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BEFORE you go spending any money on a 1911, there are some things you must consider. First, read this article by noted gunsmith and marksman, Hilton Yam.
Choosing a 1911 for duty use
"But wait!" you might say. "This is for fun only!" Well, if you ever intend on using it for HD or SD, hold up. I am assuming you have never owned a 1911 before, there are some things you need to know about. Re-read the article I linked for more info.
A 1911 is NOT, I repeat, NOT, a Glock. I am sorry to say that a $1500 1911 will not necessarily be reliable. It will probably be picky about what it eats, and will probably hate getting itself dirty. 1911's are also notorious for being picky about what kinds of magazines it likes. It must be treated like a Ferrari. You gotta fill it with premium, do regular maintenance, and also do at least some measure of gunsmithing on your part. You can't treat it like how you'd treat a lawnmower. You see, a 1911 is not a brand or model of gun, it is a type of gun, like a coupe or SUV. There really is no industry standard when it comes to making these things; as such, 1911's from different manufacturers are made slightly differently. This means that any aftermarket part you want, apart from the grips (and I really do mean ALL of them), must be fitted to each individual gun. On top of that, once the part is fitted, it can't be placed into another gun. The only exception to this rule I can think of is if you bought an aftermarket part made specifically for that 1911 by the manufacturer, i.e. a grip safety made by Kimber for a Kimber. To put all this into perspective, I've got a Nighthawk Custom T3 that was converted over to 9mm by the Springfield Armory Custom Shop. About $4500 went into that gun, and it STILL throws hissy fits with fully loaded Metalform magazines. In addition, the original slide and barrel assembly cannot be reused on ANY other 1911. Which reminds me, I need to go get some different brand mags.
The upshot to all of this is that the gun, when running correctly, really has no rival. It's fast. It's trigger is perfection. It's got the heft and natural grip angle to allow you yo drive it like a bat out of hell. It's accurate. It can be customized to your wildest fantasy. Literally anything is possible, it's just a matter of how much cabbage you have in your pockets. Want a competition gun? Send it out for a trigger job, add some porting, tune the recoil spring, add a magwell, , maybe even a micro optic like a Trijicon RMR, sorted. How about home defense? Night sights and maybe a weapon light. Concealed carry? How about a melt job, 4lb trigger, and some slim grips? Classic look, no problem; GI hammer and safety, old school grips. Or maybe a modern, tactical sidearm? G10 grips, beavertail safety, night sights, weapon light, and a Hard Hat finish by Severn Customs. But whatever you do, do NOT believe what a gun store employee tells you about a 1911, he's just trying to make a sale. He'll make a 1911's particularities sound not so bad, when in actuality they're very real concerns. Do any sort of research into the subject, and you'll see that 1911's are also notoriously finicky with certain types of ammo, and especially magazines.
Now. You want a 1911 that is badass. If you're willing to wait a couple of years, want a one-off piece, that absolutely no one else has, you get on the waiting list over at Heirloom Precision. Bill Wilson, Les Baer, Nighthawk Custom, I fart in their general direction. Those guns are a mere $3000. We're talking $5000-$7000 here with Heirloom Precision. These guns, like any other high-end 1911's, are individually fitted and tuned by master gunsmiths. This means that two guns that use the exact same parts, assembled and tuned by the exact same gunsmith, are still subtly different and have their own personalities. Below is an example of their work.
Pay particular attention to how closely the grip safeties are fitted; it's hard to tell they're not part of the frame. Also note that the grip screws are perfectly aligned, which can only be done through properly aligning the bushings themselves in the frame. That is the kind of handiwork, perfection, and attention to detail you can expect from such master artisans. They have the knowledge and experience to make even a traditionally finicky platform run like a top. Through some combination of experience, knowledge, and black magics, they can make the inverse relationship of accuracy vs. reliability become an equal relationship. They specialize in building guns that shouldn't work as well as they do.
THAT is badass. These guys are so good at their work that the wait time on their builds are measured in years, even with high four-figure price tags. A production Kimber (or any other production 1911, for that matter) are cool. Maybe, just maybe, depending on the model, they could be awesome. But stirring your man parts? Drool-worthy? Makes you want to lick it, love it, fondle it, like Kate Upton in front of you in nothing but high heels and stockings? Accept no substitute. Go balls to the wall custom.
Choosing a 1911 for duty use
"But wait!" you might say. "This is for fun only!" Well, if you ever intend on using it for HD or SD, hold up. I am assuming you have never owned a 1911 before, there are some things you need to know about. Re-read the article I linked for more info.
A 1911 is NOT, I repeat, NOT, a Glock. I am sorry to say that a $1500 1911 will not necessarily be reliable. It will probably be picky about what it eats, and will probably hate getting itself dirty. 1911's are also notorious for being picky about what kinds of magazines it likes. It must be treated like a Ferrari. You gotta fill it with premium, do regular maintenance, and also do at least some measure of gunsmithing on your part. You can't treat it like how you'd treat a lawnmower. You see, a 1911 is not a brand or model of gun, it is a type of gun, like a coupe or SUV. There really is no industry standard when it comes to making these things; as such, 1911's from different manufacturers are made slightly differently. This means that any aftermarket part you want, apart from the grips (and I really do mean ALL of them), must be fitted to each individual gun. On top of that, once the part is fitted, it can't be placed into another gun. The only exception to this rule I can think of is if you bought an aftermarket part made specifically for that 1911 by the manufacturer, i.e. a grip safety made by Kimber for a Kimber. To put all this into perspective, I've got a Nighthawk Custom T3 that was converted over to 9mm by the Springfield Armory Custom Shop. About $4500 went into that gun, and it STILL throws hissy fits with fully loaded Metalform magazines. In addition, the original slide and barrel assembly cannot be reused on ANY other 1911. Which reminds me, I need to go get some different brand mags.
The upshot to all of this is that the gun, when running correctly, really has no rival. It's fast. It's trigger is perfection. It's got the heft and natural grip angle to allow you yo drive it like a bat out of hell. It's accurate. It can be customized to your wildest fantasy. Literally anything is possible, it's just a matter of how much cabbage you have in your pockets. Want a competition gun? Send it out for a trigger job, add some porting, tune the recoil spring, add a magwell, , maybe even a micro optic like a Trijicon RMR, sorted. How about home defense? Night sights and maybe a weapon light. Concealed carry? How about a melt job, 4lb trigger, and some slim grips? Classic look, no problem; GI hammer and safety, old school grips. Or maybe a modern, tactical sidearm? G10 grips, beavertail safety, night sights, weapon light, and a Hard Hat finish by Severn Customs. But whatever you do, do NOT believe what a gun store employee tells you about a 1911, he's just trying to make a sale. He'll make a 1911's particularities sound not so bad, when in actuality they're very real concerns. Do any sort of research into the subject, and you'll see that 1911's are also notoriously finicky with certain types of ammo, and especially magazines.
Now. You want a 1911 that is badass. If you're willing to wait a couple of years, want a one-off piece, that absolutely no one else has, you get on the waiting list over at Heirloom Precision. Bill Wilson, Les Baer, Nighthawk Custom, I fart in their general direction. Those guns are a mere $3000. We're talking $5000-$7000 here with Heirloom Precision. These guns, like any other high-end 1911's, are individually fitted and tuned by master gunsmiths. This means that two guns that use the exact same parts, assembled and tuned by the exact same gunsmith, are still subtly different and have their own personalities. Below is an example of their work.
Pay particular attention to how closely the grip safeties are fitted; it's hard to tell they're not part of the frame. Also note that the grip screws are perfectly aligned, which can only be done through properly aligning the bushings themselves in the frame. That is the kind of handiwork, perfection, and attention to detail you can expect from such master artisans. They have the knowledge and experience to make even a traditionally finicky platform run like a top. Through some combination of experience, knowledge, and black magics, they can make the inverse relationship of accuracy vs. reliability become an equal relationship. They specialize in building guns that shouldn't work as well as they do.
THAT is badass. These guys are so good at their work that the wait time on their builds are measured in years, even with high four-figure price tags. A production Kimber (or any other production 1911, for that matter) are cool. Maybe, just maybe, depending on the model, they could be awesome. But stirring your man parts? Drool-worthy? Makes you want to lick it, love it, fondle it, like Kate Upton in front of you in nothing but high heels and stockings? Accept no substitute. Go balls to the wall custom.
I figured since I'm going with a non-traditional 1911 looking gun anyway, might as well add the rail. The slide profile with the rail on the Sig looks great to me.
I have a TRP Operator Half Rail (PC9105LP) and chose this over the full rail (Too muzzle heavy) and no rail to have the option for flashlight/laser. I'm sure others will frown upon having a rail on a 1911 but I've always been the "To have and not need then need and not have" type of person. If you look at it as a collectible, the half rail is much harder come by the other said operator versions. You can start with this and add new members (Wilson Combat, Ed Brown, Nighthawk Custom, Les Baer, Dan Wesson, STI, Colt, Kimber, Sig Sauer, Etc.) to your 1911 stable when resources are available. 
). Look for Long Beach PD Operator version (PX9105LLP) if you do not want any front strap checkering. LBPD version is built like MC Operator and does not have bull barrel and slide is not marked TRP.
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