I am a little surprised by the responses so far, as they seem to contradict my experience for the most part. But then again, after reading this forum for awhile, I do believe my 1911 luck is just plain bad, (e.g. I bought 6 NIB Colts between 1973 to date, none of which ran Out of the Box).
Over the last four decades I’ve owned 13 HP’s. Nine Browning roll marks, three FN roll marks and one FEG. I currently still have eight of these including one .40 BHP. During this period I cannot remember a single failure of any kind with any of these 13.
My 1911 experience over the same four decades is a little different and summarized below. Of course for the most part this comparison is unfair to the 1911 as it is now just a generic term, used by multiple manufactures, who build gun at various price points. But, this is also true of all XYZ gun vs. 1911 discussions.
1911 Performance History: (See NOTES below)
9MM Colt Commander (6)
45 ACP Colt LW Commander (5)
45 ACP Colt/Gov. Md.(original S70) (5)
45 ACP Colt/ Commander (1991 ORM) (4)
45 ACP Clot/Defender (4)
45 ACP Colt/LW Commander XSE (4)
45 ACP Norinco/1911A1 (Blue) (1)
45 ACP Norinco/1911A1 (Hard Chrome) (1)
45 ACP Norinco/1911A1 (park) (1)
45 ACP Norinco/1911A1 (park) (1)
45 ACP Norinco/1911A1 (park) (1)
45 ACP Kimber/Clasic (3)
45 ACP Kimber/Royal Cary (2)
45 ACP Kimber/Custom Royal (4)
45 ACP Para-Ordnance/P12-45 (1)*
45 ACP Brown KC (1)
45 ACP Brown SF (1)
45 ACP Brown SF (1)
45 ACP Brown/Class A Ltd Commander (1)
45 ACP SA/TRP (3)
45 ACP SA/PRO (1)
45 ACP SA/Trophy Match (3)
45 ACP STI/Trojan (3)
45 ACP Dan Wesson CBOB (2)
45 ACP Taurus / PT 1911 (1)
45 ACP Valtro (1)
45 ACP S&W 1911PD (1)
Honorable mention “1911ish” guns (Like other external extractor “1911 want-to-be’s”)
45 ACP Star/PD #1 (1)*
45 ACP Star/PD #2 (1)*
45 ACP Star/PS (1)*
9MM Star/BM (1)*
NOTES:
(1) 100% out of the box with all mags & ammo
(2) 100% with slight break-in, &/or mag change
(3) Reliable after break-in with specific ammo & mags
(4) Reliable after part(s) change &/or minor gunsmithing
(5) Reliable after major gunsmithing
(6) Never worked even after multiple returns to manufacture and gunsmiths
(*) Only OEM mags used
JAC