I have owned Springfields, Colts, Safari Arms, Dan Wesson, Sig Sauer, Ed Brown, and a Les Baer. The only two I have kept is a colt that Jim Garthwaite did some work to and a Stainless Valor. The Les Baer was the most accurate I have ever fired, it was a nail driver. However I was going to go broke breaking it in. It never fired more than 20 rounds without jamming. After a couple of trips back to the factory, and more directions of fire 500 more rounds through it before I call back again I finally traded it for an Ed Brown. The Brown was a very good gun but I really couldn't see a big difference between it and the Valor so I eventually sold it. After flirting with the semi-custom guns I've settled into the $1200 realm of 1911s give or take a hundred bucks. Since I have the Valor and a Colt, the S&W and the STI were the two choices I narrowed down to for a commander. Last year I would have just bought the S&W and called it a day, but before Christmas I bought a 9mm M&P and had all sorts of problems with it. It took so long for them to generate a label my Local Gunshop just game me my money back and said they would send the M&P back. The owner told me he has been frustrated with them lately. I'm sure it is because they were pushing so many guns out the door with the record demand, but after buying lemons from a couple of different companies in the last year I thought I would seek advice from others before making a purchase this time. I still like S&W though, I bought a Shield and it has been a remarkable little pistol. I called STI and asked how there customer service worked and the guy told me they were employee owned and that they do everything with in reason to make customers happy. All of your comments are greatly appreciated.