I'm sure I'll get flamed for saying it, but I think the 1911 is a little outdated. Sure it's a good gun, but I think there are better designs available. The overly complicated field strip is just one symptom of this. Sure some peope can do it fast, but they'd strip another gun faster if they practiced as much on that. Take the SIG P series pistols, for example. It takes about 3 seconds to field strip those--without even practicing, just knowing the procedure. 1911s are popular in competition because they can have a really nice trigger pull with SAO. However, those competition guns are generally extremely expensive, not what the average joe would be buying. Accuracy and reliability are matched by newer designs.