Is the 1911 a Reliable Design?

Yes.

The design is fine. Deviations from the original design and poor manufacturing techniques and quality control are the problem. I have had three 1911 "lemons," but the original design isn't to blame.

One of my "lemons" was a Colt. But it was used when I got it, dating to the early 1990s. Colt has had their "ups and downs" in quality control, which this one undoubtedly suffered from. I read very few complaints about their latest ones.

Is the Colt 1911 a reliable gun?

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Yes, it is.

Is the 1911 a Reliable Design?

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Can you think of anything else that's still being produced in what is essentially it's original form after 100 years? Must have something going for it.

The 1911 is a reliable design. What's lacking today is the execution of that design, by the various clone makers that drift from the original blueprints and cut as many corners as possible in the name of profit.

The 1911 is a very reliable design and a very reliable gun no matter the manufacture if the parts fit correctly and are within specs.

Colt is just one of many manufacturors. Some are worse, some are better. Colt was just the first.....100 years ago.

Wilson Combat and Springfield Armory are both better than Colt in terms of out-of-the-box tolerances and reliability.

I can say without a doubt that the 1911A1 is a much more reliable firearm than the original M-16.

The darned 1911 design has been around over 100 years. If it didn't work, it would have been relicated to the scrap heap long ago.

As to Colt brand firearms. It all depends on what era. Current 1911's from Colt are pretty damned good (of course you pay for it). But some from a few decades ago had some pretty spotty quality control.

I owned a Colt. It wasn't magical. I will echo what others have said above, Don't mess with what works.

You open yourself up to a hornets nest of subjective opinion with that question. Better in what way?

I guess I have a problem with this. The 1911 was the best at one time.
1911's can be finicky. Not all, and many have shown why that may be. But I do think there are better designs currently than the 1911 for reliability.

If this question was only for how reliable colts were in a world of only 1911's than I missed the main point of this thread.

A well tuned 1911 is a wonderful thing, an out of spec one is a nightmare. they are my favorite guns to shoot bar none. You need to do your homework and read a lot about them befor jumping into the pool.
There are some terriffic 1911 guys inhere, some have the 1911 in their handle. A couple already gave you some input. Go slow and learn the differences, shoot a bunch of them and decide if they are for you.
It's the opposite of the polymer hi-cap pistols that have become so popular. It's important to have had one and please ask questions, of these gentlemen as you won't find better information anyware. You should by all means own one to round out your shooting experience.

In 1911 it was the most reliable design. In 2012 it is still reliable, if done right, unfortunatey MANY are not done right. But as good as it was, there are better choices today.

It is reliable enough. Compared to many modern designs it is not a reliable as say the Beretta 92, Glock(s), or Sigs. The US army was satisfied with a meen time before failure of around 860 which they determined by firing relatively new conditon .45's before specifying the level which competing handguns needed to meet when they where in the selection process which the Beretta won. Both the Beretta and Sig had a MTBF rate of over 10,000 when they stopped testing as they had far exceeded the spec.

Can you think of anything else that's still being produced in what is essentially it's original form after 100 years?

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Ballistol.

The basic tilting barrel design is the most used design period. The 1911 as designed is very reliable, as reliable as any other. It is however a more difficult design to hold within tolerances. It has a two part ramp that needs to be correct and multiple lugs which must be fit correctly.
Colt does a good job nowdays.

Reliable is a relative term? Compared to modern quality guns, no, in general the design is not reliable or durable.

Compared to modern quality guns, no, in general the design is not reliable or durable.

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*cough*

Whut??

OOH! OOH! I beg to differ...

Wasn't there a long and bitter competition to settle that about a hundred years ago?
There may have been minor improvements along the way but I haven't read of any more reliable design.

To many, that is the holy grail of handguns.