It's not the design. It's the (present day) execution of the design that's killin' the 1911.
During the field trials, the pistol was fired 6,000 times, stopping every thousand rounds to field strip, clean, and oil. When it got too hot, it was dunked into a bucket of water...shaken...and firing continued. No failures to function and no broken parts.
For the second phase, ammunition was deliberately damaged. Bullets seated deep into the case...crushed with pliers...corroded with acid. No failures to feed or function were noted.
During WW2, a small shipment of Ithaca pistols were found to have had the parkerizing applied after the feed ramps were cut. The inspectors caught it and were ready to return the guns for repair, when someone suggested test-firing them see if it would cause a problem. One in ten was randomly chosen and test-fired. No failures to feed were noted. The test was repeated with the same results. The shipment was entered into inventory and the matter was forgotten. There were no reports of any problems with the pistols.
Ever seen how rough new parkerizing is? Kinda shoots a hole in the assumption that the feed ramp has to be mirror-polished, no?
The reports of loose, inaccurate pistols is overblown and exaggerated. It likely came from badly worn pistols. Most of them would shoot into 4 inches at 50 yards with issue ball ammo...when they were new.
Most feed problems with the 1911 can be traced straight back to the magazine. Many of the others are the result of oversprung slides and bad extractors...either in the dimensions or the material that they're made of. There was a time that you could open a new extractor, stick it in the gun and go. Occasionally, one had to be slightly bent for tension. For the most part, the bend was already applied, as per the blueprint requirement. Now that the slide specs are all over the map, they have to be fitted and "tuned" before they'll work as intended. Because improper magazines are being marketed, they lose tension and break because the magazines allow the feeding round to "jump the lips" and execute a push feed with the claw being forced to climb over the rim.
If the gun is built to spec, it'll run, and it'll run under some amazingly bad conditions. Dirty or clean. Dry or oiled. Limp-wristed or gripped hard. Upside down, sideways, and every position in between. It'll run. I've proven that point too many times to count.