order in which I fired them. The results were comparable.
I sold the top 4. and kept the 2 with the best group sizes.
I now have other .45s, and can do better with a P220 than back then. However, my point is that it doesn't really matter how good of a reputation a gun has. What matters is which works best FOR YOU!
For me, the Ruger P97 was hard to beat.
- My current 1911s are at least as good, if not WAYYY better. Yet, it is still consistently a really accurate gun.
- And, it is ugly as sin- with a lack of respect due to the look/design and pricepoint.
- Yet, I trust it as much as a Glock 30sf in my hands [reliability/safety], and am more accurate with it.
There is such a thing as true objective quality of manufacturing. And, it SHOULD make a difference in everything. Yet, it depends on what you want.
I am happier with owning a few RIA than rolling the cost all into one higher dollar 1911- as I now have a CCO, a railed 1911, and one in .38Super. And, I am just about as accurate with any of them as with nicer 1911s.
Ok- if you really want a .45, here is an off the wall recommendation: get a revolver!
Either a Ruger Blackhawk convertible [.45lc in one cylinder and .45acp in the other], or go big with something in .454 Casull, like a Freedom Arms revolver.
Just being off the wall.
Good luck!
