Which 1911 would you buy?

Colt...either the XSE (which I have) or the WW One Repro (which two friends have).

You might be able to find a RRA 1911 for $1k, but you can buy 3 1911's from Rock Island Armory (Phillipine made).

Springfield "Loaded' or 'TRP' hands down

Colt – I own a S 70 reissue and the WWI reissue will be next.

RIA best bang for the buck

If I can find one, a Colt. But for now a Springer.

While I've heard good reviews of the S&W line-up, I have no personal experience w/ them. I do have very favorable experiences w/ Springfield's, however. One particular model, a Loaded I had fitted w/ a Bar-Sto barrel, was an amazing shooter. Sold it to a friend, regrettably. Used the money to buy a Les Baer, however.

1911DK...I'm really enjoying my SA Loaded and Colt GC Trophy....but if I could only keep one. The DK would be it. About $1025

I guess the more appropriate question would be which 1911 did i choose. i went with a sa Mc operator, and i haven't looked back since.

Sig GSR

Which 1911s have I bought? (Note, I have also owned others not on your list but won't confuse the issue with those)

Colt--3
Para--4
Rock Island (actually Charles Daly/Armscorp, same thing)--1
Rock River--0
S&W--0
Springfield--1

Based on my experiences above, in the future I would buy/consider:

Colt--probably not
Para--definitely
RIA/CD/Armscor--no, thank you
Rock River--maybe
S&W--would like to try one, especially an SC 1911
Springfield--probably

And why does your poll only allow me to select one? I voted S&W, but as stated above, I would/might buy several...

Colt - its all I've ever known in a 1911. However, the S&W PD does attract my attention.

Prolly gonna be a Taurus. Start with a decent base gun and slowly build/customize it to my tastes.

Noidster

In spite of the vast amounts of $$$ in advertising in all the gun rags, you didn't mention KIMBER...Thank you....

DAN WESSON - hands down the best money spent for a semi-custom 1911 ... and no MIM

I own a Springfeild GI, love it, after I had new sights put on it.

I voted for SW1911 , I already own/owned an Autoordinance , Springfield and a Taurus PT1911

I voted RIA so you'd have some money left over for ammo so you could actually shoot it.

IMHO Colt has been living off their reputation for a long time, but its still the one to buy if you think you might sell it later.

Para, IMHO the LDA trigger is a solution looking for a problem. The double stack guns suffer from having crammed too many rounds in the mag for SD adequate reliability, although 14+1 does rock at the range were the every few hundred round feed failure is not biggie. Their "normal" 1911s are OK but I don't like the non-standard "PxT" extractor. I've very few Para double stack mags that have worked 100% out of the wrapper.

S&W, same issue, the external extractor means a trip to the factory when it breaks (on any gun, after the recoil spring the extractor is the next most likely thing to break).

I really like the fact I can keep a 1911 internal extractor in my range bag and replace it at the range should it break. I've done two, one on a Colt, the other a Charles Daly, both about 8000 rounds, My oldest RIA has about 13,000 rounds and the original extractor is still doing right, although I''ve replaced several recoil springs and firing pin springs and the link broke at about 3000 rounds. ($5 replacement). My newest RIA Tactical has been 100% but hasn't quite hit the 5000 round mark yet.

RRA I've no experience with, don't like the price. People seem to like the Springfield's, I'll likely get one eventually, but the RIA Tactical offers Springfield "Loaded" features at a bit under "GI" prices.

STI Spartan is a "glorified" RIA and should be on your list as its only a little more than the RIA and supposedly has better STI internal parts.

The bottom of the line "Custom" Kimbers are pretty good value, although beyond that you are paying for style IMHO. So far everyone who has shot my Kimber TLE A-B with my RIA Tactical has immediately said the Kimber is nowhere near 2X better, and half actually prefer the RIA (probably for lack of "series II" firing pin block).

Taurus, I'm waiting for the reasonably priced 9mm 1911 they've promised.

--wally.

Look at Dan Wesson . The Bobtail can be boought for less than a grand. It better than either my Kimber or my Colts.
I would buy a Hi Point before I ever bought aother Para Ord. I could be sure the Hi Point would fire more than once befor jaming.

hmm slim pickins...out of those i'd choose the Colt...SA 2nd.

Wow, I'm quite amazed. Given that Rock River is on the poll, the only semi-custom producer, and it's 2nd to dead last on the poll.

Rock River's are a bit thin on the ground around here. I've only ever seen one and the guy wanted $2000 for it. Didn't bother asking him if I could handle it.

But, given their reputation, if I could get their base model (Basic Carry?) for $1000, I'd pick that one. I've shot several of their AR15 rifles.

Besides that, I'd choose a Springfield Armory Loaded, and customize it as funds permit.

My vote is for Springfield Armory.YMMV.tom.