Buying a first 1911 is kind of like buying a first guitar.
You can go to Wal-Mart and spend $80 and come away with a Silvertone or a Linden or some other made-in-China guitar-like object. Once you sit down and start playing it, you'll almost immediately start running into major shortcomings. It will probably be poorly constructed. It will certainly sound like crap. It'll probably be really hard to keep in tune. It won't have a good action, and so will be difficult to play. You won't want to practice with it, and hence won't ever get good. You'll stop playing, and the cheap guitar will sit in the corner for months until you finally throw it away, because there's no resale on an $80 Wal-Mart special. You may as well have set that $80 on fire for all the good it did you.
On the other hand, you could go to a music store, and get a low-end Martin or a Taylor D110 or something similar in the $500-600 range. You're much less likely to have problems with it. The softer action will make it easier to learn on, it'll be easier to keep in tune, and it will definitely sound better. You'll get better, faster, because you won't be fighting the instrument. Practice will be more fun, so you'll practice more often. Finally, if you decide that the guitar isn't for you, you can post it on Craigslist and someone will give you $400 for it, and you won't be out much more than the Wal-Mart special would have cost you.
Now apply this to guns.
For a first 1911, I'd recommend jumping in the deep end of the pool. Budget $800-1000, get a 5" steel-frame .45ACP from a major manufacturer, and go shoot the finish off it.
Specifically, look at the Colt O1991, the Springfield Armory MC Operator, and the Smith and Wesson SW1911 'E' series.
-C
