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I don't think sholling will mind if I paste two of his posts from another 1911 thread. I believe they are both informative and will help not only the OP, but anyone else thinking of a 1911 purchase (Which I am. I have a Milspec, but will be getting a high line 1911)
A word on Swartz safeties. Both S&W and Kimber use Swartz safeties which is a way of preventing an accidental discharge if the pistol is dropped on the muzzle. It retains the firing pin unless the grip safety is held engaged. The difference is the design of the Swartz safety. Where S&W's is a rock solid almost indestructible design - Kimber's seems very flimsy and is easily damaged while cleaning. Easily enough that Kimber will not fix it under warranty. I absolutely trust the S&W design, but I'll watch my Series II Kimber like a hawk. I just don't have a lot lot of faith in their design. Unfortunately it's the only alloy frame CCO format 1911 on the @#$% list.
Don't get me wrong I like Dan Wesson 1911s. If you're looking for a pistol with adjustable target sights and can afford the extra $100-300 then the DW is a good way to go and I'd definitely give it serious thought. There are just certain myths that I don't buy into.
Myth #1: A tight slide to frame fit = 1911 bliss. The majority of a 1911's inherent accuracy comes from a tight bushing to barrel fit and a consistent barrel to slide lockup. You're aiming down the top of the slide not the frame. As long as that barrel is pointing exactly where you're aiming - each and every time - then you have an inherently accurate pistol. Again those are a function of barrel to bushing fit (holding the muzzle in place) and barrel to slide lockup (holding the breach in place).
Still, done well a tight frame to slide fit is a very good thing for a target or match 1911 but only if properly fitted to provide a super smooth sliding surface. With a hand fitted pistol like a Baer or Ed Brown these surfaces are lapped to provide a glass smooth precision fit between one (and only one) frame and one (and only one) slide. Just keep in mind that it's a small part of the accuracy equation. Usually a hand fitted pistol will also have the barrel and bushing lapped to a glass smooth precision fit. That's the important thing!
On the other hand Kimber (for example) produces pistols with very tight frame to slide clearances but does not hand fit. This is one of the reasons that Kimber requires that you do an ungodly long break-in before returning it for repair. They depend on you firing 300-500rds to wear down any rough spots so it can cycle reliably. All of this tightness (once smoothed out) is great as long as you can keep your weapon spotlessly clean. Any dirt can slow the slide and create reliability issues until you have time to clean. That's why old military 1911s, and even civilian Colts were loose fitting rattle traps right through the 1980s. They were loose because they were expected to function reliably in mud and filth. I personally prefer a looser, but not rattle trap loose, slide to frame fit on a defensive 1911.
Myth #2 MIM parts will dissolve into dust. MIM is a way of injection molding metal parts. This is used for parts that cannot be done cost effectively by other methods. Like anything else MIM can be done well or it can be done poorly. Done well there is no reason why MIM parts won't last a lifetime and more than 99.99% do. This is where you have to trust in the reputation of the manufacturer. Of course all things being equal I'd rather have forged parts and forged frames instead of a MIM safety and slide stop and cast frames but in reality they both work well and until you get into more expensive pistols something will be cast or molded. S&W uses a forged frame and MIM safeties. Note that the last time I checked not all Ed Brown parts were forged. I have no clue what grade of Ed Brown parts DW uses and the last time I checked the PM7 had a cast frame but quite frankly I wouldn't lose sleep over that either.
Myth #3 match barrels are always awesome: First what does it mean. Well in most cases it's a marketing term denoting a tight chamber. Again done well a tight chamber is a huge plus on a target or match pistol. Done poorly and the chamber can be too tight to reliably accept rounds. On a hand made semi-custom the chamber dimension tolerances can be closely watched to make sure that it's tight enough for extreme accuracy yet loose enough not to cost you a match because of failures to feed - or your life in a gunfight. On a non-hand fitted pistol where a guy that was assembling transmissions last week is assembling pistols out of a parts bin I'm a little leery of "match" barrels.
Myth #4 Firing pin safeties: In a perfect world gun owners would never drop their weapon (risking a ND), and California would not require a drop test. Sadly the drop test is in place and there are only a limited number of ways to pass. You can go with a light firing pin and a heavy spring, and a heavy trigger to hold back the hammer - which is what Springfield Armory uses. Springer triggers are usually between 5 and 6lbs. Or you can retain the firing pin mechanically. Colt uses the later in the Series 80. I haven't taken a Series 80 apart so I won't get into that design.
Kimber and S&W use a spring and plunger to hold the firing pin in place until you grip the grip safety. The difference is the way they engineered their systems. Kimber uses what I consider to be a very lightly built pin with little leverage to push vertically on the plunger to move it to the firing position. This produces a somewhat notchy feel to the grip safety and is easily damaged. Smith uses a beefy L-shaped lever that feels seamless and is not easy to damage accidentally. This allow a very light yet safe trigger. A production line S&W will run 4-5.5lbs depending on the luck of the draw, and most that I've felt were right around 4.5lbs. Kimbers usually run closer to 4-4.5lbs, and my hand fitted Performance Center Smith breaks right at 3.2lbs. While that's ideal for a match pistol it's about a pound lighter than I like for a self defense pistol.
I hope this helps a bit and clarifies my statement. Your next step is to find a range that rents and try a few brands and models side by side and see what fits your hand best and what feels best to you. Finally if you decide to buy locally then try out the actual pistol that you'll be buying. Make them open a few boxes and let you try the trigger.
EDIT: For retired, there are degrees of quality in production line pistols. A company that's mainly interested in numbers shipped might go with a lose build to produce a very reliable pistol. Another company might produce a tight build with so-so quality controls and rely on the customer to do final inspection. Other more quality driven companies might use production line parts machined to far greater than average precision and tight quality control with only a small amount of hand work. I'm under the impression that the PM7 falls into the latter category with outstanding machining and quality control but only the feedramp and finish receiving hand work. Feel free to correct me if I'm reading this wrong.
Myth #1: A tight slide to frame fit = 1911 bliss. The majority of a 1911's inherent accuracy comes from a tight bushing to barrel fit and a consistent barrel to slide lockup. You're aiming down the top of the slide not the frame. As long as that barrel is pointing exactly where you're aiming - each and every time - then you have an inherently accurate pistol. Again those are a function of barrel to bushing fit (holding the muzzle in place) and barrel to slide lockup (holding the breach in place).
Still, done well a tight frame to slide fit is a very good thing for a target or match 1911 but only if properly fitted to provide a super smooth sliding surface. With a hand fitted pistol like a Baer or Ed Brown these surfaces are lapped to provide a glass smooth precision fit between one (and only one) frame and one (and only one) slide. Just keep in mind that it's a small part of the accuracy equation. Usually a hand fitted pistol will also have the barrel and bushing lapped to a glass smooth precision fit. That's the important thing!
On the other hand Kimber (for example) produces pistols with very tight frame to slide clearances but does not hand fit. This is one of the reasons that Kimber requires that you do an ungodly long break-in before returning it for repair. They depend on you firing 300-500rds to wear down any rough spots so it can cycle reliably. All of this tightness (once smoothed out) is great as long as you can keep your weapon spotlessly clean. Any dirt can slow the slide and create reliability issues until you have time to clean. That's why old military 1911s, and even civilian Colts were loose fitting rattle traps right through the 1980s. They were loose because they were expected to function reliably in mud and filth. I personally prefer a looser, but not rattle trap loose, slide to frame fit on a defensive 1911.
Myth #2 MIM parts will dissolve into dust. MIM is a way of injection molding metal parts. This is used for parts that cannot be done cost effectively by other methods. Like anything else MIM can be done well or it can be done poorly. Done well there is no reason why MIM parts won't last a lifetime and more than 99.99% do. This is where you have to trust in the reputation of the manufacturer. Of course all things being equal I'd rather have forged parts and forged frames instead of a MIM safety and slide stop and cast frames but in reality they both work well and until you get into more expensive pistols something will be cast or molded. S&W uses a forged frame and MIM safeties. Note that the last time I checked not all Ed Brown parts were forged. I have no clue what grade of Ed Brown parts DW uses and the last time I checked the PM7 had a cast frame but quite frankly I wouldn't lose sleep over that either.
Myth #3 match barrels are always awesome: First what does it mean. Well in most cases it's a marketing term denoting a tight chamber. Again done well a tight chamber is a huge plus on a target or match pistol. Done poorly and the chamber can be too tight to reliably accept rounds. On a hand made semi-custom the chamber dimension tolerances can be closely watched to make sure that it's tight enough for extreme accuracy yet loose enough not to cost you a match because of failures to feed - or your life in a gunfight. On a non-hand fitted pistol where a guy that was assembling transmissions last week is assembling pistols out of a parts bin I'm a little leery of "match" barrels.
Myth #4 Firing pin safeties: In a perfect world gun owners would never drop their weapon (risking a ND), and California would not require a drop test. Sadly the drop test is in place and there are only a limited number of ways to pass. You can go with a light firing pin and a heavy spring, and a heavy trigger to hold back the hammer - which is what Springfield Armory uses. Springer triggers are usually between 5 and 6lbs. Or you can retain the firing pin mechanically. Colt uses the later in the Series 80. I haven't taken a Series 80 apart so I won't get into that design.
Kimber and S&W use a spring and plunger to hold the firing pin in place until you grip the grip safety. The difference is the way they engineered their systems. Kimber uses what I consider to be a very lightly built pin with little leverage to push vertically on the plunger to move it to the firing position. This produces a somewhat notchy feel to the grip safety and is easily damaged. Smith uses a beefy L-shaped lever that feels seamless and is not easy to damage accidentally. This allow a very light yet safe trigger. A production line S&W will run 4-5.5lbs depending on the luck of the draw, and most that I've felt were right around 4.5lbs. Kimbers usually run closer to 4-4.5lbs, and my hand fitted Performance Center Smith breaks right at 3.2lbs. While that's ideal for a match pistol it's about a pound lighter than I like for a self defense pistol.
I hope this helps a bit and clarifies my statement. Your next step is to find a range that rents and try a few brands and models side by side and see what fits your hand best and what feels best to you. Finally if you decide to buy locally then try out the actual pistol that you'll be buying. Make them open a few boxes and let you try the trigger.
EDIT: For retired, there are degrees of quality in production line pistols. A company that's mainly interested in numbers shipped might go with a lose build to produce a very reliable pistol. Another company might produce a tight build with so-so quality controls and rely on the customer to do final inspection. Other more quality driven companies might use production line parts machined to far greater than average precision and tight quality control with only a small amount of hand work. I'm under the impression that the PM7 falls into the latter category with outstanding machining and quality control but only the feedramp and finish receiving hand work. Feel free to correct me if I'm reading this wrong.
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