My remarks weren't pointed directly at Springfield Arsenal, but in my book they meet the description I gave of "today's manufacturers."
Yes, if you have the necessary knowledge, tools, and experience (as Tuner does) one can rebuild almost anything and get a reliable and fully functional gun. Browning's design isn't all that complicated.
But very few people have his (or my) resources, and are not in a position to rebuild a pistol so that it will work - and they shouldn't have to. In my book anyone that lays down the bucks for any firearm should be able to expect that it will at least function.
So ordinary buyers have the following options.
(1) Buy a new (whatever) and hope and pray that it works like it should.
(2) Buy the same pistol and pay out the bucks to have it rebuilt like the one Tuner described - with new lockwork and a hand-fitted barrel (that he had to finish reaming the chamber on incidentally).
(3) Pay out the really big bucks to have a custom pistol made from scratch. If, and only if, the builder knows what he's doing will get you a really reliable gun - but at least you'll know what's in it.
(4) Buy one of the older pre-1970's guns that were made the way they should be. At least you'll know that the parts meet material specifications unless something's been replaced.
Now if the pistol is supposed to be a big-kid toy any of the above choices may be O.K. But if you plan to use the gun as a personal weapon... Well then we have a whole different ball game.
I would personally go for options #4, #2 and #3 in that order. But others might not be able to afford anything except #1.
When that was the case I'd start looking at other platforms, made by manufacturers that offered products with a proven reputation for reliability.
While my personal preference will always remain with Browning's 1911 design, the fact is that because of my age I was able to obtain my personal guns when they were still "made right," or I built some to my own demanding specifications that were at least equal to those originally made by Colt.
But if I was younger, and my neck was on the line, there is no way I would trust it to an out-of-the-box Springfield Armory product, or any other of the current popular makes and models that might be defined as “standard production.” Hi-end custom or semi-custom guns might or might not be a different matter. But when they started running more (sometimes substantially so) then an older Colt I would likely go in a different direction.
From the Fuff's point of view, his life is worth too much to depend on a "crap-shoot product." Others can make their own decisions. :banghead: