Both the Taurus and SA 1911s are good guns from what I can tell, though my personal experience is limited to the SA Mil-Spec. I would also have to recommend that you consider the RIA 1911. Very affordable and a good reputation for reliability and customer service. Keep your eyes open for a used Norinco as well.
Between a Taurus and a Springer, as I said both are fine guns. Both turn out the occasional lemon of course. That's where Springfield Armory has a big edge on Taurus, IMHO. I have dealt the Tauri's "Customer Service", if that's what you want to call it. Though I really like their product line, I can't get over how crappily my problem was handled when I sent my Model 94 back to them.
SA seems to have about the best customer service in the industry. They really go out of their way to take care of you when you have a problem. I don't know about you, but I like to reward companies like that (if they have something I want, of course).
I'd buy the Springfield for it's service reputation. I was reading a story on the 1911 forums about a guy who's 1911 flew out of his backpack on his motorcycle at 80+ miles an hour. They made it look/function brand new and mailed it back to him. I've heard nothing but good things about SA. I have a SA 1911 GI, and love it, eats everything you feed it and has been dead reliable. You can buy a GI for like $450 NIB if you shop around, milspecs seem to be around $75-$100 more, and add $50 to that if you want stainless.
For the record, he did have to come up with something like $120. But geez, it was totally 100% his fault! The thing got run over by cars and trucks, it was beaten to total crap (as a side note, the gun stayed in condition 1 - cocked and locked). SA did not have to do what they did, so $120 to me his waaaay more than fair.
Here's the whole story:
http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=174946
The only consistent complaits I here about the SA GI and Mil-Spec1911s are:
- They come with crappy mags. I would modify that statement to say "They come with fine mags with crappy mag springs". I put Wolff 11# springs in my SA/Metalform mags and they work perfectly.
- They come with crappy trigger. This I do agree with, so plan on a trigger job. Many probably have fine triggers, but a lot don't. My trigger had a lot of creep, it was heavy (about 8 #s), rough and gritty. For $50 it is much improved now. Ultra slick with a nice clean break at about 4.5 #s. Works for me.
I think the extractor tension is a little tight on mine (it fails to eject a spent case every now and then). Since the extractor is such a critical component in a 1911, I had planned on installing a Wilson Combat Bulletproof extractor anyway, so that doesn't bother me much.
One other thing that the SA GI and Milspec or RIA 1911 has on the Taurus, if it matters at all to you: they do look more "original", especially when wearing original GI bakelite grip panels: